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Imre Lakatos Birth
Imre Lakatos (Originally Lipschitz) was born November 9, 1922 in Hungary. In the time of the second World War, being born Jewish was not an easy feat. His life was controlled by chaos and surrounded by the rise of Nazi Power through his final years of childhood education. (O'Connor, Robertson 2003) -
University of Debrecen
Through the war, Imre spent his years at the University of Debrecen; and graduated with a degree in Mathematics, Philosophy and Physics the year the World War was coming to an end (1944). Since the Nazi forces were calling for the heads of the Jews, in order to survive and make a difference Imre changed his name to Molnar and escaped the Death Camps. 550,000 out of the 750,000 recorded Jewish descendants of the time in Hungary were forced into the Nazi Work Camps. (O'connor, Robertson 2003) -
Becoming Lakatos
After the war, Imre returned to Hungary and realized his clothes had "I.L" on them. After changing his name, those would seem stolen or otherwise unfit for his wear. Due to the financial decline from the war, a new shirt collection or changing of the initials would prove extremely difficult. This is what led to his name changing to Lakatos. In fear of the Jewish hatred, Imre did not want to go back to his surname. This brought his name to Lakatos, as we know him now. (O'Connor, Robertson 2003) -
Imre goes to Prison
1947-1950 Imre worked at a post in the Hungarian Ministry of Education. The job was short lived due to Lakatos’ difficulty listening to Orders! So, after a short time of questioning Russian authorities and expression of his personal views over his orders and duty, Imre was arrested and served 3 years in a Russian, Stalinist Prison (1950-1953). (O'Connor, Robertson, 2003) -
University of Cambridge
After travelling the world, in 1960 Lakatos travelled to England, in avoidance to the problems and political decline that was still combating for power in Hungary, and began studying at the University of Cambridge to earn a doctorate in Philosophy. Being influenced by Popper and Polya he wrote his doctoral theses Essays in the Logic of Mathematical Discovery. (O'Connor, Robertson, 2003) -
Science & Psuedoscience Lecture
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Imre Lakatos Death
University of Cambridge was Lakatos’ Home until his untimely death of a heart attack 14 years later on February 2, 1974. (O'Connor, Robertson,2003) -
Philosophy of Mathematics
A set of 4 works/essays/articles is the first key moment in Imre came on the map of philosophy. Known as the “Proofs and Refutations” was a multi-sided dialogue expressing his view against the formalism in mathematics.
During his life, he refused to place these works into a book; he had plans and more to add, so he felt this would have been a waste since he didn’t see these 4 to be his last on the subject. (Musgrave, 2016) -
Conjectures and Refutations
After his death, the works were published into a book in order to commemorate his memory and have his works that were completed in view together titled “Proofs and Refutations”. The book shares the title of his best known essay in the collection.
(Musgrave, 2016) -
Resources
O’Connor J.J, Robertson E.F, 2003; School of Mathematics and Statistics: University of St. Andrews, Scotland, Biography of Imre Lakatos, retrieved on 13 July, 2020 from https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Lakatos/
Musgrave, A. 2016 Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Imre Lakatos, retrieved on 13 July 2020 from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/lakatos/
