Lakatos fused Lukács and Popper into a two-part theory-testing model

Evidence

The most interesting attempt to give an account of these constraints, by Lakatos, involves a fascinating fusion of his two teachers, Lukâcs and Popper, in which acceptable revisions must both cohere with a theoretically articulated scientific research programme and predict ‘novel facts’, sometimes successfully. The latter requirement, of empirical corroboration, demands that acceptable theories offer an independent test of the accuracy of their representations of the world. — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism, 433

Categorization

• XREF: Interesting biographical link: Lukács (Marxist) and Popper (anti-Marxist) as Lakatos’s two teachers — a convergence relevant to the book’s whole Marxist project. — connects to: Lukacs’ typification theory captures but incompletely explains character representation — Fredric Jameson, The Political Unconscious, 3838; The Popper-Adorno debate turned on pessimism versus reformist optimism about social change — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2414; Habermas radicalized Popper’s falsificationism through a pragmatist perspective to restrain technical rationalism. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2417

Broader Connections

• Lukacs’ typification theory captures but incompletely explains character representation #complicates (0.75) — Fredric Jameson, The Political Unconscious, 3838