Implications of Imre Lakatos’ Scientific Research Programme for the 21st Century Studies on the Planetary Systems

Abstract

This paper is a critical evaluation of Imre Lakatos's Scientific Research Programme. The paper gives a succinct appraisal of the submissions of Imre Lakatos in the history of science, in support of standard logic and the reality of scientific practice. It is discovered in the course of this paper that Lakatos proposes his method in the history of science to hinge on the scientific practice of the irrefutability of the hardcore. The work argues that Lakatos's standpoint, given the 21st-century studies on the planetary systems by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) with their novel theory of 'dwarf planets' of which Pluto is identified as one, is completely applicable to scientific progress. The paper concludes that the Scientific Research Programme gives more adequate explanations in the face of 21s- century planetary theories.