Method or Madness?

Abstract

Imre Lakatos encouraged his students (and I like to count myself one of them) to criticise his ideas. And while criticism was not always received with complete calm, one invariably learned something from the exercise. I well remember how, shortly after I had obtained my first degree, he deemed me totally illiterate and set about trying to remedy the situation. He bought me some mathematics books (I still have them), and sat me down in his office to solve problems. At the time he was writing 'Proofs and Refutations': I would pass my latest effort across to him, to be mercilessly exposed, and he would pass his latest page of manuscript across to me, expecting it to receive the same treatment He led me to believe that my exercises were just as important as his manuscript, and my modest improvements to his English just as important as his radical improvements to my mathematics. Both beliefs, were, of course, mistaken. But I shall always be grateful to him for having made me hold them.