What is the maximum number of doctorates one can get in life?

When obtaining a doctoral degree, one must be prepared to put a lot of time and effort into the process. There are quite a few requirements that have to be achieved in order to gain a degree. One of the most stringent and hardest to pass is the dissertation. The dissertation is an original piece of research, and depending on the field is often cutting edge. Once the dissertation is finished, it must be defended to a board. Only upon successfully defending the work will the doctorate be conferred upon the student.

Because of the amount of time dedicated to the process, most universities only allow one doctorate to be achieved. There are rare exceptions to the rule, but in order to gain a secondary Ph.D., there has to be concrete proof that the fields will not overlap, thereby causing any confusion in the research that one has put into their chosen field.