Popper's Legacy: Rethinking Politics, Economics and Science

Raphael Sassower

dhj 2014 · Routledge

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The work of Karl Popper has had extraordinary influence across the fields of scientific and social thought. Widely regarded as one of the greatest philosophers of science of the twentieth century, he was also a highly influential social and political philosopher, a proponent and defender of the "open society". "Popper's Legacy" examines Popper in the round, analysing in particular his moral and psychological insights. Once Popper's scientific legacy is couched in political and moral terms, it becomes apparent that his concern for individual autonomy does not come at the expense of institutional guidelines and social conventions. Instead, these guidelines turn out to be essential sanctions for individual freedom. Popper envisions the conduct of the scientific community as paralleling the conduct of any democratically established community. Critical rationality guides the words and actions of all participants and leadership can be replaced without violence. In presenting a critical overview, "Popper's Legacy" reveals the debt many intellectual movements - such as Marxism, feminism, and postmodernism - still owe to Popper.