Read complete books and articles on: Karl R. Popper

Popper, Sir Karl Raimund - 1902–94, Anglo-Austrian philosopher, b. Vienna. He became familiar with the Vienna circle of logical positivists (see logical positivism) while a student at the Univ. of Vienna (Ph.D., 1928). He taught at Canterbury Univ., New Zealand (1937–45), and then at the London School of Economics, retiring in 1969. Popper's thought develops from his view of knowing as an individual, unpredictable act of genius, not acquired by induction, as empiricists hold, nor limited to verifiable statements, as the logical positivists hold. Like the logical positivists, Popper worked with the distinction between scientific knowledge and pseudoscience, but he understood the two to be related as well as distinct: pseudoscience or "myth," as he sometimes termed it, can inspire or grow into science, or overlap with it (as in the case of psychology). He rejected the certainty of knowledge, whether secured on empiricist or rationalist ground.

Popper also questioned historicism (the doctrine that there are general laws of history) because history, as he saw it, is influenced by the growth of knowledge, and, since knowing is a matter of unpredictable insight, neither the growth of knowledge nor its historical consequences can be systematized. In the political arena he was perhaps best known for his contention, set forth in The Open Society and Its Enemies (1945), that communism and fascism were philosophically linked, and his works, along with those of Milton Friedman and Friedrich von Hayek, provided the theoretical underpinnings for the conservative program of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Popper was knighted in 1965. His other works include The Logic of Scientific Discovery (1935), The Poverty of Historicism (1957), Objective Knowledge: An Evolutionary Approach (1972), The Self and Its Brain (rev. ed. 1978), and Postscript to the Logic of Scientific Discovery (3 vol., 1981–82).

See studies by I. C. Jarvie (1972), B. Magee (1973), W. Berkson and J. Wetterman (1984), N. DeMarchi (1988), and M. H. Hacohen (2000).

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15 of the Best Books and Articles on: Karl R. Popper

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Karl Popper: A Critical Appraisal » Read Now
by Philip Catton, Graham MacDonald. 235 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library

One of the most original thinkers of the century, Karl Popper has inspired generations of philosophers, historians, and politicians. This collection of papers, specially written for this volume, offers fresh philosophical examination of key themes in Popper's philosophy, including philosophy of...
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One of the most original thinkers of the century, Karl Popper has inspired generations of philosophers, historians, and politicians. This collection of papers, specially written for this volume, offers fresh philosophical examination of key themes in Popper's philosophy, including philosophy of knowledge, science and political philosophy.Drawing from some of Popper's most important works, contributors address his solution to the problem of induction, his views on conventionalism and criticism in an open society, and his unique position in 20th century philosophy. They also examine the current relevance of Popper to understanding liberal democracy, his critique of tribalism and his relationship with analytic philosophy in general - and with Wittgenstein in particular - as well as drawing on the studies of Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein to assess Popper's conception of science.
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2.

The Political Thought of Karl Popper » Read Now
by Jeremy Shearmur. 218 pgs.

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The Political Thought of Karl Popper offers a controversial treatment of Popper's ideas about politics, informed by Shearmur's personal knowledge of Popper together with research on unpublished material in the Popper archive at the Hoover Institute. While sympathetic to Popper's overall approach...
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The Political Thought of Karl Popper offers a controversial treatment of Popper's ideas about politics, informed by Shearmur's personal knowledge of Popper together with research on unpublished material in the Popper archive at the Hoover Institute. While sympathetic to Popper's overall approach, Shearmur offers criticism of some of his ideas and suggests that political conclusions should be drawn from Popper's ideas which differ from Popper's own views. Shearmur introduces Popper's political ideas by way of a discussion of their development, which draws upon archive material. He then offers a critical survey of some of the themes from his Open Society and Poverty of Historicism , and discusses the political significance of some of his later philosophical ideas. Wider themes within Popper's philosophy are drawn on to offer striking critical re-interpretations of his ethical ideas and social theory. The book concludes with a discussion which suggests that Popper's views should have been closer to classical liberalism than they in fact were.
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3.

The Logic of Scientific Discovery » Read Now
by Karl R. Popper. 480 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library
4.

The Poverty of Historicism » Read Now
by Karl R. Popper. 166 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, History, Entire Library
5.

Unended Quest » Read Now
by Karl Popper. 317 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library

Unended Quest recounts the life of one of the 20th century's most influential thinkers. Popper looks at the ideas that influenced him most, in particular his early fascination with science and philosophy.
6.

Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge » Read Now
by Karl R. Popper. 414 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library
7.

Foundations of Economic Method: A Popperian Perspective » Read Now
by Lawrence A. Boland. 337 pgs.

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Many consider "Foundations of Economic Method to be Lawrence Boland's best work. This updated edition is radically changed from the original positioning methodology vis-a-vis the current practice of economists and is all the better for it.
8.

Methodological Individualism: Background, History, and Meaning (Chap. 7 "Popperian Methodological Individualism") » Read Now
by Lars Udehn. 450 pgs.

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Throughout the history of social thought, there has been, a constant battle over the true nature of society, and the best way to understand and explain it. This volume covers the development of methodological individualism, including the individualist theory of society from Greek Antiquity to modern social science.
9.

Critical Economic Methodology: A Personal Odyssey (Part V "Popper and Economic Methodology") » Read Now
by Lawrence A. Boland. 307 pgs.

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In this book, Lawrence Boland takes issue with both economic methodologists and practising economists, by arguing that mainstream economics might benefit by using methodology to take a critical look at economic theory.
10.

The Economics of Science: Methodology and Epistemology as If Economics Really Mattered (Chap. 5 "A Cost-Benefit Approach to Research Project Selection, Popper's Methodology, and Scientific Progress") » Read Now
by James R. Wible. 266 pgs.

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This book explores aspects of science from an economic point of view. The author begins with economic models of misconduct in science, moving on to discuss other important issues, including market failure and the market place of ideas.
11.

Learning from Our Mistakes: A Reinterpretation of Twentieth-Century Educational Theory (Chap. 2 "Karl Popper's Evolutionary Epistemology") » Read Now
by Henry J. Perkinson. 212 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Education, Entire Library
12.

Language and Ontology (Chap. 2 "The Ontology of Karl Popper") » Read Now
by Jack Kaminsky. 318 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library
13.

Reason and Conduct: New Bearings in Moral Philosophy (Includes information on Karl Popper in Chap. XIII "History, Morals, and the Open Society") » Read Now
by Henry David Aiken. 376 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library
14.

Beyond Rhetoric and Realism in Economics: Towards a Reformulation of Economic Methodology ("The Popperian Interlude: The Demise of Positivism" begins on p. 18) » Read Now
by Thomas A. Boylan, Paschal F. O'Gorman. 248 pgs.

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15.

Philosophy and Philosophers: An Introduction to Western Philosophy ("Popper" begins on p. 271) » Read Now
by John Shand. 348 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library