The Open Society and Its Enemies‘If in this book harsh words are spoken about some of the greatest among the intellectual leaders of mankind, my motive is not, I hope, to belittle them. It springs rather from my conviction that, if our civilization is to survive, we must break with the habit of deference to great men.’ - Karl Popper, from the Preface Written in political exile during the Second World War and first published in two volumes in 1945, Karl Popper’s The Open Society and Its Enemies is one of the most influential books of all time. Hailed by Bertrand Russell as a ‘vigorous and profound defence of democracy’, its now legendary attack on the philosophies of Plato, Hegel and Marx exposed the dangers inherent in centrally planned political systems and through underground editions become an inspiration to lovers of freedom living under communism in Eastern Europe. Popper’s highly accessible style, his erudite and lucid explanations of the thoughts of great philosophers and the recent resurgence of totalitarian regimes around the world are just three of the reasons for the enduring popularity of The Open Society and Its Enemies and why it demands to be read today and in years to come. |
From inside the book
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... human knowledge, in which criticism is stressed and justifica tion abandoned. The application of these ideas from the theory of knowledge to political thought resulted in the two volumes of The Open Society and Its Enemies. The book was ...
... human attempts to change the world for the better completely and globally, on the basis of. * The Chancellor's Lecture for 1995, Stout Research Centre,Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Given on the occasion of the visit ...
... human thinking and behaviour can only lead to a totalitarian system. I come from a country that lived under a Communist regime for several decades. On the basis of my own experience, I can therefore confirm that Sir Karl Popper was ...
... humanity, or the human spirit or reason, can grasp and describe the world in its entirety and derive from this description a vision of its improvement is something else altogether. It is one thing to be aware of the interconnection of ...
... humanity, its dignity and its prospects.These intellectuals build people-to-people solidarity.They foster tolerance, struggle against evil and violence, promote human rights and argue for their indivisibility. In a word, they represent ...