Karl Popper

Karl Popper (1902-1994), Nr. 104 bust (bronce) in the Arkadenhof of the University of Vienna-2485

Sir KARL POPPER 1902-1994 Philosopher lived here 1946-1950

Popper gravesite

Popper and Hoschl

Karl Popper2

Karl Popper (28 July 1902 – 17 September 1994) was an Austrian-British philosopher and professor generally regarded as one of the 20th century's greatest philosophers of science. Popper is known for his attempt to repudiate the classical inductive reasoning used in science in favor of deductive reasoning through falsification. His works and theories have significantly influenced the philosophy of science during the 20th century and beyond.

Early Life

Karl Raimund Popper was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1902, into a family of Jewish origin that had converted to Lutheranism before his birth. He was educated at the University of Vienna, where he developed an interest in the philosophical underpinnings of science. Popper's early work was influenced by the positivist philosophy of the Vienna Circle, but he would later distance himself from its principles, criticizing its emphasis on verificationism.

Philosophical Contributions

Popper's most significant contribution to the philosophy of science is his principle of falsifiability, which he introduced in his 1934 book, The Logic of Scientific Discovery. According to Popper, for a theory to be considered scientific, it must be able to be tested and potentially falsified by empirical evidence. This was in stark contrast to the verification principle of the logical positivists, which held that a statement is meaningful only if it can be verifiably true or false.

Popper argued that scientific theories can never be proven to be true but can only be tentatively accepted until they are falsified. This led him to advocate for a critical rationalism, where theories are subjected to rigorous testing and are accepted as long as they withstand attempts at falsification.

In addition to his work on the philosophy of science, Popper made significant contributions to political philosophy, particularly in his defense of liberal democracy and criticism of totalitarianism. His books The Open Society and Its Enemies and The Poverty of Historicism are seminal works in this area, critiquing the historicist and deterministic views of history that underpin totalitarian regimes.

Legacy

Karl Popper's ideas have had a profound impact on the philosophy of science and the methodology of scientific research. His emphasis on critical scrutiny and the tentative nature of scientific knowledge has influenced various fields, including economics, political science, and psychology. Popper's work remains a cornerstone of contemporary philosophical inquiry into the nature of science and knowledge.

Selected Works

• The Logic of Scientific Discovery (1934)
• The Open Society and Its Enemies (1945)
• The Poverty of Historicism (1957)
• Conjectures and Refutations (1963)

See Also

• Philosophy of science
• Falsifiability
• Deductive reasoning
• Inductive reasoning
• Vienna Circle
• Logical positivism