Karl Popper
Karl Popper
Sir Karl Raimund Popper CH FBA FRSwas an Austrian-British philosopher and professor. He is generally regarded as one of the greatest philosophers of science of the 20th century...
NationalityAustrian
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth28 July 1902
CountryAustria
mean science judgement
Science is the century-old endeavour to bring together by means of systematic thought the perceptible phenomena of this world into as thorough-going an association as possible. To put it boldly, it is the attempt at a posterior reconstruction of existence by the process of conceptualization. Science can only ascertain what is, but not what should be, and outside of its domain value judgements of all kinds remain necessary.
truth mistake knowledge
It is part of my thesis that all our knowledge grows only through the correcting of our mistakes.
technology engineering social
Piecemeal social engineering resembles physical engineering in regarding the ends as beyond the province of technology.
tolerance tolerate prepared
If we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them.
discovery creative intuition
Every discovery contains an irrational element or a creative intuition.
trying democracy compromise
The defence of democracy must consist in making anti-democratic experiences too costly for those who try them; much more costly than a democratic compromise
tests information way
The only way to test a hypothesis is to look for all the information that disagrees with it.
theory myth scientific-theory
Historically speaking all - or very nearly all - scientific theories originate from myths.
idols objectivity demand
The old scientific ideal of episteme - of absolutely certain, demonstrable knowledge - has proved to be an idol. The demand for scientific objectivity makes it inevitable that every scientific statement must remain tentative for ever.
numbers history kind
There is no history of mankind, there is only an indefinite number of histories of all kinds of aspects of human life.
thinking views games
I am opposed to looking upon logic as a kind of game. ... One might think that it is a matter of choice or convention which logic one adopts. I disagree with this view.
science hands demand
But it is certainly not possible to insist on one hand that the formalism is complete and to insist on the other hand that its application to 'the actual' actually demands a step which cannot be derived from it.
hate believe men
I do not overlook the fact that there are irrationalists who love mankind, and that not all forms of irrationalism engender criminality. But I hold that he who teaches that not reason but love should rule opens up the way for those who rule by hate. ( Socrates , I believe, saw something of this when he suggested that mistrust or hatred of argument is related to mistrust or hatred of man).
white numbers swans
No number of sightings of white swans can prove the theory that all swans are white. The sighting of just one black one may disprove it.