Karl Popper
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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
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.
theory observation pure
There is no pure, disinterested, theory-free observation,
understanding benefits facts
In point of fact, no conclusive disproof of a theory can ever be produced; for it is always possible to say that the experimental results are not reliable or that the discrepancies which are asserted to exist between the experimental results and the theory are only apparent and that they will disappear with the advance of our understanding. If you insist on strict proof (or strict disproof) in the empirical sciences, you will never benefit from experience, and never learn from it how wrong you are.
truth principles logical
Now this principle of induction cannot be a purely logical truth like a tautology or an analytic statement. . . .
truth mistake knowledge
It is part of my thesis that all our knowledge grows only through the correcting of our mistakes.
plato hard-work might
The influence (for good or ill) of Plato's work is immeasurable. Western thought, one might say, has been Platonic or anti-Platonic, but hardly ever non-Platonic.
dream mistake errors
The history of science, like the history of all human ideas, is a history of irresponsible dreams, of obstinacy, and of error. But science is one of the very few human activities-perhaps the only one-in which errors are systematically criticized and fairly often, in time, corrected. This is why we can say that, in science, we often learn from our mistakes, and why we can speak clearly and sensibly about making progress there. In most other fields of human endeavour there is change, but rarely progress ... And in most fields we do not even know how to evaluate change.
tests alive theory
Good tests kill flawed theories; we remain alive to guess again.
mistake philosophical fundamentals
The fundamental thing about human languages is that they can and should be used to describe something; and this something is, somehow, the world. To be constantly and almost exclusively interested in the medium - in spectacle-cleaning - is a result of a philosophical mistake.
plato political enemy
With regards to political enemies Plato had a kill-and-banish principle. ... In interpreting it , modern-day Platonists are clearly disturbed by it, even as they make elaborate attempts to defend Plato.
tests information way
The only way to test a hypothesis is to look for all the information that disagrees with it.
technology engineering social
Piecemeal social engineering resembles physical engineering in regarding the ends as beyond the province of technology.
tests genuine theory
Every genuine test of a theory is an attempt to falsify it, or to refute it.
plato political program
Plato felt that a complete reconstruction of society's political program was needed.