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
Karl Popper quotes about
libertarian problem theory
Whenever a theory appears to you as the only possible one, take this as a sign that you have neither understood the theory nor the problem which it was intended to solve.
pet looks favors
If we are uncritical we shall always find what we want: we shall look for, and find, confirmations, and we shall look away from, and not see, whatever might be dangerous to our pet theories. In this way it is only too easy to obtain what appears to be overwhelming evidence in favor of a theory which, if approached critically, would have been refuted.
obstacles problem raises
Every solution of a problem raises new unsolved problems.
mistake interesting objective-truth
Our aim as scientists is objective truth; more truth, more interesting truth, more intelligible truth. We cannot reasonably aim at certainty. Once we realize that human knowledge is fallible, we realize also that we can never be completely certain that we have not made a mistake.
paradise-on-earth keeping-promises kept-promises
Those who promise us paradise on earth never produced anything but a hell.
mistake evolution speed
Our aim must be to make our successive mistakes as quickly as possible. To speed up evolution.
hayek i-have-learned thinker
I have learned more from Hayek than from any other living thinker, except perhaps Alfred Tarski - but not even excepting Russell.
mistake learning knowledge
It is often asserted that discussion is only possible between people who have a common language and accept common basic assumptions. I think that this is a mistake. All that is needed is a readiness to learn from one's partner in the discussion, which includes a genuine wish to understand what he intends to say. If this readiness is there, the discussion wrighteous stupidityill be the more fruitful the more the partner's backgrounds differ.
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.
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.
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.
mistake criticism serious
Serious rational criticism is so rare that it should be encouraged. Being too ready to defend oneself is more dangerous than being too ready to admit a mistake.
quests impossible precision
The quest for precision is analogous to the quest for certainty and both - precision and certainty are impossible to attain.