Most Popular Books by Karl Raimund Popper

Essays over de in Oostenrijk geboren Engelse wijsgeer (geb. 1902)

First published in 1994. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

A collection of essays that offers striking new insight into the mind of one of the greatest living philosophers. Popper''s subjects range from the beginnings of scientific speculation in Greece to the role of science in the arts.

A brilliant account of the life of one of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century. Popper also explains some of the central ideas in his work, making this ideal reading for anyone coming to his life and work for the first time.

''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.

Conjectures and Refutations is one of Karl Popper''s most wide-ranging and popular works, notable not only for its acute insight into the way scientific knowledge grows, but also for applying those insights to politics and to history. It provides one of the clearest and most accessible statements of the fundamental idea that guided his work: not only our knowledge, but our aims and our standards, grow through an unending process of trial and error.

These excerpts from the writings of Sir Karl Popper are an outstanding introduction to one of the most controversial of living philosophers, known especially for his devastating criticisms of Plato and Marx and for his uncompromising rejection of inductive reasoning. David Miller, a leading expositor and critic of Popper''s work, has chosen thirty selections that illustrate the profundity and originality of his ideas and their applicability to current intellectual and social problems. Miller''s introduction demonstrates the remarkable unity of Popper''s thought and briefly describes his philosophy of critical rationalism, a philosophy that is distinctive in its emphasis on the way in which we learn through the making and correcting of mistakes. Popper has relentlessly challenged both the authority and the appeal to authority of the most fashionable philosophies of our time. This book of selections from his nontechnical writings on the theory of knowledge, the philosophy of science, metaphysics, and social philosophy is imbued with his emphasis on the role and by reason in exposing and eliminating the errors among them.

With a new foreword by Scott Austin ''I hope that these essays may illustrate the thesis that all history is or should be the history of problem situations, and that in following this principle we may further our understanding of the Presocratics and other thinkers of the past. The essays also try to show the greatness of the early Greek philosophers, who gave Europe its philosophy, its science, and its humanism.'' - Karl Popper, from the preface The World of Parmenides is a brilliant exploration of the complexity of ancient Greek thought and science by one of the twentieth century''s leading philosophers. It reveals the great importance of Presocratic philosophy to Popper''s thought as a whole and shows the profound enlightenment he experienced reading not only Parmenides but the wider world of Greek science and philosophy including Xenophanes and Heraclitus. Edited by Arne F. Petersen, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen.

First published as: Autobiography of Karl Popper, in The philosophy of Karl Popper, in the library of living philosophers.

Hailed on publication in 1957 as ''probably the only book published this year that will outlive the century'', this is a devastating criticism of the idea that there are fixed laws in history and that human beings are able to predict them.On its publication in 1957, The Poverty of Historicism was hailed by Arthur Koestler as ''probably the only book published this year which will outlive the century.''A devastating criticism of fixed and predictable laws in history, Popper dedicated the book to all those ''who fell victim to the fascist and communist belief in Inexorable Laws of Historical Destiny.'' Short and beautifully written, it has inspired generations of readers, intellectuals and policy makers. One of the most important books on the social sciences since the Second World War, it is a searing insight into the ideas of this great thinker.

Realism and the Aim of Science is one of the three volumes of Karl Popper''s Postscript to the Logic of scientific Discovery. The Postscript is the culmination of Popper''s work in the philosophy of physics and a new famous attack on subjectivist approaches to philosophy of science. Realism and the Aim of Science is the first volume of the Postcript. Popper here formulates and explains his non-justificationist theory of knowledge: science aims at true explanatory theories, yet it can never prove, or justify, any theory to be true, not even if is a true theory. Science must continue to question and criticise all its theories, even those that happen to be true. Realism and the Aim of Science presents Popper''s mature statement on scientific knowledge and offers important insights into his thinking on problems of method within science.

This selection of Popper''s writings on his main preoccupations towards the end of his life, illuminates his process of working on his theory of science, and indicates his view of the state of the world at the end of the Cold War.

Popper warns us against the increasing violence and egoism of our society, which imperil democracy. Popper believed that the philosopher has a duty to intervene in politics and in The Lesson of This Century he utters a clear call to all of us to recognize our responsibilities. We are asked to find solutions to the problems facing our environment, are called upon to prevent violence engendered by our society, and are encouraged to preserve our democratic system while paving the way for global peace.

Described by the philosopher A.J. Ayer as a work of ''great originality and power'', this book revolutionized contemporary thinking on science and knowledge. Ideas such as the now legendary doctrine of ''falsificationism'' electrified the scientific community, influencing even working scientists, as well as post-war philosophy. This astonishing work ranks alongside The Open Society and Its Enemies as one of Popper''s most enduring books and contains insights and arguments that demand to be read to this day.

First Published in 1977. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.