SACRED LEGACY ARCHIVES™

Karl Popper

1902-07-28 – 1994-09-17

Karl Popper in the 1980s. Professor of Logic and Scientific Method at the London School of Economics and Political Science.Credit: Franz Barta

Life & Legacy

Sir Karl Raimund Popper (28 July 1902 – 17 September 1994) was an Austrian–British philosopher, academic and social commentator. One of the 20th century's most influential philosophers of science, Popper is known for his rejection of the classical inductivist views on the scientific method in favour of empirical falsification made possible by his falsifiability criterion, and for founding the Department of Philosophy at the London School of Economics and Political Science. According to Popper, a theory in the empirical sciences can never be proven, but it can be falsified, meaning that it can (and should) be scrutinised with decisive experiments. Popper was opposed to the classical justificationist account of knowledge, which he replaced with "the first non-justificational philosophy of criticism in the history of philosophy", namely critical rationalism.
In political discourse, he is known for his vigorous defence of liberal democracy and the principles of social criticism that he believed made a flourishing open society possible. His political thought resides within the camp of Enlightenment rationalism and humanism. He was a dogged opponent of totalitarianism, communism, nationalism, fascism, historicism, and other kinds of (in Popper's view) reactionary and irrational ideas, and identified modern liberal democracies as the best-to-date embodiment of an open society.

Occupation & Career

philosopher, philosopher of science, writer, university teacher, sociologist, mathematician, teacher

Education

University of Vienna; University of Cambridge

Faith & Community

Lutheranism

Accomplishments, Inventions & Publications

Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts order; Ring of Honour of the City of Vienna; Great Golden Medal of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria; Great Cross with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany; Otto Hahn Peace Medal; Catalonia International Prize; Dr. Leopold Lucas Prize; Montyon Prize; Goethe Medal; honorary doctor of the University of Vienna; honorary doctor of the University of Madrid Complutense; honorary doctorate of Salzburg University; Kyoto Prize in Arts and Philosophy; Fellow of the British Academy; Austrian Decoration for Science and Art; honorary doctor of the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt; Knight Bachelor; Companion of Honour; Prix Alexis de Tocqueville; Sonning Prize; Pour le Mérite; Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi; honorary doctor of the University of Canterbury; Benjamin E. Lippincott Award; The Logic of Scientific Discovery; The Open Society and Its Enemies; The Poverty of Historicism; Conjectures and Refutations; Objective Knowledge; Unended Quest; The Self and Its Brain

Legacy Highlights

Honors & Awards

Austrian Decoration for Science and Art · Benjamin E. Lippincott Award · Catalonia International Prize · Companion of Honour · Dr. Leopold Lucas Prize · Fellow of the British Academy · Goethe Medal · Great Cross with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany · Great Golden Medal of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria · honorary doctor of the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt · honorary doctor of the University of Canterbury · honorary doctor of the University of Madrid Complutense · honorary doctor of the University of Vienna · honorary doctorate of Salzburg University · Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi · Knight Bachelor · Kyoto Prize in Arts and Philosophy · Montyon Prize · Otto Hahn Peace Medal · Pour le Mérite · Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts order · Prix Alexis de Tocqueville · Ring of Honour of the City of Vienna · Sonning Prize

Church

Lutheranism

Employer

King's College London · London School of Economics and Political Science · University of Canterbury · University of London

Organizations & Memberships

Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei · American Academy of Arts and Sciences · British Academy · International Academy of the History of Science · Mont Pelerin Society · National Academy of Sciences · Royal Society of London

Notable Work

Conjectures and Refutations · Objective Knowledge · The Logic of Scientific Discovery · The Open Society and Its Enemies · The Poverty of Historicism · The Self and Its Brain · Unended Quest