Concept
The Open Society and Its Enemies
Overview
The Open Society and Its Enemies is a work on political philosophy by the philosopher Karl Popper, in which the author presents a defence of the open society against its enemies, and offers a critique of theories of teleological historicism, according to which history unfolds inexorably according to universal laws. Popper indicts Plato, Hegel, and Marx for relying on historicism to underpin their political philosophies.
Written during World War II, The Open Society and Its Enemies was published in 1945 in London by Routledge in two volumes: "The Spell of Plato" and "The High Tide of Prophecy: Hegel, Marx, and the Aftermath". A one-volume edition with a new introduction by Alan Ryan and an essay by E. H. Gombrich was published by Princeton University Press in 2013. The work was listed as one of the Modern Library Board's 100 Best Nonfiction books of the 20th century.
The book critiques historicism and defends the open society and liberal democracy. Popper argues that Plato's political philosophy has dangerous tendencies towards totalitarianism, contrary to the benign idyll portrayed by most interpreters. He praises Plato's analysis of social change but rejects his solutions, which he sees as driven by fear of change brought about by the rise of democracies, and as contrary to the humanitarian and democratic views of Socrates and other thinkers of the Athenian "Great Generation". Popper also criticizes Hegel, tracing his ideas to Aristotle and arguing that they were at the root of philosophical underpinnings of 20th century totalitarianism. He agrees with Schopenhauer's view that Hegel "was a flat-headed, insipid, nauseating, illiterate charlatan, who reached the pinnacle of audacity in scribbling together and dishing up the craziest mystifying nonsense." Popper criticizes Marx at length for his historicism, which he believes led him to overstate his case, and rejects his radical and revolutionary outlook. Popper advocates for direct liberal democracy as the only form of government that allows institutional improvements without violence and bloodshed.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
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Dialectic, it may be added, is no novelty in philosophy. Among the ancients Plato is termed the inventor of Dialectic; and his right to the name rests on the fact, that the Platonic philosophy first gave the free scientific, and thus at the same time the objective, form to Dialectic. Socrates, as we should expect from the general character of his philosophising, has the dialectical element in a predominantly…
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, The Logic of Hegel
States what The Open Society and Its Enemies is; the author is tied to The Open Society and Its Enemies in the knowledge graph.
The materialistic conception of history, as it is called, is due to Marx, and underlies the whole Communist philosophy. I do not mean, of course, that a man could not be a Communist without accepting it, but that in fact it is accepted by the Communist Party, and that it profoundly influences their views as to politics and tactics.
Bertrand Russell, The Practice and Theory of Bolshevism
States what The Open Society and Its Enemies is; the author is tied to The Open Society and Its Enemies in the knowledge graph.
This German Socialism, which took its school-boy task so seriously and solemnly, and extolled its poor stock in trade in such mountebank fashion, meanwhile gradually lost its pedantic innocence. The fight of the German, and especially of the Prussian bourgeoisie, against feudal aristocracy and absolute monarchy, in other words, the liberal movement, became more earnest. By this, the long wished-for opportunity was…
Karl Marx, Manifesto of the Communist Party
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Philosophers who discussed The Open Society and Its Enemies
Related ideas
- Gilbert Ryle
- Manchester University Press
- Fascism
- Walter Kaufmann (philosopher)
- Friedrich Hayek
- Princeton University Press
- Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
- Heraclitus
- Sidney Hook
- Historicism
- Abingdon-on-Thames
- Radical politics
- Republic (Plato)
- Laissez-faire
- Karl Popper
- Bolshevism
- Karl Marx
- Humanitarianism
- Philosopher king
- Monism
- Delian League
- Nominalism
- Plato
- Trial and error
Place in the tradition
Part of Philosophy of history.
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