The Open Society and Its Enemies
Defends open society against historicism and totalitarianism.
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The Open Society and Its Enemies is a political philosophy work by Karl Popper that defends the open society against historicism.[1] Popper wrote the book during World War II and it was published in 1945 in London by Routledge.[2] In 1999, the Modern Library Board's voting placed this work among their selection of the 20th century's top 100 nonfiction books.[2][3]
Making and release
Popper described The Open Society and Its Enemies as his "war effort".[4] The book was born when Popper cut a critique of historicism out of his paper "The Poverty of Historicism".[4] Writing the book was not easy for Popper.[4] After finishing the manuscript, Popper faced the challenge of finding a publisher.[4]
Popper gave a fateful talk at Friedrich Hayek's research seminar at LSE.[4] After arriving at LSE, Popper never seriously pursued political philosophy again.[4] Routledge originally brought out the work in London during 1945 as two separate books: one titled "The Spell of Plato" and another called "The High Tide of Prophecy: Hegel, Marx, and the Aftermath".[2] Princeton University Press issued a single-volume version during 2013 that incorporated a fresh introduction by Alan Ryan together with a contribution from E. H. Gombrich.[2][5]
The initial volume examines Plato's ideas, while Karl Marx is the subject of the second volume's analysis.[6]
What the cited sources add
The LSE History account notes that Popper's experiences during formative years sowed seeds for his social philosophy books.[4] Popper believed that large-scale social engineering by those claiming to know the ideal utopian society was dangerous.[4] The account states that Popper's student George Soros credited Popper with giving him skills to succeed.[4] Soros named his philanthropic organisation "Open Society Foundations" in acknowledgement of Popper.[4]
Haworth states that Popper's division of societies into "open" and "closed" still had clear relevance.[7] Haworth notes that Popper approvingly quoted Schopenhauer's description of Hegel's work as a "colossal mystification".[7] According to Haworth's 2002 Philosophy Now piece, The Open Society pursues multiple connected aims.[7]
References
- Wikipedia, "The Open Society and Its Enemies" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Haworth, "'The Open Society' Revisited", Philosophy Now, 2002 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "The Open Society and Its Enemies" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Popper, "The Open Society and Its Enemies", Princeton University Press, 2013; "Modern Library Top 100", 1999 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "Modern Library Top 100", 1999. facts only, no text reused. sites.prh.com
- Alexander, "The Open Society and Its Enemies: Karl Popper's legacy", LSE History, 20 November 2024. facts only, no text reused. blogs.lse.ac.uk
- Open Library record, ISBN 9780691158136 ("The Open Society and Its Enemies"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
- Wikipedia, "The Open Society and Its Enemies" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Popper, "The Open Society and Its Enemies", Princeton University Press, 2013 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Haworth, "'The Open Society' Revisited", Philosophy Now, 2002. facts only, no text reused. philosophynow.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article The Open Society and Its Enemies (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: The Open Society and Its Enemies (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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