This collection of essays, written on four continents by
scientists, philosophers and humanists, was initially presented to
Karl R. Popper on his sixtieth birthday as a token of critical
admiration and in recognition of his work. But the volume also
stands on its own as a remarkable series of statements utilizing
Popper's critical vision in the study of philosophy proper, logic,
mathematics, science as method and theory, and finally to the study
of society and history. What is remarkable is that Popper worked in
all of these areas, not in a cursory or discursive way, but with
the utmost clarity and rigor.
. The core position of this volume and its contributors is that
the progress of knowledge is not a linear accumulation of
definitive acquisitions but a zigzagging process in which
counterexamples and unfavorable evidence ruin generalizations and
prompt the invention of more comprehensive and sometimes deeper
generalizations, to be criticized in their turn. A critical
approach to problems, procedures, and results in every field of
inquiry is therefore a necessary condition for the continuance of
progress.
The title of this volume then is, in a sense, an homage to
Popper's critical rationalism and critical empiricism. The essays
are a tribute to his unceasing and uncompromising quest, not for
final certainty, but for closer truth and increased clarity. Among
the contributors are outstanding figures in philosophy and the
exact sciences in their own right, including Herbert Feigl, R. M.
Hare, J.O. Wisdom, Nicholas Rescher, David Bohm, Paul K.
Feyerabend, F. A. Hayek, and Adolf Grunbaum. Social science
contributions include Hans Albert on social science and moral
philosophy, W. B. Gallie, on the critical philosophy of history,
Pieter Geyl on "The Open Society and its Enemies, "and George H.
Nadel on the philosophy of History.
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