The relation between body and mind is one of the oldest riddles that has puzzled mankind. That material and mental events may interact is accepted even by the law: our mental capacity to concentrate on the task can be seriously reduced by drugs. Physical and chemical processes may act upon the mind; and when we are writing a difficult letter, our mind acts upon our body and, through a chain of physical events, upon the mind of the recipient of the letter. This is what the authors of this book call the 'interaction of mental and physical events'. We know very little about this interaction; and according to recent philosophical fashions this is explained by the alleged fact that we have brains but no thoughts. The authors of this book stress that they cannot solve the body mind problem; but they hope that they have been able to shed new light on it. Eccles especially with his theory that the brain is a detector and amplifier; a theory that has given rise to important new developments, including new and exciting experiments; and Popper with his highly controversial theory of 'World 3'. They show that certain fashionable solutions which have been offered fail to understand the seriousness of the problems of the emergence of life, or consciousness and of the creativity of our minds. In Part I, Popper discusses the philosophical issue between dualist or even pluralist interaction on the one side, and materialism and parallelism on the other. There is also a historical review of these issues. In Part II, Eccles examines the mind from the neurological standpoint: the structure of the brain and its functional performance under normal as well as abnormal circumstances. The result is a radical and intriguing hypothesis on the interaction between mental events and detailed neurological occurrences in the cerebral cortex. Part III, based on twelve recorded conversations, reflects the exciting exchange between the authors as they attempt to come to terms with their opinions.

At the age of eight, Karl Popper was puzzling over the idea of infinity and by fifteen beginning to take a keen interest in his father's well-stocked library of books. Unended Quest recounts these moments and many others in the life of one of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century. Popper witnessed two World Wars and the collapse of Communism in the Eastern bloc, and provides here an indispensable account of the ideas that influenced him most, in particular his early fascination with science and philosophy. He talks about aspects of his life rarely discussed elsewhere, such as his love of music, the mixed feelings about his Jewish background, and his debate with Wittgenstein and the now legendary 'poker' incident. Popper also corresponded with a range of intellectual figures, including Heisenberg, Schrödinger, Einstein and Russell. Yet it is as an introduction to Popper's philosophy that Unended Quest shines. Popper lucidly explains some of the central ideas in his work, making this book ideal reading for anyone coming to Popper's life and work for the first time.

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.

First published in 1988. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

One of the century's greatest and most influential thinkers, Karl Popper reminds us that we must recognize our responsibilities in preserving the democratic system we enjoy: it is our actions which will create the world of tomorrow. In these interviews with journalist Giancarlo Bosetti, Karl Popper ranges widely over contemporary political and social issues. He reflects on many topics, from the decline of the Soviet Union and the danger of a Third World War, to our obligations to children and the potentially harmful influence of television. He warns us that the increasing violence and egotism of our society, if unchecked, will imperil our civilisation. The volume also contains two talks on the theory of democracy, arguing that democracy has never been the rule of the people (nor can or should it be), but only the best method we know for preventing tyranny.

In a career spanning sixty years, Sir Karl Popper has made some of the most important contributions to the twentieth century discussion of science and rationality. The Myth of the Framework is a new collection of some of Popper's most important material on this subject. Sir Karl discusses such issues as the aims of science, the role that it plays in our civilization, the moral responsibility of the scientist, the structure of history, and the perennial choice between reason and revolution. In doing so, he attacks intellectual fashions (like positivism) that exagerrate what science and rationality have done, as well as intellectual fashions (like relativism) that denigrate what science and rationality can do. Scientific knowledge, according to Popper, is one of the most rational and creative of human achievements, but it is also inherently fallible and subject to revision. In place of intellectual fashions, Popper offers his own critical rationalism - a view that he regards both as a theory of knowlege and as an attitude towards human life, human morals and democracy. Published in cooperation with the Central European University.

'I want to begin by declaring that I regard scientific knowledge as the most important kind of knowledge we have', writes Sir Karl Popper in the opening essay of this book, which collects his meditations on the real improvements science has wrought in society, in politics and in the arts in the course of the twentieth century. His subjects range from the beginnings of scientific speculation in classical Greece to the destructive effects of twentieth century totalitarianism, from major figures of the Enlightenment such as Kant and Voltaire to the role of science and self-criticism in the arts. The essays offer striking new insights into the mind of one of the greatest twentieth century philosophers.

Quantum Theory and the Schism in Physics 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. Quantum Theory and the Schism in Physics is the third volume of the Postscript. It may be read independently, but it also forms part of Popper's interconnected argument in the Postscript. It presents Popper's classic statement on quantum physics and offers important insights into his thinking on problems of method within science and physics as a whole.

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.

Sir John Eccles, a distinguished scientist and Nobel Prize winner who has devoted his scientific life to the study of the mammalian brain, tells the story of how we came to be, not only as animals at the end of the hominid evolutionary line, but also as human persons possessed of reflective consciousness.

'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.

In The Lesson of this Century Popper's purpose is to warn us against the increasing violence and egoism of our society. What solutions can we offer to the problems of the environment, demography and corruption? How can we prevent the violence our society engenders? How can we preserve our democratic system while at the same time paving the way for global peace? Popper believes that the philosopher has a duty to intervene in politics and he utters a clear call to all of us to recognise our responsibilities. He reminds us that it is our actions which will create the world of tomorrow.
The interviews in this volume were originally given to the Italian journalist Giancarlo Bosetti. The volume also includes the transcript of an interview about the moral dangers of television not previously available in English.

In a letter of 1932, Karl Popper described "Die Beiden Grundrpobleme der Erkenntnistheorie" - 'The Two Fundamental Problems of Knowledge' - as .,."a child of crises, ... above all of ... the crisis of physics. It asserts the permanence of crisis; if it is right, then crisis is the normal state of a highly developed rational science." Finally available in English for the first time, it is a major contribution to the philosophy of science and twentieth century philosophy generally.
Drawing on important research Popper carried out between 1930 and 1933, "Die Beiden Grundrpobleme der Erkenntnistheor"ie was not published in German until the early 1980's. The two fundamental problems of knowledge that lie at the center of the book are the problems of "induction," the theory that although we are only able to observe a limited number of particular events, science nevertheless advances universal statements; and the problem of "demarcation"; what separates empirical science from non-science?
Popper seeks to solve these two basic problems with his celebrated theory of falsificationism. He argues that science is separated from non-science not by the verifiability but by the falsifiability of its theories. Popper also argues that science is not inductive but ultimately deductive; it does not start out from observations and generalize from them, as many presumed, but starts with problems, which it attacks with bold conjectures.
As such, "The Two Fundamental Problems of Knowledge" contains many of the celebrated arguments that were to later find full expression in Popper's most celebrated work, "The Logic of Scientific Discovery," It is therefore essential reading for anyone interested inKarl Popper, the history and philosophy of science, and the methods and theories of science itself.

Described by the philosopher A.J. Ayer as a work 'of great originality and power' Popper's The Logic of Scientific Discovery revolutionized contemporary thinking on science and knowledge. Ideas such as his now legendary doctrine of 'falsificationism' electrified the scientific community, influencing even working scientists. The book also had a profound effect on post war philosophy. First published in English in 1959, this astonishing work ranks alongside The Open Society and Its Enemies as one of Popper's most enduring and famous books and contains insights and arguments that demand to be read to this day.

One of the century's greatest and most influential thinkers, Karl Popper reminds us that we must recognize our responsibilities in preserving the democratic system we enjoy: it is our actions which will create the world of tomorrow.
In these interviews with journalist Giancarlo Bosetti, Karl Popper ranges widely over contemporary political and social issues. He reflects on many topics, from the decline of the Soviet Union and the danger of a Third World War, to our obligations to children and the potentially harmful influence of television. He warns us that the increasing violence and egotism of our society, if unchecked, will imperil our civilisation. The volume also contains two talks on the theory of democracy, arguing that democracy has never been the rule of the people (nor can or should it be), but only the best method we know for preventing tyranny.

All Life is Problem Solving consists of fifteen occasional pieces - lectures, seminar contributions, radio broadcasts and magazine articles - spanning the years from 1958 until 1993. All but three are published here in English for the first time.
The volume is divided into two parts; theory of science and history and politics. The first contains pieces on Popper's key scientific interests, namely the evolution of human knowledge, his views on the body-mind problem, and a lecture on Kepler on the anniversary of his death. The second part consists of talks and articles on some of Popper's other characteristic preoccupations; the theory of liberty and democracy, the significance of the collapse of communism, the origins of the Germanic languages and the title piece on Popper's conception of life as a trial and error process of problem solving.

In a career spanning sixty years, Sir Karl Popper has made some of the most important contributions to the twentieth century discussion of science and rationality. The Myth of the Framework is a new collection of some of Popper's most important material on this subject. Sir Karl discusses such issues as the aims of science, the role that it plays in our civilization, the moral responsibility of the scientist, the structure of history, and the perennial choice between reason and revolution. In doing so, he attacks intellectual fashions (like positivism) that exagerrate what science and rationality have done, as well as intellectual fashions (like relativism) that denigrate what science and rationality can do. Scientific knowledge, according to Popper, is one of the most rational and creative of human achievements, but it is also inherently fallible and subject to revision. In place of intellectual fashions, Popper offers his own critical rationalism - a view that he regards both as a theory of knowlege and as an attitude towards human life, human morals and democracy. Published in cooperation with the Central European University.

'I want to begin by declaring that I regard scientific knowledge as the most important kind of knowledge we have,' writes Sir Karl Popper in the opening essay of this book, which collects his meditations on the real improvements science has wrought in society, in politics and in the arts in the course of the twentieth century.
His subjects range from the beginnings of scientific speculation in classical Greece to the destructive effects of twentieth century totalitarianism, from major figures of the Enlightenment such as Kant and Voltaire to the role of science and self-criticism in the arts. The essays offer striking new insights into the mind of one of the greatest twentieth century philosophers.

Based upon the Kenan Lectures that Karl Popper delivered at Emory University, "Knowledge and the Body-Mind Problem" raises problems connected with human freedom, creativity, rationality, and the relationship between human beings and their actions. These are what Popper calls "big issues" - too big for easy answers, but too important to be ignored. In these lectures, and in the discussions that follow them, Sir Karl develops a theory of body-mind interaction. This theory involves evolutionary emergence, human language, and that realm of autonomous products of the human mind which Popper calls "World 3". According to Popper, consciousness emerged in the course of evolution as a kind of control system for the body, like a driver is a control system for a car. Objective knowledge - the kind of knowledge that is found in books and libraries - then emerged in the course of evolution as a higher level control system for the mind. Simply put, objective knowledge is the mind's control system for critical problem solving. In this way, full consciousness - the kind of consciousness that humans can have - is anchored in World 3 and is closely linked to human language, problems, and theories.

Contents:
Editor's Foreword Acknowledgements Author's Note, 1982 INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS Preface 1982: On a Realistic and Commonsense Interpretation of Quantum Theory QUANTUM THEORY AND THE SCHISM IN PHYSICS Chapter I Understanding Quantum Theory and its Interpretation Chapter II The Objectivity of Quantum Theory Chapter III Towards a Resolution of the Paradoxes of Quantum Theory Chapter IV A Metaphysical Epilogue Bibliographical Addendum, 1989 Index About the Author About the Editor

The Open Universe is the centrepiece of the argument of the Postscript. Popper argues in simple language for the freedom, creativity and rationality of mankind.

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.

Contents:
Editor's Foreword Acknowledgements Introduction, 1982 REALISM AND THE AIM OF SCIENCE Preface, 1956 Part I: The Critical Approach Chapter I Induction Chapter II Demarcation Chapter III Metaphysics: Sense of Nonsense? Chapter IV Corroboration Part II: The Propensity Interpretation of Probability Chapter I Objective and Subjective Probabilities Chapter II Criticism of Probabilistic Induction Chapter III Remarks on the Objective Theories of Probability Index

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.