The 35 best quotes by Karl Popper
Karl Popper (1902 - 1994) was an Austrian philosopher, professor and writer of Jewish origin, later nationalized British.
Popper is still studied in the faculties of social sciences of the West as one of the most prolific and profound thinkers of the twentieth century. His works, which cover any form of political, philosophical and sociological analysis, were characterized by the analysis of his experiences in the two world wars of the beginning of the century.
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The best quotes of Karl Popper
Agnostic and anti-nationalist, Popper's work includes titles such as "The open society and its enemies" or "The logic of scientific research." His social theories and his thoughts are still central when analyzing the dynamics of society.
In this article we are going to compile the best quotes of Karl Popper , an essential philosopher from whom we can learn a lot.
1. For a nation, freedom is more important than wealth, and, in political life, this is an indispensable condition to live at least humanly.
The bases for democracy, according to Karl Popper.
2. In the name of tolerance, we should claim the right not to tolerate the intolerant.
A game of words that hides a great truth.
3. Those who are unable to speak clearly must remain silent until they can do so.
If you are not able to express yourself properly ... you better keep practicing until you get it.
4. The open society is one in which men have learned to be somewhat critical of taboos, and to base decisions on the authority of their own intelligence.
Reflecting on the perfect society.
5. True ignorance is not the absence of knowledge, but the fact of refusing to acquire it.
The ignorance sought is extreme misery, according to Popper.
6. The reason is not all-powerful, it is a tenacious worker, opinionated, cautious, critical, implacable, willing to listen and discuss, risky.
One of those phrases by Karl Popper that scrutinizes the characteristics of reason and good sense.
7. The increase in knowledge depends entirely on the existence of disagreement.
Discrepancy builds better arguments and reasoning.
8. We must be against what has already been thought, against tradition, which can not be dispensed with, but can not be trusted.
True to the critical and empirical spirit, Karl Popper makes it clear that tradition should not be inscrutable.
9. Science must begin with myths and with criticism of myths.
In the same sense as the previous famous quote.
10. We should only sacrifice ourselves for the ideals.
Proselyte of his ideas, Popper had clear ethical principles.
11. Science can be described as the art of excessive systematic simplification.
His curious conception about science.
12. You can choose any name for both types of government. Personally, call the kind of government that can be eliminated without violence "democracy", and to the other "tyranny".
Differentiating between democracy and authoritarian forms of government.
13. No matter how many examples of white swans we have observed, this does not justify the conclusion that all swans are white.
This sentence is a clear example of his radical rationalism.
14. No rational argument will have a rational effect on a man who does not want to adopt a rational attitude.
Reflection to apply to daily life and avoid absurd discussions.
15. The game of science, in principle, never ends. Anyone who decides one day that the scientific statements do not require any further testing and can be considered definitively verified, is removed from the game.
Science, certainly, has the obligation to review each of its knowledge. Therefore, it is dynamic by definition.
16. The history of political power is the history of international crime and mass murder.
A disheartening vision about international politics and the interests of rich nations.
17. Equality before the law is not a fact but a political demand based on a moral decision. And it is totally independent of the (probably false) theory that all men are born equal.
The ethics that should accompany any legal principle.
18. I can be wrong and you can be right and, with an effort, we can get closer to the truth.
The discrepancy can make us advance as a society.
19. It is impossible to speak in such a way that it can not be misunderstood.
Words are always ambiguous, and it is difficult to avoid being misunderstood.
twenty.The theory dominates the experimental work from its initial planning to the final touches in the laboratory.
Another consideration of Popper on the scientific method.
21. For strictly logical reasons it is impossible for us to predict the course of history.
Becoming is impossible to predict. Not even by theories.
22. We do not know: we can only guess.
In this phrase, Karl Popper shows signs of a certain philosophical idealism.
23. I believe that the challenge is the only excuse for a lecture. This is the only way in which the spoken word can be better than the printed one.
About his motivation to come to the fore.
24. That which promises us paradise on earth never produced anything, but hell.
In this sentence, Popper makes clear to us his anti-religious position.
25. Equality before the law is not a fact, but a political requirement based on a moral decision. And it is totally independent of the theory -probably false- that all men are born equal.
Great thought that gathers his position about equality, linking it with his notion of ethics.
26. When a theory appears before you as the only possible one, take this as a sign that you have not understood either the theory or the problem to which it should resolve.
Simplicity is often condemned, since truth always has complex edges.
27. Our civilization has not yet fully recovered from the shock of its birth: the transition from tribal or closed society, with its submission to magical forces, to the open society that liberates the critical powers of man.
A historically fast transition that has taken us to a society for which we have not been biologically prepared.
28. You can become the creators of our destiny, when we have stopped thinking like prophets.
Living every moment is what drives us to the future.
29. The world is not made up of things, but by processes.
In constant change, nothing is immutable. A teaching by Karl Popper to take into account.
30. All life is a resolution of problems.
Therefore, we must adapt to the constant uncertainty.
31. Science is the only human activity in which errors are criticized and corrected.
Without science, it would be impossible to distinguish true knowledge from simple talk.
32. There is no history of humanity, there are only many stories of all kinds of aspects of human life.
The understanding of civilization can only be partially studied.
33. We are social creatures in the innermost part of our being. The idea that one can start anything from scratch, free of the past, or without the intervention of others, could not be more wrong.
Our cultural nature is indisputable, according to Popper.
34. Most never establish what is right or wrong, most can also be wrong.
An argument that some use to question the basis of democratic societies.
35. Our knowledge is necessarily finite, while our ignorance is necessarily infinite.
On knowledge and its limitations.
