Karl Popper versus progressive identity politics, 2nd part

Popper’s legacy, on knowledge and ignorance – and how he can help us understand the present

This second of two parts on Karl Popper focuses on what I conceive to be his greatest legacy: his insights into the sources both of real knowledge about the world and of fake, ideological knowledge grounded in ‘history’. These insights are wonderful and valuable, so it can be no surprise that they are virtually ignored and neglected in our public life today.

As I said in the original article that I reproduced in the first part, “Popper was primarily a philosopher of science, who was most interested in scientific questions. His socio-political writings were powerful largely because they employed his thoughts on science to criticise theories of people and society which claimed scientific backing – like Marxism and the nationalist and racist ideologies that culminated in Nazism.”

I present here the fourth and final part of my original series on Popper, which I wrote in 2014 (and spent a great deal of time on). I think it is the best part, for summing up what I think Popper has to say to us now in our present situation and condition, facing the challenges we face.