Among
philosophers, Karl Popper (1902-1994) is best known for his
contributions to the philosophy of science and epistemology. Most of his
published work addressed philosophical problems in the natural
sciences, especially physics; and Popper himself acknowledged that his
primary interest was nature and not politics. However, his political
thought has arguably had as great an impact as has his philosophy of
science. This is certainly the case outside of the academy. Among the
educated general public, Popper is best known for his critique of
totalitarianism and his defense of freedom, individualism, democracy and
an “open society.” His political thought resides squarely within the
camp of Enlightenment rationalism and humanism. He was a dogged opponent
of totalitarianism, nationalism, fascism, romanticism, collectivism,
and other kinds of (in Popper’s view) reactionary and irrational ideas.
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