Popperism

Karl Popper was a philosopher of science who is best known for his work on falsifiability. He argued that scientific theories should be capable of being tested and falsified, and that this was the criterion for distinguishing science from non-science. Popper's ideas have had a significant impact on the philosophy of science and continue to be discussed and debated today.

History
Karl Popper was born on July 28th, 1902 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary, and became one of the most influential philosophers of science of the 20th century. After leaving school at the age of 16, he attended lectures in mathematics, physics, philosophy, psychology and the history of music as a guest student at the University of Vienna. He completed his Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of Vienna in 1928.

Popper is best known for his work on falsifiability as a criterion for separating science from non-science which he presented in his book "The Logic of Scientific Discovery" published in 1934. Popper argued that scientific theories should be capable of being tested and falsified, meaning that they should be capable of being proven false through empirical evidence. His critical rationalism proposed that scientific theories could only be tested and not proven true.

Popper's work has had a significant impact on the philosophy of science and has been widely debated and discussed. In addition to his work on falsifiability, he also made significant contributions to the philosophy of mind, politics, and social science. Popper passed away on September 17th, 1994, in London, leaving a notable legacy in the field of philosophy.

Beliefs
Karl Popper was a philosopher who made significant contributions to a variety of fields, including the philosophy of science, epistemology, politics, and social science. His work was characterized by a commitment to critical rationalism and an emphasis on falsifiability as a criterion for separating science from non-science.

One of Popper's key beliefs was that scientific theories should be open to testing and falsification. He argued that scientific knowledge is always provisional and subject to revision in light of new evidence. Moreover, he believed that scientific theories should be able to make testable predictions, and that they should be able to be falsified in the face of contradictory evidence. The principle of falsifiability was central to Popper's view that scientific knowledge is fallible and subject to continuous revision.

In addition to his work on falsifiability, Popper was also interested in the nature of knowledge and how it is acquired. He believed that all knowledge is conjectural and subject to revision, and that the process of acquiring knowledge involves testing our conjectures against reality. According to Popper, theories can never be proven true, but only falsified. This view is called critical rationalism and emphasizes exposing our theories to criticism and trying to falsify them, rather than trying to find evidence to confirm them.

Popper's political beliefs were also shaped by his philosophical framework. He was a firm believer in liberal democracy and was highly critical of authoritarian forms of government. He argued that no society could achieve perfect knowledge, so any regime that claimed to hold a monopoly on truth could not be trusted. Instead, Popper believed that a democratic system that allowed for open debate and criticism was the best way to discover truth and prevent abuses of power.

Overall, Karl Popper's beliefs emphasized critical thinking, falsifiability, and the importance of democratic institutions. His work continues to be highly influential in a range of fields and has sparked significant debate and discussion.