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Title: Karl Popper by Bryan Magee ISBN: 0-670-01967-4 Publisher: Viking Press Format: Unknown Binding

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Average Customer Rating: 5 (1 review)

Rating: 5
Summary: Outstanding treatment of an important philosopher
Comment: Sir Karl Raimund Popper led a remarkable life, although from most accounts it didn't do much to lend him a sense of humility or good grace. That's as it may be, but it doesn't detract from his tremendous, thought largely forgotten, contributions to Western thought in the last sixty years.

In a country and time where academic discourse is dominated by high-flown and jargonistic theories, Popper's legacy is one that needs to be remembered (in fact, I've loaned this book to several people, and they've all told me that they hadn't realized just how influential his ideas have been). His approach is in the tradition of European liberalism-- Popper was an implacable foe of totalitarianism, mysticism, and absolutism of any sort. As the political left comes more and more to resemble the political right in terms of argumentation and language, it is genuinely refreshing to find that just a short time ago one of the most highly regarded scientist/philosophers of the modern age dedicated his life to fighting for intellectual honesty, academic rigor, and a better life for all of mankind.

Bryan Magee is an engaging philosopher and writer in his own right (this as well as his other books are genuinely fun to read), and does a brilliant job of presenting an accessible and comprehensive overview of Popper's major tenets. From the Open Society to World Three to Scientific Logic, all of Popper's major contributions to the humanities are represented here, and all are eloquently explained-- with extensive use of quotes from Popper's own writings.

The fact that one of the most highly-regarded 20th century philosophers is now virtually unknown-- in spite of the fact that he spent decades fighting against Nazism, fascism, and racism-- is a sad indicator of the strange turns that academic humanist thought has taken in the last couple of decades. At under 150 pages, this is a quick read. But the ideas are timeless, and contain many ideas curiously missing from much of present-day discourse-- from explaining the ways in which each of us view the world in which we live to suggesting ways in which we do our part to provide a better existence for our fellow humans.