The Open Society and Its Enemies

Karl Popper is considered one of the most important thinkers of the 20th century. He was born in Vienna in 1902 and died in London in 1994. Popper specialized in the philosophy of science and was best known for his theoretical support of liberal democracy. His publications covered a diverse range of subjects, including various branches of philosophy, the scientific method, and the sociology of knowledge.

Popper’s parents were from an upper-middle-class, assimilated Jewish family. Some of its members, including his father, converted to Lutheranism and participated in the upper echelons of Viennese society. As he came of age, Popper attended the University of Vienna. Even in his youth, he displayed great interest in politics. He became a Marxist in 1919, distancing himself from this ideology shortly afterward. In 1928, the author earned a doctorate in psychology with a dissertation entitled On Questions of Method in the Psychology of Thinking. A year later, Popper completed the necessary requirements for teaching mathematics and physics in a secondary school setting. In 1930, Popper married Josephine Anna Henninger, who transcribed his works throughout her entire life.

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