Karl Raimund Popper is seen as one of the greatest philosophers of science of the 20th century. I have created this article to give you an idea of this philosopher.
Lifecycle
Karl Raimund Popper was born on July 28, 1902 and died on September 17, 1994. Popper was born into a Jewish family and attended the University of Vienna, where he studied philosophy. After this he started teaching at a secondary school, but due to Hitler’s emerging policies, Popper emigrated to New Zealand in 1937. After the war in 1946, Popper returned to Europe and became a professor at the London School of Economics.
Theory of relativity
Popper’s great example was Einstein. And especially because of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. Time and space are not relative.
Verification/Falsification
Popper became famous because he believed that observations could not simply be taken as correct. If you gave it enough time you could disprove every theory. For example, you cannot say all swans are white if you have not seen them all. So Popper came up with falsifiability as a criterion. Popper believed that instead of verification we should focus on falsification. You have to try to refute a theory, and if that doesn’t work, you can provisionally assume that the theory is correct. But Popper thinks you can ultimately debunk everything.
Open Society
The falsification principle applies not only to theories but also to society. Popper wanted an open society. A society in which criticism was allowed to have its way, just like deviating ideas. By testing these things you could make a better world. Popper doesn’t think this will ever end, but if something changes it will be an improvement. And if there is a standstill then you speak of deterioration.
Objective Knowledge
But besides the falsification principle and the open society, there is something else Popper had studied: human ideas in general. In 1972 he presented the book on this subject: Objective Knowledge. In this he assumes 3 worlds: the world of physical objects; the mental world of states of consciousness; and the world of ideas in an objective sense. These worlds should not be confused. The first world (the world of physical objects) this world is the real world, the outside world. The second world (the mental world of states of consciousness) is also a real world, but the inner world, i.e. the world of feeling and experiencing. The last world (the world of ideas in an objective sense) is a world of concepts.
Because Popper found a different way to test theories, he is considered a great philosopher and will always be until someone proves otherwise.