Karl Popper
Philosophy and Problems

This collection of essays provides a timely assessment of the life and work of one of the twentieth century's most original thinkers.

Anthony O'Hear (Author)

9780521558150, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 28 March 1996

304 pages, 5 b/w illus.
23.4 x 16 x 1.9 cm, 0.48 kg

"All contributions contain useful insights." Michelle Marsonet, Philosophy in Review

Few philosophers in this century have had either Karl Popper's range or his influence, inside and outside philosophy. This collection of essays by fifteen distinguished philosophers, several of whom have been closely associated with Popper and his work, provides a timely assessment of Popper's contributions in a number of key areas: the methodology and philosophy of science; probability and determinism; quantum theory; biology; the theory of evolution; and the theory and practice of politics. The volume offers the specialist and the general reader alike fresh insights into the life and work of one of the twentieth century's most original thinkers.

Introduction Anthony O'Hear
1. Popper, science and rationality W. H. Newton-Smith
2. Popper and reliabilism Peter Lipton
3. The problem of empirical basis E. G. Zahar
4. 'Revolution in permanence': Popper on theory-change in science John Worrall
5. Popper's contribution to the philosophy of probability Donald Gillies
6. Propensities and indeterminism David Miller
7. Popper on determinism Peter Clark
8. Popper and the quantum theory Michael Redhead
9. The uses of Karl Popper Günther Wächtershaüser
10. Popper and Darwinism John Watkins
11. Popper and the scepticism of evolutionary epistemology, or, what were human beings made for? Michael Smithurst
12. Does Popper explain historical explanation? Kenneth Minogue
13. The grounds for anti-historicism Graham MacDonald
14. What use is Popper to a politician? Bryan Magee
15. Ethical foundations of Popper's philosophy Hubert Kieswetter
Index.

Subject Areas: Analytical philosophy & Logical Positivism [HPCF5]