Unended Quest: An Intellectual AutobiographyAt the age of eight, Karl Popper was puzzling over the idea of infinity and by fifteen was beginning to take a keen interest in his father's well-stocked library of books. Unended Quest recounts these moments and many others in the life of one of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century, providing an indispensable account of the ideas that influenced him most. As an introduction to Popper's philosophy, Unended Quest also shines. Popper lucidly explains the central ideas in his work, making this book ideal for anyone coming to Popper's life and work for the first time. |
Contents
1 Omniscience and Fallibility | 1 |
2 Childhood Memories | 3 |
3 Early Influences | 5 |
4 The First World War | 9 |
Infinity | 11 |
the Problem of Essentialism | 13 |
What Still Divides Me from Most Contemporary Philosophers | 15 |
Marxism Science and Pseudoscience | 30 |
25 Other Work in New Zealand | 137 |
At the London School of Economics and Political Science | 138 |
27 Early Work in England | 144 |
28 First Visit to the United States Meeting Einstein | 146 |
29 Problems and Theories | 152 |
30 Debates with Schrödinger | 156 |
31 Objectivity and Criticism | 159 |
32 Induction Deduction Objective Truth | 162 |
9 Early Studies | 39 |
Dogmatic and Critical Thinking Learning Without Induction | 45 |
11 Music | 56 |
Psychology of Discovery or Logic of Discovery? | 59 |
13 Two Kinds of Music | 65 |
14 Progressivism in Art Especially in Music | 75 |
15 Last Years at the University | 80 |
Logik Der Forschung | 87 |
17 Who Killed Logical Positivism? | 98 |
18 Realism and Quantum Theory | 101 |
19 Objectivity and Physics | 109 |
20 Truth Probability Corroboration | 111 |
21 The Approaching War The Jewish Problem | 119 |
England and New Zealand | 123 |
23 Early Work in New Zealand | 127 |
24 The Open Society and the Poverty of Historicism | 130 |
33 Metaphysical Research Programmes | 172 |
Quantum Mechanics and Propensity | 175 |
35 Boltzmann and the Arrow of Time | 181 |
36 The Subjectivist Theory of Entropy | 189 |
37 Darwinism as a Metaphysical Research Programme | 194 |
38 World 3 or the Third World | 210 |
39 The Bodymind Problem and World 3 | 218 |
40 The Place of Values in a World of Facts | 225 |
Postscript | 231 |
Postscript to Marxism 1992 | 235 |
Notes | 237 |
Main Publications and Abbreviations of Titles | 281 |
Select Bibliography | 283 |
| 301 | |
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arguments attitude Austria behaviour believe Bohr Boltzmann called cantus firmus Carnap Chap conjecture course critical Darwinism deductive discovery discussed dogmatic Einstein English entropy entropy increase Ernst Gombrich Ernst Mach especially example experience explain fact Feigl formulated German Gomperz H-theorem Heinrich Gomperz Herbert Feigl hypothesis ideas informative content intellectual interesting interpretation intuitive Karl Popper knowledge language later editions learning lectures logical logical positivism Logik der Forschung London Mach Marxism meaning metaphysical method mind negentropy Newton’s objective one’s Open Society paper perhaps Philosophy of Science physical physicist Plato positivism Poverty of Historicism probability problem of induction psychology published quantum mechanics Quantum Theory rational realist Refutations regarded Richard von Mises Routledge Rudolf Carnap Schrödinger scientific seems selection sense sequence situation social solution solve statements subjectivist suggest Tarski testable things thought tion translation trial truth valid Vienna Circle Zealand