Celebrating The Open Society

Abstract

The usual function of the ritual of celebrating anniversaries is to combine publicity with reaffirmation. An alternative to reaffirmation is taking stock: critical assessment. Otto Neurath, the second and last leader of the Vienna Circle, wanted only reaffirmation of that movement and its doctrines (see his correspondence). Karl Popper, the &dquo;official opposition&dquo; of the Vienna Circle, flatly rejected Neurath's approach. Reaffirmation, he observed, leads to stagnation and to furtive changes to school doctrines. His anniversaries, then, deserve to be an occasion for critical reassessment. The two recent special issues of

Mokslas ir socialinės inžinerijos idėja (I): Karlas Raimundas Popperis

“…Taigi, Agassi teigimu: "Popperis laikë optimizmà moraline pareiga, be kurios veikimas yra bergþdþias: veikti reikia pripaþástant, jog kritiniai debatai yra naudingi, kad jie pagerins tiek mûsø pasaulio supratimà (priartins prie tiesos), tiek ir mûsø sprendimus (priartins prie tobulybës). Jei tai yra màstoma, privalome bandyti" (Agassi 1997;516).…”