ABSTRACT

 ‘If in this book harsh words are spoken about some of the greatest among the intellectual leaders of mankind, my motive is not, I hope, to belittle them. It springs rather from my conviction that, if our civilization is to survive, we must break with the habit of deference to great men.’

- Karl Popper, from the Preface

Written in political exile during the Second World War and first published in two volumes in 1945, Karl Popper’s The Open Society and Its Enemies is one of the most influential books of all time. Hailed by Bertrand Russell as a ‘vigorous and profound defence of democracy’, its now legendary attack on the philosophies of Plato, Hegel and Marx exposed the dangers inherent in centrally planned political systems and through underground editions become an inspiration to lovers of freedom living under communism in Eastern Europe.

Popper’s highly accessible style, his erudite and lucid explanations of the thoughts of great philosophers and the recent resurgence of totalitarian regimes around the world are just three of the reasons for the enduring popularity of The Open Society and Its Enemies and why it demands to be read today and in years to come.

part |4 pages

VOLUME I: THE SPELL OF PLATO

chapter |28 pages

The Myth of Origin and Destiny

chapter |48 pages

Plato’s Descriptive Sociology

chapter |78 pages

Plato’s Political Programme

chapter |31 pages

The Background of Plato’s Attack

chapter |23 pages

Addenda (1957, 1961, 1965)

part |4 pages

VOLUME II: THE HIGH TIDE OF PROPHECY

chapter |74 pages

The Rise of Oracular Philosophy

chapter |52 pages

Marx’s Method

chapter |60 pages

Marx’s Prophecy

chapter |14 pages

Marx’s Ethics

chapter |46 pages

The Aftermath

chapter |22 pages

Conclusion

chapter |27 pages

Addenda (1961, 1965)

chapter |2 pages

NOTES

chapter |126 pages

NOTES TO VOLUME I

chapter |95 pages

NOTES TO VOLUME II