Philosophy and the Real World: An Introduction to Karl Popper Paperback – January 22, 1999

Not only does Magee's description of Popper assist in the understanding of the world, but also of history. "Philosophy and the Real World" is a highly readable book for scientific history lovers and philosophy students alike. I have attempted to give a synopsis of the content here for anyone unsure on the subject matter:The novel beings by explaining why Karl Popper is not a well known name, despite the fact that he has been regarded among the greatest scientific philosophers of all time. Many saw Popper's works to be in the same light as the logical positivists', though Popper insists this is a severe misinterpretation."The point I want to make here is that Popper's work itself contains a feature, unavoidable when rightly understood, which has got between him and potential readers--who, being only potential, are not yet in a position to understand it." (Magee, 1985, p. 9)What he intends to introduce here is Popper's philosophy of advancing knowledge through criticism of what has come before. To an extent, this is reminiscent of the confirmation of theory through falsification, as proposed by Popper himself, which was previously described in Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Falsificationism, essentially, asserts that we never really know anything; it is that we believe to be true what has not yet been shown false."He believes... that only through criticism can knowledge advance. This leads him to put forward most of his important ideas in the course of criticizing other peoples'...." (Magee, 1985, p. 9)Unfortunately, Popper's criticisms of ideas from persons such as Plato and Marx have often been taken as simply being criticisms and are not understood for the work Popper presents himself. When Popper's critiques are mistaken with the advancement of knowledge he intends, they therefore lose meaning. Another wall between Popper and readers is concerned with the prevalence of philosophy. We often take our basic knowledge as fact without being aware of the underlying philosophy. Yet, because the foundation is philosophical, persons will undoubtedly receive concepts differently based on their own ideologies, cultures, etc. The desire to be understood is perhaps one of Popper's most distinguishing characteristics as a philosopher, as well as a likely reason for why he spent so much time editing and refining his writing. But to be fully understood, one must be aware of all of Popper's works and the framework they built around society, scientific discoveries, and history--else the unity and complete comprehension is lost. This, however, is also the premise of Magee's novel: to outline Popper's work in order to make clear its systematic unity.Popper's view of what constitutes science is absent of the inductive method and therefore escapes the problems of induction; he finds that it is falsifiability which divides the scientific from the non-scientific. Popper also proposes his version of the scientific method, contrary to the traditionalists' view. Popper's emphasis on problem-solving and its influence on all human activity is characterized in the fourth chapter where Popper's take on evolution and the development of language is introduced. Magee also describes Popper's `World 3' and its influence on the individual, forecasting the political struggles of the world which are discussed in the last chapters of the book.

If you are looking for a concise secondary source on Popper’s philosophy, this book is ideal. In 116 pages of text Magee covers Popper’s central ideas on falsifiability, what is and what is not science, his evolutionary approach to knowledge as problem solving, and how his epistemological ideas lead to a devastating critique of Marxism as a “science.” Magee is a lucid writer. The language and structure of the book make for accessible reading including for those with very little background in philosophy. Though it was written fifty years ago, virtually nothing in the book is dated. And Magee shows that Popper’s superb analysis of science and his trenchant critique of political “isms” is as relevant today as when the book was written. The lucidity of the book surprised me. Both in content and style the book may well be, despite its brevity, the most readable and accessible source on the market for those interested in Popper’s philosophy.

If you are interested in the philosophy of science, you pretty much have to check out this book! Karl Popper is absolutely crucial to understanding (even if you don't agree with him) modern philosophy of science. This book does a great job of providing an overview/introduction to Popper's thoughts and arguments. However, with that being said, you (as a reader) also should have some understanding of the larger context of philosophy (and specifically the philosophy of science) in order to really appreciate this book. Not that you won't get anything out of the book otherwise, but without the larger context you will probably miss out on a quite a bit.

This book is first-rate. It covers Popper's thought comprehensively, concisely, and clearly. The structure of the book is also coherent, building up ideas in earlier chapters that are essential to later chapters. For example, through the book I understood for the first time exactly how Popper's thoughts on society evolve directly from his thoughts on the philosophy of knowledge. If you're not already well-versed in Popper this is an ideal place to start. It's no surprise that Popper himself endorsed the text.

Without hyperbole, Popper's ideas may be the most important in the world. I say that because if you accept David Deutsch's aphorism that 'All suffering is due to lack of knowledge', then Popper's relevance is clear -- this book covers Popper's ideas on how knowledge is created in the first place.

Fetch this book and read it if you would like to be introduced to the (arguably) most important philosopher of the 20th Century (and one of the most important of all time)!