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The Biography and Contributions of Karl Popper
Christopher Flores
PHIL202 Philosophy of Science
American Military University -
Biographical Account
-Karl Popper was born in Vienna, Austria and was influenced by Einstein.
-He received many awards and honors, including being knighted by the Queen (Gordon, 2015). -
Biography (Continued)
-Karl Popper got accepted and attended the University of Vienna. It is there where he studied mathematics and theoretical physics, and eventually got a PHD in philosophy in 1922.
-He died in 1994 due to a complication of pneumonia, kidney failure, and cancer -
Knowledge, Probability, and Verisimilitude
In terms of verisimilitude, popper offered two methods, qualitative and quantitative, for comparison of theories. -
Published Works
-The Logic of Scientific Discovery
-Open Society
-The Poverty of Historicism
-Conjectures of Refutations -
Karl Popper's Representation of the Problem of Demarcation
-Popper began demarcating between science and pseudoscience when he was a teenager.
-He came up with falsificationism as a solution to the demarcation
problem by proposing that that science is refutable in principle. -
The Theory of Falsification
In 1935 Karl popper published his first book titled, "Logic of Research". He later translated the book into English in his later years since it was originally in German. In his book, he discussed the importance of truly being able to falsify a scientific theory. In his eyes this differentiated science itself from pseudo-science.
Karl Popper Crash Course- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X8Xfl0JdTQ -
London School of Economics
In 1946, Karl Popper decided to move to London and take another teaching position at the London School of Economics. Besides now teaching economics, Popper also brought his focus back to philosophy and quantum mechanics, rather than political and social sciences. He remained at the university and taught until 1969. Popper still continued writing even after his role as a professor. -
Retirement
In 1969, Karl Popper retired from the teaching scene and went back to Austria for a few years to spend time with his family. Then later went back to London in 1986, and spent his final years in Kenley, Surrey. In 1994 Karl Popper died of cancer and multiple other health issues, leaving a legacy of a dozen major works and thousands of inspired young philosophers/scientist. -
References
-Agassi, J. (2014). Popper and his popular critics : Thomas Kuhn, Paul Feyerabend and Imre Lakatos. New York: Springer.
-Balashov, Y., & Rosenberg, A. (2002). Philosophy of Science. Contemporary Readings. Routledge.
Biggs, M. (2013). Pseudoscience . SAGE Publications. -
References (Continued)
-Catton, P., & Graham, M. (2004). Karl Popper; Critical Appraisals. Routledge .
-Chalmers, A. (2013). What is this thing called Science. Indianapolis : Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
-Godfrey-Smith, P. (2008). Theory and Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science. University of Chicago Press.
-Gordon, T. (2015). A Brief Profile of the Philosophy and Work of Karl Popper. Retrieved from Academia.