A World of Propensities by Sir Karl Popper

by Karl Popper

Expanded versions of two lectures - given in 1988 and 1989 respectively - by Sir Karl Popper. The first introduces a new view of causality, based on Popper's interpretation of quantum theory. The second lecture gives a glimpse of human knowledge as it evolves from animal knowledge.

Genres: Philosophy, Science, Nonfiction

Paperback

Published January 1, 1800

About the author

Sir Karl Raimund Popper, FRS, rose from a modest background as an assistant cabinet maker and school teacher to become one of the most influential theorists and leading philosophers. Popper commanded international audiences and conversation with him was an intellectual adventure—even if a little rough—animated by a myriad of philosophical problems. He contributed to a field of thought encompassing (among others) political theory, quantum mechanics, logic, scientific method and evolutionary theory.

Popper challenged some of the ruling orthodoxies of philosophy: logical positivism, Marxism, determinism and linguistic philosophy. He argued that there are no subject matters but only problems and our desire to solve them. He said that scientific theories cannot be verified but only tentatively refuted, and that the best philosophy is about profound problems, not word meanings. Isaiah Berlin rightly said that Popper produced one of the most devastating refutations of Marxism. Through his ideas Popper promoted a critical ethos, a world in which the give and take of debate is highly esteemed in the precept that we are all infinitely ignorant, that we differ only in the little bits of knowledge that we do have, and that with some co-operative effort we may get nearer to the truth.

Nearly every first-year philosophy student knows that Popper regarded his solutions to the problems of induction and the demarcation of science from pseudo-science as his greatest contributions. He is less known for the problems of verisimilitude, of probability (a life-long love of his), and of the relationship between the mind and body.

Popper was a Fellow of the Royal Society, Fellow of the British Academy, and Membre de I'Institute de France. He was an Honorary member of the Harvard Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, and an Honorary Fellow of the London School of Economics, King's College London, and of Darwin College Cambridge. He was awarded prizes and honours throughout the world, including the Austrian Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold, the Lippincott Award of the American Political Science Association, and the Sonning Prize for merit in work which had furthered European civilization.

Karl Popper was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1965 and invested by her with the Insignia of a Companion of Honour in 1982.

(edited from http://www.tkpw.net/intro_popper/intr...)

Reviews

[I · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esimene Popperi raamat ja... mind on kätte saadud (?) ! Kuigi pole tegu ilmselt targa valikuga tema viimaseid loenguid esimeseks lugeda...

A World of Propensities
Teaduseusku Popper otsib objektiivset seletust tõenäosusfenomenile esitades teooria 'propensities't', n-ö tendentsidest. Vastandudes subjektiivsele teooriale, mis väidab, et tõenäosus sõltub meie enda teadmistest ja teadmisseisundist, argumenteerib Popper, et teadmistega ei ole siin mingit tegu - kui välja kalkuleerida kõikvõimalikud mõjutajad, kalduvad sündmused ikka 'ühele' või 'teisele poole', kusjuures see ei tähenda, et sündmused oleksid deterministlikult ettemääratud, vaid et ka tendentse arvesse võttes säilib looduses indeterministlik muster.
A world of propensities - 'an unfoulding process of realising possibilities and of unfolding new possibilities'; 'these tendencies and propensities have led to the emergence of life'

Towards an Evolutionary Theory of Knowledge
Oma teises loengus esitab Popper axioomi: 'animals can know something'. Sellele toetudes argumenteerib ta mööda ajatelge tagasi ja jõuab järelduseni, et teadmine on lausa arhailine ulatudes esimeste elumärkideni välja. Kogu arutluskäik põhineb seosel, et teadmine on tihtilugu ootus (expectation). Popper argumenteerib, et a priori teadmised ei saa alguse mitte sensoorsetest süsteemidest, vaid sensoorsed süsteemid arenesid tänu teadmistele. Näiteks toob ta esimeste algeliste silmade arengu, mis pidid olema 'teadlikud', et keskkonnas on valgus; et valguse tunnetamine viib ka arengus edasi, avastati katse-eksituse meetodi abil. Sellised a priori teadmised on n-ö pikaajaline teadmine 'maast ja ilmast' ehk ajast ja ruumist ja kausaalsusest; need teadmised viivad adaptsioonideni, mis võimaldavad eduka evolutsiooni ja arengu. A posteriori teadmised s.o teadmised pärast sensoorset informatsiooni, panustavad lühiajaliste teadmiste ja adaptsioonide kujunemisesse. Lõpuks rõhutab Popper üksikisiku tasandil keemiliste reaktsioonide olulisust ja teadmiste hüpoteetilisust, korreleerides seda evolutsiooni katse-eksitusmeetodiga ja 'error elimination'iga'.
'Kõik organismid on probleemiotsijad ja -lahendajad. [...] Ainult koos eluga sünnivad maailma probleemid ja väärtused.'

[Marco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two short university lectures by Popper delivered in the late 1980's. The first, which gives the name to this work, "A world of propensities", explains how our understanding of causality has changed from the determinism of Newton to a world of inclinations and propensities. The second lecture is called "Towards an evolutionary theory of knowledge"; in it, Popper starts from the bold assertion that all living things share some universal characteristics about how their knowledge of the world gives them an evolutionary advantage, and that humans are only extending a higher degree of reflexivity in their own knowledge. Both lectures are refreshing, stand well the test of time, and are extremely fascinating.

[Per Kraulis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little gem of a book in the form of two essays from the last few years of Karl Popper's life.

In the first essay, Popper presents a new view of causality, involving the notion of propensities. This is a view that marries Popper's indeterminism with a realist stance that events and processes are properties of the world.

In the second essay, he discusses his evolutionary approach to the problem of knowledge, in which he shows that even the earliest life forms can be interpreted as being based on knowledge, and embodying theories of how the environment behaves and how it can be used. This approach stresses the active nature of life and knowledge-seeking, debunking the idea that knowledge comes in the form of streams of data that the organism passively receives.

[Rui Ferreira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting little book about the propensities of the world.

[Edmundo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful. Clear. I liked this. Propensities are cool.

[A · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short book (~120 pages) that barely sticks in my memory. I do like Karl Popper, though, but I would only read this one after you finish his more significant works. You will get more out of them than others.

[Kimia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The world will be wider than ever, but the various theories of evolution remain strong in all sciences, a good book for followers of this theory, along with some philosophical thinking.