Popper,.Karl.-.The.Open.Society.and.Its.Enemies.Vol.I.(1947).pdf

THE OPEN SOCIETY
AND ITS ENEMIES
THE SPELL OF PLATO
THE OPEN SOCIETY
AND ITS ENEMIES
by K. R. POPPER
Volume I
THE SPELL OF PLATO
London
E ROUTLEDGE & SONS, LTD.
BROADWAY HOUSE: 68-74 CARTER LANE, .
First published
Reprinted 1947
It will be seen . . , that the Erewhonians
are a meek and long-suffering people, easily led
by the nose, and quick to offer mon
sense . . . when a philosopher arises among
them . . . SAMUEL BUTLER.
THIS BOOK IS PRODUCED PLETE
CONFORMITY WITH THE AUTHORIZED
ECONOMY STANDARDS
tinted in Great Britain by Butler & Tanner Ltd., Frome and London
PREFACE
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, the wish to belittle them. It springs rather from
my conviction that if we wish our civilization to survive we must
break with the habit of deference to great men. Great men
make mistakes and as the book tries to some
may great ; show,
of the greatest leaders of the past supported the perennial attack
on freedom and reason. Their influence, too rarely challenged,
continues to mislead those on whose defence civilization depends,
and to divide them. The responsibility for this tragic and
possibly fatal division es ours if we hesitate to be outspoken
in our criticism of what admittedly is part of our intellectual
heritage. By our reluctance to criticize a part of it, we may
help to destroy it all.
The book is a critical introduction to the philosophy of
politics and of history, and an examination of some of the
principles of social reconstruction. Its aim and the line of
approach are indicated in the Introduction. Even where it looks
back into the past, its problems are the problems of our own
time I tried to it as as
; and have hard make simple possible,
hoping to clarify matters which concern us all.
Although the book presupposes nothing but open-mindedness
in the reader, its objec