The Poverty of Historicism

I'm no philosopher, nor have I training in that respect. That said, this work is a small book that is quite comprehensible to the layman. It gives powerful arguments against "historicism", the sense that history is moving in a provable direction and that activists can help it get there. This is - to me - a horrid thing, as it inevitably will lead to forcing the path of history, and God help anyone in the way. Think of communism and the resultant death toll. Popper believes in small, testable steps of human progress - a pension plan here, some urban planning there. This to me is doable, sensible, and completely congruent with a democratic society. I instinctively liked Popper and his philosophy. Highly recommended read.

Popper's book on historicism has sustained a surprising popularity considering the fact that its key concepts - such as "piecemeal social engineering" and "historicism" itself - have been all but ignored in subsequent social theory. Perhaps Popper's exceptional lucidity has compensated for it's lack of contemporary relevance. Popper paints a picture of historicism as a doctrine which is part anti-naturalistic (social phenomena cannot be studied with the same methods as natural science) and part naturalistic (general "historical laws" are applicable to all ages). He proceeds to refute the doctrine on both accounts.

Popper's description of historicism is in my opinion too self-contained. He hardly even mentions any actual proponents of show more this school of thought. It's obvious that they include Comte, Marx and Mill, but none of these authors directly advocated all the propositions that Popper attributes to historicism. In the end it seems to me that Popper is mostly just peddling his own philosophy of social science rather than discussing an established doctrine. This short book is worth reading but I found more depth and insight in The Open Society and Its Enemies. show less

Historicism is a very old movement. Its oldest forms, such as the doctrines of the life-cycles of cities and races, actually precede the primitive teleological view that there are hidden purposes behind the apparently blind decrees of fate. Although this divination of hidden purposes is far removed from the scientific way of thinking it has left unmistakable traces upon even the most modern historicist theories. Every version of historicism expresses the feeling of being swept into the future by irresistible forces.

Modern historicists, however, seem to be unaware of the antiquity of their doctrine. They believe—and what else could their deification of modernism permit?—that their own brand of historicism is the latest and boldest show more achievement of the human mind, an achievement so staggeringly novel that only a few people are sufficiently advanced to grasp it. They believe, indeed, that it is they who have discovered the problem of change—one of the oldest problems of speculative metaphysics.

This is a great critique of the historicism, which often in the XXth century went hand in hand with totalitarian state. Both communism and Nazism grounded their philosophies at least partially on it. It is especially pleasant to see that the author quotes Friedrich Hayek on both economics and social sciences in general. It is not an easy read, but such philosophical texts rarely are. show less

Dedicated to those who lost their lives to Fascism, Popper's treatise examines the failure and inherent oppression of historicism applied. This along with his Open Society and its Enemies are among the most important works of 20th century political philosophy. Today's proponents historicism would do well to read it.

Ensayo que incide en la debilidad interna que aqueja a la estructura teórica de esta corriente de pensamiento y que es partir de una premisa tan errónea en su planteamiento como falaz en sus implicaciones: la certeza de que la evolución humana puede ser objeto de predicción mediante el descubrimiento de los ritos, modelos, leyes o tendencias que supuestamente gobernarían su curso.

Dedicated to those who lost their lives to Fascism, Popper's treatise examines the failure and inherent oppression of historicism applied. This along with his Open Society and its Enemies are among the most important works of 20th century political philosophy. Today's proponents historicism would do well to read it.

Dedicated to those who lost their lives to Fascism, Popper's treatise examines the failure and inherent oppression of historicism applied. This along with his Open Society and its Enemies are among the most important works of 20th century political philosophy. Today's proponents historicism would do well to read it.