Philosophy of Society

Social Philosophy (Theory of Society)

The Open Society of Popper

An influential figure in the analysis of society was the Austrian-British philosopher Sir Karl Raimund Popper (1902-1994). He made a substantial impact on philosophical thought in two main areas: the philosophy of science and social philosophy, with his theory of society deriving from his theory of science. Popper posited that scientists formulate theories not solely based on experience. Initially, a scientist has an idea, analyzes it, aligns it with existing scientific theories of the time, conducts experiments to bolster the theory's plausibility if possible, and then presents it to the scientific community. A scientist cannot test a theory against all possible applications; hence, certainty about its truth is unattainable. A theory can only be deemed plausible. Once a theory gains widespread acceptance, it is utilized practically, which serves as a constant test of its validity. Each application of the theory risks falsification. For instance, the belief that copper is electrically conductive is a scientific theory, but it has never been possible to test all copper ever to exist or will exist. Thus, scientists cannot claim the theory to be absolutely true, yet copper is used in industry to make electrical conductors. Each working copper conductor increases the theory's plausibility, but if even one copper conductor fails, the theory of copper's conductivity can be declared false, i.e., falsified. However, for scientists to strengthen their confidence in a theory's truth or abandon it as false, they must be able to use and critique it. If any authoritative institution prohibits criticism of a theory and imposes penalties for it, the theory becomes unfalsifiable, not because it is true, but because it is upheld by a totalitarian regime. For example, Marxism was an utterly false economic theory, but in socialist countries, it was impossible to falsify due to severe repercussions for criticizing totalitarian regimes. Therefore, for a theory to be considered scientific, there must be the possibility of its criticism.

Popper applied these same principles to social philosophy. He distinguished between two types of society: open and closed. The defining feature of an open society is that individuals can freely express their opinions and critique social models. Conversely, a closed society is characterized by the prohibition of any criticism. In a closed society, members must agree with whatever the prevailing regime proclaims as true and have no right to their own opinion. Even when people observe obvious facts that contradict the dominant ideology, they prefer to remain silent to avoid becoming victims of the regime. What does it matter if everyone witnessed the shortages of essential goods, widespread poverty, bureaucratization of state structures, administrative inefficiency, industrial stagnation, and moral decay in the USSR if discussing these issues was forbidden?

Dissidents who pointed out the absolute inefficacy of socialism in all areas became victims of the regime. In his two-volume work, "The Open Society and Its Enemies," Popper analyzed the history of social and political thought and identified those social concepts that could be termed closed.

Closed societies are not necessarily totalitarian political regimes. A closed society is often associated with socialist or social-nationalist countries where any criticism of the prevailing ideology was completely banned. However, societal pressure that prevents the adequate evaluation and critique of dominant beliefs also poses a significant threat. The early 21st century has ushered in an era of permissiveness and the struggle for gender equality. These ideas have become the dominant ideology, which is impermissible to criticize. Even the evident fact of the dreadful demographic crisis, leading to the extinction of European nations, remains ignored by society. No one is allowed to criticize prevailing societal ideas. Those who dare to do so will be harshly condemned by public opinion and isolated, just as dissidents were isolated in the last century.