The great philosopher of science was born
in Vienna on 28 July 1902 and died in London on 17 September 1994.
He taught philosophy at Canterbury
University from 1937 to 1945 and while there wrote The Open Society and its Enemies (1945), which was as influential
in political thought as his other books were in philosophy. The Logic of Scientific Discovery (1935)
is not an easy read, but I have done it. Conjectures
and Refutations (1963) may be a better place to start. Pretty much everyone
since in his field has had to deal with Popper and his brilliant concept of falsifiability.
Stanford University’s bio is here.
I was taught philosophy of science at
Auckland University by Popper’s student and critic Paul Feyerabend. We
had no idea how lucky we were: not only did he know Popper, Thomas Kuhn, Imre Lakatos
and other heavyweights who dominated the field, but he had also known Bertolt
Brecht and, OMG, Ludwig Wittgenstein and probably most of the Vienna Circle.
Degrees of separation…
So here are Ultravox with “Vienna”:
4 comments:
Lovely to celebrate his birthday, sad he's no longer with us, and I just love the degrees of separation. And I haven't even started on Wittgenstein. That is truly OMG/WT...
Make a record (written) immediately, please.
I wish I could make a written record of Feyerabend et al but it was a while ago. Forty years, apparently. I do remember that he instantly scored the hottest babe on campus but no one begrudged him that - he was the hottest male babe on campus, with his Iron Cross and limp and Popper connection and all. I think he lived in what is now the Sargeson flat in Albert Park. He wasn't being a wanker talking about his friend "Bert" Brecht - it was just someone he knew. And he was really funny - so not what you expect in a philospher.
On another philosopher, have you read Gully Wells' memoir including her life with AJ Ayer? (title something like Our house in France).Very readable and delightful look at the times (60s +).
No but I've heard of it and would like to. He was a spy - well, MI6 in the war. There are some great stories about him. I think I liked reading him and Austin just becasue they wrote so well. Shallow, but there it is.
Post a Comment