Popper on demarcation and induction

Abstract

Popper's ideas represent the most important development in the philosophy of the twentieth century; an achievement in the tradition – and on the level – of Hume, Kant, or Whewell. Personally, my debt to him is immeasurable: more than anyone else, he changed my life. I was nearly forty when I got into the magnetic field of his intellect. His philosophy helped me to make a final break with the Hegelian outlook which I had held for nearly twenty years. And, more important, it provided me with an immensely fertile range of problems, indeed, with a veritable research programme. Work on a research programme is, of course, a critical affair, and it is no wonder that my work on Popperian problems has frequently led me into conflict with Popper's own solutions.