The Myth of the Framework

Abstract

In a literary career spanning 60 years, Sir Karl Popper has made important contributions to the 20th century discussion of science and rationality. In so doing, he has attacked intellectual fashions like positivism which exaggerate what science and rationality have done, and, at the same time, intellectual fashions like relativism which denigrate what science and rationality can do. Popper regards scientific knowledge as one of the greatest and most creative of human achievements. But he regards it, at the same time, as inherently fallible and subject to revision for these reasons, Myth of the Framework is not a defence of the scientific method, expert knowledge, Big Science, or the scientific institution - but a defence of science and the rational tradition against fashionable distortions of its aims and ideals. The essays in this book discuss such issues as the aims of science, the role that it plays in our civilization, the moral responsibiliby of the scientist, the function of a university, and the perennial choice between reason and revolution. Popper emphasizes that science and rationality are what enable humans to free themselves from prejudices.