Karl Popper and the Social Sciences

Abstract

The social sciences have a rich tradition, as shown by its various authors and theories found throughout written history. In the 1st century BC, for example, Seneca the younger stated that “human beings are social animals” (Cl.1.3.2). Not long before, in the 4th century BC, Aristotle insisted that “man is by nature [emphasis mine] a political animal” (Pol. 1.1.9). This chapter focuses on Karl Popper, a contemporary social thinker. Popper represented one of, if not, the most prolific authors that articulated the status of the social sciences. While Popper (1950/1971a, 1950/1971b, 1959/1992, 1963, 1972, 1982, 1983, 1991, 1996a) produced an extensive body of literature devoted to the social sciences, he has been given too little attention in modern social science historiography. Even though he “concentrated mainly on practical problems of the methodology of the social sciences” (Popper, 2008, p. 87), textbooks of social science methodology rarely include Popper’s writings. Consequently, his works on the social sciences and/or psychology, including his dissertation, remain largely unknown.