Shahnawaz Bulbul*
Open Society and Its
Enemies and The
Poverty
of
Historicism, Sir Karl Raimund
Popper developed a critique
of historicism and a defense of the
'Open Society.' Popper considered
historicism to be the theory that
history develops inexorably and
necessarily towards a determinate
end according to knowable general
laws. He argued that this view is the
principal theoretical presupposition
underpinning most forms of
authoritarianism and totalitarianism.
Popper posed that historicism is
founded upon mistaken assumptions
regarding the nature of scientific law
and prediction. Since the growth of
human knowledge is a causal factor
in the evolution of human history,
and since "no society can predict,
scientifically, its own future states of
knowledge". This knowledge
includes the empirical knowledge
and step-by-step evolution with the
course of history.
In 1947, Popper founded the Mont
Pelerin
Society with Friedrich
Hayek, Milton
Friedman, Ludwig
von
Mises and
others
to
defend classical liberalism, in the
spirit of the Open Society.
Problems
of
Implementing
Liberalism on the Indian subcontinent
Unlike other western nation states,
the Indian sub-continent is different
in terms of political and civil rights
and practices. Whereas western
democracies
preferred
acknowledging political freedom and
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THEORIES
Implementing the Idea of Liberal