The Open Society and Its Enemies
Popper defends criticism and revisable institutions against claims that history authorises one necessary political destination.
An open society permits institutions and leaders to be criticised.
A promised historical destination can make present objections sound illegitimate. Popper asks how people can correct power if leaders claim that criticism stands in the way of necessary progress.
Historical prophecy claims knowledge of necessary large-scale development.
Popper challenges using that claim to justify political domination.
He critically interprets Plato, Hegel, and Marx.
Those interpretations have themselves generated major scholarly disputes.
Revisable institutions do not require agreement on a perfect society. They require ways to identify harm, remove failed leadership, and improve arrangements without treating every correction as betrayal.
Piecemeal reform addresses identifiable problems and permits correction.
Total blueprints can make opposition appear contrary to destiny.
Institutions should limit harm from fallible rulers.
Individual responsibility remains important within social explanation.
The conclusion values revisability over certainty about a final ideal order.