The Open Society and Its Enemies

Key aspects of Karl Popper’s biography shaped his ideas in The Open Society and Its Enemies in a number of ways. Let us briefly examine his family and educational background as well as his political activism in his youth for this purpose. First, Karl Popper was born in 1902 in Vienna, Austria. His family was of Jewish descent both culturally and religiously. However, a number of family members, including Popper’s father, converted to Lutheranism shortly prior to Popper’s birth. Historians describe Popper and his Viennese social circle during his formative years as “assimilated Jews” (Hacohen, Malachi Haim. Karl Popper—The Formative Years, 1902-1945: Politics and Philosophy in Interwar Vienna, Cambridge University Press, 2002, p. 31; Weinstein, David. Jewish Exiles and European Thought in the Shadow of the Third Reich, Cambridge University Press, 2017, p. 77).

Popper himself strove to surpass traditional markers like religion in his ideal open society. However, historians argue that he did not live in such a society and his background was relevant. For instance, historian David Weinstein writes that Popper’s father was a prominent lawyer vulnerable under an anti-Semitic mayor, Karl Lueger, hence his potential motivation for converting to Lutheranism (Hacohen, p. 31). Karl Popper himself was even more vulnerable—not just socially, but also physically—as an intellectual of Jewish descent living in interwar Austria. These interwar political developments led to the 1938 Anschluss with Nazi Germany with its explicitly anti-Semitic policies. Popper was certainly aware of his status, as he differentiated between self-concept and the way he was perceived by others:

I do not consider myself an ‘assimilated German Jew’: I think this is how ‘the Führer’ would have considered me. In fact, I was born (like the Führer) in Austria, not in Germany, and I do not accept rationalism, [sic] even though it is a fact that I was born in a family that had been Jewish (Naraniecki, Alexander. Returning to Karl Popper: a Reassessment of His Politics and Philosophy, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Rodopi, 2014, p. 14).

His emigration to New Zealand in 1937 just before the start of the Holocaust also points to this fact (xvii). Therefore, Popper’s personal ethno-cultural background and direct experiences living in an increasingly authoritarian environment shaped his perceptions of modern authoritarian ideologies.

Second, Karl Popper’s political activism in his formative years also shaped the ideas presented in The Open Society and Its Enemies. In 1919, Popper became a Marxist. Though his time spent participating in political activism was brief, it left a lasting effect on Popper. The author acknowledges that Marxism displayed authentic concern for the underprivileged but is repelled by its dogma. More important, Popper believes that European Marxists of the interwar period perceived fascism as part of dialectic materialism necessary for the collapse of capitalism and, therefore, facilitated it (Thornton, Stephen, “Karl Popper,” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy [Fall 2021 Edition], Edward N. Zalta [ed.]).

Indeed, Popper’s entire critique of Marx and Marxism displays the tension of the author’s sympathies toward Marx’s genuine concern for the working class, along with Marx’s keen analysis of unbridled capitalism, and his economic historicism and false prophecies. Popper also contrasts the factual developments in the early post-revolutionary Russia (USSR)—which occurred in his lifetime—with the Marxist theory on which the 1917 Revolution was based. These developments included the necessity to restore partial capitalism, rapid industrialization, and the growing power of the state. All three developments contradicted Marx’s forecast.

It is unclear to what extent Popper could separate himself from his environment as a detached observer. Throughout The Open Society and Its Enemies, he is open about his personal biases and the limitations of his work. In his case, however, his life experiences, especially as a historic witness, are an asset to his analysis.