How (not) to be a Great Philosopher
In his impressive volume Malachi Haim Hacohen undertook to tell the story of the first half of Karl Popper’s long life. (He proclaims that there will be no sequel dealing with the remaining nearly fifty years of his life, which he thinks to be better known and, apparently, of lesser interest). Hacohen’s narrative is also a very good story of the first half of the past century’s intellectual and political upheavals. Hacohen describes in detail in what sense Popper was a victim of the turmoils, how he reacted to them, and to what extent, later on, he informed them, both in the world of ideas and of politics. This well written and extremely well researched Popper’s biography is in particular a comprehensive account of the socio-political Viennese context in which Popper formulated his fundamental ideas about science and society. For this reason Hacohen’s book could well be entitled Popper’s Vienna and will successfully compete with the Janik and Toulmin’s shorter Witt...