波普尔政治哲学与西方理性主义的危机

Karl Popper’s Political Philosophy and the Crisis of the Western Rationalism

卡尔·波普尔的批判理性主义在20世纪下半叶影响甚广。波普尔将苏格拉底的理性传统看作西方文明的根基,并认为其批判理性主义的实质正是苏格拉底的理性主义。基于其批判理性主义,波普尔批评整体论社会科学方法,并且提出了零碎社会工程与开放社会的政治构想。但是,波普尔的理性主义与苏格拉底的理性主义存在重大差异,这一理性主义究其根本是非理性的相对主义,完全无法证成波普尔的社会科学方法和政治构想。波普尔的相对主义政治哲学源于启蒙道德的危机以及波普尔对这一道德的非理性前见,它事实上加深了当代政治哲学的危机。

Karl Popper’s critical rationalism had deep and broad influence in the second half of the 20 th century.Popper regards the Socratic tradition of rationalism as the fundamental to the Western civilization,while considering his critical rationalism as essentially that of Socrates.On the basis of his critical rationalism,Popper criticizes the social science methodology of totality and brings forth his political conception of piecemeal social engineering and open society.Popper’s rationalism,however,bears significant differences with the Socratic rationalism,which is an irrational relativism in essence,and unable to justify his social science methodology and political conception.Popper’s relativistic political philosophy originates from the crisis of enlightenment morality and his own irrational preconception of this morality,which actually deepens the crisis of contemporary political philosophy.