RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
A1 Buráň, Jan
T1 Was Karl Popper a Civic Republican?
JF Aither
YR 2025
VO 17
IS 2
SP 36
OP 61
DO 10.5507/aither.2025.006
UL https://aither.upol.cz/artkey/ath-202502-0003.php
AB Karl Popper has hitherto been understood as either a liberal or, at best, as a sui generis specimen of socialism. I argue that his political thought bears a remarkable resemblance to what Philip Pettit and Quentin Skinner have dubbed the Italo-Atlantic branch of republicanism. Viewing Popper through a republican lens would reveal that there is a robust and coherent theory behind his attack on the "enemies of the open society". The paper focuses successively on the concept of freedom understood as nondomination, on the role of the state and the rule of law, and on democracy. That Popper might be classified "as a republican, in something close to Pettit's sense" has been suggested in passing by Jeremy Shearmur on a handful of occasions. The present article, however, should be the first to focus on the similarities in detail.