- Popper, Karl R. The Open Society and Its
Enemies. Vol. 1: The Spell of Plato.
5th ed., rev. Princeton: Princeton University Press, [1945,
1950, 1952, 1957, 1962] 1966. ISBN 0-691-01968-1.
- The two hundred intricately-argued pages of main text
are accompanied by more than a hundred pages of notes in small type.
Popper states that “The text of the book is self-contained and may be
read without these Notes. However, a considerable amount of material
which is likely to interest all readers of the book will be found
here, as well as some references and controversies which may not be of
general interest.” My recommendation? Read the notes. If
you skip them, you'll miss Popper's characterisation of Plato as the
first philosopher to adopt a geometrical (as opposed to arithmetic)
model of the world along with his speculations based on the sum of
the square roots of 2 and 3 (known to Plato) differing from π
by less than 1.5 parts per thousand (Note 9 to Chapter 6), or the
exquisitely lucid exposition (written in 1942!) of why international
law and institutions must ultimately defend the rights of human
individuals as opposed to the sovereignty of nation states
(Note 7 to Chapter 9). The second volume, which dissects the theories
of Hegel and Marx, is currently out of print in the U.S. but a U.K. edition is available.
December 2003 