Jeremy Shearmur

The Political Thought of Karl Popper

The Political Thought of Karl Popper offers a controversial treatment of Poppers ideas about politics, informed by Shearmurs personal knowledge of Popper together with research on unpublished material in the Popper archive at the Hoover Institute. While sympathetic to Poppers overall approach, Shearmur offers criticism of some of his ideas and suggests that political conclusions should be drawn from Poppers ideas which differ from Poppers own views. Shearmur introduces Poppers political ideas by way of a discussion of their development, which draws upon archive material. He then offers a critical survey of some of the themes from his Open Society and Poverty of Historicism, and discusses the political significance of some of his later philosophical ideas. Wider themes within Poppers philosophy are drawn on to offer striking critical re-interpretations of his ethical ideas and social theory. The book concludes with a discussion which suggests that Poppers views should have been closer to classical liberalism than they in fact were.

Trust, Titmuss and blood

Richard Titmuss challenged the market-based approach to social problems in the case of blood supply. His criticisms can, however, be answered if a system of strict liability is in place and if commerce works effectively with charitable activity. It is false to draw a dichotomy between markets and narrow self-interest, on the one hand, and mechanisms that make for the well-being of others, on the other.

Schutz, Machlup and rational economic man: some problems for economic imperialism?

Starting from a question posed by Schutzs ‘postulate of adequacy’, and its enndorsement by Machlup, the author asks what constraints there should be in the representation of human action in our models, given that it is our action that is being represented. He argues that metholdological individualism has, historically, been interpreted in two different ways: as leading to subjectivism or to mamimization approaches which exhibit little interest in the specific content of peoples motivation. The author suggests that the latter should be seen as a special case of the former, which there is a rationale for adopting only in distinctive circumstances. ‘Economic imperialism’, however, typically extends the latter approach without regard to the presence of the factors which legitimate its use within economics. The paper also contains some more general argument concerning how subjectivism may be combined with realism, and a comparison of the authors conclusions with those of Machlup.

Common Sense and the Foundations of Economic Theory Duhem versus Robbins

*This essay draws on parts of my &dquo;Do the Social Sciences Need Philosophical Foundations ?&dquo;, presented to the Alexander Society, University of Manchester, 1985; my &dquo;Philosophical Foundations of Economics?&dquo;, presented at the History of Economics Society Conference, 1987; and my &dquo;Compositive Method in Economics,&dquo; presented to the Department of Economics at Duke University in November 1987. I would like to thank

Popper, Political Philosophy, and Social Democracy: Reply to Eidlin

Abstract The later thought of Karl Popper—notably, his ideas about traditions and his “modified essentialism” in the philosophy of natural science— should lead to revisions in the political philosophy set out in The Open Society and Its Enemies. The structural approach allowed for by Poppers modified essentialism, and the delicate nature of traditions, buttress certain issues raised by Friedrich Hayek that pose serious problems for Poppers social‐democratic approach to politics. Fred Eidlins review essay on my Political Thought of Karl Popper misses these problems, and in general underestimates the difficulties that unintended consequences pose for any non‐utopian theory of politics. Thus, Eidlin uncritically cites Poppers abstract political recognition of unintended consequences and his idealized view of the political process, as if that puts to rest the questions my book asks.

The Other Path to Mont Pelerin

My concern in this chapter is to offer a preliminary account of an alternative path that led Friedrich Hayek to the formation of the Mont Pelerin Society. By referring to an ‘alternative’, I am acknowledging the importance — and the substantive correctness — of a better-known story of how the Mont Pelerin Society was formed. This — which was set out by Richard Cockett,2 and has subsequently been elaborated upon by others — stresses the continuity between the Mont Pelerin Society and an earlier gathering in France, the Colloque Walter Lippmann. This was an international gathering of classical liberals, convened by Louis Rougier, to which Lippmann was invited, which took off from his The Good Society. This work — which was itself strongly influenced by the ideas of Hayek and Lionel Robbins — made a considerable general impression. As has been documented in a recent article, it led both Robbins and Hayek to write at length to Lippmann about his work,3 and created a swell of interest amongst classical liberals in France. The proceedings were published (alas, there is no contribution from Hayek in them);4 and there were plans to set up an organization with branches in various countries, with Hayek taking an organizing role in the UK.

The Gift Relationship Revisited

Abstract If unremunerated blood donors are willing to participate, and if the use of them is economical from the perspective of those collecting blood, I can see no objection to their use. But there seems to me no good reason, moral or practical, why they should be used. The system of paid plasmapheresis as it currently operates in the United States and in Canada would seem perfectly adequate, and while there may always be ways in which the safety and efficiency of supply could be increased, there seems no reason whatever to think that there would be an improvement if the current system changed so as to rely entirely on unpaid donors. Further, given the adequacy of paid plasmapheresis, I could see no problem if the collection of whole blood were to take place on a similar, fully-commercial, basis. Such a view is controversial. To argue for it, this paper offers just one strand in a complex argument: a critique of Richard Titmuss’s Gift Relationship, which holds an iconic position in the critical literature on the paid provision of blood. As I conclude: all told, there seems no good basis for rejecting supply of whole blood for money—let alone the supply of blood plasma.

Steve Fuller and Intelligent Design

This essay offers a critical introduction to the intellectual issues involved in the Kitzmiller case relating to intelligent design, and to Steve Fuller’s involvement in it. It offers a brief appraisal of the intelligent design movement stemming from the work of Phillip E. Johnson, and of Steve Fuller’s case for intelligent design in a rather different sense.

Realism Under Attack

Realism has often seemed an attractive approach in both the natural and the social sciences. Natural science, for the realist, may aspire to tell us about the world, its properties and its structure. It may tentatively go beyond how things appear to us, and offer us an understanding also of their other properties. On such a view, natural science might therefore be argued to have cultural significance, as through such activity mankind’s initial anthropocentric limitations may gradually be overcome. In addition, realism would suggest there to be a continuity between science and metaphysics, such that we might look to scientific knowledge to provide some of the building-blocks from which we could construct a model of ourselves and of the world in which we live. Social science, for the realist, might also aspire to go beyond ’manifest phenomena’ and achieve knowledge of, for example, the structures that generate them. Alternatively, realism might see the student as able to go beyond the ’behaviourism’ that has confined some social scientists to what is observable, and as freeing him instead to concern himself with such matters as latent conflict, and people’s ’real interests’. 1 This, in turn, might even lead some to entertain the possibility of the criticism-or vindication-of some disputed moral or political theory, via the explanatory performance of realistic theories associated with it and which render it plausible. But can realistic interpretations of science-natural or social-be upheld? The author of this brief paper, himself attracted to some versions of realism, feels

Koplin, Titmuss and the social tail that wags the dog: Commentary on Koplin, "From blood donation to kidney sales".

AbstractThis paper is a commentary on Koplin’s “From Blood Donation to Kidney Sales”. While appreciative of his paper, it argues that an argument from social solidarity to a Titmussian donor system is problematic. It reviews weaknesses in Titmuss, discusses problems about Titmussian blood donation as a vehicle for solidarity, and explores problems about extending a Titmussian approach to organs.