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The Open Society as an enemy | Coffee break research at LSE

In The Open Society and its Enemies, Karl Popper defended the Open Society – a conception of liberal democracy in which individuals have freedom of choice – against external ideological threats presented by totalitarian and authoritarian leaders.
In The Open Society and its Enemies, Karl Popper defended the Open Society – a conception of liberal democracy in which individuals have freedom of choice – against external ideological threats presented by totalitarian and authoritarian leaders.
Tuesday 4 February 2025 | 21 minutes 53 seconds
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In The Open Society and its Enemies, Karl Popper defended the Open Society – a conception of liberal democracy in which individuals have freedom of choice – against external ideological threats presented by totalitarian and authoritarian leaders. However, today's threats to the Open Society come primarily from within, through populist movements on both left and right. Drawing on his recent LSE Press book, Professor J. McKenzie Alexander identifies some of the ways in which the Open Society has come to be seen as an enemy – as a vice, a danger or a threat – and offers a new defence of its core principles.

"The Open Society as an Enemy" J. McKenzie Alexander (LSE Press, 2024) https://press.lse.ac.uk/site/books/m/10.31389/lsepress.ose/

J. McKenzie Alexander is Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method at LSE. https://www.lse.ac.uk/cpnss/people/Jason-McKenzie-Alexander

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