Open society

An open society is a democratic type of society used to denote a number of modern societies and some societies of antiquity. Usually opposed to a closed ( traditional ) society and various totalitarian regimes ^[1] .

The concept of an open society was originally created by the philosopher Henri Bergson . Then it was developed in detail by Karl Popper , who in his work “Open Society and Its Enemies” combined the philosophy of an open society with its philosophy of critical rationalism .

An open society in Popper’s understanding is completely democratic. Its members are critical of the taboo , make decisions based on their own intelligence and critical thinking , as well as on the basis of agreements reached during the discussion. Such a society is not unlimited capitalism , but it is not based on Marxism or anarchism : it is an independent version of democracy .

According to Popper , there are "closed societies" and "open societies."

A closed society is a society characteristic of a tribal system, the relations within which are governed by a system of taboos . The system of taboos is described as a set of laws that are similar to the laws of nature - their absolute applicability and the inability to violate them. In such a society, the individual always knows what is right and what is wrong, and he has no difficulty in choosing the right behavior. Closed societies are characterized by a rigid division into classes and castes. This division is justified by members of a closed society by its “naturalness."

With the development of trade and navigation, various tribes with different systems of taboos began to make contact, and it became clear that social laws were not absolute. An understanding has developed of the essential difference between the laws of nature (for example, the law by which the sun rises every day) and social laws. People have learned to understand that taboos can be broken without any special consequences, the main thing is not to be caught by fellow tribesmen.

This revolution in the minds of people led to a revolution that continues to this day - the revolution of the transition to an "open" society. A society in which an individual relies on his understanding of the correctness of actions in which social competition is permissible.

According to Popper, Plato ’s ideas about the state system arose as a reaction to the danger of unpredictability of the way that Greek society followed with the development of trade, navigation, land shortages and the emergence of new colonies. Plato saw human happiness and justice in building a “closed” society, and in this regard he was harshly criticized by Popper. Popper, in particular, argued that the ideas of Plato, in fact, are indistinguishable from totalitarianism , despite his desire for the highest public good. Popper generally came to the conclusion that any ideas that are based on bringing society to some universal public good , one way or another lead to violence.

Popper pointed out that an “open” society can evolve into “abstract” over time. Quote: “The properties of an“ abstract society ”can be explained with the help of one hyperbola. We can imagine a society in which people almost never meet face to face. In such a society, all things are done by individuals in complete isolation, and these individuals communicate with each other through letters or telegrams and drive around in closed cars. (Artificial insemination would even allow breeding without personal contacts.) Such a fictitious society can be called a “completely abstract or impersonal society ”. ”