MEPs discuss the situation in Hungary with Prime Minister Orbán. European Parliament/Flickr/Some Rights ReservedAccording to Ralf Dahrendorf, Karl Popper described the pursuit of knowledge to his students as searchlights which illuminate details of the world. To Popper, knowledge is not absolute, and cannot be possessed in its entirety. This pursuit of knowledge is the ability to be critical, to expose falsehoods and simplifications and to gradually improve our understanding of an ever-changing and complex world. The searchlight principle applies as much to science as to politics. The purpose of science is not to find proof towards a final theory but to refute existing theories when they do not stand the test of time. This demands that scientists expand knowledge through criticism while remaining open to other explanations and one’s own human limitations.
Popper argued against a single and authoritative light source illuminating what ought to be true.
Applied to politics, this means the refutation of ideology and the demand to institutionalise critiques towards those in power through regular open and fair elections and a functioning and vibrant civil society. Popper argued against a single and authoritative light source illuminating what ought to be true. He argued for the existence of several lights which illuminate parts of the truth, such as a functioning legal system, civil society, fair elections and an open media. This is the essence of an open society and what the Hungarian government is fighting against.
