. 1902–94. Austrian philosopher of science, and also political philosopher, born in Vienna. He was connected with the Vienna Circle (see POSITIVISM) in his youth but later migrated to New Zealand and then to England where he worked in London. He asserted that if a statement is to be scientific rather than metaphysical it must be falsifiable, but he did not, as the logical positivists did, dismiss metaphysical statements as meaningless. He then based his philosophy of science on the hypothetico-deductive method, claiming that enumerative INDUCTION is invalid, and indeed does not in fact occur, while verification and CONFIRMATION (as opposed to his own ‘corroboration’) are impossible. As his philosophy of science said we should aim to eliminate the false rather than establish the true, so, rather analogously, his political philosophy said we should aim to eliminate the bad rather than establish the good, and he opposed utopianism and any appeal to historical inevitability.
