ON THE DIALECTICAL MAXIM OF CRITICAL RATIONALISM

The paper discusses one of the major principles of critical rationalism with a critical approach. This principle is about giving all participants the opportunity to argue in a friendly spirit. I analyze the main theoretical and practical implications of this maxim and argue for the importance of this Popperian principle beyond scientific rationality, enabling a general rationality for co-operation among all interested parties in the argu-mentation of scientific or everyday life issues, no matter if they are our friends or oppo-nents. The conclusion is that this maxim has an inner logic with an effective result of successful dialectic argumentation and critical thinking. A parallel has been drawn be-tween Christian love for others, the Socratic insight that it is better to suffer injustice than to do it and the strategy of Popper’s principle. And hereby I suggest its compatibil-ity with Popper’s so-called via negativa.

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