Why Are We Free? Computers, mind and rationality

Testo disponibile solo in lingua inglese.
In this previously unpublished article Karl Popper examines the problems of human rationality and liberty from the point of view of knowledge and evolutionist theory. He begins by showing how the human mind is radically different from the computer: it does not, that is, depend on a rigid programme. On the contrary, the mind has an essentially creative character. It not only solves given problems, but also invents new problems and solutions. Here we have a confutation of both the materialistic and psychologistic positions. The mind does not boil down to matter nor does knowledge boil down to the pure psychological states of the conscious subject. The products of knowledge (such as mathematical theorems) have an autonomous value of their own. They are, that is, true or false irrespective of whether we regard them as such. The essential, unique characteristic of the human mind is that it understands and solves these objective problems. Popper also goes on to show how human creativity is bound up in the evolutionist function of language. Man invented the argumentative use of language; hence his capacity to judge situations and to distinguish between truth and falsehood. He is different from all other animals in so far as he has acquired the freedom to lie or tell the truth. This step in evolution marked the origin of rationality, of the conscious pursuit of truth and also the beginning of human morality