Jeremy Shearmur is a philosopher and scholar of political thought. A former assistant to Karl Popper, he taught at the London School of Economics and the Australian National University. His work explores liberalism, the philosophy of science, and the fragility of intellectual institutions.
We talk about Popper’s legacy, the limits of liberal democracy, challenges to expertise, and what it takes to maintain an open society. Topics are outlined in the timestamps below.
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Timestamps
00:00 – Intro
03:19 – The philosophy of science and critique of historicism
06:38 – Why open societies are hard to maintain
09:57 – Popper’s evolution from Marxism to critical rationalism
13:16 – Policy-making by trial and error
16:35 – Rights, democracy, and the danger of rigidity
19:54 – Why real-world liberalism often fails
23:13 – The information ecosystem and online discourse
26:32 – Platform incentives and democratic decline
29:51 – Can we preserve tradition without dogma?
33:10 – Class dynamics and meaning loss
36:29 – Gender, disruption, and role confusion
39:48 – The nature of philosophical minds
43:07 – Pluralism, decency, and disagreement
46:26 – Authority, expertise, and the anti-elitist turn
49:45 – The danger of bureaucratic ossification
53:04 – Popper, Rawls, and liberal morality today
56:23 – How secular societies might reinvent purpose
59:42 – Final reflections on open inquiry and social repair
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