"The Marxist theory of history, in spite of the serious efforts of some of its founders and followers, ultimately adopted this soothsaying practice [of evading testability]. In some of its earlier formulations (for example in Marx's analysis of the character of the 'coming social revolution') their predictions were testable, and in fact falsified. Yet instead of accepting the refutations the followers of Marx re-interpreted both the theory and the evidence in order to make them agree. In this way they rescued the theory from refutation; but they did so at the price of adopting a device which made it irrefutable. They thus gave a 'conventionalist twist' to the theory; and by this stratagem they destroyed its much advertised claim to scientific status."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Karl Popper (2002). Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge. Routledge. p. 49. .
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Karl_Marx
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Karl Marx
1818 – 1883
deutscher Journalist, Ökonom, Gesellschaftswissenschaftler und Philosoph
539 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Karl Marx →
Related Quotes
"The property-owning class and the class of the proletariat represent the same human self-alienation. But the former f…"
"Sell a man a fish, he eats for a day, teach a man how to fish, he eats for the rest of his life."
"Lincoln is not the product of a popular revolution. This plebeian, who worked his way up from stone-breaker to Senato…"
"The South has conquered nothing — but a graveyard."
"Lincoln's proclamation is even more important than the . Lincoln is a sui generis figure in the annals of history. He…"
"Lincoln's place in the history of the United States and of mankind will, nevertheless, be next to that of Washington!"
"It might otherwise appear paradoxical that money can be replaced by worthless paper; but that the slightest alloying …"
"The economic concept of value does not occur in antiquity."
"It is impossible to pursue this nonsense any further."
"Is a fixed income not a good thing? Does not everyone love to count on a sure thing? Especially every petty-bourgeois…"