ABSTRACT
Karl Popper thought that individuals are free from any complete determination, be it physical, biological, genetic, or historical. Popper defends state interventionism in the economy on the grounds of what he calls the ‘paradox of freedom’. The minimal state or New Right doctrine leaves no room for state intervention and public policies. Popper was a rationalist, and rationalists do not generally trust traditions, since, as Popper himself noted, they want to judge the merits and demerits of institutions with their own brains. Popper claims that no institution can work properly without an underlying tradition that supports it. Popper is not simply suggesting that in Western societies individuals are accustomed to tolerating traditions different from their own, a claim that is true but disputable, since we know how much pain and suffering intolerance did cause in Europe.
