ABSTRACT
A sociological theory of the open society requires a micro-foundation which shows how reason drives action. Since this volume aims to address the relation between the philosophy of critical rationalism and the sociology of the open society, I want to show that the questions of how reason operates and drives action ought to be addressed by “a model of rational action” which uses the conception of rationality as “openness to criticism”. However, since Popper’s idea of critical rationalism involves in the regress of justification, I should apply my own general theory of critical rationalism in order to show that the goals and means of human action can be rationalized by holding them open to criticism and seeing whether “negative reasons” refute them. To these ends, the chapter proceeds in five sections: (i) a brief summary of the critical rationalist model of human action, (ii) a brief discussion regarding the issue of how the model of action is to be linked with the problem of social order, (iii) an explanation of the stages of progress in critical rationality, (iv) a brief study of the stages of progress in moral consciousness and, finally, (v) a presentation of the micro-foundation of a sociological theory of the open society.
