Volume 14 of Karl Popper's collected works in German contains 24 essays written between 1945 and 1993. As topical as ever, they have lost nothing of their challenging character and bring once more to the fore Popper's praise of the so-called culture clash, which he sees as an opportunity to learn from others while at the same time recognizing the faults and shortcomings of one's own culture. He denounces the dreadful heresy of nationalism and rails against the false concept that understands democracy as the power of the majority, presenting it instead as a synonym for controlling any power that can negatively affect our lives. Popper's response to the question, "What does the West believe in?" is pluralism: the pluralism of opinions and different ways of life. Pluralism and all other political values are based on freedom and are therefore to be defended at all costs, even at the expense of perishing. Another of the many topics Popper pays attention to is the revival of the time-honoured but disregarded belief that the abolition of all wars should be the overriding goal of every nation.
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