PYQ Vault · Paper 1 · Western Political Thought
Karl Popper presents a defence of the open society against its enemies. Elaborate.
How the answer moves
The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.
Flow snapshot — how the answer moves
Intro routes
GB open society defended in The Open Society and Its Enemies → opposite of closed / tribal / totalitarian order €23 core principle first → no ruler / theory / ideology above questioning → freedom, criticism, tolerance, constitutionalism
Body flow
ham open society = freedom + criticism + tolerance + limited govt + civic equality + constitutionalism → free thought & expression → fallibilism (beliefs tentative, no final orthodoxy) → persuasion not coercion → respect for individuals as rational beings → conflict via discussion & institutions → transparency + error-correction → piecemeal social engineering vs total reconstruction
Counter-view
enemies = dogma + group-think + historicism (fixed laws of history) → Plato, Hegel, Marx privilege total schemes over open criticism → heaven- on-earth ends in hell
Conclusion routes
G39 open society never perfect → strength = self-correction + peaceful change not a final design → continuous improvement that closed orders deny
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
