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The essay explores how Popper used 'critical interpretation' to interpret Plato, Hegel and Marx idiosyncratically as his 'war effort' polemic against fascism waged from forced exile in New Zealand during WWII. 'Critical interpretation' was a form of scientific 'critical rationalism' adapted to textual interpretation. Exile spurred Popper to fight. 'Critical interpretation' was his method of fighting. The Open Society and Its Enemies and The Poverty of Historicism were the weapons he forged.As with our children, so with our theories, and ultimately with all the work we do: our products become largely independent of their makers. We gain more knowledge from our children or from our theories than we ever imparted to them. This is how we can lift ourselves out of the morass of our ignorance. 1
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