Outlook: Prospects and Uncertainties

Abstract

Karl Popper’s final and most pressing question cannot be avoided by this study: “Has history any meaning?” For Popper, the answer was “no”. Meaning to history, he argued, can only be provided by the actions of individuals. History is not following an abstract law beyond human influence, control or correction. History is what human beings make of it, with their hopes and fears, inventions and sufferings, contributions and failures. In the end, human-made history is based on exercising human responsibility. Only if the future is an open process, can human responsibility become practical. An open future prohibits any deterministic concept of history. An open future requires human action and the readiness to accept responsibility for one’s action. This logic is compelling for any society we can call “open”; this logic is also compelling for the global society which is worth advancing.