The Philosophy of the Foundations

The term "open society" was coined by the French philosopher Henri Bergson in his book The Two Sources of Morality and Religion (1932) and popularized by the Austrian Karl Popper in The Open Society and Its Enemies (1945). An open society is a society based on the recognition that nobody has a monopoly on the truth, that human beings are fallible and their theories subject to criticism, and that one of the most effective methods of learning is by discovering the falsity of our beliefs. The open society recognizes that different people have different views and interests and that there is a need for institutions to protect the rights of all people to allow them to live together in peace. Broadly speaking, an open society is characterized by a reliance on the rule of law, the existence of a democratically elected government, a diverse and vigorous civil society and respect for minorities and minority opinions.

Philosophy of the Foundations

The aim of the Soros Foundations is to promote the creation of open societies. The term open society was introduced to scientific thinking by French philosopher Henri Bergson in 1932. It was further developed by Karl Popper of Austria, primarily in his well-known book Open Society and Its Enemies, written during World War II. Having lived in Hungary under both the Fascist and the communist regimes, George Soros gained an insight into the oppressive power of closed societies.

In his book Open Society he describes his interpretation of the open society concept as follows: "I propose the concept of open society as an ideal to which our global society should aspire. My conception is that it is in the interest of open societies to help foster the development of open societies throughout the world and to establish the international institutions appropriate to a global open society. I should like to gather sufficient support for this idea to be able to translate it into reality."