The Open Society and Its Values: A Puzzle for Gerald Gaus's Proposal

This paper exegetes Gerald Gaus’s analysis of the open society in his book The Open Society and Its Complexities and then formulates a critique. Gaus argues that the open society has three characteristics: autocatalytic diversity, unbounded technological innovation, and individual autonomy. However, Gaus is ambiguous as to whether these characteristics are descriptive or prescriptive. If the characteristics are prescriptive, Gaus is also ambiguous as to whether these characteristics are absolute or degreed. If they are absolute, then the characteristics are morally and practically infeasible, a prominent example being the use of AI to undermine individual autonomy. If they are degreed, Gaus faces an epistemological problem. He does not provide an account of how we can know that the social-moral rules produced by the process of self-organization are true.