In this paper Gunther Wachterhauser tells a fascinating story of the evolution of ideas about the nature of living matter, and how living things evolved, with a highly speculative theory about the very beginning of life on earth.
That is the background to his explanation of Popperism as the alternative to inductivism – hence the title of the essay “The Uses of Karl Popper”. It is a chapter in a book edited by Anthony O’Hear, Karl Popper: Philosophy and Problems. CUP 1995.
And here is Wachterhauser on Light and Life, and the origin of Visual Perception.
