Paul K. Feyerabend (1924–1994)
Author of Against Method
About the Author
A controversial and influential voice in the philosophy of science, Paul K. Feyerabend was born and educated in Vienna. After military service during World War II and further study at the University of London, he returned to Vienna as a lecturer at the university. In 1959, having taught for several show more years at Bristol University in England, he came to the United States to join the faculty of the University of California at Berkeley, from which, after numerous visiting appointments elsewhere, he retired in 1990. Since the 1970s, Feyerabend has devoted much of his career to arguing that science as practiced cannot be described, let alone regulated, by any coherent methodology, whether understood historically, as in Thomas Kuhn's use of paradigms, or epistemologically, as in classical positivism and its offspring. He illustrates this stance on the dust jacket of one of his books, Against Method (1975), by publishing his horoscope in the place usually reserved for a biographical sketch of the author. In his entry in the Supplement to Who's Who in America, he is quoted as saying, "Leading intellectuals with their zeal for objectivity are criminals, not the liberators of mankind." (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Photo credit: Grazzia Borrini-Feyerabend
Series
Works by Paul K. Feyerabend
For and Against Method: Including Lakatos's Lectures on Scientific Method and the Lakatos-Feyerabend Correspondence (1995) — Author — 118 copies, 2 reviews
Mind, Matter, and Method: Essays in Philosophy and Science in Honor of Herbert Feigl (1966) — Editor — 18 copies
SULL'ANARCHISMO EPISTEMOLOGICO 2 copies
Knowledge without foundations; two lectures delivered on the Nellie Heldt Lecture Fund (1961) 2 copies
Putnam on incommensurability 1 copy
Patterns of discovery 1 copy
Ciencia y Anarquía 1 copy
Feyerabend [Opere di] 1 copy
Popper's Objective Knowledge 1 copy
Feyerabend 1 copy
Associated Works
The Philosopher's Handbook: Essential Readings from Plato to Kant (2000) — Contributor — 217 copies, 1 review
The Critical Approach to Science and Philosophy : In Honor of Karl R. Popper (1964) — Contributor — 17 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1924-01-23
- Date of death
- 1994-02-11
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- Austria (birth)
USA (1958) - Birthplace
- Vienna, Austria
- Place of death
- Genolier, Vaud, Switzerland
- Places of residence
- England, UK
Auckland, New Zealand
Italy
Germany
Switzerland
USA - Education
- University of Vienna (PhD Philosophy, 1951)
- Occupations
- philosopher of science
- Organizations
- London School of Economics
University of Bristol
University of California, Berkeley (1958-1989)
Wehrmacht (WWII) - Awards and honors
- Iron Cross
- Short biography
- He was taught by and influenced by Karl Popper & also went to lectures by Wittgenstein intending to study under him until his death. Turned down the offer of working with Bertolt Brecht (c.1949)
Members
Reviews
Against Method by Paul Feyerabend
A classic of the Philosophy of Science which challenges the idea that scientific progress and discovery are based on methodical investigation and unbroken chains of logic - the setting up of an hypothesis and systematic attempts at knocking it down with evidence. Rather, he shows that many breakthroughs are made often as much by chance or accident, counter-logical leaps, trial and error, the creative subconscious, together with a whole assortment of other non-methodical forces (though for all that, often underpinned nonetheless variously by genius, insight, persistence, ambition, and verification).
A number of examples and arguments from the work of Gallileo, as well as other scientists support the claims of this "Anarchistic Theory of Knowledge" over the work of Popper and those who give a more staid account of the scientific enterprise.
Originally written to be a dialogue with another piece proposing counter-arguments from his sparring-partner Imre Lakatos, which was not produced due to his untimely death (Letters between them have however been published elsewhere). It is difficult to read in places, but worth the effort.
Recommended for anyone with an interest in the philosophy of science, or who works in science. Anything Goes.… (more)
A number of examples and arguments from the work of Gallileo, as well as other scientists support the claims of this "Anarchistic Theory of Knowledge" over the work of Popper and those who give a more staid account of the scientific enterprise.
Originally written to be a dialogue with another piece proposing counter-arguments from his sparring-partner Imre Lakatos, which was not produced due to his untimely death (Letters between them have however been published elsewhere). It is difficult to read in places, but worth the effort.
Recommended for anyone with an interest in the philosophy of science, or who works in science. Anything Goes.… (more)
In many ways, this is quite a magnificent book. It is not an easy read, and in the next few days I will write a more detailed review.
It is not an easy book to read, and there were times when I wondered if he would ever move beyond Aristotle and Galileo.
However, once you get into the second half of the book, Paul Feyerabend started to pull all the threads together. While he did not examine how the process has worked in the 20th century, and this is a shame, he demonstrated how scientific progress is not always as methodical as it seems to be!
At the end, he spelled out some of his own beliefs, and this raised the book to a higher dimension than I had initially thought possible. It is not a book for the faint of heart but stay with it and you will be rewarded.… (more)
It is not an easy book to read, and there were times when I wondered if he would ever move beyond Aristotle and Galileo.
However, once you get into the second half of the book, Paul Feyerabend started to pull all the threads together. While he did not examine how the process has worked in the 20th century, and this is a shame, he demonstrated how scientific progress is not always as methodical as it seems to be!
At the end, he spelled out some of his own beliefs, and this raised the book to a higher dimension than I had initially thought possible. It is not a book for the faint of heart but stay with it and you will be rewarded.… (more)
Lists
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 57
- Also by
- 4
- Members
- 3,030
- Popularity
- #8,428
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 34
- ISBNs
- 178
- Languages
- 14
- Favorited
- 12