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Feyerabend’s Early Life
Paul Karl Feyerabend was born into a middle-class Viennese family in 1924. After World War I, famine, riots, and inflation caused suffering. Recovery took years, and Feyeraned'sfamily struggled to find basic necessities. -
Getting Drafted
After completing his final high school exams in March 1942, he was immediately drafted into the Arbeitsdienst. As part of the mandatory work service introduced by the Nazis, he was sent to undergo basic training in Pirmasens, Germany. -
End of World War 2
Feyerabend was eventually put in charge of a bicycle company. In 1945 he was shot in the back. The bullet lodged in his spine left him temporarily paralyzed from the waist down, meaning he spent time in a wheelchair, on crutches, and then walked with a stick. The war ended as he was recovering from his injury in a hospital in Apolda while fervently hoping not to recover before the war was over. Germany’s surrender came as a relief. -
Feyerabend vs Falsifiability
In “An Attempt at a Realistic Interpretation of Experience” (1958), Feyerabend argued that no theory can explain all the facts. Hence, keeping an open mind and considering multiple perspectives is essential to understand reality better. -
Against Method
According to Feyerabend, it's impossible to measure the progress of science using just one set of methodological rules that scientists always follow. Such a rule would restrict scientific progress and limit the activities of scientists. Instead, Feyerabend believes that science advances through ad-hoc postulates that break the rules. This philosophy is known as epistemological anarchism, or the "anything goes" view. -
Educational Video
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Citations
Preston, J. (2020, August 24). Paul Feyerabend. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feyerabend/#BrieChroFeyeLifeWork The Philosophy of Paul Feyerabend. Antimatter. (2011, February 14). https://antimatter.ie/2011/02/13/the-philosophy-of-paul-feyerabend/