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WWII Injury
I believe this, coupled with his mother's suicide 2 years prior, culminated to begin creation of the Feyerabend we know today. These life-altering experiences injected the reality of the "unknown" and potentially kept a chip on Feyerabend's shoulder until his death, that yearned for an answer no one would ever be able to provide. -
Weinmar Academy
Looking for an "answer" understandably Feyerabend returned to Vienna to find what he was looking for in history and sociology. Understandably, these highly subjective, and unmanageable topics drove Feyerabend to search for something more theoretical, yet encompassing the unknown world he had come to identify with, I believe setting off his rant of those that "think" they know the answer. -
Felix Ehrenhaft
Upon switching to physics, Feyerabend meets Felix Ehrenhaft who lit the fuse as his journey took shape. This became clear in his first publication "A Raving Positivist" (1947) which clearly demonstrated Feyerabend's new connection to the sense and what can be obtained from the natural world, as opposed to only scientists behind microscopes. -
Meets Karl Popper at Alpbach Forum
Possible one of the most important events towards the development of Feyerabend's most known philosophies was his meeting Karl Popper. Although as described later in Feyerabend's life, at first, they seemed to share the same fundamental rule that "nothing is provable" and a sort of "anti-establishment" approach. -
London School of Economics
As Feyerabend began a formal career with Popper, these enhanced interactions began to push Feyerabend away subsequently developing his own in theory's, which contradicted the "passion of Popper" and the box he would be forced to remain in. The simultaneous studying of Wittgenstein's "Philosophical Investigations" may have also contributed to his future revelations. -
First Academic Appointment
Taking on his first academic appointment at the University of Bristol, England his summary of Wittgenstein's paper appeared as a review of the book in The Philosophical Review (1955), further supporting the path Feyerabend was taking in his own journey through the philosophy of science.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coJF--qWeVc&list=WL&index=16&t=113s -
Against Method Released
Although Feyerabend achieved many contributing milestones over the next 20 years, these experiences remained bottled until his harsh review of Popper's "Objective Knowledge" (1972), and aggressive, wordy, "Against Method" (1974). I believe that the recent death of Lakatos and the growing popularity of Popper contributed heavily to this. The level of depression expressed in Feyerabend's auto-biography clearly details his dislike for disagreement, which I believe demonstrates a lack of commitment. -
Science in a Free Society Released
Although responses to Feyerabend's haters were included, and his newly created epistemological anarchism embodied the "political" side of this theory. The book (1978) is most known for Feyerabend's support of relativism, which remained in much of his work until his death.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QgRFxr4tu8&t=667s&list=WL&index=12 -
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Additional Published Materials
Feyerabend's Philosophical Papers, “Science as an Art”, Farewell to Reason, revised edition of Against Method, Three Dialogues on Knowledge, Beyond Reason, Third edition of Against Method, Killing Time: The Autobiography of Paul Feyerabend, Conquest of Abundance
