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Early Life
Paul Feyerabend was born on January 13, 1924, in Vienna, where he attended primary school to high school. After graduation, he was drafted into the Nazi German Arbeitsdienst, the Reich Labor Service, whose purpose was to alleviate the effects of unemployment while militarizing and indoctrinating the workforce. Feyerabend described his work during this time as monotonous. (Continued in assignment text box) -
After the War
Following his time in the war, Feyerabend received a temp job writing theater in Apolda, Germany. This work aligned nicely with his lifelong love of theater and opera. Following his employment in Apolda, he took classes at Weimar Academy, eventually returning to Vienna to study sociology and history. (Continued in assignment text box) -
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Popper vs. Vienna
In 1951, Feyerabend received a British Council scholarship studying under Ludwig Wittgenstein; however, Wittgenstein tragically passed away before Feyerabend’s relocation to London. Therefore, Feyerabend chose Popper as his supervisor and began studying at the London School of Economics by 1952, where he concentrated on quantum physics and Wittgenstein. (Continued in assignment text box) -
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Whirlwind Work
Following Feyerabend’s work under Arthur Pap, he received his first full-time job lecturing at the University of Bristol in England. In 1955, his critique of Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations appeared in The Philosophical Review. (Continued in assignment text box) -
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Abandoning Empiricism
In 1967 and 1968, Feyerabend began shifting towards a pluralist stance. Furthermore, he released articles defending Niels Bohr’s defiance against Popper’s critique, which upset Popper, understandably. In 1969, Feyerabend finally abandoned the idea of empiricism completely in his article entitled, “Science Without Experience,” where he determined that experience was in no way involved in an empiricist process. (Continued in assignment text box) -
RIP Lakatos
In 1974, Feyerabend suffered a tragic blow when his friend and project partner, Imre Lakatos, passed away. Feyerabend was also suffering from illness yet managed to publish a harsh review of Popper’s Objective Knowledge. 1975 marks the year Feyerabend released his first book entitled Against Method, where he argues that scientists should use any methodology, even if it means breaking the rules set forth by empiricism. (Continued in assignment text box) -
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Winding Down (Later Years)
In 1981, Feyerabend’s first two volumes of Philosophical Papers were published in English and included new content. In 1984, he published Science as an Art, highlighting a relativist account of scientific history, claiming that there had been changes but no real progress. It was during this time that he was campaigning for the rehabilitation of Ernst Mach. (Continued in assignment text box) -
Death
In 1993, Feyerabend received news that he had developed an inoperable brain tumor and remained in the hospital until he died in Genolier, Canton of Vaud, Switzerland, on February 11, 1994. The following year, his autobiography entitled Killing Time: The Autobiography of Paul Feyerabend was released.