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Birth
Born in Vienna. Son of a civil servant and seamstress. -
Spinal Injury
Feyerabend was fighting for the Red Army in 1945 when he was shot in the stomach and hand. The damage from the bullet affected his spinal nerves as it traveled to his spine. This lead to a spinal injury that left him paralyzed temporarily from the waist down. Eventually he made a recovery and was able to walk using crutches, and then a cane (Preston). His injury bounded him to a wheelchair until he had the strength for the crutches. Feyerabend was a decorated Officer. His rank was Lieutenant. -
First Publication of the Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics
During this time Feyerabend wrote and published a series of articles related to the philosophy of quantum mechanics. Feyerabend wrote about his experience and the time he spent studying with Karl Popper. Feyerabend discussed quantum theory and how it was “undeserved”. He argued that his “interpretation of the theory was a general panacea for the problems of microphysics, or that its defenders could justifiably believe it to be unassailable” (Preston). -
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Papers Published on Realism
Papers: “How to be a Good Empiricist”, “Realism and Instrumentalism”,”Problems of Empiricism”, “Reply to Criticism” . These papers reflected his arguments on scientific realism and how there was a demand for more scientific progress that required more empirical context otherwise it would “ theory’s testability is proportional to the number of potential falsifiers, the alternative theories is the only reliable way to ensure potential falsifiers” (Preston). Thus creating theoretical pluralism. -
The Tower Argument
Feyerabend use of the tower argument to reflect on his stance on to the theory of Earth moving. He argued that a “stone dropped from a tower lands directly beneath the tower…if the earth moved while the stone was falling, the stone would have been 'left behind' since the Earth was not in motion” (New World Encyclopedia). This was true due to Aristotles research, but was eventually disproven by Galileo. -
Against Method is Published
Feyerabend book was written about ideas that were accepted thrroughout the world such as the nature of knowledge and scientific knowledge. He argued that science can only be understood from a historical standpoint and “consistently overemphasized practice over method considers the possibility that anarchism could replace rationalism in the theory of knowledge”(Feyerabend).
Link to a YouTube Video on Feyerabend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN-SpDdpY1I -
Death
At seventy years old, Feyerabend died from a brain tumor in Switzerland.