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And for Paul, any and everything must go.
Much of Feyerabend's frustrations in science were from those such as Popper who laid so heavily a procedure in which science is best followed. I imagine Paul was rather insulted, I too felt "well who is going to tell me how to think and tell me how to test?". This idea that Paul clung to was at the soul of his interests of painting a picture and spreading hope for the unorthodox scientist. The idea of putting science in a box seems rather frustrating as well as science having our only answers. -
Anything Goes
In the final chapter of Feyerabend's book "Against Method" published in 1975, he states "Stringent rules would only impede progress in scientific activity. That is why “Anything Goes.” This is one of Paul's most influential quotes, and is also from one of his two most famous works. Very much so contributing to his character being known as "the anarchist of science". -
Science in a Free Society and Conversations with Illiterates
So not only did Paul's words in "Against Method" get him in hot water, he too put those who attacked him in hot water within a section of his book "Science in a free society" in a chapter called "Conversations with Illiterates" where he put those who took offense to his words and lashed out at him in a place of scrutiny and reversed it, saying they were being "aggressive and nasty", rather out of pocket of them! -
Farewell to Reason
To further cement my belief Paul was a very good man to have in the scientific community here is an excerpt from his book "Farewell to Reason" "Cultural diversity, which already exists in some societies, is a good thing not least because it affords the best defense against totalitarian domination." I believe his works were aimed with the average joe in mind. He was not so much sciences worst enemy as he was sciences "in your face", knowledgeable critic. -
Grand scheme
I would like to think that Feyerabend fills a void within the never ending circle that encompasses science. Paul has his own bubble in which he touts another angle of looking at science, all of these angles help further craft a perfect circle. Paul's contributions further instilled out of the box thinking as well as a very human way of looking at things such as not everything should be answered by science. and fears science would one day rule as a totalitarian force, and possibly be exploited. -
To Clear Bias
Many think of Paul as being completely out of the loop and against science, this just is not the case. In his practices and teachings he spoke much of looking at the sociology and construction, the history of science. "Warning his peers that mere abstract reflection on the sciences would produce only idealised fantasies of science, rather than workable models of it.". This man is truly multifaceted, and a great warner of what science could be if further manipulated into something it is not. -
MLA Citations
Cameron, Janet. “Archaeology.” Decoded Past, 9 Apr. 2014, https://decodedpast.com/paul-feyerabend-philosopher-of-science-says-anything-goes/#:~:text=Stringent%20rules%20would%20only%20impede,is%20both%20unrealistic%20and%20pernicious.
Kidd, Ian James. “Rethinking Feyerabend: The ‘Worst Enemy of Science’?” PLoS Biology, Public Library of Science, 4 Oct. 2011, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3186788/. -
MLA Citations cont.
Preston, John. “Paul Feyerabend.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 24 Aug. 2020, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feyerabend/#ImpaStudRevo. All of these resources helped portray who I felt Feyerabend to be. I hope my summary did as well, It was very hard to summarize how his contributions played into science simply because he had so many books and was so controversial. I do hope you enjoyed Professor. Israelsen. -
Influential Publishings
Feyerabend, Paul. “The Tyranny of Science. by Paul Feyerabend - Researchgate.” ResearchGate.net, Manuel Lechthaler, Jan. 2013, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325514171_The_Tyranny_of_Science_By_Paul_Feyerabend. Feyerabend , Paul. “Paul K. Feyerabend - Farewell to Reason-Verso (1987).” Scribd, Scribd, https://www.scribd.com/document/523174001/Paul-K-Feyerabend-Farewell-to-Reason-Verso-1987. -
Influential Publishings Cont.
Feyerabend, Paul. “(PDF) Science in Feyerabend’s Free Society - Researchgate.” ResearchGate.net, Gonzalo Munevar, Jan. 1991, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/251410601_Science_in_Feyerabend's_Free_Society. Feyerabend, Paul. “File:Feyerabend Paul against Method.pdf - Monoskop.” Monoskop.org, New Lift Books 1975, https://monoskop.org/File:Feyerabend_Paul_Against_Method.pdf.