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Birth and Youth
Feyerabend was born in Vienna to a middle-class family at a difficult time in history (after the first World War). In school, he participated in academics as well as theatre arts. At a young age, he was drafted into the military after high school to serve the German army. -
Education
Initially, Feyerabend planned to study history at the University of Vienna but became drawn to physics and theoretical physics. while at the Austrian College Society he met the famous philosopher Karl Popper and began his journey to his many works and profound teachings. Though he found pleasure in the arts, he stuck with Philosophy which helped mold it into what we know it as today. -
Against Method
In 1970 Feyerabend published the article 'Against Method' challenging many scientific methods that raised eyebrows and forced people to think about the history of our methodologies. Introducing epistemological anarchism (meaning that there is no one scientific method that is true, but there are many or 'anything goes') this brought a great deal of tension but also intrigued many studying philosophers, scientists, and professors. -
For and Against Method and a Death
'For and Against Method' was supposed to be a masterpiece in the works that in a way, piggybacked off of 'Against Method'. It was a joint effort between both Paul Feyerabend and Imre Lakatos that was going to act as an argument between the two. There Lakatos would bring up a 'logical' scientific method and Feyerabend would rebuttal aggressively. Unfortunately, Lakatos died unexpectedly and the work was not completed. -
Continued...
The reason that the death of Lakatos was so detrimental and awful to Feyerabend was because of the impact the literature would have had on the world. If 'Against Method' turned heads the way that it did then I'm not sure the world would have been ready for this.
As such a profound teacher and theorist Feyerabend was able to fill seats in lecture rooms because of the substantial impact of his view. People wanted to hear more of what a world unknown. -
An Interview
This link to the interview of Paul Feyerabend (1993) is an amazing resource because you are able to see the passion of the philosopher in how he explains himself. It is a first-hand view of who he is. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDwoGtPbO5w -
Towards the End and Fin
Suffering from injuries from war and being worn down from years of teaching Feyerabend began to fade in his teachings and subsequently died in a clinic in Switzerland. Towards the end of his life, he was consumed in the works of his autobiography. A man of true profound ideas and subsistence. -
Works Cited
- Feyerabend, Paul. “Against Method.” The Anarchist Library, 1993, theanarchistlibrary.org/library/paul-feyerabend-against-method.
- Preston, John. “Paul Feyerabend.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 21 Sept. 2016, plato.stanford.edu/entries/feyerabend/.
