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Birth Date
Paul Karl Feyerabend was born on January 13, 1924, at 11 pm in Wien, Austria. This would be the same area that Feyerabend would grow through childhood and attend primary and high school. -
University of Vienna
After serving in WW2, Feyerabend would return to study history and sociology but would soon transfer to theoretical physics. Here Feyerabend would align his views with Radical Positivists, that science is the basis of knowledge. -
International Summer Seminar
A seminar that was hosted by the Austrian College Society in Alpbach, it was here that for the first time Feyerabend would meet the philosopher of science Karl Popper. After attending roughly 15 of these meetings, Feyerabend was offered, and accepted, the post of “scientific secretary” to the society, and this he calls “the most decisive step of my life” -
“Zur Theorie der Basissätze”
Feyerabend doctoral thesis was published on 1951 under the supervision of Kraft, a philosopher. The subject of the thesis was “basic sentences”, or “protocol sentences”, i.e. the kind of sentences that, the Logical Positivists had theorized, comprise the foundations of scientific knowledge. -
“Das Problem der Existenz theoretischer Entitäten
Feyerabend published this book in which he argued that there is no special “problem” of theoretical entities and that all entities are hypothetical. -
Problems of Empiricism
"Publication of the first part of the essay in “Problems of Empiricism. Feyerabend made his last serious attempt to construct a “tolerant”, “disinfected” empiricism." -
Against Method
The appearance of Feyerabend’s first book, Against Method, setting out “epistemological anarchism”, whose main thesis was that there is no such thing as the scientific method. Great scientists are methodological opportunists who use any moves that come to hand, even if they thereby violate canons of empiricist methodology. -
Science in a Free Society
Publication of this book was in response to critics of his previous book which he criticised reviewers for having misread Against Method. It was in this book Feyerabend stated “a society in which all traditions have equal rights and equal access to the centres of power” -
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Farewell to Reason
Through 6 years of his life, Feyerabend would publish Farewell to Reason. The major message of this book is that relativism is the solution to the problems of conflicting beliefs and of conflicting ways of life. -
Death
Paul Feyerabend would pass away on this date at the age of 70 in Genolier, Vaud, Switzerland. On this date, while battling paralysis, Feyerabend would succumb to a brain tumor. -
Biography
Feyerabend’s autobiography was being worked on right up until his death on February 11th, 1994. At the end of the book, he expressed the wish that what should remain of him would be “not papers, not final declarations, but love” His biography would be published 4 years after his death. -
Summary
The International Summer Seminar can be seen as a pivotal time in his life. Here he would meet his idol, secure a position in philosophy, and be allowed to develop and express his ideas. -
Summary
From 1951 to 1987, Feyerabend would publish many books on his beliefs on the philosophy of science and the structure of science, and the meaning. Here we see the transition and shifts of Feyerabend's ideology. -
Summary
Feyerabend came to be seen as a leading cultural relativist, he has exerted enormous influence through his relativism, social constructivism, and apparent irrationalism. -
Summary
Since his birth date on January 13, 1924, Feyerabend would go on later in his life to start his career in philosophy at the University of Vienna and study theoretical science. -
Informational Video
Link text Part 1/2, Recommend watching both parts