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Early Background
Paul was born in Vienna on 1924 which was a very rough time as Vienna was still dealing with the reverberation of World War 1. Paul was a different child and spent most time inside apartment with his family, he also dealt with a lot of health issues early on in his life. Photo Reference:
https://www.allnumis.com/postcards-catalog/austria/vienna/vienna-prater-1924-37398 -
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Paul Feyerabend(1924 to 1994)
Paul Feyerabend was born January 13th, 1924 and passed away February 2nd, 1994. -
After High school Graduation
Post high school Paul was drafted to the "Arbeitsdienst"(Pg. 2.3 Preston) which was a labor service created by Nazi Germany. Photo Reference: https://www.aboutww2militaria.com/ww2-german-badge-fad-volunteer-freiwilliger-arbeitsdienst.html -
Joined the Wehrmacht’s Pioneer Corps
The Wehrmacht's Pioneer Corps was an armed force of Nazi Germany. Feyerabend had no intentions of fighting and wanted to get promoted so he could stay out of the fighting and survive. Photo Reference: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wehrmacht -
Feyerabend was shot
In 1945 Feyerabend was shot in the spine while retreating from Russian forces and was temporarily paralyzed from the waist down. Paul hoped to not recover until the war was over and thats exactly what happened. He later called his service a "Nuisance." (Pg. 2.3 Preston) Photo Reference: https://blog.oup.com/2017/03/paul-feyerabend-philosophy-science/ -
Feyerabend returns to Vienna
In 1947 Paul returns back to Vienna and attended the University of Vienna. At University he studied history and sociology until he got bored and studied theoretical physics. In 1948 Paul met with Popper who is a famous philosopher known for his approval and push for empirical falsification. Photo Reference: https://europe-studies.com/en/university-of-vienna/ -
Landed a spot to teach at the University of Bristol, England
In 1955 Feyerabend landed a spot to give lectures at the University of Bristol in England. Even giving lectures Paul felt as if he was wasting time. During the coming years he released criticisms on other peoples work in a fashion very similar to Popper. Photo Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Bristol -
Feyerabend's Late work: Against Method
In 1975 Feyerabend published his work called Against Method in which he was opposing the view of rational science. Paul was against the idea of strict rules when it came to science. Epistemological anarchism was made famous through this work. Epistemological anarchism is a theory that states that there are no beneficial rules that help the progression of science. Photo Reference: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/137979.Against_Method -
Late work Continued: Science in a Free Society
This is an extension of his previously proposed idea in his work Against Method. His book Against Method was not accepted very well with the public so this book addresses that. Photo Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_in_a_Free_Society -
Video on Feyerabend
A short youtube video describing some of Feyerabend's thoughts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiNm5Ec-GuE&t=54s&ab_channel=INTELECOM -
Sources
Feyerabend, Paul. “Outline of an Anarchistic Theory of Knowledge.” Paul Feyerabend's Against Method, www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/feyerabe.htm.
Preston, John. “Paul Feyerabend.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 24 Aug. 2020, plato.stanford.edu/entries/feyerabend/#EarlContWitt1948.
Feyerabend, Paul. Against Method. Verso, 2010. Link to Feyerabend's work:
https://monoskop.org/images/7/7e/Feyerabend_Paul_Against_Method.pdf -
The last few years of Feyerabend's life
Feyerabend retired in 1991 after living an action packed life. He had married multiple times in his life, fought in a war, and was also a scholar and an influential philosopher. Feyerabend died in 1994 from a brain tumor. He was very controversial during his time but his work has influenced many and deserves to be studied. Photo Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Feyerabend
