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Paul Feyerabend birth and early years
He was born on January 13, 1924, in Vienna. He lived there until he graduated high school in 1942. After graduation, he was drafted into the Army of the Third Reich and did multiple tours on the eastern front, at which point he sustained a spine injury, which resulted in him walking with aid for the rest of his life -
Meeting Popper
In 1948, he met Karl Popper at the Austrian College in Alpbach. There, they hit it off. He was impressed by the simplicity of Popper's arguments. Later, in 1952, he went to work for Popper at LSE, where they worked on problems relating to quantum mechanics (Reaven, Sheldon F. “Time Well Spent on Paul Feyerabend’s Autobiography.” The Worst Enemy of Science? Pg47) -
Making an IMPACT
1975, when he made a significant contribution to the philosophy of science. He wrote and published his book “Against Method”. In this book, he drew the “epistemological anarchist” conclusion that there are no useful and exceptionalness methodological rules governing the progress of science or the growth of knowledge (Preston, John, "Paul Feyerabend"). In other words, he stated that there are no rules for scientific inquiry. -
Standing his ground
Later, in 1975, after publishing his book, he was labeled as being nasty and aggressive. He would respond to such reviews directly in his book “Science in a Free Society”, in a chapter titled “Conversations with Illiterates” (Preston, John, "Paul Feyerabend"). -
Continuing pushing science
In 1987, he published Farewell to Reason, in which he discusses relativism as a solution to conflicting beliefs or ways of life. In these writings, he supports the idea of cultural diversity both positively, by producing considerations in its favour, and negatively, “by criticizing philosophies that oppose it” (Farewell to Reason, p. 5). -
Death and legacy
On February 11th, 1994, he passed away from an inoperable brain tumor. His impact on the philosophy of science is still being felt today. In 2010, he was ranked 8th of the most significant philosophers of science (Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog) -
Video link
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References
Preston, John, "Paul Feyerabend", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2020 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2020/entries/feyerabend/.
Reaven, Sheldon F. “Time Well Spent on Paul Feyerabend’s Autobiography.” The Worst Enemy of Science?, Oxford University Press, 2000, https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195128741.003.0002. -
references cont
Feyerabend, Paul K. Against Method. 4th ed., Verso Books, 2010.
Feyerabend, P. K. (1978). Science in a free society. London: NLB
Feyeraben, Paul K. Farewell to Reason, London: Verso/New Left Books, 1987
Most Significant Philosophers of Science of the 20th-Century: the Results". Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog