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Paul Feyerabend's Birth
Paul Feyerabend was born on January 13 1924 in Vienna, Austria -
Paul's Military Service
Paul served as an officer in the German army; he was shot in the spine and was forced to walk with a cane for the rest of his life -
Paul as a Popperian
After the war, Paul attended university and studied sociology and then physics, then changing his area of study to philosophy. At this point in his life, he deemed his philosophical stance as "staunchly empiricist". He met Karl Popper in Austria and defended him, until later in his life, when he denounced Popper and falsificationism. -
Paul's Work at London
Paul went to the London School of Economics and studied under Karl Popper; he translated Popper's work into German, as well as writing articles about the classical view of the Philosophy of Science. -
Paul Turning to The Dark Side
Around 1960, Paul began growing skeptical of empiricism and Popperian ideas of science. In 1962 he openly criticized empiricist accounts of explanation and reduction; in 1965 he published "Problems of Empiricism" which was his last attempt to construct a "tolerant" empiricism. He began to separate himself, from Popper. -
Paul Goes Full Blown Darth Vader
1975 Paul publishes his notorious book "Against Method", which lay's the framework of epistemological anarchism; he has given up empiricism and no longer believes one needs to experience or sense phenomena to practice science on said phenomena; the scientific method has too many rules. -
Paul After "Against Method"
Paul releases "Science in a Free Society" in response to critics of "Against Method". Shows no backing down from the original stance and clarifies what epistemological anarchism is. Paul also endorses relativism for the first time in "Science in a Free Society" -
Paul's Death
Paul died on February 11, 1994, after a long, controversial career as a philosopher of science. He died in Genolier, Switzerland, with his wife Grazia Borinni -
Paul's Effect on Modern Cosmology
Currently, there is a large debate surrounding string theory and cosmic inflation. One side of scientists claims that cosmic inflation is non-science because of the claim that it is unobservable and is non-falsifiable. I, like Paul, think that this sort of thinking puts limits on the progress of science because at a certain point science isn't going to be as simple as it was in the past. These sort of rules will just keep us in the stone age. Paul has been an influential figure in my thinking.
