-
Early Years
Born in Vienna in 1924. He found an interest in entertaining and singing, however while attending High School he inadvertently received philosophy textbooks included with books he intended to read for plays and novels. He became fascinated with philosophy, specifically “the dramatic possibilities of reasoning and… the power that arguments seem to exert over people” -
Period: to
WWII
Feyeraband was drafted into the German Army during WWII. He tried to avoid going to the front lines, and described his actions in battle as foolhardy. During one of these actions of his, he was shot and paralyzed from the waist down in Poland. He eventually regained the ability to walk, however the war ended while he was recovering, to his relief. He described the war as “an interruption, a nuisance; I forgot about it the moment it was over”. -
the accidental philosopher
After the war Feyerabend returned to Vienna with the intent of studying math and physics, but instead took up history and sociology. During this time be met Karl Popper while attending a seminar for the Austrian College Society in Alpbach. It was through his admiration of Popper and continued attendance of the lectures that solidified his path to becoming a philosopher. [https://youtu.be/kDwoGtPbO5w?t=37&end=184] -
Life in England
Feyerabend moved to England and worked under Karl Popper. During this time he began to disagree with many of Poppers approaches. Feyerabend argued that Popper applied too much rationalism and simplicity to his ideas, he claimed that science did not follow set rules and patterns. -
Moving to America
Feyerabend moved to the US, first to lecture at Minnesota Center for the Philosophy of Science in Minneapolis, and later in 1958 was invited to the University of California at Berkley. It was at Berkley that he developed the concept of scientific realism. Realism says that we can learn from our experiences to make scientific advancement, instead of merely needing to compile the experiences together to find answers or solutions. -
Against Method
Feyerabend refined his ideas of rationalism and published a book “Against Method”, it says that there are no methods to science that will not inhibit its progress, and there should be no rules or methodologies to govern it. This has been described as “epistemological anarchy”.
The book was originally meant to be titled “For and Against Method” as a sort of debate with Imre Lakatos taking the side of rationalism, however Lakatos died before this could be completed. -
Period: to
Autobiography and death
Feyerabend became inspired to work on his autobiography in 1988, and worked on it up until his death in 1994. Is titled "Killing Time: The Autobiography of Paul Feyerabend"
