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Date of Birth
Paul K. Feyerabend was born in Vienna, Austria on January 13, 1924 (Paul Feyerabend, par. 1).
Image citation: (Paul K. Feyerabend, fig. 1). -
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WWII
Drafted into the Artbitsdienst (the work service introduced by the Nazis). Received an Iron Cross. Eventually worked his way up to lieutenant. Feyerabend was shot during a retreat in 1945 and was temporarily paralyzed from the waist down (Preston, sec. 2.3). -
Published First Article
Published his first article. His views aligning with positivism (Preston, sec. 1). -
Alpbach Seminars
Became “scientific secretary” of the Austrian College Society which is where he met a person who would influence him greatly, Karl Popper (Preston, sec. 3.1). -
University Life
Became student leader of the “Kraft Circle”, a philosophy club (Preston, sec. 3.2). -
Study
Under supervision of Karl Popper at the London School of Economics, Feyerabend’s views veered toward falsificationism (Paul Feyerabend, par. 9; Preston, sec. 3.3). -
Evolving Views
Papers published around this time had evolved into aligning more with the views of a scientific realist while arguing against positivism (Preston, sec. 4.2). -
Work in the U.S.
Hired in a permanent position at the University of California, Berkeley. Here he met Thomas Kuhn (Preston, sec. 4.2). -
Published Works
Published “Explanation, Reduction, and Empiricism” in which Feyerabend introduces the concept of incommensurability (Preston, sec. 4.2). -
More Evolution
Established a position known as “eliminative materialism”. This is a mind/body thought problem that Feyerabend abandoned in later years (Preston, sec. 4.2). -
Published Works
Leaving behind his falsificationist views, Feyerabend’s article, “Against Method”, criticized several accounts of scientific methodology (Preston, sec. 5.1). -
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Work in the U.K.
Gave enthusiastic and thought-provoking lectures at the University of Sussex (Preston, sec. 5.1). -
Published Works
Published a book version of Against Method where he sought to open people’s minds by stating rules impose limit on scientists (Preston, sec. 5.1). -
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Lecturing
Split his time lecturing on philosophy of science between Berkeley and the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule in Zurich purporting his “anything goes” ideals (Preston, sec. 5.3). -
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Autobiographical Works
Feyerabend worked on his autobiography until his death. -
Date of Death
Paul Feyerabend died February 11, 1994 (Paul Feyerabend, side bar).
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiNm5Ec-GuE]
