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The Birth of a Philsopher
Paul Feyerabend was an Austrian philosopher who was born on January 13th, 1924. Feyerabend is considered to be one of the most important philosophers of the 20th century, and a key component in the development of post-Kuhnian philosophy. Over the course of his life, he developed a new approach to philosophy: epistemological-anarchism. In short, this approach dismantled the age-old systematic approach to philosophy. The restraints of classical science should be removed. -
The Against Method
Feyerabend considered science to be an anarchistic enterprise, devoid of rules and constraints. Feyerabend explains this by saying the following: “compare ideas with other ideas, not experience, and seek to improve those concepts that were defeated in the competition, rather than discard them.” The basis of his against theory encompassed falsification, exclusion of ad-hoc hypothesis, experimental empiracy and consistency. The Against Method -
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The Impact of The Against Method
Reception of Feyerabend's work was stark to say the least. Many saw his book as a call to arms against classical science while others praised his abstract thought. Feyerabend wrote "Freedom has increased - but it has brought hunger, insecurity, nationalistic tensions, wars and straightforward murder." (Feyerabend, 71) After reading critiques of his book, Feyerabend published an article on relativism and later Science in a Free Society which called out critiques and defended his views. -
Later Years
His lectures at the University of California at Berkeley helped spread his views like wildfire, opening many up to his abstract methodology. He eventually retired in 1990 after marrying his wife in late 1989. In 1993, Feyerabend unfortunately developed a brain tumor which would lead to his death on February 11th, 1994. His autobiography Killing Time was published posthumously in 1995. Short video about Kuhn and Feyerabend at USB
