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Early Life
Paul Feyerabend was born on January 13, 1924 in Vienna, Austria. During his time in primary and high school he picked up reading, singing, and theatre. Feyerabend was drafted into the German Arbeitsdienst after he graduating high school in 1942, and then was assigned to a unit in Quelern en Bas after he completed basic training. -
During the War
Feyerabend attained an Iron cross and the rank of Lieutenant as he served as an officer in December 1943. He then spent the rest of WWII recovering after he had been shot three times-one in the spine-while directing traffic. -
Professor Feyerabend
Among one of his most well-known and significant achievements, he was a professor of philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley from 1958-1989. During his time at the university, he published many big papers, but to name a few, "An Attempt at a Realistic Interpretation of Experience" and "Complementary" where he argued against positivism in alignment with Karl Popper's views. In "Das Problem der Existenz theoretischer Entitäten" he argues how all entities are hypothetical. -
His Contributions to Science in Society
Throughout his life, Feyerabend had a firm belief in anarchism in science and believed it should replace rationalism. He was also not fully on board with the idea of falsification, since in his mind, no theory is ever consistent with all relevant facts. -
Paul's Philosophy of Science
He has two major works called "Against Method" and "Science in a Free Society." In his books he argues that there are no methodological rules and opposes the idea of any prescriptive scientific method limiting scientific activities and restricting progress. He also held fast to his acceptance of theoretical anarchism and thought it to be more humanitarian than other systems because it didn't put strict rules on scientists. -
Sources
Preston, John. “Paul Feyerabend.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, 2020, plato.stanford.edu/entries/feyerabend/#toc. Accessed 1 Sept. 2022. “Paul Feyerabend - New World Encyclopedia.” Www.newworldencyclopedia.org, www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Paul_Feyerabend. Wikipedia Contributors. “Paul Feyerabend.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Feb. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Feyerabend.