Paul Feyerabend (1924-1994)

By OliviaN77

  • Paul Feyerabend (1924-1994)

    After getting his doctorate in 1951, Feyerabend went to England to study under Karl Popper. There he studied quantum physics and Wittgenstein, and summarized one of Wittgenstein's books, "Philosophical Investigations." A few years later his summary appeared as a review in "The Philosophical Review." Feyerabend's start in England with Popper influenced his future career and beliefs, as evidenced by his refusal to work with Popper again in 1953 and his harsh criticism of him in 1974.

  • Paul Feyerabend (1924-1994)

    In 1958, two of Feyerabend's most important papers were published. In which he focused on arguing against positivism, and instead focused on having a scientific realist view on the relationship between theory and experience. These papers titled, “An Attempt at a Realistic Interpretation of Experience" and "Complimentary." In this first article, Feyerabend proposed "thesis I". This reversed the direction positivists had supposed interpretation ought to travel in, from theory to experience.

  • Paul Feyerabend (1924-1994)

    In 1963, Feyerabend wrote two of his most influential pieces on philosophy. In which he supported materialism, and brought in what we know today as "eliminative materialism". Eliminative materialism is the belief that the way we conceive our minds is archaic and wrong, a state of mind doesn't exist because it cannot be measured. Our state of minds that we "feel" like desires and beliefs, aren't real. They are just the words that we use to describe what is going on. Video attached in text box.

  • Paul Feyerabend (1924-1994)

    Feyerabend published "Against Method" in 1975, the first appearance of epistemological anarchism. His main argument here was that there is no one scientific method. A scientist should take advantage of all opportunities and use their creativity and curiosity to propel science forward. Feyerabend looked back at previous scientific breakthroughs in history and saw that no scientist was following a set of rules to find their results, in fact they were often breaking ideals of their time.