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Paul Feyerabend, in his response to supposed methodologies used in science (falsification, research programs, normal science and paradigm revolutions, etc.) in general and of Imre Lakatos' research programs in particular, uses a whole book (even three largely different editions) to arrive at his conclusion. The book, "Against Method" is used to substantiate his claim. With historical examples.

What does his slogan mean?

Mauro ALLEGRANZA
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Deschele Schilder
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    An interesting recent book: Mansoor Niaz, [Feyerabend’s Epistemological Anarchism: How Science Works And Its Importance For Science Education (2020, Springer)](https://www.google.it/books/edition/Feyerabend_s_Epistemological_Anarchism/pKbMDwAAQBAJ) – Mauro ALLEGRANZA Jul 06 '21 at 15:08
  • @MauroAllegranza Thanks for the link. I know which book Im gonna buy next! – Deschele Schilder Jul 06 '21 at 15:11
  • It means what it says, Feyerabend's historical studies lead him to the conclusion that all supposed research methodologies are bunk invented after the fact, and bunk not even well-fitted to the historical examples it was invented to accommodate. In fact, according to Feyerabend, researchers used all sorts of misconceptions, prejudice, quirks and so on to arrive at their theories, literally *anything*. And it worked, so we might as well dispense with the superfluous methodological paper mill. – Conifold Jul 06 '21 at 20:44
  • He has a point, but it's not true that *literally* anything goes. We will not make useful scientific progress if all we do is hop in place chanting nursery rhymes, for example. While it is difficult to codify what science does - as difficult as it is to codify what thought itself is - some activities are useful at exploring and understanding the world, and some activities are not. Speaking very generally, science at least involves studying observations and trying to find "good" (according to some unknown laws of thought) explanations for them. – causative Jul 06 '21 at 20:47
  • @Conifold Wel put. Especially *And it worked, so we might as well dispense with the superfluous methodological paper mill.* – Deschele Schilder Jul 06 '21 at 21:53

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