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Questions tagged [feyerabend]

Paul Karl Feyerabend (1924 – 1994) was an Austrian-born philosopher of science.

The following are some sources for more information on Feyerabend:

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Is Feyerabend confusing discovery and justification when he criticizes the scientific method?

I am reading Feyerabend's "Against Method", where he uses Copernicus's (and Galileo's confirmation) discovery of the fact that the Earth orbits around the Sun and other examples to show that irrational approaches can lead to legitimate scientific…
Alexander S King
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Stronger evidence for Feyerabend's critique of self-consistency

Background Many physicists use 'reality cannot have a true paradox, only apparent ones in our theory' as a very common maximum and guide to theory checking. As with all universal rules, Paul Feyerabend disagrees[1] that this is useful rule across…
Artem Kaznatcheev
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Evidence that epistemological anarchism by Feyerabend is wrong

Feyerabend was critical of the scientific method and claimed in his book "Against method" that "anything goes". If I understood correctly he meant that there is no single scientific method,but he does not specify common components of every…
CuriousIndeed
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What is Feyerabend advocating when he says that science should be separate from the state just as the church is?

In the closing chapter of "Against Method", Feyerabend states that: "Science is neither a single tradition, nor the best tradition there is, except for people who have become accustomed to its presence, its benefits and its disadvantages. In a…
Alexander S King
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Feyerabend's criticism against the fetishes of rationalism

Why does Fayerabend see observation terms, scientific method and fixed standards as fetishes of rationalism?
lalessandro
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Why did Feyerabend criticize scientists like Feynman and Schwinger given his philosophy?

From a quick read of Wikipedia, I got the impression that Feyerabend's philosophy would suggest it's beneficial for scientists to ignore all philosophical prescriptions when practicing science. However, in a letter to Wallace Matson (included in For…
Jia Yiyang
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Did Paul Feyerabend ever develop some alternative, useful and viable philosophy of science?

I know he criticized Popper's critical rationalism as limited and dogmatic, but critical rationalism isn't like that, because critical rationalism does accept ideas which at first sound illogical and out of tune with accepted knowledge. If those…
Mirza Beglerović Raven
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Thoughts about Feyerabend

Feyerabend's ideas to me see to be a little scattered. On pg. 114 GS states that Feyerabend claims we should ignore principles or rules that may go wrong. We also learn on pg. 115 that for Feyerabend, science benefits from the presence of a range of…
user2864644
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What does Feyerabend mean by saying that state and science should be separated?

I wrote in a comment that I don't agree that scientists should be paid for doing things that are of no benefit whatsoever for the ones from whose pocket their salary is paid. As an example I gave three people who took a considerable time in coming…
Deschele Schilder
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How should Feyerabend's "Anything goes" be interpreted?

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…
Deschele Schilder
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Can we see the sciences as an art?

I always feel some kind of fulfillment when I succeed in giving Natural processes an explanation in the light of physics. It's kind of comforting to make invisible causes visible and understandable. Paul Feyerabend has written the small book…
Deschele Schilder
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