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Paul Feyerabend Birth
Paul Feyereband was born in Vienna Austria on January 13th, 1924. His mother was a seamstress and his father was a civil servant. They were a middle class family. In Feyerabend's autobiography, he states that he spent a lot of his childhood inside, looking out the window and lacking interaction with people outside of his family. -
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Feyerabend is Drafted
Feyerabend was drafted into the Arbeitsdienst which was a work service introduced by the Nazis. He was sent to basic training in 1942 to be in the German military for WWll. Feyerabend states his time in the military leaves his mind blank and seems to act like it wasn't a big deal. In 1943 his mother comitted suicide which he learned of and was also unbothered. In 1945, he was shot in the spine, rendering him infertile. 1945 was the end of his strange military tour. -
Earning a Doctorate
In 1951 Paul Feyerabend earned his doctorate from The University of Vienna with a thesis on observational statements. He was originally going to submit a phsyics theory but made the switch to philosophy instead. -
Desires to come to the USA
Paul Feyerabend applied for a green card to come to the United States because he accepted a position to work at Berkley College in California. Although he accepted in 1959 he didn't start work until 1960. Here he was a professor of philosophy for three decades. -
How to be a Good Empiricist is written
This was a position paper summing up his point of view on Empiricism. Empiricism is essentially the theory that knowledge all comes from sense-based experience. We use all 5 senses to have knowledge. The image attached is a good and simple explanation. A lot of scientists really didn't enjoy his unconventional way of thinking and he was even considered an "enemy of science" by some. He does eventually change his mind but he held strong to his arguments. Https://Youtu.be/nAz3ChGQV0I -
Against Method is Published
Feyerabend was considered a epistemological anarchist. He strongly argued that this view was important. Epoistemological anarchy is opposed to all systems of rules and constraints in science. Feyerabend believed that good scientists make use of anything they can for discovery and persuasion. In his eyes, establishing rules in science ruins it and hinders productivity, placing it in a chokehold. He goes into detail and has always been an unconventional thinker.
https://youtu.be/6QgRFxr4tu8 -
Paul Feyerabend Dies
Paul Feyereband had developed an incurable brain tumor. He died in 1994 at a hospital in Switzerland. I am not educated enough to take giant jabs at the healthcare system but I bet it was because American Healthcare is.. not so good and he had retired in Zurich.
