Paul Feyerabend (1924-1994)

  • Paul Feyerabend

    Paul Feyerabend was born into a middle-class Viennese family in 1924. During his period in high school, he was taught Latin, English, and science.
  • Arbeitsdienst 1942-1945

    He was drafted into the Pioneer Corps of the German army., after basic training, he volunteered for Officers Scool. He got shot in the hand and the belly what cause damage to his spinal nerves.
  • Paul return to Vienna

    He decided to study history and socialogy at the University of Vienna, but he end up studying theoretical physics.
  • Feyerabend doctorate

    In 1951, he received a doctorate in philosophy for his thesis on "basic statements". A year later he went to London to study under Popper at the London School of Economics, where he studied the typescript of Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigation.
  • Visiting California

    Paul went to a lectureship at the University of California, Berkeley. He accepted a permanent position to work in the university. Two of his most important early papers, "An attempt at a realistic interpretation of experience" and "Complementary" show up in the proceedings of the Aristotelian Society.
  • Incommensurablity

    In 1962, an article he published "Explanation, Reduction, and Empiricism" appeared, he criticized empiricist accounts of explanation and theoretical reduction. He introduced the concept of incommensurability.
  • Paul gave up

    "science Without Experience", Paul gave up the attempt to be an empiricist. He argues that in principle experience is necessary at no point in the construction, comprehension, or testing of empirical scientific theories.
  • Feyerabend's first book

    "Against Method" was his first book talking about "epistemological anarchism, where he explained the thesis that there is no such thing as the scientific method.
  • Second edition

    In 1988, the second edition of "Against Method" was published, incorporating parts of Science in a Free Society.
  • Third Edition

    The third edition of "Against Method" was published. The same year he develops an inoperable brain tumor.
  • Paul Feyerabend died

    Feyerabend died in a clinic on February 11th.