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Life to Death
Born in 1924: Born in Vienna Austria
Died in 1994: He passed away in Genolier Clinic on Februrary 11th.
Numerous memorial symposia and colloquia highlighting his work took place over the next several years following his death. Stanford Encyclepedia: Paul Feyerabend, First published Tue Aug 26, 1997; substantive revision Wed Sep 21, 2016 -
Early Life
Paul Karl Feyerabend was born into a middle class family in Vienna. He was described as being a strange child whose life was centered around his family and cut off from the outside world. He attendend high school where he learned latin, english and science. He was quickly known for knowing more about physics and math than his teachers. Killing Time: The Autobiography of Paul Feyerabend, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995), -
The War
In March oh 1942 he talked about passing his high school exams and being drafted into the Arbeitsdienst (Nazi work service) and sent to basic trainig. He opted to stay in Germany and his unit was posted at Quelerne en Bas. He soon volunteered for officerschool in a wish to survive the war. Shortly after his unit was deployed to Russia. He was awarded the iron cross for leading his men through enemy fire to occupy a small village. He advanced in rank to major and was shot in the 1945. -
Post War
In 1951 Feyerabend recieved his doctorate in philosophy for his thesis on "basic statements". He applied for a British Council scholarship to study uder the famed Ludwig Wittgenstein at Cambridge University. However he was unable to accomplish this because Wittgenstein died before Feyerabend could arrive in England. He ended up studying under Popper instead. Preston, John, "Paul Feyerabend", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2016 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), -
Important works
In 1958 he took up a lectureship at CAL Berkley where he wrote 2 of his most important early papers, "An Attempt at Realistic Interpretation of Experience" and "Complementarity". In these papers he argued against positivism and in favor of scientific real accounts of the relation between theory and experience. These were largely based on Karl Poppers Falsificationist views. Preston, John, "Paul Feyerabend", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2016 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), -
Feyerabend First Book
After the death of his close friend Imre lakatos, he published hsi forst book "Against Method". It was an epistemological anarchism theme with its main thesis or idea was that there is not such thing as scientific method. He believed that great scientists are "methodological opportunists" whose use any means even if it violates the principles of empiricist methodology. Paul Feyerabend: "Against Method", London: Verso, 1975. -
Final Days
His autobiography occupied him up until his death in 1994. He accomplished so much it is hard to stop thsi timeline here. His autobiography was published in 1995 as a 3rd volume of his philosophical papers. A volume of his philosophy of quantum mechanics is still being prepared. Some of his last words were " I wish for all that remain of me would not be papers, not final declarations, but love". Killing Time: The Autobiography of Paul Feyerabend, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995
