Feyerabend, Paul (1924—94)
Austrian philosopher of science. Born in Vienna, Feyerabend was drafted into the Arbeitsdienst (Works Service) upon graduation from High School in 1942. He then volunteered for the army, hoping the war would be over before he finished his training. But that was not to be and he was sent to the Eastern Front where he was wounded. After the war he tried his hand at several things, even working for a time in theatre. He then went back to school initially studying sociology and history, but soon switching to physics, before settling finally on philosophy. He then studied with Popper, Karl at the London School of Economics. Feyerabend was employed for most of his life at the University of California, Berkeley, but he also held a variety of visiting appointments outside the US Feyerabend’s work was notable for his argument against the accepted position that there is only one form of science and that the key to scientific progress is the application of rigorous scientific methods. He shows rather that there are multiple forms of science, none with a particular claim to privilege and that progress occurs in an anarchistic fashion, i.e. when rules are broken rather than adhered to. Feyerabend’s principal works include: Against Method: An Outline of an Anarchistic Theory of Knowledge (1975); Farewell to Reason (1987); and Conquest of Abundance (1999). Further Reading: J. Preston Feyerabend: Philosophy, Science and Society (1997).