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The work that helped to determine Paul Feyerabend's fame and
notoriety, "Against Method," stemmed from Imre Lakatos's challenge:
"In 1970 Imre cornered me at a party. "Paul", he said, "you have
such strange ideas. Why don't you write them down? I shall write a
reply, we publish the whole thing and I promise you - we shall have
a lot of fun." Although Lakatos died before he could write his
reply, this text reconstructs his original counter-arguments from
lectures and correspondence previously unpublished in English,
allowing us to enjoy the "fun" two of this century's most eminent
philosophers had, matching their wits and ideas on the subject of
the scientific method. The text opens with an imaginary dialogue
between Lakatos and Feyerabend, which Matteo Motterlini has
constructed, based on their published works, to synthesize their
positions and arguments. Part one presents the transcripts of the
last lectures on method that Lakatos delivered. Part two,
Feyerabend's response, consists of a previously published essay on
anarchism, which began the attack on Lakatos's position that
Feyerabend later continued in "Against Method." The third and
longest section consists of the correspondence Lakatos and
Feyerabend exchanged on method and many other issues and ideas, as
well as the events of their daily lives, between 1968 and Lakatos's
death in 1974.
Paul Feyerabend's globally acclaimed work, which sparked and
continues to stimulate fierce debate, examines the deficiencies of
many widespread ideas about scientific progress and the nature of
knowledge. Feyerabend argues that scientific advances can only be
understood in a historical context. He looks at the way the
philosophy of science has consistently overemphasized practice over
method, and considers the possibility that anarchism could replace
rationalism in the theory of knowledge.
This updated edition of the classic text includes a new
introduction by Ian Hacking, one of the most important contemporary
philosophers of science. Hacking reflects on both Feyerabend's life
and personality as well as the broader significance of the book for
current discussions.
From Homeric gods to galaxies, from love affairs to perspective in
painting, Paul Feyerabend revelled in the physical and cultural
abundance that surrounds us. He found it equally striking that
human senses and human intelligence are able to take in only a
fraction of these riches. From this fraction, scientists, artists,
all of us construct encompassing abstractions and stereotypes. This
basic human trait is at the heart of "Conquest of Abundance", the
book on which Feyerabend was at work when he died in 1994. Prepared
from drafts of the manuscript left at his death, working notes, and
lectures and articles Feyerabend wrote while the larger work was in
progress, "Conquest of Abundance" offers up exploration and
startling insights with the charm, lucidity, and sense of mischief
that are his hallmarks. Feyerabend is fascinated by how we attempt
to explain and predict the mysteries of the natural world, and he
describes ways in which we abstract experience, explain anomalies,
and reduce wonder to formulas and equations. Through his
exploration of the positive and negative consequences of these
efforts, Feyerabend reveals the "conquest of abundance" as an
integral part of the history and character of Western civilization.
Paul Feyerabend (1924-1994) was educated in Europe and held
numerous teaching posts throughout his career, including at the
University of California, Berkeley, from 1959 to 1990. His "Against
Method" - translated into 17 languages - is a classic of modern
philosophy of science. The University of Chicago Press published
his autobiography, "Killing Time", in 1995.
Finished only weeks before his death in 1994, this autobiography
traces the trajectory that led Feyerabend from an isolated,
lower-middle-class childhood in Vienna to the height of
international academic success as one of this century's most
influential intellectuals. He writes of his experience in the
German army on the Russian front, where three bullets left him
crippled, impotent, and in lifelong pain. He recalls his promising
talent as an operatic tenor (a lifelong passion), his encounters
with everyone from Martin Buber to Bertolt Brecht, innumerable love
affairs, four marriages, and a career so rich he once held tenured
positions at four universities at the same time. Although not
written as an intellectual autobiography, "Killing Time" sketches
the people, ideas, and conflicts of 60 years. Feyerabend writes
frankly of complicated relationships with his mentor Karl Popper
and his friend and frequent opponent Imre Lakatos, and his
reactions to a growing reputation as the "worst enemy of science."
The work that helped to determine Paul Feyerabend's fame and
notoriety, "Against Method, " stemmed from Imre Lakatos's
challenge: "In 1970 Imre cornered me at a party. 'Paul, ' he said,
'you have such strange ideas. Why don't you write them down? I
shall write a reply, we publish the whole thing and I promise
you--we shall have a lot of fun.' " Although Lakatos died before he
could write his reply, "For and Against Method" reconstructs his
original counter-arguments from lectures and correspondence
previously unpublished in English, allowing us to enjoy the "fun"
two of this century's most eminent philosophers had, matching their
wits and ideas on the subject of the scientific method.
"For and Against Method" opens with an imaginary dialogue between
Lakatos and Feyerabend, which Matteo Motterlini has constructed,
based on their published works, to synthesize their positions and
arguments. Part one presents the transcripts of the last lectures
on method that Lakatos delivered. Part two, Feyerabend's response,
consists of a previously published essay on anarchism, which began
the attack on Lakatos's position that Feyerabend later continued in
"Against Method." The third and longest section consists of the
correspondence Lakatos and Feyerabend exchanged on method and many
other issues and ideas, as well as the events of their daily lives,
between 1968 and Lakatos's death in 1974.
The delight Lakatos and Feyerabend took in philosophical debate,
and the relish with which they sparred, come to life again in "For
and Against Method, " making it essential and lively reading for
anyone interested in these two fascinating and controversial
thinkers and their immense contributions to philosophy of science.
"The writings in this volume are of considerable intellectual
importance, and will be of great interest to anyone concerned with
the development of the philosophical views of Lakatos and
Feyerabend, or indeed with the development of philosophy of science
in general during this crucial period."--Donald Gillies, "British
Journal for the Philosophy of Science" (on the Italian edition)
"A stimulating exchange of letters between two philosophical
entertainers."--Tariq Ali, "The Independent"
Imre Lakatos (1922-1974) was professor of logic at the London
School of Economics. He was the author of "Proofs and Refutations"
and the two-volume "Philosophical Papers." Paul Feyerabend
(1924-1994) was educated in Europe and held numerous teaching posts
throughout his career. Among his books are "Against Method";
"Science in a Free Society"; "Farewell to Reason"; and "Killing
Time: The Autobiography of Paul Feyerabend," the last published by
the University of Chicago Press.
Die Aufsatze in diesem Band befassen sich mit gewissen Aspekten der
Rolle der Wissenschaften in unserer Kultur. Im ersten Teil wird
gefragt, ob die Wissenschaft einen Beitrag zu unserem Weltbild
leisten kann, oder ob sie einzig dazu taugt, Voraussagen zu machen
oder Erfahrungen zu ordnen in einer Welt, deren Zuge durch andere
uberlegungen bereits festgelegt sind. Im zweiten Teil wird gefragt,
ob die Methoden und Ergebnisse der Wissen- schaft wirklich die
immense Autoritat haben, die man ihnen heute zuschreibt. Die
Antwort auf die erste Frage lautet: die Wissenschaft kann eine
Kosmolo- gie im vollen Sinne des Wortes sein, sie ist in dieser
Hinsicht der Religion, der Philosophie, dem Alltagsdenken, dem
Mythos sicher nicht untergeordnet. Ich erreiche diese Antwort auf
dem Umweg uber die Diskussion eines Problems, das in der Literatur
den etwas pompoesen Namen 'Das Problem der Existenz theoreti- scher
Entitaten' erhalten hat. Die Antwort auf die zweite Frage lautet:
die Wissenschaft ist anderen Ideolo- gien aber auch nicht
ubergeordnet, sie hat keine hoehere Autoritat als jene. Diese
Antwort erhalte ich in zwei Schritten. Erstens durch eine Kritik
der Wissenschafts- theorie, wo man ja zeigen will, warum die
Wissenschaft so hervorragt. Zweitens durch eine Kritik der von den
Wissenschaften selbst gemachten Anspruche.
Farewell to Reason offers a vigorous challenge to the scientific
rationalism that underlies Western ideals of "progress" and
"development," whose damaging social and ecological consequences
are now widely recognized. For all their variety in theme and
occasion, the essays in this book share a consistent philosophical
purpose. Whether discussing Greek art and thought, vindicating the
church's battle with Galileo, exploring the development of quantum
physics or exposing the dogmatism of Karl Popper, Feyerabend
defends a relativist and historicist notion of the sciences. The
appeal to reason, he insists, is empty, and must be replaced by a
notion of science that subordinates it to the needs of citizens and
communities. Provocative, polemical and rigorously argued, Farewell
to Reason will infuriate Feyerabend's critics and delight his many
admirers.
No study in the philosophy of science created such controversy in
the seventies as Paul Feyerabend's "Against Method." In this work,
Feyerabend reviews that controversy, and extends his critique
beyond the problem of scientific rules and methods, to the social
function and direction of science today.
In the first part of the book, he launches a sustained and
irreverent attack on the prestige of science in the West. The lofty
authority of the "expert" claimed by scientists is, he argues,
incompatible with any genuine democracy, and often merely serves to
conceal entrenched prejudices and divided opinions with the
scientific community itself. Feyerabend insists that these can and
should be subjected to the arbitration of the lay population, whose
closes interests they constantly affect--as struggles over atomic
energy programs so powerfully attest.
Calling for far greater diversity in the content of education to
facilitate democratic decisions over such issues, Feyerabend
recounts the origin and development of his own ideas--successively
engaged by Brecht, Ehrenhaft, Popper, Mill and Lakatos--in a
spirited intellectual self-portrait.
" Science in a Free Society" is a striking intervention into one of
the most topical debates in contemporary culture and politics.
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