Paul Karl Feyerabend Quotes

A collection of quotes by Paul Karl Feyerabend.

Paul Karl Feyerabend (1924-1994) was an Austrian-born philosopher of science. He is renowned for his controversial and influential ideas challenging the traditional view of scientific method and advocating for an anarchistic approach to knowledge-production. Feyerabend argued that there are no fixed rules in science, and that flexibility, freedom, and diversity of theories are essential for scientific progress. His influential works include "Against Method" and "Farewell to Reason." Although highly criticized, Feyerabend's ideas continue to shape debates in the philosophy of science.

Science is essentially an anarchic enterprise: theoretical a

Science is essentially an anarchic enterprise: theoretical anarchism is more humanitarian and more likely to encourage progress than its law-and-order alternatives.

Paul Karl Feyerabend

First-world science is one science among many; by claiming t

First-world science is one science among many; by claiming to be more it ceases to be an instrument of research and turns into a (political) pressure group.

Paul Karl Feyerabend

Humane science must be adapted to the requirements of a bala

Humane science must be adapted to the requirements of a balanced and rewarding life.

Paul Karl Feyerabend

Progress has always been achieved by probing well-entrenched

Progress has always been achieved by probing well-entrenched and well-founded forms of life with unpopular and unfounded values. This is how man gradually freed himself from fear and from the tyranny of unexamined systems.

Paul Karl Feyerabend

Truth Knowledge Philosophy Culture

Every profession has an ideology and a drive for power that

Every profession has an ideology and a drive for power that goes far beyond its achievements and it is the task of democracy to keep this ideology and this drive under control. Science is here no different from other institutions.

Paul Karl Feyerabend

The progress of science, of good science, depends on novel i

The progress of science, of good science, depends on novel ideas and on intellectual freedom: science has very often been advanced by outsiders (remember that Bohr and Einstein regarded themselves as outsiders).

Paul Karl Feyerabend

Science Progress

The sciences of today are business enterprises run on busine

The sciences of today are business enterprises run on business principles. Research in large institutes is not guided by Truth and Reason but by the most rewarding fashion, and the great minds of today increasingly turn to where the money is - which means military matters.

Paul Karl Feyerabend

Money Business Truth Science Principles Mind

Science is an essentially anarchic enterprise: theoretical a

Science is an essentially anarchic enterprise: theoretical anarchism is more humanitarian and more likely to encourage progress than its law-and-order alternatives.

Paul Karl Feyerabend

Science Order Progress Humanitarian

A scientist, an artist, a citizen is not like a child who ne

A scientist, an artist, a citizen is not like a child who needs papa methodology and mama rationality to give him security and direction; he can take care of himself, for he is the inventor not only of laws, theories, pictures, plays, forms of music, ways of dealing with his fellow man, institutions but also of entire world views, he is the inventor of entire forms of life.

Paul Karl Feyerabend

Freedom Science Creativity

One can show the following: given any rule, however fundamen

One can show the following: given any rule, however fundamental or necessary for science, there are always circumstances when it is advisable not only to ignore the rule, but to adopt its opposite.

Paul Karl Feyerabend

Science Circumstances Rules

When Western civilization invaded the Near and Far East and

When Western civilization invaded the Near and Far East and what is now called the Third World it imposed its own ideas of a proper environment and a rewarding life. Doing this, it disrupted the delicate patterns of adaptation and created problems that had not existed before.

Paul Karl Feyerabend

Life Environment

The separation of state and church must be complemented by t

The separation of state and church must be complemented by the separation of state and science, that most recent, most aggressive, and most dogmatic religious institution.

Paul Karl Feyerabend

The best education consists in immunizing people against sys

The best education consists in immunizing people against systematic attempts at education

Paul Karl Feyerabend