Paul Feyerabend Quotes About Science

Quotes about: Science

• 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 Feyerabend

  Philosophy, Science, Opposites

  Paul Feyerabend (1993). “Against Method”, p.14, Verso

• It is clear, then, that the idea of a fixed method, or of a fixed theory of rationality, rests on too naive a view of man and his social surroundings. To those who look at the rich material provided by history, and who are not intent on impoverishing it in order to please their lower instincts, their craving for intellectual security in the form of clarity, precision, "objectivity," "truth," it will become clear that there is only one principle that can be defended under all circumstances and in all stages of human development. It is the principle: anything goes.

  Paul Feyerabend

  Truth, Science, Men

  "Against Method". Book by Paul Feyerabend, 1975.

• The only principle that does not inhibit progress is: anything goes.

  Paul Feyerabend

  Science, Progress, Principles

  Paul Feyerabend (1993). “Against Method”, p.14, Verso

• There is not a single rule, however plausible, and however firmly grounded in epistemology, that is not violated at some time or other. It becomes evident that such violations are not accidental events, they are not results of insufficient knowledge or of inattention which might have been avoided. On the contrary, we see that they are necessary for progress.

  Paul Feyerabend

  Science, Progress, Events

  Paul Feyerabend (1993). “Against Method”, p.14, Verso

• The separation of science and non-science is not only artificial but also detrimental to the advancement of knowledge. If we want to understand nature, if we want to master our physical surroundings, then we must use all ideas, all methods, and not just a small selection of them.

  Paul Feyerabend

  Knowledge, Science, Ideas

  "Against Method". Book by Paul Feyerabend, 1975.

• Events and developments, such as ... the Copernican Revolution, ... occurred only because some thinkers either decided not to be bound by certain "obvious" methodological rules, or because they unwittingly broke them.

  Paul Feyerabend

  Science, Revolution, Events

  Paul Feyerabend (1993). “Against Method”, p.14, Verso

• 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. For example, there are circumstances when it is advisable to introduce, elaborate and defend ad hoc hypotheses, or hypotheses which contradict well-established and generally accepted experimental results, or hypotheses whose content is smaller than the content of the existing and empirically adequate alternative, or self-inconsistent hypotheses, and so on.

  Paul Feyerabend

  Science, Opposites, Self

  "Against Method". Book by Paul Feyerabend, 1975.

• The idea of a method that contains firm, unchanging, and absolutely binding principles for conducting the business of science meets considerable difficulty when confronted with the results of historical research. We find, then, that there is not a single rule, however plausible, and however firmly grounded in epistemology, that is not violated at some time or another.

  Paul Feyerabend

  Science, Ideas, Historical

  Paul Feyerabend (1975). “Against method: outline of an anarchistic theory of knowledge”, Verso

• Unanimity of opinion may be fitting for a church, for the frightened or greedy victims of some (ancient, or modern) myth, or for the weak and willing followers of some tyrant. Variety of opinion is necessary for objective knowledge. And a method that encourages variety is also the only method that is comparable with a humanitarian outlook.

  Paul Feyerabend

  Knowledge, Science, Tyrants

  Paul Feyerabend (1975). “Against method: outline of an anarchistic theory of knowledge”, Not Avail

• One might get the impression that I recommend a new methodology which replaces induction by counterinduction and uses a multiplicity of theories, metaphysical views, fairy tales, instead of the customary pair theory/observation. This impression would certainly be mistaken. My intention is not to replace one set of general rules by another such set: my intention is rather to convince the reader that all methodologies, even the most obvious ones, have their limits.

  Paul Feyerabend

  Science, Views, Use

  Paul Feyerabend (1993). “Against Method”, p.23, Verso

• No theory ever agrees with all the facts in its domain, yet it is not always the theory that is to blame. Facts are constituted by older ideologies, and a clash between facts and theories may be proof of progress. It is also a first step in our attempt to find the principles implicit in familiar observational notions.

  Paul Feyerabend

  Science, Progress, Principles

  Paul Feyerabend (1993). “Against Method”, p.39, Verso

• Copernicanism and other essential ingredients of modern science survived only because reason was frequently overruled in their past.

  Paul Feyerabend

  Science, Past, Essentials

  Paul Feyerabend (1993). “Against Method”, p.6, Verso

• Science is neither a single tradition, nor the best tradition there is, except for people who have become accustomed to its presence, its benefits and its disadvantages. In a democracy it should be separated from the state just as churches are now separated from the state.

  Paul Feyerabend

  Science, People, Democracy

  Paul Feyerabend (1993). “Against Method”, p.238, Verso

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