Paul Feyerabend Quotes
Paul Karl Feyerabend was an Austrian-born philosopher of science best known for his anti-methodological critique of the philosophy of science. After early work in the orbit of the logical empiricists and Popper, he turned to a more radical position, expressed in Against Method, Science in a Free Society, and Farewell to Reason, in which no single methodological rule has ever survived the actual history of science and theoretical progress depends on a willingness to violate received standards. The quotes below are attributed to Paul Feyerabend, organized by topic.
Paul Feyerabend on Knowledge
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Attributed to Paul Feyerabend:
“The only principle that does not inhibit progress is: anything goes.”
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Attributed to Paul Feyerabend:
“Science is an essentially anarchic enterprise.”
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Attributed to Paul Feyerabend:
“There is no idea, however ancient and absurd, that is not capable of improving our knowledge.”
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Attributed to Paul Feyerabend:
“A clever individual will always know how to circumvent any rule.”
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Attributed to Paul Feyerabend:
“Reason is one tradition among others; it has no claim to universal authority.”