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Youth
The residual effects of WWI forced Feyerabend and his family into isolation from neighbors and other children. His isolation continues until the age of 6. At the age of 6, Feyerabend starts public schooling. It took some time for Feyerabend to adjust to social interaction. Soon enough Feyerabend excelled in his class and in high school Feyerabend studied Latin, English, science, and even drama. Feyerabend's passion for acting caused exposure to philosophy text, fascinating him. -
Birth
Born in Vienna, Austria to a middle-class family. His birth followed 6 years after World War I. Even after 6 years, the aftermath of the war can be felt with famine, inflation, and rioting. -
Interest in physics
Oswald Thomas, Feyerabend's physics professor, inclined him [Feyerabend] to study physics and astronomy. As a child, Feyerabend would read works from scientists such as Eddington, Mach, and Hugon Dingler. This passion would soon drive his studies into quantum physics. -
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Military Service
In 1938, Feyerabend grew to admire Hitler's style of public speaking that unified Austria with Germany. Feyerabend's lack of socialism left him oblivious to the changes happening around him. Soon to come, Feyerabend would be drafted into the work service by the Nazis to fight World War II. During his time, he advances up in the ranks from private to Lieutenant. Feyerabend would soon be wounded by taking a bullet to the spine. The injury would force years of recovery and impotent. -
Discovering positivism
After a career in the military and then acting, Feyerabend returned to Vienna and attended school at the University of Vienna. There Feyerabend continued his studies in physics and sociology while attending philosophy lectures and seminars. Eventually, Feyerabend would consume the views of positivists - their main roots coming from Logical Positivism of the Vienna Circle. The influence would make Feyerabend, what historians would consider, a radical positivist. -
Alpbach, Austria
Feyerabend attends his first seminar at the Austrian College of Society and meets Karl Popper, an oppositionist to the Vienna Circle. By this time, deductivism was not foreign to Feyerabend, and falsificationism roamed freely through Alpbach. Feyerabend moved up from a student to lecturer and soon enough seminar chair. Finally, he was offered a position as a "scientific secretary". Eventually befriended Walter Hollistcher, who introduced Feyerabend to the ideology of realism - of the world. -
Kraft Circle and Ehrenhaft
Victor Kraft, a former member of the Vienna Circle, supervises Feyerabend's dissertation after [Feyerabed] is appointed student leader of the Kraft Circle. The circle philosophical club contained students of various science fields interested in the philosophical aspects of their discipline. In the same year, Feyerabend found Feliz Ehrenhart influential. Ehrenhaft's losing debate at the 1949 Alpbach seminar enlightened and illustrated Feyerabend to the nature of scientific rationality. -
Doctorate in philosophy
The Zur Theorie de Basissatze is a completed doctorial thesis by Feyerabend. It is comprised of discussions taken from the Kraft Circle and compiled to form the thesis "basic sentences" or "protocol sentences" an ideology supported and theorized about by Logical Positivists. Feyerabend also publishes several German papers on Ludwig Wittgenstein, the author of Philosophical Investigations. Feyerabend planned to study with Wittgenstein but could not due to Wittengstein's death in April of 1951. -
Philosophical Investigations and Karl Popper
Feyerabend analyzes Wittgenstein's book which illustrates that confusion in language was the cause of most philosophical issues. Language being concepts and thought. Moved by Wittgenstein's ideology, Feyerabend decides to translate transcripts of Wittgenstein's book from British to German. In the same year, Feyerabend attends Karl Popper's lectures on inductivism and falsificationism. Convinced enough, Feyerabend considers falsificationism as an option; becoming a liberal falsificationist. -
The Open Society and its Enemies
Feyerabend decides to leave Popper's side and return to Vienna. There Feyerabend translates Karl Popper's work "The Open Society and its Enemies" into German. The book is an attack on totalitarianism while defending liberal democracy. In the same year, Feyerband releases articles on "Methodology" and the "Philosophy of Nature" - a book that helps summarize how the people have viewed the world from the Stone Age to the field of quantum mechanics. -
Meeting Herbert Feigl
Arthur Pap, a Logical Empiricist, comes back to Vienna in hopes to revive the Vienna Circle. During his visit, Pap makes Feyerabend his assistant and introduces Feyerabend to Herbert Feigl. Feigl, an Austrian philosopher, and supporter of realists convinces Feyerabend that positivism has failed to solve the traditional problems of philosophy. This turn of events begins Feyerabend's pull away from positivists thinking into relativistic thinking. -
Lecturer of philosophy at University of Bristol
With references from Karl Popper and Erwin Schrodinger, Feyerabend is given a position as an academic lecturer in the philosophy of science at the University of Bristol. Here he meets David Bohm, a physics lecturer. Bohm would play a significant influence on Feyerabend eventually removing him [Feyerabend] away from Karl Popper's influence. The following year, 1956, Feyerabend releases the relation between theory and experience stating there is no separate "observation language". -
Colston Research Symposium
At the symposium, Feyerabend provided a lecture on his paper "On Quantum Theory of Measurement". Here he introduces the long-running principle that provides the relation between theory and experience and giving evidence of him breaking away from positivist concepts of theories and powering towards realistic thinking. -
An Attempt at a Realistic Interpretation of Experience
This early publication, of many, was to critique the views of the philosophies of science from Logical Empiricist thinkers like Rudolph Carnap, Feigl, Nagel, and Hempel by studying the relationship between observation and theory. This publication gives evidential proof favoring the scientific realist relation between theory and experience. "Thesis I" becomes a second publication that reversed the direction of positivist interpretation and supported relativism. -
Pragmatic Theory of Observation
Following his early releases of "Thesis I" and "An Attempt at a Realistic Interpretation of Experience", Feyerabend releases the "Pragmatic Theory of Observation" emphasizing the importance of observation-sentences and how one should view their role in the production and refuting of theories. -
Explanation, Reduction, and Empiricism
This publication's sole purpose was to point out that reduction and explanation can not be formed from generalized theories. Feyerabend uses Nagel's theory of reduction and Hempel's theory of explanation as examples. Attacking their work; to be out of accordance with actual scientific practice and reasonable empiricism. Feyerabend introduces incommensurability and emphasizes that the concept comes before any formal explanation, reduction, or confirmation occurs. -
Eliminative materialism
Feyerabend attempts to solve the mind/body problem using the philosophy of science ideology and as a result, defending materialism against the concept that the mind can not be a physical thing. Feyerabend uses publications of two articles and "How to be a Good Empiricist" to defend this ideology. These publications provided mixed views from Feyerbend but exploit radical statements such as our common understanding of the mind is what is conflicting with making sense of the science of the mind. -
Tolerant and Disinfected Empricism
Continuing to support realism, Feyerabend releases publications such as Realism and Instrumentalism (1964), the Problems of Empiricism, and Reply to Criticism (1965). These publications were an attempt to "disinfect" empiricism and make it more tolerable. The result brought more distance between his relationship with Popper but not enough allowing him [Feyerabend] to provide a review of "Conjectures and Refutations" by Karl Popper. -
Leaving Empricism
It's about time to say goodbye to Empiricism; it is what Feyerabend did after publishing "Science Without Experience". In this book, he questions whether the experience is justifiable grounds for knowledge. In the end, Feyerabend justifies relativism. -
Against Method
Feyerabend's first book "Against Method" makes an appearance in the world. The book "Against Method" reverts to epistemological anarchism of methodology attacking the scientific method and crucify scientists. Feyerabend boldly states that scientists are methodological opportunists who will make any move to succeed even if they need to violate empiricist methodology. A large amount of criticism ensues following the release. -
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Reply to critism of his first book
After a large amount of criticism ensues, immediately following the release of his first book "Against Method", Feyerabend attempts to provide a better explanation and clarification of epistemological anarchism. Depressed by the situation, Feyerabend reverts back to working on supporting relativism resulting in the publication of "Science in Free Society". In the same year (1978) a German edition of Feyerband's Philosophical Papers is released. -
Publication of Philosophical Papers
First, two English volumes of Feyerabend's Philosophical Papers were released. By this time the German version of the Philosophical Papers has gained endorsements toward relativism. -
Farwell to Reason
Feyerabend consolidates some of his publications into this book with the relativism in the frontline while challenging Western scientific rationalism of "development" and "progress". -
Revised 2nd Edition
A release of a 2nd Edition of the"Against Method" that provides support towards the history of visual arts. The publication also includes parts of his publication "Science in a Free Society". -
His Retirement
Within the year of his retirement, further publications such as "Three Dialogues on Knowledge", "Beyond Reason", and various small publications including "Common Knowledge" were released exposing Feyerabend's unhappiness with the relativism of the time. -
Third Edition of Against Method
This year signified the release of his final edition of "Against Method" for Feyerabend was soon hospitalized for a brain tumor. -
His Death
Feyerabend died at Genolier clinic in Switzerland. Despite his wild methods and thoughts towards the philosophy of science, several major seminars and symposiums of his work were held over the next couple of years following his death.
