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Birth
Paul Feyerabend was born in 1924 in Vienna, Austria. He was the son of a civil savant and a seamstress. -
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Paul Feyerabend
Paul Feyerabend lived to be 70 years old. Preston, John, "Paul Feyerabend", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2016 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2016/entries/feyerabend/. -
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Military Service
Paul Feyerabend was drafted into the Pioneer Corps of the German Army in 1942. After graduating from Basic Training he went to Officer Candidate School (OCS). In 1944, he advanced to Lieutenant and proceeded to teach at OCS. In 1945, while retreating from the Russian Army, Paul Feyerabend was shot in the hand and stomach, and one of the bullets damaged some of his spinal nerves. This was the end of Paul Feyerabend's military service. -
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Attends the University of Vienna
After his military service, Paul Feyerabend started attending the University of Vienna. He started studying history and sociology, but soon ended up transferring to physics. Paul Feyerabend graduated in 1951 with a Doctorate in Physics. -
First visit to Alpbach seminar of the Austrian College Society
1948 was a very significant year in Paul Feyerabend's life. He met Karl Popper as weak as Water Hollitscher. -
Wittgenstein passes away
Upon graduating from the University of Vienna in 1951, Paul Feyerabend applied for a scholarship with British Council to study under Wittgenstein at Cambridge. Sadly, before he arrives at Cambridge, Wittgenstein passes away, and Feyerabend chooses Karl Popper as his supervisor instead. -
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Paul Feyerabend studies in England
Paul Feyerabend travels to England to study under numerous well known scientists Ludwig Wittgenstein and Karl Popper. -
The Philosophical Review
Paul Feyerabend summery of Wittgenstein's "Philosophical Investigations" appeared as a review in the "The Philosophical Review" Philosophical Investigations , 1953, G.E.M. Anscombe and R. Rhees (eds.), G.E.M. Anscombe (trans.), Oxford: Blackwell. -
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The University of Bristol
Paul Feyerabend spent these years lecturing on the Philosophy of Science. He worked with Karl Popper as well as Erwin Schrödinger. Paul Feyerabend also met David Bohm, who later defended Feyerabend's "Hidden-Variables" theory during this timespan. -
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The University of California at Berkley
Paul Feyerabend split his time between the University of Minneapolis and UC Berkley until 1960 when he proceeded to go full time at the UC Berkley. This is the timespan when Paul Feyerabend really started to understand larger ideas, and prepare him for his later, more influential works. -
Problems of Empiricism
Paul Feyerabend has an essay published in "Beyond the Edge of Certainty"
“Problems of Empiricism”, Beyond the Edge of Certainty: Essays in Contemporary Science and Philosophy, R.G. Colodny (ed.), New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1965, pp. 145–260. -
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Against Method
Paul Feyerabend writes "Against Method" and was supposed to work on a sequel with Lakatos, but sadly, Lakatos passes away unexpectedly in 1974 and they were never able to collaborate. "Against Method: Outline of an Anarchistic Theory of Knowledge", Analysis of Theories and Methods of Physics and Psychology, Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science, Vol. 4, M. Radner and S. Winokur (eds), University of Minnesota Press: Minneapolis 1970, pp. 17-130 -
Against Method 2nd Edition Revised
Against Method: Outline of an Anarchistic Theory of Knowledge, New Left Books: London and Humanities Press: Atlantic Highlands (NJ), 339 pp. [second edition (revised): Verso: London and New York 1988; third edition (revised): Verso: London and New York 1993]. -
Battling with Depression
In his book "Science in a Free Society" Paul Feyerabend speaks about his battle with depression. He says the following "… now I was alone, sick with some unknown affliction; my private life was in a mess, and I was without a defense. I often wished I had never written that fucking book." (KT, p. 147). -
Conversations with Illiterates
Paul Feyerabend didn't appreciate the criticism of Against Method so he replied with "Science in a Free Society" as a rebuttal to everyone who disagreed with him.
Science in a Free Society, New Left Books: London and New York 1978 [Verso: London 1982], 221 pp. -
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Private Recordings from Paul Feyerabend
Paulino released private recordings with Paul Feyerabend in 2001, an its a list of formerly unreleased recordings between them. Paul Feyerabend: Stories from Paulino's Tapes (Private Recordings 1984-1993), Grazia Borrini-Feyerabend & Klaus Sander (eds.), Köln: Supposé, 2001. -
Farewell to Reason
In 1987, Paul Feyerabend published Farewell to Reason which was a publication of his most influential works from the 1980's. He pushes that relativism is the solution to the problems of conflicting beliefs and of conflicting ways of life, and that is the majority of his thesis in the book. Farewell to Reason, London verso/New Left Books, 1987 -
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What is Knowledge? What is Science?
During the 1990'2, Paul Feyerabend mostly lectured about a subject he used to lecture on at UC Berkley. He spoke of What is Knowledge? What is Science? Oberheim published most of his lectures in 2011 in a book called The Tyranny of Science. The Tyranny of Science, E. Oberheim (ed.), Cambridge: Polity Press, 2011 -
1993 Interview with Paul Feyerabend
In 1993, Paul Feyerabend gave this fantastic interview, and thankfully, someone had the idea to put this interview on Facebook. It is about 45 minutes long and it is fascinating. (https://youtu.be/kDwoGtPbO5w)