Feyerabend: Philosophy, Science and Society / Edition 1

by John Preston

Overview

This book is the first comprehensive critical study of the work of Paul Feyerabend, one of the foremost twentieth-century philosophers of science.

The book traces the evolution of Feyerabend's thought, beginning with his early attempt to graft insights from Wittgenstein's conception of meaning onto Popper's falsificationist philosophy. The key elements of Feyerabend's model of the acquisition of knowledge are identified and critically evaluated. Feyerabend's early work emerges as a continuation of Popper's philosophy of science, rather than as a contribution to the historical approach to science with which he is usually associated.
In his more notorious later work, Feyerabend claimed that there was, and should be, no such thing as the scientific method. The roots of Feyerabend's 'epistemological anarchism' are exposed and the weaknesses of his cultural relativism are brought out.

Throughout the book, Preston discusses the influence of Feyerabend's thought on contemporary philosophers and traces his stimulating but divided legacy. The book will be of interest to students of philosophy, methodology, and the social sciences.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780745616766
Publisher:	Polity Press
Publication date:	08/04/1997
Series:	Key Contemporary Thinkers
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

John Preston is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Reading.

Table of Contents

Preface.

Acknowledgements.

Notes on References.

Introduction: Feyerabend's Life and Work.

1. Philosophy and the Aim of Science.

2. Meaning: The Attack on Positivism.

3. Theories of Observation.

4. Scientific Realism and Instrumentalism.

5. Theoretical Monism.

6. Incommensurability.

7. Theoretical Pluralism.

8. Materialism.

9. Science without Method.

10. Relativism, Rationalism and a Free Society.

Notes.

Bibliography.

Index.