“A scientist, an artist, a citizen is not like a child who needs papa methodology and mama rationality to give him security and direction, he can take care of himself, for he is the inventor not only of laws, theories, pictures, plays, forms of music, ways of dealing with his fellow man, institutions, but also entire world view, he is the inventor of entire forms of like.” MenWorldWayNeedsGivingChildrenPlayCareFormLawArtistViewsSecurityTheoryCitizensScientistFellowsInstitutionsTake CareRationalityFellow ManInventorMamaWorld ViewMethodologyPapa Author:Paul Feyerabend
“First-world science is one science among many; by claiming to be more it ceases to be an instrument of research and turns into a (political) pressure group.” WorldFirstsPoliticalTurnsGroupsResearchPressureInstrumentsCeasePressure Groups Book:Against Method Source: Against Method
“There is no coherent knowledge , i.e. no uniform comprehensive account of the world and the events in it. There is no comprehensive truth that goes beyond an enumeration of details, but there are many pieces of information , obtained in different ways from different sources and collected for the benefit of the curious. The best way of presenting such knowledge is the list - and the oldest scientific works were indeed lists of facts, parts, coincidences, problems in several specialized domains.” WorldWayDifferentFactsProblemPiecesEventsInformationSourceBenefitsAccountsDetailsListsBest WayCuriousDifferent WaysUniformsCoincidenceDomainComprehensivePresenting Book:Farewell to Reason Source: Farewell to Reason
“If the world is an aggregate of relatively independent regions, then any assumption of universal laws is false and a demand for universal norms tyrannical: only brute force (or seductive deception) can then bend the different moralities so that they fit the prescriptions of a single ethical system. And indeed, the idea of universal laws of nature and society arose in connection with a life-and-death battle: the battle that gave Zeus the power over the Titans and all other gods and thus turned his laws into the laws of the universe.” IfsWorldIdeasDifferentLawUniverseForceFitMoralityBattleDemandConnectionsUniversalIndependentDeceptionAssumptionLife And DeathRegionsEthicalNormLaws Of NatureBrutesPrescriptionsSeductiveZeusBrute ForceUniversal LawsTitans Author:Paul Feyerabend
“What is surprising is that almost all the trends that developed within the sciences, Aristotelianism and an extreme Platonism included, produced results, not only in special domains, but everywhere; there exist highly theoretical branches of biology and highly empirical parts of astrophysics. The world is a complex an many-sided thing.” WorldResultsSpecialComplexesExtremesBranchesBiologyTrendsSurprisingDomainTheoreticalAstrophysics Author:Paul Feyerabend
“When Western civilization invaded the Near and Far East and what is now called the Third World it imposed its own ideas of a proper environment and a rewarding life. Doing this, it disrupted the delicate patterns of adaptation and created problems that had not existed before.” WorldIdeasProblemEnvironmentCivilizationThirdsWesternPatternsEastDelicateAdaptationThird WorldWestern CivilizationNear And Far Book:Conquest of Abundance: A Tale of Abstraction Versus the Richness of Being Source: Conquest of Abundance: A Tale of Abstraction Versus the Richness of Being
“Yes, the academic world is screwed up, and there is nothing you can do about it. But don't worry about that. Just do what you want. If you know what you want to do and advocate for it, no one will put any energy into stopping you.” IfsKnowsWorldWantEnergyCan DoWorryWhat You WantAcademicStoppingScrewed Up Author:Paul Feyerabend
“I had studied Dadaism after the Second World War. What attracted me to this movement was the style its inventors used when not engaged in Dadaistic activities. It was clear, luminous, simple without being banal, precise without being narrow; it was a style adapted to the expression of thought as well as of emotion. I connected this style with the Dadaistic exercises themselves” WorldWellsWarUsedSimpleEmotionClearStyleMovementExpressionExerciseActivityConnectedWar Of The WorldsEngagedPreciseInventorAdaptedSecond World WarLuminous Book:Against Method Source: Against Method
“The world we inhabit is abundant beyond our wildest imagination. There are trees, dreams, sunrises; there are thunderstorms, shadows, rivers; there are wars, flea bites, love affairs; there are the lives of people, Gods, entire galaxies. The simplest human action varies from one person and occasion to the next-how else would we recognize our friends only from their gait, posture, voice, and divine their changing moods? Only a tiny fraction of this abundance affects our minds. This is a blessing, not a drawback.” PeopleWorldMindHumansPersonsWarDreamWould BeActionNextVoiceImaginationTreeDivineBlessingShadowRiversAffairTinyMoodOccasionsAbundanceBitesSunriseOrganismsGalaxySimplestVaryLove AffairFractionsPostureParalyzedFleasHuman ActionsDrawbacksThunderstormGait Author:Paul Feyerabend
“It is often assumed that science starts from facts and eschews counter-factual theories. Nothing could be further from the truth. What is one of the basic assumptions of the scientific world-view? That the variety of events that surrounds us is held together by a deeper unity.” WorldFactsTogetherViewsEventsTheoryUnityDeeperVarietyAssumptionSurroundFactualWorld View Author:Paul Feyerabend
