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Over the years, science both as a discipline and as a method enjoys a primal place in society as a paradigm of rationality, as a model of truth, and as one of the standards of authentic knowledge. However, with the advent of Paul Feyerabend, a postmodernist, the story changed. Paul Feyerabend moved against this privileged position that science has enjoyed over the years. He argued that science could only give comfort to the narrowminded. That science was becoming over bearing and stretching its schemes beyond boundaries and stated that science cannot be the model or the ideal method for every mode of enquiry because its methodologies have their limitations and this inhibits the advancement of the frontier of knowledge. With this he propounded the theory of epistemological dadaism stating that anything goes, upholding non-methodism as the ideal model and mode against the sole reliance on science. However, employing the critical analytic model of interrogation this paper was able to point out that Paul Feyerabend was proposing his theory oblivious of the fact that his theory invariably enthroned the existential anarchic scenario that also throws up and off his submission as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a discussion of the renewed interest in developing a unified theoretical umbrella under which the various sociological theories can be ordered and contained. It suggests that a "unified or 'unifying" theory will do more harm than good toward advancing sociological knowledge. Using Paul K. Feyerabend's (1968) notions of (1) the relative autonomy of facts, (2) the consistency condition, and (3) the principle, of meaning invariance, the paper illustrates how a movement toward a dominant paradigm will have deleterious effects on sociological knowledge. A plea is made for maintaining theoretical diversity as an acceptable, means for advancing sociological knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay raises the question of material hermeneutics in Heelan's philosophy of techno-science. For Heelan, a continental philosophy of technoscience, referring to Husserl and Heidegger and especially to Merleau-Ponty, features hermeneutic contexts of mathematics and measurement as well as laboratory observation, including what the later Heelan spoke of as "portable laboratories," for the sake of objectivity and "meaning making." For Paul Feyerabend, this material practice corresponded to the use of both techniques of observation and instrumentation, and not less "propaganda" in the case of Galileo which practice for Heelan included the ontological status of measures and numbers as well as apprenticeship in what Heelan called "contingent local practical cultural milieus." The essay includes a discussion of Heidegger on mathematics and Bruno Latour on pasteurization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although Cottingham and Holland make a persuasive case for the claim that it is difficult to situate a meaningful life within a Darwinian naturalistic cosmology, this paper argues that their case should be modified in response to the apparent fact that certain persons seem genuinely not to experience the 'bleakness' that they describe. Although certain of these cases will reflect an incomplete appreciation of the existential implications of Darwinian naturalism, at least some of those cases may be genuine. The resulting possibility that certain persons can embrace Darwinian naturalism and live meaningful lives in apparent immunity to the 'bleakness charge' therefore poses new puzzles for Cottingham and Holland, and for wider questions about the meaningfulness of human life. I consider that possibility in light of the work of David E. Cooper and Paul Feyerabend and offer a set of three suggestions for further developing these debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In the following pages, a hermeneutical exploration is conducted: Richard Dawkins' work The Selfish Gene will be analyzed according to the anarchistic way of understanding science that philosopher Paul K. Feyerabend posits in his work Against Method. No specific attitude towards these authors is intended here; the aim of the paper is instead a complementary approach to both theories, an exercise that will hopefully prove useful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a paper which indicates one of Paul Feyerabend's divided legacy, which pertains the Feyerabend's retreat from realism. Indepth look at Feyerabend's early scientific realism; Conclusions reached on Feyerabend's voluntarism.

In the Groundwork Kant refers to the analogy between the moral law and the law of nature when clarifying the concept of the categorical imperative. However, in the Groundwork itself, he does not give any further explanation as to why he introduces the analogy. Therefore, I take the Groundwork as a starting point of my article, but then I explicate on the analogy from a broader perspective, focusing especially on his lecture courses Moral Mrongovius II and Naturrecht Feyerabend as well as on his Typic chapter of the second Critique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Crítica is the property of Instituto de Investigaciones Filosoficas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Frontiers of Philosophy in China is the property of Higher Education Press Limited Company and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article discusses Paul K. Feyerabend's book "Against Method." A discussion on his method and if his for or against it is done. The author feels that he argues methodically against method. The author also appreciates the self-destructive quality in his writing. Its instructions are considered brilliant. There are three mental operations involved in investigations. The first one attends to the data available to experience. Rational method is involved in most human inquiries. Fertility in hypothesis is not a sufficient condition.