Historical antecedents to the philosophy of Paul Feyerabend.
Paul Feyerabend has been considered a very radical philosopher of science for proposing that we may advance hypotheses contrary to well-confirmed experimental results, that observations make theoretical assumptions, that all methodological rules have exceptions, that ordinary citizens may challenge the judgment of experts, and that human happiness should be a key value for science. As radical as these theses may sound, they all have historical antecedents. In defending the Copernican view, Galileo exemplified the first two; Mill, Aristotle and Machiavelli all argued for pluralism; Aristotle gave commonsense reasons for why ordinary citizens may be able to judge the work of experts; and a combination of Plato's and Aristotle's views can offer strong support for the connection between science and happiness.
Lawrence Technological University, United States. Electronic address: gmunevar@ltu.edu.
Gonzalo
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Munévar
D049669:History, 16th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049690:History, Ancient; D010684:Philosophy / Q000266:history*; D012586:Science / Q000266:history*
Aristotle; Feyerabend; Galileo; Machiavelli; Mill; Plato