Science is essentially an anarchic enterprise: theoretical anarchism is more humanitarian and more likely to encourage progress than its law-and-order alternatives.
Paul FeyerabendRead
The idea of a method that contains firm, unchanging, and absolutely binding principles for conducting the business of science meets considerable difficulty when confronted with the results of historical research. We find, then, that there is not a single rule, however plausible, and however firmly grounded in epistemology, that is not violated at some time or another.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Scientific principles are often complex and subject to change based on historical context.
Paul Feyerabend's quote emphasizes the inherent fluidity of scientific methods and principles, arguing that no singular approach can claim to be absolute or unchangeable when faced with the complexities of historical research. He suggests that science is not bound by rigid rules, as historical evidence often demonstrates violations of even the most seemingly robust principles, thus urging a more flexible understanding of scientific practice.
Themes
SciencePrinciplesMethodologyFlexibilityHistorical Research
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on the philosophy of science, I might use this quote to illustrate the evolving nature of scientific understanding.
More from Paul Feyerabend
All quotes →No theory ever agrees with all the facts in its domain, yet it is not always the theory that is to blame. Facts are constituted by older ideologies, and a clash between facts and theories may be proof of progress. It is also a first step in our attempt to find the principles implicit in familiar observational notions.
Paul FeyerabendRead
The separation of state and church must be complemented by the separation of state and science, that most recent, most aggressive, and most dogmatic religious institution.
Paul FeyerabendRead
The only absolute truth is that there are no absolute truths.
Paul FeyerabendRead
Science is only ‘one’ of the many instruments people invented to cope with their surroundings. It is not the only one, it is not infallible and it has become too powerful, too pushy and too dangerous to be left on its own.
Paul FeyerabendRead
The separation of science and non-science is not only artificial but also detrimental to the advancement of knowledge. If we want to understand nature, if we want to master our physical surroundings, then we must use all ideas, all methods, and not just a small selection of them.
Paul FeyerabendRead
Similar quotes
Oh leave the Wise our measures to collate. One thing at least is certain, light has weight. One thing is certain and the rest debate. Light rays, when near the Sun, do not go straight.
Arthur EddingtonRead
If the code does indeed have some logical foundation then it is legitimate to consider all the evidence, both good and bad, in any attempt to deduce it.
Francis CrickRead
There might be a hidden structure in pi that we simply haven't discovered.
Terence TaoRead
When the sun is sending more energy to earth in one hour than the entire world consumes in a year, any political play to undermine our ability to harness this energy effectively and efficiently is clearly not economical but it's also unethical.
Deb HaalandRead
But when it has been shown by the researches of Pasteur that the septic property of the atmosphere depended not on the oxygen, or any gaseous constituent, but on minute organisms suspended in it, which owed their energy to their vitality, it occurred to me that decomposition in the injured part might be avoided without excluding the air, by applying as a dressing some material capable of destroying the life of the floating particles. Upon this principle I have based a practice.
Joseph ListerRead
The fact that mathematics does such a good job of describing the Universe is a mystery that we don't understand. And a debt that we will probably never be able to repay.
Lord KelvinRead