Paul Feyerabend

Paul Feyerabend having studied science at the University of Vienna, moved into philosophy for his doctoral thesis, made a name for himself both as an expositor and (later) as a critic of Karl Popper's "critical rationalism", and went on to become one of this century's most famous philosophers of science. An imaginative maverick, he became a critic of philosophy of science itself, particularly of "rationalist" attempts to lay down or discover rules of Scientific Method.

"On Epistemological Anarchism": The hallmark of political anarchism is its opposition to the established order of things: to the state, its institutions, the ideologies that support and glorify these institutions. The established order must be destroyed so that human spontaneity may come to the fore and exercise its right of freely initiating action, of freely choosing what it thinks is best. Occasionally one wishes to overcome not just some social circumstances but the entire physical world which is seen as being corrupt, unreal, transient, and of no importance. This religious or eschatological anarchism denies not only social laws, but moral, physical and perceptual laws as well and it envisages a mode of existence that is no longer tied to the body, its reactions, and its needs. Violence whether political or spiritual, plays an important role in almost all forms of anarchism. Violence is necessary to overcome the impediments erected by a well- organised society, or by one's own modes of behaviour (perception, thought, etc.), and it is beneficial for the individual, for it releases one's energies and makes one realize the powers at one's disposal. Free associations where everyone does what best suits their talents replace the petrified institutions of the day, no function must be allowed to become fixed - 'the commander of yesterday can become a subordinate of tomorrow. Teaching is to be based on curiosity and not on command, the 'teacher' is called upon to further this curiosity and not to rely on any fixed method. Spontaneity reigns supreme, in thought (perception) as well as in action.
One of the remarkable characteristics of post-enlightenment political anarchism is its faith in the "natural reason' of the human race and its respect for science. This respect is only rarely an opportunistic move – one recognizes an ally and compliments him to keep him happy. Most of the time it is based on the genuine conviction that pure unadulterated science gives a true account of man and the world and produces powerful ideological weapons in the fight against the sham orders of the day.
Today this naive and almost childlike trust in science is endangered by two developments...