Feyerabend and Scientific Values: Tightrope-Walking Rationality [Hardcover]

Every philosopher of science, and every student of the philosophy of science, has heard of Paul Feyerabend: the iconoclast who supposedly asserted that science is not rational, nor objective, but is characterised by anarchism, relativism, subjectivism and power. In this book it is argued that this picture of Feyerabend is false. Though Feyerabend was an iconoclast, his destructive philosophy was also creative. Feyerabend was deeply critical of a particular theory of scientific rationality, herein labelled 'Rationalism' - characterised as the algorithmic application of universal, necessary, atemporal rules - but he did not completely reject the idea of scientific rationality. It is argued that Feyerabend implicitly supported an alternative theory of rationality, herein labelled tightrope-walking rationality, characterised as the context-sensitive balancing of inherently irreconcilable values.
The first half of the book deals with the entrenched misunderstandings of Feyerabend's philosophy that have arisen through a lack of appreciation of the target of Feyerabend's criticisms. The second half of the book brings together the positive elements to be found in Feyerabend's work, and presents these elements as a coherent alternative conception of scientific rationality.Feyerabends Reductio Ad Absurdum of Rationalist Philosophies.- Feyerabend, Lakatos and Anarchism.- Feyerabends Incommensurability and the Pragmatic Theory of Observation.- Feyerabends Relativism.- Feyerabend and Pluralism.- Popper, Methodological Pluralism and Epistemic Values.- Kuhn on Paradigms, Rules and Values.- Tightrope-Walking Rationality: Feyerabends Metanarrative.- Feyerabend and World-Views.Constitutes the first book-length study of Feyerabend's post-1970 philosophy An invaluable resource for anyone who wants to understand the views of one of the most influential philosophers of science of the twentieth century Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras