PAUL FEYERABEND ON THE SCIENTIFIC WORLDVIEW: TOWARDS QUESTIONING THE SCIENTIFIC UNIFORMITY

The purpose of the following article is to draw attention to main problems of scientific values as they were stated by Paul Feyerabend. Various philosophers and epistemologists have always tried to prove chosen principles and objectives, but only few dared to jeopardize their fundamentals. Stereotyp...

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Main Author: N. I. Petrunok
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Ukrainian State University of Science and Technologies 2014-12-01
Series:Antropologìčnì Vimìri Fìlosofsʹkih Doslìdžen'
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Online Access:http://ampr.diit.edu.ua/article/view/35753
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author N. I. Petrunok
author_facet N. I. Petrunok
author_sort N. I. Petrunok
collection DOAJ
description The purpose of the following article is to draw attention to main problems of scientific values as they were stated by Paul Feyerabend. Various philosophers and epistemologists have always tried to prove chosen principles and objectives, but only few dared to jeopardize their fundamentals. Stereotypes of searching for ultimate truth ceased to hold; however, scientific coordinates are still not qualified. Underlying ambiguities often remain unarticulated. Among those who ventured to shed light on them were the philosophers of post-positivistic branch. One of those who questioned science values in social, cultural, and philosophical approaches the most rigidly was Paul Feyerabend. By means of typical political concepts (such as ideology and propaganda) he detected basic objectives of scientists. Our main methodological tools in this research are comparative analyses of the sources and immanent critique of Feyerabend’s arguments. The scientific novelty is based on our core objective to clarify substantial obstacles for homogeneity of science. Does such homogeneity or unity exist at any level? Feyerabend’s answer is a weak “yes”. He accepts such unity only as a useful assumption or a myth. In one of his latest books, Conquest of Abundance, he calls it a “flag” for the “people doing science.” As Feyerabend diagnosed faults of relativism, instrumentalism, and realism – all of them are threatened by the same menace of being invalid to response the world “at face value” – we have to deal somehow with topics denounced by him. In conclusion, we show important implications for the creation of a specific worldview at the intersection of philosophy and science. Considering a number of negatives, in the article we elicit fruitful ideas of Feyerabend, and contextually question them without resorting to a superficial reproach.
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spelling doaj-art-014bf1b162ee4e2f91fe6d376ec2417f2025-02-02T09:00:05ZengUkrainian State University of Science and TechnologiesAntropologìčnì Vimìri Fìlosofsʹkih Doslìdžen'2227-72422304-96852014-12-010611312410.15802/ampr2014/3575333948PAUL FEYERABEND ON THE SCIENTIFIC WORLDVIEW: TOWARDS QUESTIONING THE SCIENTIFIC UNIFORMITYN. I. Petrunok0National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (Kyiv)The purpose of the following article is to draw attention to main problems of scientific values as they were stated by Paul Feyerabend. Various philosophers and epistemologists have always tried to prove chosen principles and objectives, but only few dared to jeopardize their fundamentals. Stereotypes of searching for ultimate truth ceased to hold; however, scientific coordinates are still not qualified. Underlying ambiguities often remain unarticulated. Among those who ventured to shed light on them were the philosophers of post-positivistic branch. One of those who questioned science values in social, cultural, and philosophical approaches the most rigidly was Paul Feyerabend. By means of typical political concepts (such as ideology and propaganda) he detected basic objectives of scientists. Our main methodological tools in this research are comparative analyses of the sources and immanent critique of Feyerabend’s arguments. The scientific novelty is based on our core objective to clarify substantial obstacles for homogeneity of science. Does such homogeneity or unity exist at any level? Feyerabend’s answer is a weak “yes”. He accepts such unity only as a useful assumption or a myth. In one of his latest books, Conquest of Abundance, he calls it a “flag” for the “people doing science.” As Feyerabend diagnosed faults of relativism, instrumentalism, and realism – all of them are threatened by the same menace of being invalid to response the world “at face value” – we have to deal somehow with topics denounced by him. In conclusion, we show important implications for the creation of a specific worldview at the intersection of philosophy and science. Considering a number of negatives, in the article we elicit fruitful ideas of Feyerabend, and contextually question them without resorting to a superficial reproach.http://ampr.diit.edu.ua/article/view/35753Paul K. FeyerabendXenophanesepistemological anarchismscientific uniformityideologyabundance of nature
spellingShingle N. I. Petrunok
PAUL FEYERABEND ON THE SCIENTIFIC WORLDVIEW: TOWARDS QUESTIONING THE SCIENTIFIC UNIFORMITY
Antropologìčnì Vimìri Fìlosofsʹkih Doslìdžen'
Paul K. Feyerabend
Xenophanes
epistemological anarchism
scientific uniformity
ideology
abundance of nature
title PAUL FEYERABEND ON THE SCIENTIFIC WORLDVIEW: TOWARDS QUESTIONING THE SCIENTIFIC UNIFORMITY
title_full PAUL FEYERABEND ON THE SCIENTIFIC WORLDVIEW: TOWARDS QUESTIONING THE SCIENTIFIC UNIFORMITY
title_fullStr PAUL FEYERABEND ON THE SCIENTIFIC WORLDVIEW: TOWARDS QUESTIONING THE SCIENTIFIC UNIFORMITY
title_full_unstemmed PAUL FEYERABEND ON THE SCIENTIFIC WORLDVIEW: TOWARDS QUESTIONING THE SCIENTIFIC UNIFORMITY
title_short PAUL FEYERABEND ON THE SCIENTIFIC WORLDVIEW: TOWARDS QUESTIONING THE SCIENTIFIC UNIFORMITY
title_sort paul feyerabend on the scientific worldview towards questioning the scientific uniformity
topic Paul K. Feyerabend
Xenophanes
epistemological anarchism
scientific uniformity
ideology
abundance of nature
url http://ampr.diit.edu.ua/article/view/35753
work_keys_str_mv AT nipetrunok paulfeyerabendonthescientificworldviewtowardsquestioningthescientificuniformity