The Worst Enemy of Science?: Essays in Memory of Paul Feyerabend [Hardcover]

John Preston (Editor), Gonzalo Munï¿1/2var (Editor), David Lamb (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195128745 | ISBN-13: 978-0195128741 | Publication Date: February 10, 2000

This stimulating collection is devoted to the life and work of the most flamboyant of twentieth-century philosophers, Paul Feyerabend. Feyerabend's radical epistemological claims, and his stunning argument that there is no such thing as scientific method, were highly influential during his life and have only gained attention since his death in 1994. The essays that make up this volume, written by some of today's most respected philosophers of science, many of whom knew Feyerabend as students and colleagues, cover the diverse themes in his extensive body of work and present a personal account of this fascinating thinker.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The attractive and unique feature of this collection of essays is the editors' balanced and careful presentation of the life and work of such a divisive figure...strongly recommended."--Choice

"...a very useful introduction to Feyerabend...a very solid collection."--Complete Review

About the Author

John Preston is at University of Reading. Gonzalo Munevar is at Evergreen State College, Washington.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (February 10, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195128745
• ISBN-13: 978-0195128741
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,804,220 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Method in that madness, August 1, 2003

By 

John C. Landon "nemonemini" (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Worst Enemy of Science?: Essays in Memory of Paul Feyerabend (Hardcover)

This series of essays reanimates the real Feyerbend, too often associated with a series of much denounced one-liners, such as the 'anything goes' pronouncement. In fact, Feyerbend rides the dialectical red zone in hairpin turns near the unexplored terrain where science fans, groupies, Darwin fanatics, and the 'anally overtrained' fear to tread, lest their weltanschaung be seen as Romantic poets once saw it. As a science fan myself, I can only watch in wonder and some sadness the 'social construction', in the age of Big Science, of something more sophisticated than, but not altogether different from, what the Church Fathers concocted from thin air, thereby freezing the minds of the many for millennia. It can't happen again, but it can attempt to happen again. That's the nice thing about science, you will lose all your paradigms, sooner better than later.

3 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Where did that title really come from?, August 25, 2000

By 

Caroline H Thompson (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Worst Enemy of Science?: Essays in Memory of Paul Feyerabend (Hardcover)

There is a very short explication of the title "The Worst Enemy of Science" in the Preface (pp. v-vi, signed by Gonzalo Munevar), where it is curtly stated: "Paul Feyerabend was once described in Nature as "The Worst Enemy of Science"." A more detailed reference than this briefest of mentions is nowhere given in the whole book. The book naturally contains (like all Academic books) hundreds of other (scrupulously) full references of much lesser importance. What is the precise Nature reference to Feyerabend as "The Worst Enemy of Science"? Or is this a pure legend, perhaps invented by Feyerabend himself (who loved exaggerations, farcical tricks, and hoaxes of the "Anything Goes" type) so as to bolster his well-deserved notoriety?