The path of Feyerabend: critique, theoretical proliferation and realism

Abstract

In the ’60s, under the slogan “how to be a good empiricist”, Feyerabend criticized two basic principles of traditional empiricism – the principle of derivability and the principle of meaning invariance – and developed a new model for the acquisition of knowledge. At one point he adhered to realism and falsationism. Later he adopted an anarchist position on scientific methodology, but finally took a notoriously moderate attitude. This paper reconstructs Feyerabend’s path and shows that at the end he was compelled to return to the path followed by the old empiricists.

Key words: critique, theoretical proliferation, realism, principle of meaning invariance, principle of deducibility, incommensurability, pragmatic theory of observation.