Philosophy of Nature

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Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 0745694764
Total Pages : 406 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (456 download)

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Book Synopsis Philosophy of Nature by : Paul K. Feyerabend

Download or read book Philosophy of Nature written by Paul K. Feyerabend and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2016-09-26 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Philosopher, physicist, and anarchist Paul Feyerabend was one of the most unconventional scholars of his time. His book Against Method has become a modern classic. Yet it is not well known that Feyerabend spent many years working on a philosophy of nature that was intended to comprise three volumes covering the period from the earliest traces of stone age cave paintings to the atomic physics of the 20th century – a project that, as he conveyed in a letter to Imre Lakatos, almost drove him nuts: “Damn the ,Naturphilosophie.” The book’s manuscript was long believed to have been lost. Recently, however, a typescript constituting the first volume of the project was unexpectedly discovered at the University of Konstanz. In this volume Feyerabend explores the significance of myths for the early period of natural philosophy, as well as the transition from Homer’s “aggregate universe” to Parmenides’ uniform ontology. He focuses on the rise of rationalism in Greek antiquity, which he considers a disastrous development, and the associated separation of man from nature. Thus Feyerabend explores the prehistory of science in his familiar polemical and extraordinarily learned manner. The volume contains numerous pictures and drawings by Feyerabend himself. It also contains hitherto unpublished biographical material that will help to round up our overall image of one of the most influential radical philosophers of the twentieth century.

Feyerabend's Philosophy

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Author :
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter
ISBN 13 : 311089176X
Total Pages : 333 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (18 download)

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Book Synopsis Feyerabend's Philosophy by : Eric Oberheim

Download or read book Feyerabend's Philosophy written by Eric Oberheim and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2012-02-13 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Paul Feyerabend ranks among the most exciting and influential philosophers of science of the twentieth century. This reconstruction of his developing ideas combines historical and systematic considerations. Part I examines the three main influences on Feyerabend’s philosophical development: Wittgenstein’s later philosophy, Popper critical rationalism and Ehrenhaft’s experimental effects. Part II focuses on Feyerabend’s development and use of the notion of incommensurability at the heart of his philosophical critiques, and investigates his relation to realism. Feyerabend initially developed the notion of incommensurability from ideas he found in Duhem. He used the notion of incommensurability to attack many different forms of conceptual conservativism in philosophy and the natural sciences. He argued against many views on the grounds that that they would constrain the freedom necessary to develop alternative points of view, and thereby hinder scientific advance. Contrary to widespread opinion, he was never a scientific realist. Part III reconstructs Feyerabend’s pluralistic conception of knowledge in the context of his pluralistic philosophical method. Feyerabend was a philosophical pluralist, who practiced pluralism in pursuit of progress.

The Tyranny of Science

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Publisher : Polity
ISBN 13 : 9780745651897
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (518 download)

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Book Synopsis The Tyranny of Science by : Paul K. Feyerabend

Download or read book The Tyranny of Science written by Paul K. Feyerabend and published by Polity. This book was released on 2011-05-06 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Paul Feyerabend is one of the greatest philosophers of science of the 20th century and his book Against Method is an international bestseller. In this new book he masterfully weaves together the main elements of his mature philosophy into a gripping tale: the story of the rise of rationalism in Ancient Greece that eventually led to the entrenchment of a mythical ‘scientific worldview’. In this wide-ranging and accessible book Feyerabend challenges some modern myths about science, including the myth that ‘science is successful’. He argues that some very basic assumptions about science are simply false and that substantial parts of scientific ideology were created on the basis of superficial generalizations that led to absurd misconceptions about the nature of human life. Far from solving the pressing problems of our age, such as war and poverty, scientific theorizing glorifies ephemeral generalities, at the cost of confronting the real particulars that make life meaningful. Objectivity and generality are based on abstraction, and as such, they come at a high price. For abstraction drives a wedge between our thoughts and our experience, resulting in the degeneration of both. Theoreticians, as opposed to practitioners, tend to impose a tyranny on the concepts they use, abstracting away from the subjective experience that makes life meaningful. Feyerabend concludes by arguing that practical experience is a better guide to reality than any theory, by itself, ever could be, and he stresses that there is no tyranny that cannot be resisted, even if it is exerted with the best possible intentions. Provocative and iconoclastic, The Tyranny of Science is one of Feyerabend’s last books and one of his best. It will be widely read by everyone interested in the role that science has played, and continues to play, in the shaping of the modern world.

Against Method

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Author :
Publisher : Verso
ISBN 13 : 9780860916468
Total Pages : 308 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (164 download)

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Book Synopsis Against Method by : Paul Feyerabend

Download or read book Against Method written by Paul Feyerabend and published by Verso. This book was released on 1993 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modern philosophy of science has paid great attention to the understanding of scientific 'practice', in contrast to concentration on scientific 'method'. Paul Feyerabend's acclaimed work, which has contributed greatly to this new emphasis, shows the deficiencies of some widespread ideas about the nature of knowledge. He argues that the only feasible explanations of scientific successes are historical explanations, and that anarchism must now replace rationalism in the theory of knowledge. The third edition of this classic text contains a new preface and additional reflections at various points in which the author takes account both of recent debates on science and on the impact of scientific products and practices on the human community. While disavowing populism or relativism, Feyerabend continues to insist that the voice of the inexpert must be heard. Thus many environmental perils were first identified by non-experts against prevailing assumptions in the scientific community. Feyerabend's challenging reassessment of scientific claims and understandings are as pungent and timely as ever.

Feyerabend and Scientific Values

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Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 9401715424
Total Pages : 339 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (17 download)

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Book Synopsis Feyerabend and Scientific Values by : R.P. Farrell

Download or read book Feyerabend and Scientific Values written by R.P. Farrell and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-06-29 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book deals with the entrenched misunderstandings of Feyerabend's philosophy, brings together the positive elements to be found in Feyerabend's work, and presents these elements as a coherent alternative conception of scientific rationality. It is the first book-length study of Feyerabend's post-1970 philosophy and will be an invaluable resource for philosophers of science, students of the philosophy of science, and anyone who wants to understand the views of one of the most influential philosophers of science of the twentieth century.

Killing Time

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Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226245322
Total Pages : 216 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (262 download)

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Book Synopsis Killing Time by : Paul Feyerabend

Download or read book Killing Time written by Paul Feyerabend and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1995 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Killing Time is the story of Paul Feyerabend's life. Trained in physics and astronomy, Feyerabend was best known as a philosopher of science. His fame was in powerful, plain-spoken critiques of "big" science and "big" philosophy.

Farewell to Reason

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Publisher : Verso
ISBN 13 : 9780860918967
Total Pages : 340 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (189 download)

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Book Synopsis Farewell to Reason by : Paul Feyerabend

Download or read book Farewell to Reason written by Paul Feyerabend and published by Verso. This book was released on 1987 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Farewell to Reason offers a vigorous challenge to the scientific rationalism that underlies Western ideals of “progress” and “development,” whose damaging social and ecological consequences are now widely recognized. For all their variety in theme and occasion, the essays in this book share a consistent philosophical purpose. Whether discussing Greek art and thought, vindicating the church’s battle with Galileo, exploring the development of quantum physics or exposing the dogmatism of Karl Popper, Feyerabend defends a relativist and historicist notion of the sciences. The appeal to reason, he insists, is empty, and must be replaced by a notion of science that subordinates it to the needs of citizens and communities. Provocative, polemical and rigorously argued, Farewell to Reason will infuriate Feyerabend’s critics and delight his many admirers.

Interpreting Feyerabend

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Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1108620531
Total Pages : 271 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (86 download)

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Book Synopsis Interpreting Feyerabend by : Karim Bschir

Download or read book Interpreting Feyerabend written by Karim Bschir and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-03-18 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of new essays interprets and critically evaluates the philosophy of Paul Feyerabend. It offers innovative historical scholarship on Feyerabend's take on topics such as realism, empiricism, mimesis, voluntarism, pluralism, materialism, and the mind-body problem, as well as certain debates in the philosophy of physics. It also considers the ways in which Feyerabend's thought can contribute to contemporary debates in science and public policy, including questions about the nature of scientific methodology, the role of science in society, citizen science, scientism, and the role of expertise in public policy. The volume will provide readers with a comprehensive overview of the topics which Feyerabend engaged with throughout his career, showing both the breadth and the depth of his thought.

Science in a Free Society

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Publisher : Verso Books
ISBN 13 : 1788731921
Total Pages : 306 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (887 download)

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Book Synopsis Science in a Free Society by : Paul Feyerabend

Download or read book Science in a Free Society written by Paul Feyerabend and published by Verso Books. This book was released on 2017-11-10 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No study in the philosophy of science created such controversy in the seventies as Paul Feyerabend's Against Method. In this work, Feyerabend reviews that controversy, and extends his critique beyond the problem of scientific rules and methods, to the social function and direction of science today. In the first part of the book, he launches a sustained and irreverent attack on the prestige of science in the West. The lofty authority of the "expert" claimed by scientists is, he argues, incompatible with any genuine democracy, and often merely serves to conceal entrenched prejudices and divided opinions with the scientific community itself. Feyerabend insists that these can and should be subjected to the arbitration of the lay population, whose closes interests they constantly affect-as struggles over atomic energy programs so powerfully attest. Calling for far greater diversity in the content of education to facilitate democratic decisions over such issues, Feyerabend recounts the origin and development of his own ideas-successively engaged by Brecht, Ehrenhaft, Popper, Mill and Lakatos-in a spirited intellectual self-portrait. Science in a Free Society is a striking intervention into one of the most topical debates in contemporary culture and politics.

The Worst Enemy of Science?

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Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0195351711
Total Pages : 190 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (953 download)

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Book Synopsis The Worst Enemy of Science? by : John Preston

Download or read book The Worst Enemy of Science? written by John Preston and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2000-02-10 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Knowledge, Science and Relativism

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Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780521641296
Total Pages : 274 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (412 download)

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Book Synopsis Knowledge, Science and Relativism by : P. K. Feyerabend

Download or read book Knowledge, Science and Relativism written by P. K. Feyerabend and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1999-05-27 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of Feyerabend's philosophical papers gathers together work originally published between 1960 and 1980.

For and Against Method

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Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226467031
Total Pages : 465 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (264 download)

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Book Synopsis For and Against Method by : Imre Lakatos

Download or read book For and Against Method written by Imre Lakatos and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2010-05-27 with total page 465 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The work that helped to determine Paul Feyerabend's fame and notoriety, Against Method, stemmed from Imre Lakatos's challenge: "In 1970 Imre cornered me at a party. 'Paul,' he said, 'you have such strange ideas. Why don't you write them down? I shall write a reply, we publish the whole thing and I promise you—we shall have a lot of fun.' " Although Lakatos died before he could write his reply, For and Against Method reconstructs his original counter-arguments from lectures and correspondence previously unpublished in English, allowing us to enjoy the "fun" two of this century's most eminent philosophers had, matching their wits and ideas on the subject of the scientific method. For and Against Method opens with an imaginary dialogue between Lakatos and Feyerabend, which Matteo Motterlini has constructed, based on their published works, to synthesize their positions and arguments. Part one presents the transcripts of the last lectures on method that Lakatos delivered. Part two, Feyerabend's response, consists of a previously published essay on anarchism, which began the attack on Lakatos's position that Feyerabend later continued in Against Method. The third and longest section consists of the correspondence Lakatos and Feyerabend exchanged on method and many other issues and ideas, as well as the events of their daily lives, between 1968 and Lakatos's death in 1974. The delight Lakatos and Feyerabend took in philosophical debate, and the relish with which they sparred, come to life again in For and Against Method, making it essential and lively reading for anyone interested in these two fascinating and controversial thinkers and their immense contributions to philosophy of science. "The writings in this volume are of considerable intellectual importance, and will be of great interest to anyone concerned with the development of the philosophical views of Lakatos and Feyerabend, or indeed with the development of philosophy of science in general during this crucial period."—Donald Gillies, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (on the Italian edition) "A stimulating exchange of letters between two philosophical entertainers."—Tariq Ali, The Independent Imre Lakatos (1922-1974) was professor of logic at the London School of Economics. He was the author of Proofs and Refutations and the two-volume Philosophical Papers. Paul Feyerabend (1924-1994) was educated in Europe and held numerous teaching posts throughout his career. Among his books are Against Method; Science in a Free Society; Farewell to Reason; and Killing Time: The Autobiography of Paul Feyerabend, the last published by the University of Chicago Press.

Feyerabend’s Epistemological Anarchism

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Author :
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3030368599
Total Pages : 233 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (33 download)

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Book Synopsis Feyerabend’s Epistemological Anarchism by : Mansoor Niaz

Download or read book Feyerabend’s Epistemological Anarchism written by Mansoor Niaz and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-01-27 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book argues that the traditional image of Feyerabend is erroneous and that, contrary to common belief, he was a great admirer of science. It shows how Feyerabend presented a vision of science that represented how science really works. Besides giving a theoretical framework based on Feyerabend ́s philosophy of science, the book offers criteria that can help readers to evaluate and understand research reported in important international science education journals, with respect to Feyerabend’s epistemological anarchism. The book includes an evaluation of general chemistry and physics textbooks. Most science curricula and textbooks provide the following advice to students: Do not allow theories in contradiction with observations, and all scientific theories must be formulated inductively based on experimental facts. Feyerabend questioned this widely prevalent premise of science education in most parts of the world, and in contrast gave the following advice: Scientists can accept a hypothesis despite experimental evidence to the contrary and scientific theories are not always consistent with all the experimental data. No wonder Feyerabend became a controversial philosopher and was considered to be against rationalism and anti-science. Recent research in philosophy of science, however, has shown that most of Feyerabend ́s philosophical ideas are in agreement with recent trends in the 21st century. Of the 120 articles from science education journals, evaluated in this book only 9% recognized that Feyerabend was presenting a plurality of perspectives based on how science really works. Furthermore, it has been shown that Feyerabend could even be considered as a perspectival realist. Among other aspects, Feyerabend emphasized that in order to look for breakthroughs in science one does not have to be complacent about the truth of the theories but rather has to look for opportunities to “break rules” or “violate categories.” Mansoor Niaz carefully analyses references to Feyerabend in the literature and displays the importance of Feyerabend’s philosophy in analyzing, historical episodes. Niaz shows through this remarkable book a deep understanding to the essence of science. - Calvin Kalman, Concordia University, Canada In this book Mansoor Niaz explores the antecedents, context and features of Feyerabend’s work and offers a more-nuanced understanding, then reviews and considers its reception in the science education and philosophy of science literature. This is a valuable contribution to scholarship about Feyerabend, with the potential to inform further research as well as science education practice.- David Geelan, Griffith University, Australia

Criticism and the History of Science

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Author :
Publisher : BRILL
ISBN 13 : 9004450572
Total Pages : 175 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (44 download)

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Book Synopsis Criticism and the History of Science by : Andersson

Download or read book Criticism and the History of Science written by Andersson and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2021-10-25 with total page 175 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Criticism and the History of Science deals with Thomas Kuhn's, Imre Lakatos's and Paul Feyerabend's criticism of Karl Popper's falsificationist conception of science. It argues that this criticism is based on two important methodological problems: the problem that observations and tests statements are fallible and impregnated with theory, and the problem of how to test complex theoretical systems. In order to solve these problems it shows how problematic test statements can be criticised and whole theoretical systems falsified. In this way the falsificationist conception of science is developed and defended in a way making a deeper understanding of science and its history possible.

Kuhn Vs. Popper

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Publisher : Columbia University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780231134286
Total Pages : 174 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (342 download)

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Book Synopsis Kuhn Vs. Popper by : Steve Fuller

Download or read book Kuhn Vs. Popper written by Steve Fuller and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although Thomas Kuhn and Karl Popper debated the nature of science only once, the legacy of this encounter has dominated intellectual and public discussions on the topic ever since. Kuhn's relativistic vision of science as just another human activity, like art or philosophy, triumphed over Popper's more positivistic belief in revolutionary discoveries and the superiority of scientific provability. Steve Fuller argues that not only has Kuhn's dominance had an adverse impact on the field but both thinkers have been radically misinterpreted in the process.

Conquest of Abundance

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Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 9780226245348
Total Pages : 308 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (453 download)

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Book Synopsis Conquest of Abundance by : Paul Feyerabend

Download or read book Conquest of Abundance written by Paul Feyerabend and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2001-05 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From flea bites to galaxies, from love affairs to shadows, Paul Feyerabend reveled in the sensory and intellectual abundance that surrounds us. He found it equally striking that human senses and human intelligence are able to take in only a fraction of these riches. "This a blessing, not a drawback," he writes. "A superconscious organism would not be superwise, it would be paralyzed." This human reduction of experience to a manageable level is the heart of Conquest of Abundance, the book on which Feyerabend was at work when he died in 1994. Prepared from drafts of the manuscript left at his death, working notes, and lectures and articles Feyerabend wrote while the larger work was in progress, Conquest of Abundance offers up rich exploration and startling insights with the charm, lucidity, and sense of mischief that are his hallmarks. Feyerabend is fascinated by how we attempt to explain and predict the mysteries of the natural world, and he looks at the ways in which we abstract experience, explain anomalies, and reduce wonder to formulas and equations. Through his exploration of the positive and negative consequences of these efforts, Feyerabend reveals the "conquest of abundance" as an integral part of the history and character of Western civilization. "Paul Feyerabend . . . was the Norman Mailer of philosophy. . . . brilliant, brave, adventurous, original and quirky."—Richard Rorty, New Republic "As much a smudged icon as a philosophical position holder, [Feyerabend] was alluring and erotic, a torch singer for philosophical anarchy."—Nancy Maull, New York Times Book Review "[A] kind of final testament of Feyerabend's thought . . . Conquest of Abundance is as much the product of a brilliant, scintillating style as of an immense erudition and culture. . . . This book is as abundant and rich as the world it envisions."—Arkady Plotnitsky, Chicago Tribune

Feyerabend’s Formative Years. Volume 1. Feyerabend and Popper

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Author :
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3030009610
Total Pages : 537 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (3 download)

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Book Synopsis Feyerabend’s Formative Years. Volume 1. Feyerabend and Popper by : Matteo Collodel

Download or read book Feyerabend’s Formative Years. Volume 1. Feyerabend and Popper written by Matteo Collodel and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-03-30 with total page 537 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers an inside look into the notoriously tumultuous, professional relationship of two great minds: Karl Popper and Paul Feyerabend. It collects their complete surviving correspondence (1948-1967) and contains previously unpublished papers by both. An introduction situates the correspondence in its historical context by recounting how they first came to meet and an extensive editorial apparatus provides a wealth of background information along with systematic mini-biographies of persons named. Taken together, the collection presents Popper and Feyerabend’s controversial ideas against the background of the postwar academic environment. It exposes key aspects of an evolving student-mentor relationship that eventually ended amidst increasing accusations of plagiarism. Throughout, readers will find in-depth discussions on a wide range of intriguing topics, including an ongoing debate over the foundations of quantum theory and Popper’s repeated attempts to design an experiment that would test different interpretations of quantum mechanics. The captivating exchange between Feyerabend and Popper offers a valuable resource that will appeal to scientists, laymen, and a wide range of scholars: especially philosophers, historians of science and philosophy and, more generally, intellectual historians.