Against Method

Modern philosophy of science has paid great attention to the understanding of scientific "practice, " in contrast to the earlier 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.