Introduction:

GARCIA DA SILVA OLIVEIRA, DEIVIDE; GIRI, LEANDRO

Transversal: International Journal for the Historiography of Science

Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

Lugar: Belo Horizonte; Año: 2025

Paul Feyerabend (1924-1994) remains among the most controversial and innovative figuresin twentieth-century philosophy of science. Initially trained as a physicist, he later turned tothe philosophical and historical foundations of physics, becoming a prominent critic ofmethodological monism and a strong advocate of theoretical pluralism. His early work, whichrevised Karl Popper’s falsificationism and drew heavily on Wittgenstein’s reflections onmeaning, culminated in Against Method (1975) and subsequent essays. The slogan “anythinggoes” attracted significant attention and frequent misunderstandings. Feyerabend arguedthat general methodological rules cannot adequately capture the complex, historical, andcontextual character of scientific practice, and he therefore promoted a more tolerant, open,and pluralistic conception of science as an ever-expanding ocean of alternatives (1993).