Date: Tue, 5 Oct 1999 06:28:13 -0700 (PDT) From: Einat Adar <leaders_2-AT-yahoo.com> Subject: Re: PKF: what is "anything goes"? Terry's answer to Teo's question is very interesting and instructive, however, I disagree with him on several points, as I tend to interpret Feyerabend as being a more radical anti-rationalist. Here are my objections: 1. Feyerabend opposes any classification of scientific work. Therefore, it is misleading to say that > 'Anything goes' applies to all the various stages that one > might posit in one's theory of how to produce "something of > value" - problem solving: how to conceive of the problem > initially, how to come up with ideas about how to deal with it > (for instance, drink wine, meditate, have a party, form a > discussion group, read everything about the subject area, read > nothing about the subject area, etc.), how to implement whatever > approach you decide on (viz. individual work, teamwork, etc., > etc.), and how to defend your approach against detractors. In fact, inviting your detractors to a party, making them drink too much and then making them sign a paper saying: "This fellow's theories are wonderful and true" is as legitimate as any other defence. Perhaps I am being tedious, but I think that you are using here the distinction between context of discovery and context of justification that Feyerabend has shown to be a harmful fantasy -- for instance, his reconstruction of the Copernican revolution in "Against Method". 2. Scientific problems are emergent, not only because science advances in revolutions, but also because new, and successful, theories change the way we see things -- our natural interpretations. Later commentators naturally interpret the phenomena in the light of the dominant theory, and find it hard to understand how earlier scientists didn't see the problem -- unless, of course, they are made aware of the theories' "pollution" of their common sense. "New TYPES of experiments" give rise to new types of questions. To sum up: Scientific problems, just like scientific facts, depend on theories. As I understand it, "anything goes" is not a prescription. It doesn't mean that we should take care to have many alternatives that recognize the usefulness of each other. Feyerabend's is a humanistic approach -- do whatever is good for you as a human being. If I believe that fascism is a better approach for politics, religion, social interaction, economics, etc., then why not also for science? Fascist methods are good for fascist regimes, for as long as they survive. I also disagree with Scott Casellas that > Feyerabend certainly never thought that anything goes for he gives excellent _theoretical_ reasons to adopt this approach, apart from the historical findings. The story of Galileo is important, because Galileo had no rational reason to adopt the Copernican theory, and he used rhetorics as a substitute for reasoning. As Feyerabend explains in AM and elsewhere, we cannot rely on "facts" and experiments to judge our theories, because our description of reality makes use of a language that already contains assumptions about the world, it's availability to observations, the utility of our senses and measurment tools, etc. Therefore, each theory, when accepted, changes the structure of _reality_, let alone that of science. Analysis of the history of science only brings these changes to light. However, I totally agree with John Fox's (well-written!) answer. If only saying this was enough... I think there is no simple answer to Teo's question. Every answer reveals it's author's personal inclinations and interpretive style, but, hey, anything goes, and I personally prefer disagreement to uniformity. -- Einat __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ********************************************************************** Contributions: mailto:feyerabend-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu Commands: mailto:majordomo-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu Requests: mailto:feyerabend-approval-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu
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