47 Quotes by Paul Karl Feyerabend

Science is neither a single tradition, nor the best tradition there is, except for people who have become accustomed to its presence, its benefits and its disadvantages. In a democracy it should be separated from the state just as churches are now separated from the state.

Yes, the academic world is screwed up, and there is nothing you can do about it. But don’t worry about that. Just do what you want. If you know what you want to do and advocate for it, no one will put any energy into stopping you.

Science is only ‘one’ of the many instruments people invented to cope with their surroundings. It is not the only one, it is not infallible and it has become too powerful, too pushy and too dangerous to be left on its own.

The church at the time was much more faithful to reason than Galileo himself, and also took into consideration the ethical and social consequences of Galileo’s doctrine. Its verdict against Galileo was rational and just.

So far Unitarian realism claiming to possess positive knowledge about Ultimate Reality has succeeded only by excluding large areas of phenomena or by declaring, without proof, that they could be reduced to basic theory, which, in this connection, means elementary particle physics.

The validity of usefulness, adequacy of popular standards can be tested only by research that violates them.

All religion may be centered around a generally good idea, however, this has not stopped its adherents from acting like bastards.

I do not see why I should be polite to tyrants, who slobber of humanitarianism and think only of their own petty interests.

Arguments hardly affect the faithful- their beliefs have an entirely different foundation.