Feyerabend's Struggle Against Scientific Dogmatism

Science has a very special place for people in terms of understanding what is curious about the universe and the world we live in. However, being a special field does not mean that science is indisputable. Paul K. Feyerabend is a philosopher who has tried to show the dilemmas of the understanding of scientific knowledge especially in the first half of the 20th century, because, according to him, the absolutisation of the standard method and positivist movement of scientific knowledge narrows the field of science. Thus, scientific dogmatism takes the place of religious dogmatism in the past, and in addition to this problem, science begins to come under the command of political power centres. In this context, Feyerabend tries to explain the narrowing of the field of science with the break from historical and metaphysical ties. He puts forward a design of science that includes pluralism against this uniformisation in science. The pluralist understanding both states that science is not the only value in life, that fields such as art, philosophy, etc. are also valuable, and argues that it would not be right to limit science to a single method and theory. It also tries to draw attention to the necessity of a pluralist perspective instead of a reductionist understanding. In this context, Feyerabend puts forward the idea of "epistemological anarchism", which is identified with his name. Such an anarchism, unlike political anarchism, values alternative understandings against the uniformisation of science by detaching it from metaphysical and historical ties. In addition to his struggle against scientific dogmatism, Feyerabend is also against the utilisation of science for power relations. Because the main task of science is the liberation of societies and people. In order for science to fulfil this task, it must be liberated from dogmatism and power centres.