Paul Karl Feyerabend

American philosopher

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Paul Karl Feyerabend was an American philosopher known for his contributions to the philosophy of science. He is associated with the "disappearance form" of central-state materialism, a philosophical stance that views mental states as identical to brain states. Feyerabend argued that common introspective reports are inherently immaterialist in content. However, he contended that this does not invalidate materialism. Instead, he proposed that ordinary mentalistic language is comparable to outdated concepts like "demon possession," which were later reinterpreted in medical terms. Feyerabend believed that by "identifying" the mind with the brain, one is essentially rejecting the traditional mentalistic framework rather than trying to prove its compatibility with materialism.1

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philosophy of science
Scientific change
Hanson (1924–67), Stephen Toulmin, Paul Feyerabend (1924–94), and Thomas Kuhn. Although these authors differed on many points, they shared the view that standard logical-empiricist accounts of confirmation, theory, and other topics were quite inadequate to explain the major transitions that have occurred in the history of the sciences. Feyerabend,…
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Hanson (1924–67), Stephen Toulmin, Paul Feyerabend (1924–94), and Thomas Kuhn. Although these authors differed on many points, they shared the view that standard logical-empiricist accounts of confirmation, theory, and other topics were quite inadequate to explain the major transitions that have occurred in the history of the sciences. Feyerabend,…
Read More

materialism
Disappearance central-state theories
…central-state materialism was held by P.K. Feyerabend, an American philosopher, who denied that the materialist can give a neutral analysis of introspective reports. In Feyerabend’s view, commonsense introspective reports are irreducibly immaterialist in content. He argued, however, that this admission does not show the untenability of materialism. Ordinary mentalistic discourse,…
Read More
…central-state materialism was held by P.K. Feyerabend, an American philosopher, who denied that the materialist can give a neutral analysis of introspective reports. In Feyerabend’s view, commonsense introspective reports are irreducibly immaterialist in content. He argued, however, that this admission does not show the untenability of materialism. Ordinary mentalistic discourse,…
Read More