Paul Feyerabend (1924-1994) was Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley.

"Feyerabend was definitely one of the great thinkers of twentieth century philosophy."—Philosophy Now"Feyerabend famously quipped that the only rule of method is that anything goes. Philosophy of Nature sheds light on his transition from critical rationalist to epistemological anarchist. Ranging from Stonehenge and Homer to Bohr and Einstein, the book creatively explores the relations of mythological thought to philosophy and science."—Howard Sankey, University of Melbourne"In this book, we can see another side of this multi-faceted figure: Feyerabend as a historical philosopher of nature and as an analyst of the development of ancient Greek philosophy. This puts some of his apparently outrageous positions into perspective and reveals their sometimes quite sophisticated background."—Paul Hoyningen-Huene, Leibniz Universität Hannover

• An Introduction by Helmut Heit and Eric OberheimEditorial NotesPaul Feyerabend: Philosophy of NaturePreliminary Note  1. Presuppositions of the Myths, and the Knowledge of their Inventors1.1. Stone Age Art and Knowledge of Nature1.2. Megalithic Astronomy (Stonehenge)1.3. Critique of Primitivist Interpretations of the Prehistoric Era1.4. The Dynamic Worldview of Stone Age Humans  2. The Structure and Function of Myths2.1. Theories of Myth2.2. The Theory of Nature Myths and Structuralism  3.  Homer’s Aggregate Universe3.1. The Paratactic World of Archaic Art3.2. Worldview and Knowledge in Homer’s Epics3.3. Views of Reality and the Language of Science: Some Basic Considerations  4. Transition to an Explicitly Conceptual Approach to Nature4.1. The New World of the Philosophers: Advantages and Disadvantages4.2. Historical Factors for the Emergence of Philosophy4.3. Predecessors in Hesiod’s and Oriental Cosmogonies  5. Philosophy of Nature through Parmenides5.1. Hesiod and Anaximander: Changing Worldviews5.2. Xenophanes: Critic of Religion and Epistemologist5.3. Parmenides: The Origins of Western Philosophy of Nature  6. Western Philosophy of Nature from Aristotle to Bohr6.1. Aristotle’s Research Program6.2. Descartes: The Mathematical Approach to Nature6.3. Galileo, Bacon, Agrippa: Empiricism without Foundations6.4. Hegel: The Dynamics of Concepts6.5. Newton, Leibniz, Mach: Problems of Mechanism6.6. Einstein, Bohr, Bohm: Signs of a New Era  7. Conclusion

Paul Feyerabend (1924-1994) was Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley.

"Feyerabend was definitely one of the great thinkers of twentieth century philosophy."—Philosophy Now"Feyerabend famously quipped that the only rule of method is that anything goes. Philosophy of Nature sheds light on his transition from critical rationalist to epistemological anarchist. Ranging from Stonehenge and Homer to Bohr and Einstein, the book creatively explores the relations of mythological thought to philosophy and science."—Howard Sankey, University of Melbourne"In this book, we can see another side of this multi-faceted figure: Feyerabend as a historical philosopher of nature and as an analyst of the development of ancient Greek philosophy. This puts some of his apparently outrageous positions into perspective and reveals their sometimes quite sophisticated background."—Paul Hoyningen-Huene, Leibniz Universität Hannover

• An Introduction by Helmut Heit and Eric OberheimEditorial NotesPaul Feyerabend: Philosophy of NaturePreliminary Note  1. Presuppositions of the Myths, and the Knowledge of their Inventors1.1. Stone Age Art and Knowledge of Nature1.2. Megalithic Astronomy (Stonehenge)1.3. Critique of Primitivist Interpretations of the Prehistoric Era1.4. The Dynamic Worldview of Stone Age Humans  2. The Structure and Function of Myths2.1. Theories of Myth2.2. The Theory of Nature Myths and Structuralism  3.  Homer’s Aggregate Universe3.1. The Paratactic World of Archaic Art3.2. Worldview and Knowledge in Homer’s Epics3.3. Views of Reality and the Language of Science: Some Basic Considerations  4. Transition to an Explicitly Conceptual Approach to Nature4.1. The New World of the Philosophers: Advantages and Disadvantages4.2. Historical Factors for the Emergence of Philosophy4.3. Predecessors in Hesiod’s and Oriental Cosmogonies  5. Philosophy of Nature through Parmenides5.1. Hesiod and Anaximander: Changing Worldviews5.2. Xenophanes: Critic of Religion and Epistemologist5.3. Parmenides: The Origins of Western Philosophy of Nature  6. Western Philosophy of Nature from Aristotle to Bohr6.1. Aristotle’s Research Program6.2. Descartes: The Mathematical Approach to Nature6.3. Galileo, Bacon, Agrippa: Empiricism without Foundations6.4. Hegel: The Dynamics of Concepts6.5. Newton, Leibniz, Mach: Problems of Mechanism6.6. Einstein, Bohr, Bohm: Signs of a New Era  7. Conclusion

Paul Feyerabend (1924-1994) was Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley.

"Feyerabend was definitely one of the great thinkers of twentieth century philosophy."—Philosophy Now"Feyerabend famously quipped that the only rule of method is that anything goes. Philosophy of Nature sheds light on his transition from critical rationalist to epistemological anarchist. Ranging from Stonehenge and Homer to Bohr and Einstein, the book creatively explores the relations of mythological thought to philosophy and science."—Howard Sankey, University of Melbourne"In this book, we can see another side of this multi-faceted figure: Feyerabend as a historical philosopher of nature and as an analyst of the development of ancient Greek philosophy. This puts some of his apparently outrageous positions into perspective and reveals their sometimes quite sophisticated background."—Paul Hoyningen-Huene, Leibniz Universität Hannover

• An Introduction by Helmut Heit and Eric OberheimEditorial NotesPaul Feyerabend: Philosophy of NaturePreliminary Note  1. Presuppositions of the Myths, and the Knowledge of their Inventors1.1. Stone Age Art and Knowledge of Nature1.2. Megalithic Astronomy (Stonehenge)1.3. Critique of Primitivist Interpretations of the Prehistoric Era1.4. The Dynamic Worldview of Stone Age Humans  2. The Structure and Function of Myths2.1. Theories of Myth2.2. The Theory of Nature Myths and Structuralism  3.  Homer’s Aggregate Universe3.1. The Paratactic World of Archaic Art3.2. Worldview and Knowledge in Homer’s Epics3.3. Views of Reality and the Language of Science: Some Basic Considerations  4. Transition to an Explicitly Conceptual Approach to Nature4.1. The New World of the Philosophers: Advantages and Disadvantages4.2. Historical Factors for the Emergence of Philosophy4.3. Predecessors in Hesiod’s and Oriental Cosmogonies  5. Philosophy of Nature through Parmenides5.1. Hesiod and Anaximander: Changing Worldviews5.2. Xenophanes: Critic of Religion and Epistemologist5.3. Parmenides: The Origins of Western Philosophy of Nature  6. Western Philosophy of Nature from Aristotle to Bohr6.1. Aristotle’s Research Program6.2. Descartes: The Mathematical Approach to Nature6.3. Galileo, Bacon, Agrippa: Empiricism without Foundations6.4. Hegel: The Dynamics of Concepts6.5. Newton, Leibniz, Mach: Problems of Mechanism6.6. Einstein, Bohr, Bohm: Signs of a New Era  7. Conclusion