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Given Any Rule, However "fundamental" Or "necessary" For Science, There Are Always Circumstances When It Is Advisable Not Only To Ignore The Rule, But To Adopt Its Opposite. For Example, There Are Circumstances When It Is Advisable To Introduce, Elaborate And Defend Ad Hoc Hypotheses, Or Hypotheses Which Contradict Well-established And Generally Accepted Experimental Results, Or Hypotheses Whose Content Is Smaller Than The Content Of The Existing And Empirically Adequate Alternative, Or Self-inconsistent Hypotheses, And So On.

-Paul Feyerabend

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Given Any Rule, However

Paul Feyerabend

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Given Any Rule, However "fundamental" Or "necessary" For Science, There Are Always Circumstances When It Is Advisable Not Only To Ignore The Rule, But To Adopt Its Opposite. For Example, There Are Circumstances When It Is Advisable To Introduce, Elaborate And Defend Ad Hoc Hypotheses, Or Hypotheses Which Contradict Well-established And Generally Accepted Experimental Results, Or Hypotheses Whose Content Is Smaller Than The Content Of The Existing And Empirically Adequate Alternative, Or Self-inconsistent Hypotheses, And So On.

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There Is Not A Single Rule, However Plausible, And However Firmly Grounded In Epistemology, That Is Not Violated At Some Time Or Other. It Becomes Evident That Such Violations Are Not Accidental Events, They Are Not Results Of Insufficient Knowledge Or Of Inattention Which Might Have Been Avoided. On The Contrary, We See That They Are Necessary For Progress.

Facts Are Constituted By Older Ideologies, And A Clash Between Facts And Theories May Be Proof Of Progress.

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Today Science Prevails Not Because Of Its Comparative Merits, But Because The Show Has Been Rigged In Its Favour... It Reigns Supreme Because Some Past Successes Have Led To Institutional Measures (education; Role Of Experts; Role Of Power Groups Such As The Ama) That Prevent A Comeback Of The Rivals.

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