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(Co-authored with Patrick Fraser) In 1957, Feyerabend delivered a paper titled “On the quantum‐th... more (Co-authored with Patrick Fraser) In 1957, Feyerabend delivered a paper titled “On the quantum‐theory of measurement” at the Colston Research Symposium in Bristol to sketch a completion of von Neumann’s measurement scheme without collapse, using only unitary quantum dynamics and well‐motivated statistical assumptions about macroscopic quantum systems. Feyerabend’s paper has been recognized as an early contribution to quantum measurement, anticipating certain aspects of decoherence. Our paper reassesses the physical and philosophical content of Feyerabend’s contribution, detailing the technical steps as well as its overall philosophical motivations and consequences. Summarizing our results, Feyerabend interpreted collapse as a positivist assumption in quantum mechanics leading to a strict distinction between the uninterpreted formalism of unitary evolution in quantum mechanics and the classically interpreted observational language describing post‐measurement outcomes. Thus, Feyerabend took his the no‐collapse completion of the von Neumann measurement scheme to shows the dispensability of the positivist assumption, leading the way to a realistic interpretation of quantum theory. We note, however, that there are substantial problems with his account of measurement that bring into question its viability as a legitimate foil to the orthodox view. We further argue that his dissatisfaction with the von Neumann measurement scheme is indicative of early views on theoretical pluralism.
In this paper I apply the concept of inter-Model Inconsistency in Set Theory (MIST), introduced b... more In this paper I apply the concept of inter-Model Inconsistency in Set Theory (MIST), introduced by Carolin Antos (this volume), to select positions in the current universe-multiverse debate in philosophy of set theory: I reinterpret H. Woodin’s Ultimate LLL, J. D. Hamkins’ multiverse, S.-D. Friedman’s hyperuniverse and the algebraic multiverse as normative strategies to deal with the situation of de facto inconsistency toleration in set theory as described by MIST. In particular, my aim is to situate these positions on the spectrum from inconsistency avoidance to inconsistency toleration. By doing so, I connect a debate in philosophy of set theory with a debate in philosophy of science about the role of inconsistencies in the natural sciences. While there are important differences, like the lack of threatening explosive inferences, I show how specific philosophical positions in the philosophy of set theory can be interpreted as reactions to a state of inconsistency similar to analogous reactions studied in the philosophy of science literature. My hope is that this transfer operation from philosophy of science to mathematics sheds a new light on the current discussion in philosophy of set theory; and that it can help to bring philosophy of mathematics and philosophy of science closer together.
Awards by Daniel Kuby
The Bader Prize for the History of the Natural Sciences 2014 by the Austrian Academy of the Scien... more The Bader Prize for the History of the Natural Sciences 2014 by the Austrian Academy of the Sciences (ÖAW) has been awarded to Carolin Antos and Daniel Kuby for their pilot project "Forcing in Modern Set Theory: A History of Conceptual Change".
Papers by Daniel Kuby
The aim of this paper is to give an account of the change in Feyerabend's (meta)philosophy th... more The aim of this paper is to give an account of the change in Feyerabend's (meta)philosophy that made him abandon methodological monism and embrace methodological pluralism. In this paper I offer an explanation in terms of a simple model of 'change of belief through evidence'. My main claim is that the evidence triggering this belief revision can be identified in Feyerabend's technical work in the interpretation of quantum mechanics, in particular his reevaluation of Bohr's contribution to it (1957-1964). This highlights an under-appreciated part of Feyerabend's early work and makes it central to an understanding of the dynamics in his overall philosophy of science.
International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2015
Interpreting Feyerabend: Critical Essays, 2021
In this chapter, I offer a specific interpretation of how Feyerabend came from a Popperian critiq... more In this chapter, I offer a specific interpretation of how Feyerabend came from a Popperian critique of the Copenhagen interpretation to a detailed re-evaluation of Niels Bohr’s idea of complementarity. Engaging with this chapter of Feyerabend’s intellectual Werdegang is not only an interesting exercise in Feyerabendian exegesis; an explanation of this change of mind in a very narrow domain – or so it seems – gives the backdrop for Feyerabend’s thoroughgoing turn from methodological monism to methodological pluralism, for which he would became known to a wider audience with his publication of Against Method (Feyerabend 1975a).
Synthese, 2020
In this paper I defend the claim that Paul Feyerabend held a robust metaphilosophical position fo... more In this paper I defend the claim that Paul Feyerabend held a robust metaphilosophical position for most of his philosophical career. This position I call Decision-Based Epistemology and reconstruct it in terms of three key components: (1) a form of epistemic voluntarism concerning the justification of philosophical positions and (2) a behaviorist account of philosophical beliefs, which allows him (3) to cast normative arguments concerning philosophical beliefs in scientific methodology, such as realism, in terms of means-ends relations. I then introduce non-naturalist and naturalist variants of his conception of normativity, which I trace back to his mentors Viktor Kraft and Karl Popper, respectively. This distinction, introduced on the metaphilosophical level, can can be put to use to explain key changes in Feyerabend's philosophical proposals, such as the viability of his methodological argument for realism. I conclude that this Decision-Based Epistemology should be further explored by historically embedding Feyerabend's metaphilosophy in a voluntarist tradition of scientific philosophy.
Paul Feyerabend once made a remark to the effect that his pragmatic theory of observation can be ... more Paul Feyerabend once made a remark to the effect that his pragmatic theory of observation can be traced back to proposals put forward by leading Logical Empiricists during the height of the protocol sentence debate. In this paper I want to vindicate the systematic side of Feyerabend's remark and show that a pragmatic theory of observation can in fact be found in Rudolf Carnap's writings of 1932. I first proceed to dispel a misunderstanding concerning the term "pragmatic" raised by Thomas Oberdan. Following Morris' and Carnap's documented usage, I show that the intended meaning of "pragmatic" refers to a specific semiotic relation between users of a language and their environment describable by empirical means (specifically, the causal relation between the verbal behavior of language users and their environment). I reconstruct such a pragmatic theory in terms of a detector model that interprets observation sentences as bodily dispositions indicating physical events in the surroundings of the detector. I then proceed to show how Feyerabend's later theory of observation picks up central features of Carnap's account and also shares some of the motivations. I conclude by noting how an empirical theory of observation sentences offers a bootstrapping solution to the "basis problem".
This essay introduces the transcription and translation of Paul Feyerabend's Der Begriff der Vers... more This essay introduces the transcription and translation of Paul Feyerabend's Der Begriff der Verständlichkeit in der modernen Physik [The concept of intelligibility in modern physics] (1948), which is an early essay written by Paul Feyerabend in 1948 on the topic of intelligibility (Verständlichkeit) and visualizability (Anschaulichkeit) of physical theories. The existence of such essay was likely. It is listed in his bibliography as his first publication. Yet the content of the essay was unknown, as no original or copy is extant in Feyerabend's Nachlass and no known published version was available to the communityduntil now. The essay has both historical and philosophical interest: it is, as far as our current knowledge goes, Feyerabend's earliest extant publication. It documents Feyerabend's philosophical interest as a physicist-to-be, in what he himself called his " positivist " phase; and it gives a rare if fragmentary insight into the early discussions of the 'Third Vienna Circle' and, more generally, the philosophical culture of discussion in Vienna.
European Philosophy of Science – Philosophy of Science in Europe and the Viennese Heritage. Vienna Circle Intitute Yearbook. Vol. 17., 2014
F. Stadler (Hg.): Vertreibung, Transformation und Rückkehr der Wissenschaftstheorie. Am Beispiel von Rudolf Carnap und Wolfgang Stegmüller. Mit einem Manuskript von Paul Feyerabend über “Die Dogmen des logischen Empirismus” aus dem Nachlass., 2010
M. Benedikt, R. Knoll, F. Schwediauer, C. Zehetner (Hrsg.): Auf der Suche nach authentischem Philosophieren. Philosophie in Österreich 1951–2000. Verdrängter Humanismus - verzögerte Aufklärung. Bd. VI., 2010
Conference Presentations by Daniel Kuby
""The aim of my talk is to give an account of the idea of incommensurability as it can be found i... more ""The aim of my talk is to give an account of the idea of incommensurability as it can be found in Feyerabend’s unpublished dissertation “Zur Theorie der Basissätze” from 1951. I will defend three claims:
- Feyerabend’s early notion of incommensurability was a product of his belated engagement in the Vienna Circle’s protocol sentence debate.
- The early Feyerabend didn’t consider incommensurability to be a prima facie factual phenomenon, but a consequence of certain set of stipulated premises, which he firstly developed in his dissertation.
- While diachronic incommensurability was conceived as a real consequence, the possibility of synchronic incommensurability was only considered as a thought experiment.""
Invited Talks by Daniel Kuby
"Paul Feyerabend (1924–1994) is deemed to be one of the key players in the so-called “histor... more "Paul Feyerabend (1924–1994) is deemed to be one of the key players in the so-called “historical turn” within the philosophy of science of the 1960s and 1970s. Feyerabend’s impact is due to the reception of his major work Against Method (1975), which, together with Tom Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962), is considered a classic of the turn. This popular account hides the lesser-known fact that Feyerabend was at the very beginning a staunch critic of the historical turn, even regarding Kuhn’s work as “dangerous”, while his adherence to it came in rather late.
The aim of my research is to reconstruct Feyerabend’s early critique of (a certain use of) descriptive approaches in philosophy of science and his apparent “change of mind”. Contrary to recent interpretations of Feyerabend that tend to separate an early rationalist phase and a later postmodern phase (Preston 1997) or that ascribe to Feyerabend a generalized lack of philosophical commitment (Oberheim 2006), I argue for a “continuist” interpretation, trying to make sense of this change in a systematic way.
Based on previous studies delving into Feyerabend’s early philosophical apprenticeship in pre– and post-war Vienna, I set out an interpretation that emphasizes the role of “practical reason” in Feyerabend’s early conception of philosophy and embeds his philosophical approach into a voluntarist tradition of scientific philosophy. Proponents of this tradition highlight the role of volitional decisions in science and its philosophy, thus enabling a normative task of philosophy of science. I reconstruct Feyerabend’s philosophy as a progressive radicalization of the importance granted to volitional decisions, which leads to an extreme form of Decision-Based Epistemology (DBE), as I propose to call it.
This perspective, I contend, can make sense of Feyerabend’s arguments against the historical turn and, at the same time, account for Feyerabend’s later adherence to it. Specifically, I reconstruct the change as a gradual emergence of some problems specific to his extreme form of DBE, problems which lead Feyerabend to relinquish its extreme form. Different factors play a role in the problematization of the radical DBE, the most prominent being Feyerabend’s work in the history of science and (surprisingly) his technical work in the interpretation of quantum mechanics."
(Co-authored with Patrick Fraser) In 1957, Feyerabend delivered a paper titled “On the quantum‐th... more (Co-authored with Patrick Fraser) In 1957, Feyerabend delivered a paper titled “On the quantum‐theory of measurement” at the Colston Research Symposium in Bristol to sketch a completion of von Neumann’s measurement scheme without collapse, using only unitary quantum dynamics and well‐motivated statistical assumptions about macroscopic quantum systems. Feyerabend’s paper has been recognized as an early contribution to quantum measurement, anticipating certain aspects of decoherence. Our paper reassesses the physical and philosophical content of Feyerabend’s contribution, detailing the technical steps as well as its overall philosophical motivations and consequences. Summarizing our results, Feyerabend interpreted collapse as a positivist assumption in quantum mechanics leading to a strict distinction between the uninterpreted formalism of unitary evolution in quantum mechanics and the classically interpreted observational language describing post‐measurement outcomes. Thus, Feyerabend took his the no‐collapse completion of the von Neumann measurement scheme to shows the dispensability of the positivist assumption, leading the way to a realistic interpretation of quantum theory. We note, however, that there are substantial problems with his account of measurement that bring into question its viability as a legitimate foil to the orthodox view. We further argue that his dissatisfaction with the von Neumann measurement scheme is indicative of early views on theoretical pluralism.
In this paper I apply the concept of inter-Model Inconsistency in Set Theory (MIST), introduced b... more In this paper I apply the concept of inter-Model Inconsistency in Set Theory (MIST), introduced by Carolin Antos (this volume), to select positions in the current universe-multiverse debate in philosophy of set theory: I reinterpret H. Woodin’s Ultimate LLL, J. D. Hamkins’ multiverse, S.-D. Friedman’s hyperuniverse and the algebraic multiverse as normative strategies to deal with the situation of de facto inconsistency toleration in set theory as described by MIST. In particular, my aim is to situate these positions on the spectrum from inconsistency avoidance to inconsistency toleration. By doing so, I connect a debate in philosophy of set theory with a debate in philosophy of science about the role of inconsistencies in the natural sciences. While there are important differences, like the lack of threatening explosive inferences, I show how specific philosophical positions in the philosophy of set theory can be interpreted as reactions to a state of inconsistency similar to analogous reactions studied in the philosophy of science literature. My hope is that this transfer operation from philosophy of science to mathematics sheds a new light on the current discussion in philosophy of set theory; and that it can help to bring philosophy of mathematics and philosophy of science closer together.
The Bader Prize for the History of the Natural Sciences 2014 by the Austrian Academy of the Scien... more The Bader Prize for the History of the Natural Sciences 2014 by the Austrian Academy of the Sciences (ÖAW) has been awarded to Carolin Antos and Daniel Kuby for their pilot project "Forcing in Modern Set Theory: A History of Conceptual Change".
The aim of this paper is to give an account of the change in Feyerabend's (meta)philosophy th... more The aim of this paper is to give an account of the change in Feyerabend's (meta)philosophy that made him abandon methodological monism and embrace methodological pluralism. In this paper I offer an explanation in terms of a simple model of 'change of belief through evidence'. My main claim is that the evidence triggering this belief revision can be identified in Feyerabend's technical work in the interpretation of quantum mechanics, in particular his reevaluation of Bohr's contribution to it (1957-1964). This highlights an under-appreciated part of Feyerabend's early work and makes it central to an understanding of the dynamics in his overall philosophy of science.
International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2015
Interpreting Feyerabend: Critical Essays, 2021
In this chapter, I offer a specific interpretation of how Feyerabend came from a Popperian critiq... more In this chapter, I offer a specific interpretation of how Feyerabend came from a Popperian critique of the Copenhagen interpretation to a detailed re-evaluation of Niels Bohr’s idea of complementarity. Engaging with this chapter of Feyerabend’s intellectual Werdegang is not only an interesting exercise in Feyerabendian exegesis; an explanation of this change of mind in a very narrow domain – or so it seems – gives the backdrop for Feyerabend’s thoroughgoing turn from methodological monism to methodological pluralism, for which he would became known to a wider audience with his publication of Against Method (Feyerabend 1975a).
Synthese, 2020
In this paper I defend the claim that Paul Feyerabend held a robust metaphilosophical position fo... more In this paper I defend the claim that Paul Feyerabend held a robust metaphilosophical position for most of his philosophical career. This position I call Decision-Based Epistemology and reconstruct it in terms of three key components: (1) a form of epistemic voluntarism concerning the justification of philosophical positions and (2) a behaviorist account of philosophical beliefs, which allows him (3) to cast normative arguments concerning philosophical beliefs in scientific methodology, such as realism, in terms of means-ends relations. I then introduce non-naturalist and naturalist variants of his conception of normativity, which I trace back to his mentors Viktor Kraft and Karl Popper, respectively. This distinction, introduced on the metaphilosophical level, can can be put to use to explain key changes in Feyerabend's philosophical proposals, such as the viability of his methodological argument for realism. I conclude that this Decision-Based Epistemology should be further explored by historically embedding Feyerabend's metaphilosophy in a voluntarist tradition of scientific philosophy.
Paul Feyerabend once made a remark to the effect that his pragmatic theory of observation can be ... more Paul Feyerabend once made a remark to the effect that his pragmatic theory of observation can be traced back to proposals put forward by leading Logical Empiricists during the height of the protocol sentence debate. In this paper I want to vindicate the systematic side of Feyerabend's remark and show that a pragmatic theory of observation can in fact be found in Rudolf Carnap's writings of 1932. I first proceed to dispel a misunderstanding concerning the term "pragmatic" raised by Thomas Oberdan. Following Morris' and Carnap's documented usage, I show that the intended meaning of "pragmatic" refers to a specific semiotic relation between users of a language and their environment describable by empirical means (specifically, the causal relation between the verbal behavior of language users and their environment). I reconstruct such a pragmatic theory in terms of a detector model that interprets observation sentences as bodily dispositions indicating physical events in the surroundings of the detector. I then proceed to show how Feyerabend's later theory of observation picks up central features of Carnap's account and also shares some of the motivations. I conclude by noting how an empirical theory of observation sentences offers a bootstrapping solution to the "basis problem".
This essay introduces the transcription and translation of Paul Feyerabend's Der Begriff der Vers... more This essay introduces the transcription and translation of Paul Feyerabend's Der Begriff der Verständlichkeit in der modernen Physik [The concept of intelligibility in modern physics] (1948), which is an early essay written by Paul Feyerabend in 1948 on the topic of intelligibility (Verständlichkeit) and visualizability (Anschaulichkeit) of physical theories. The existence of such essay was likely. It is listed in his bibliography as his first publication. Yet the content of the essay was unknown, as no original or copy is extant in Feyerabend's Nachlass and no known published version was available to the communityduntil now. The essay has both historical and philosophical interest: it is, as far as our current knowledge goes, Feyerabend's earliest extant publication. It documents Feyerabend's philosophical interest as a physicist-to-be, in what he himself called his " positivist " phase; and it gives a rare if fragmentary insight into the early discussions of the 'Third Vienna Circle' and, more generally, the philosophical culture of discussion in Vienna.
European Philosophy of Science – Philosophy of Science in Europe and the Viennese Heritage. Vienna Circle Intitute Yearbook. Vol. 17., 2014
F. Stadler (Hg.): Vertreibung, Transformation und Rückkehr der Wissenschaftstheorie. Am Beispiel von Rudolf Carnap und Wolfgang Stegmüller. Mit einem Manuskript von Paul Feyerabend über “Die Dogmen des logischen Empirismus” aus dem Nachlass., 2010
M. Benedikt, R. Knoll, F. Schwediauer, C. Zehetner (Hrsg.): Auf der Suche nach authentischem Philosophieren. Philosophie in Österreich 1951–2000. Verdrängter Humanismus - verzögerte Aufklärung. Bd. VI., 2010
""The aim of my talk is to give an account of the idea of incommensurability as it can be found i... more ""The aim of my talk is to give an account of the idea of incommensurability as it can be found in Feyerabend’s unpublished dissertation “Zur Theorie der Basissätze” from 1951. I will defend three claims:
- Feyerabend’s early notion of incommensurability was a product of his belated engagement in the Vienna Circle’s protocol sentence debate.
- The early Feyerabend didn’t consider incommensurability to be a prima facie factual phenomenon, but a consequence of certain set of stipulated premises, which he firstly developed in his dissertation.
- While diachronic incommensurability was conceived as a real consequence, the possibility of synchronic incommensurability was only considered as a thought experiment.""
"Paul Feyerabend (1924–1994) is deemed to be one of the key players in the so-called “histor... more "Paul Feyerabend (1924–1994) is deemed to be one of the key players in the so-called “historical turn” within the philosophy of science of the 1960s and 1970s. Feyerabend’s impact is due to the reception of his major work Against Method (1975), which, together with Tom Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962), is considered a classic of the turn. This popular account hides the lesser-known fact that Feyerabend was at the very beginning a staunch critic of the historical turn, even regarding Kuhn’s work as “dangerous”, while his adherence to it came in rather late.
The aim of my research is to reconstruct Feyerabend’s early critique of (a certain use of) descriptive approaches in philosophy of science and his apparent “change of mind”. Contrary to recent interpretations of Feyerabend that tend to separate an early rationalist phase and a later postmodern phase (Preston 1997) or that ascribe to Feyerabend a generalized lack of philosophical commitment (Oberheim 2006), I argue for a “continuist” interpretation, trying to make sense of this change in a systematic way.
Based on previous studies delving into Feyerabend’s early philosophical apprenticeship in pre– and post-war Vienna, I set out an interpretation that emphasizes the role of “practical reason” in Feyerabend’s early conception of philosophy and embeds his philosophical approach into a voluntarist tradition of scientific philosophy. Proponents of this tradition highlight the role of volitional decisions in science and its philosophy, thus enabling a normative task of philosophy of science. I reconstruct Feyerabend’s philosophy as a progressive radicalization of the importance granted to volitional decisions, which leads to an extreme form of Decision-Based Epistemology (DBE), as I propose to call it.
This perspective, I contend, can make sense of Feyerabend’s arguments against the historical turn and, at the same time, account for Feyerabend’s later adherence to it. Specifically, I reconstruct the change as a gradual emergence of some problems specific to his extreme form of DBE, problems which lead Feyerabend to relinquish its extreme form. Different factors play a role in the problematization of the radical DBE, the most prominent being Feyerabend’s work in the history of science and (surprisingly) his technical work in the interpretation of quantum mechanics."
The view that epistemic reasons can justify a belief that p is quite uncontroversial, not least b... more The view that epistemic reasons can justify a belief that p is quite uncontroversial, not least because epistemic reasons (evidential reasons in particular) can raise the probability that p is true. Can pragmatic reasons justify a belief that p? Short of a pragmatist theory of truth, a pragmatic reason does not generally raise the probability that p is true. Yet, even within a (moderate) evidentialist framework pragmatic reasons can obtain, most prominently in instances where evidential reasons are not available or inconclusive. My talk will investigate in which sense, if any, we can speak of "pragmatic beliefs" in this case. Does "to believe that p on pragmatic grounds" simply mean "to act as though proposition p were true" (in which case epistemology would seem to collapse into agency and action theory) or can we salvage its epistemic import by appealing e.g. to the notion of acceptance? Further, I will discuss specific arguments where pragmatic reasons to believe that p are said to obtain even though one has already sufficient epistemic reasons to believe that p. Specifically, I will investigate how these two kinds of reasons interrelate and ask under which conditions a pragmatic reason to believe that p may override or block an evidential reason to believe that non-p.