[Ssnet_list] Feb. 2, 2026 | First Monday STSS Reading Group | Against Method | Paul Feyerabend

[Monika Sengul-Jones via Ssnet_list]

*Apologies for cross-posting.*
Hey everyone,

We're happy to have Dan Tibbles (Bioethics and Humanities, UW School of
Medicine) as our next First Monday STSS Reading Group host on 2/2/2026.

We're reading:
Against Method (4th Ed) by Paul Feyerabend
<https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g4yW5vbk3a7KGcyxLNXwGPeVuzgIXx4T/view?usp=sharing>
(1975)
Analytical Index, Introduction, Chapters 1 & 19 (PDF: 28-42 & 221-232;
Print: xxviv-12 & 249-63)

In Dan's words, here's why this matters:

"Since first reading it, I have seen Against Method as an argument for
humility in claiming knowledge and expertise, and I have gone back and read
it repeatedly to remind myself of that humility. For Feyerabend, humans
have made the “rules” for knowledge and expertise and those rules are just
as fallible as any other human institution.

"When we try and subject all sources of knowledge to the same rules, we are
arbitrarily privileging one method over others, all of which can contribute
to our understanding of our world.

"Yet that does not mean that we cannot test ideas or theories, or that we
cannot choose which we think best fit our view of the world, only that
claims of having the singular idea or theory or method cannot be justified."

How does the study of method inform your work?

Join us to discuss! If you didn't receive a calendar invitation and would
like one, please email mmjones at uw.edu to join the list of invitees.

Yours,
Monika Sengul-Jones (and on behalf of Leah Ceccarelli)
First Monday STSS co-facilitators
https://depts.washington.edu/stsst/first-monday/
www.societyandtechnology.uw.edu

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