--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is clear, then, that the idea of a…" description: "\"It is clear, then, that the idea of a fixed method, or of a fixed theory of rationality, rests on too naive a view of man and his social surroundings. ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee1/paul-feyerabend-10420_anything-goes_it-is-clear-then-that-the-idea-of-a-fixe_2692563.jpg" --- # It is clear, then, that the idea of a fixed method, or of… ![“It is clear, then, that the idea of a fixed method, or of a fixed theory of rationality, rests on too naive a view of man and his social surroundings. To those who look at the rich material provided by history, and who are not intent on impoverishing it in order to please their lower instincts…” quote by Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee1/paul-feyerabend-10420_anything-goes_it-is-clear-then-that-the-idea-of-a-fixe_2692563.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee1/paul-feyerabend-10420_anything-goes_it-is-clear-then-that-the-idea-of-a-fixe_2692563.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee1/paul-feyerabend-10420_anything-goes_it-is-clear-then-that-the-idea-of-a-fixe_2692563.jpg) > “It is clear, then, that the idea of a fixed method, or of a fixed theory of rationality, rests on too naive a view of man and his social surroundings. To those who look at the rich material provided by history, and who are not intent on impoverishing it in order to please their lower instincts, their craving for intellectual security in the form of clarity, precision, 'objectivity', 'truth', it will become clear that there is only one principle that can be defended under all circumstances and in all stages of human development. It is the principle: anything goes.” [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Argues that strict scientific methods are naive; only principle is that any method can be valid. **In simple terms:** Scientific methods are not absolute; anything can work. Key Takeaway Stay open to diverse approaches. Themes science methodology relativism Mood philosophical critical Type academic intellectual When to use this quote - research design - policy making - education reform Key Concepts Philosophy of science epistemology critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - When should standards be applied? - How to balance openness with rigor? A Different Perspective May lead to epistemic relativism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anything goes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anything-goes/) [Circumstances](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/circumstances/) [Clarity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clarity/) [Clear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clear/) [Craving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/craving/) [Development](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/development/) [Fixed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fixed/) [Fixed Theory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fixed-theory-2669982/) [Form](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/form/) [Human development](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-development/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Hypothesis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hypothesis/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Instinct](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instinct/) [Integrity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/integrity/) [Intellectual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual/) [Looks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looks/) [Materials](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/materials/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Method](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/method/) [Naive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/naive/) [Objectivity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/objectivity/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Please](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/please/) [Precision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/precision/) [Principle Defended](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principle-defended-2669980/) [Principles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/) [Rationality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rationality/) [Rationality Rests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rationality-rests-2669981/) [Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rich/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Security](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/security/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Stage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stage/) [Surroundings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surroundings/) [Theory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theory/) [Theory Rationality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theory-rationality-2669979/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Views](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/views/) ## Related quotes > [“If principle is only defended when there’s nothing at stake, then it is probably not much of a principle after all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-flake/if-principle-is-only-defended-when-there-s-nothing-at-stake-then-it/) [Jeff Flake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-flake/) > [If a window is broken and left unrepaired, people walking by will conclude that no one cares and no one is in charge. Soon,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/if-a-window-is-broken-and-left-unrepaired-people-walking-by-will/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [What was wrong with train toilet doors that just locked, instead of this multiple choice system? If anything goes wrong, you'll be sitting there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frankie-boyle/what-was-wrong-with-train-toilet-doors-that-just-locked-instead-of/) [Frankie Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frankie-boyle/) > [So now the floodgates are open to the delight of pure form, whatever its origin. Anything goes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-johnson/so-now-the-floodgates-are-open-to-the-delight-of-pure-form-whatever/) [Philip Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-johnson/) > [In the world of the imagination, anything goes that's imaginatively possible, but nothing really happens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/northrop-frye/in-the-world-of-the-imagination-anything-goes-that-s-imaginatively/) [Northrop Frye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/northrop-frye/) > [Public lives are lived out on the job and in the marketplace, where certain rules, conventions, laws, and social customs keep most of us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fulghum/public-lives-are-lived-out-on-the-job-and-in-the-marketplace-where/) [Robert Fulghum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-fulghum/) > [I think it's one of those things about live performance - anything goes, anything can happen, and you have to just be ready and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-bareilles/i-think-it-s-one-of-those-things-about-live-performance-anything-goes/) [Sara Bareilles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-bareilles/) > [There are a lot of parallels between doing a sequel and doing low budget movies, which is they give creative parameters. As a creative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-blum/there-are-a-lot-of-parallels-between-doing-a-sequel-and-doing-low/) [Jason Blum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-blum/) > [I'm not very much an open book, I do really express myself only through my music and when I'm in that safe environment and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-henderson/i-m-not-very-much-an-open-book-i-do-really-express-myself-only/) [Ella Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-henderson/) > [The only principle that does not inhibit progress is: anything goes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-only-principle-that-does-not-inhibit-progress-is-anything-goes/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Because the problems are objective features of the human situation - social animals without the capacities for making social life come easily - ethics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/because-the-problems-are-objective-features-of-the-human-situation/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [If you want the answer to anything, go sit in Nature for awhile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/if-you-want-the-answer-to-anything-go-sit-in-nature-for-awhile/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [We are a culture that relies on technology over community, a society in which spoken and written words are cheap, easy to come by,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-chan/we-are-a-culture-that-relies-on-technology-over-community-a-society/) [Francis Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-chan/) > [There aren't any looks or customs I wish would come back. Today almost anything goes. Culture constantly devours the past so there's not much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graydon-carter/there-aren-t-any-looks-or-customs-i-wish-would-come-back-today-almost/) [Graydon Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graydon-carter/) > [Every woman's innate ability to let anything go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-macfarlane/every-woman-s-innate-ability-to-let-anything-go/) [Seth MacFarlane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-macfarlane/) ## More by Paul Feyerabend > [Every profession has an ideology and a drive for power that goes far beyond its achievements and it is the task of democracy to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/every-profession-has-an-ideology-and-a-drive-for-power-that-goes-far/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [Science is an essentially anarchic enterprise...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/science-is-an-essentially-anarchic-enterprise/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [One might get the impression that I recommend a new methodology which replaces induction by counterinduction and uses a multiplicity of theories, metaphysical views,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/one-might-get-the-impression-that-i-recommend-a-new-methodology-which/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [A Universal Good should reflect the reality of the individual benefits that are collected under its name, not the other way around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/a-universal-good-should-reflect-the-reality-of-the-individual/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [The sciences of today are business enterprises run on business principles. Research in large institutes is not guided by Truth and Reason but by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/the-sciences-of-today-are-business-enterprises-run-on-business/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [Experience arises together with theoretical assumptions not before them, and an experience without theory is just as incomprehensible as is (allegedly) a theory without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/experience-arises-together-with-theoretical-assumptions-not-before/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [Ultimate Reality, if such an entity can be postulated, is ineffable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/ultimate-reality-if-such-an-entity-can-be-postulated-is-ineffable/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [Today science prevails not because of its comparative merits, but because the show has been rigged in its favour... It reigns supreme because some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/today-science-prevails-not-because-of-its-comparative-merits-but/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [The only absolute truth is that there are no absolute truths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/the-only-absolute-truth-is-that-there-are-no-absolute-truths/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [Humane science must be adapted to the requirements of a balanced and rewarding life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/humane-science-must-be-adapted-to-the-requirements-of-a-balanced-and/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [Unanimity of opinion may be fitting for a church, for the frightened or greedy victims of some (ancient, or modern) myth, or for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/unanimity-of-opinion-may-be-fitting-for-a-church-for-the-frightened/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [Facts are constituted by older ideologies, and a clash between facts and theories may be proof of progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/facts-are-constituted-by-older-ideologies-and-a-clash-between-facts/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [No theory ever agrees with all the facts in its domain, yet it is not always the theory that is to blame. Facts are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/no-theory-ever-agrees-with-all-the-facts-in-its-domain-yet-it-is-not/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [In a war a totalitarian state has a free hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/in-a-war-a-totalitarian-state-has-a-free-hand/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [A free society is a society in which all traditions have equal rights and equal access to the centers of power. A tradition receives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/a-free-society-is-a-society-in-which-all-traditions-have-equal-rights/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) [Explore all 65 Paul Feyerabend quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) ## More Anything goes quotes > [Every woman's innate ability to let anything go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-macfarlane/every-woman-s-innate-ability-to-let-anything-go/) [Seth MacFarlane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-macfarlane/) > [There aren't any looks or customs I wish would come back. Today almost anything goes. Culture constantly devours the past so there's not much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graydon-carter/there-aren-t-any-looks-or-customs-i-wish-would-come-back-today-almost/) [Graydon Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graydon-carter/) > [We are a culture that relies on technology over community, a society in which spoken and written words are cheap, easy to come by,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-chan/we-are-a-culture-that-relies-on-technology-over-community-a-society/) [Francis Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-chan/) > [If you want the answer to anything, go sit in Nature for awhile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/if-you-want-the-answer-to-anything-go-sit-in-nature-for-awhile/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Because the problems are objective features of the human situation - social animals without the capacities for making social life come easily - ethics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/because-the-problems-are-objective-features-of-the-human-situation/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [The only principle that does not inhibit progress is: anything goes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-only-principle-that-does-not-inhibit-progress-is-anything-goes/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm not very much an open book, I do really express myself only through my music and when I'm in that safe environment and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-henderson/i-m-not-very-much-an-open-book-i-do-really-express-myself-only/) [Ella Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-henderson/) > [There are a lot of parallels between doing a sequel and doing low budget movies, which is they give creative parameters. As a creative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-blum/there-are-a-lot-of-parallels-between-doing-a-sequel-and-doing-low/) [Jason Blum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-blum/) > [I think it's one of those things about live performance - anything goes, anything can happen, and you have to just be ready and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-bareilles/i-think-it-s-one-of-those-things-about-live-performance-anything-goes/) [Sara Bareilles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-bareilles/) > [Public lives are lived out on the job and in the marketplace, where certain rules, conventions, laws, and social customs keep most of us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fulghum/public-lives-are-lived-out-on-the-job-and-in-the-marketplace-where/) [Robert Fulghum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-fulghum/) > [In the world of the imagination, anything goes that's imaginatively possible, but nothing really happens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/northrop-frye/in-the-world-of-the-imagination-anything-goes-that-s-imaginatively/) [Northrop Frye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/northrop-frye/) > [So now the floodgates are open to the delight of pure form, whatever its origin. Anything goes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-johnson/so-now-the-floodgates-are-open-to-the-delight-of-pure-form-whatever/) [Philip Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-johnson/) > [What was wrong with train toilet doors that just locked, instead of this multiple choice system? If anything goes wrong, you'll be sitting there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frankie-boyle/what-was-wrong-with-train-toilet-doors-that-just-locked-instead-of/) [Frankie Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frankie-boyle/) > [If a window is broken and left unrepaired, people walking by will conclude that no one cares and no one is in charge. Soon,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/if-a-window-is-broken-and-left-unrepaired-people-walking-by-will/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [I believe that you should put the right people around you, people that will not let anything go wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carmelo-anthony/i-believe-that-you-should-put-the-right-people-around-you-people-that/) [Carmelo Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carmelo-anthony/) [Browse all 69 Anything goes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anything-goes/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is clear, then, that the idea of a fixed method, or of a fixed theory of rationality, rests on too naive a view of man and his social surroundings. 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