“Anything Goes” Under the Sky:

The Harvard Computers and Feyerabend’s Epistemological Pluralism in Action

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to present the principles of Paul Feyerabend’s epistemology, described in Against Method, through the scientific practice of Harvard computers – women who worked at the Harvard Observatory between the 19th and 20th centuries. Four key Feyerabendian concepts are highlighted for this discussion, namely: counter-induction, the proliferation of theories and methodological pluralism, supposed “irrationality” that can lead to scientific progress, and the use of “forbidden resources” (such as hypotheses ad hoc). Through the historical episodes involving the “computers”, it is possible to show that astronomical knowledge has advanced through a diverse, creative and non-linear form of praxis. We conclude that the history of Harvard Computers embodies Feyerabend’s thesis that scientific progress is a pluralistic enterprise, relying on the diversity of methods and the freedom to challenge established rules and consensus.