The philosopher of science Paul Feyerabend became known for his so-called "anarchistic" view of modern science, due to his rejection of the value of universal methodological rules and his position that science should be strictly separated from the state.

In his essay "Against Method or Who's Afraid of the Black Man?", Feyerabend provocatively argues that in modern Western societies, in contrast to the emancipatory project of the Enlightenment that sought to liberate people from a state of guardianship of their minds, individuals remain under guardianship in their way of thinking, because, if they dare to question the dominant scientific rationality, they are threatened with the label of "irrationality" as a "boogeyman." According to Feyerabend, this sad state, which is connected not only to science but to the entirety of social relations, should make us wonder whether Western societies have only shaken off the tyranny of religion to replace it with the tyranny of science.

"Not so long ago, if someone was accused of being an atheist, it was taken very seriously even by people who had a critical stance towards the dominant ideology. In the same way, only a few today can resist the hypnotic power exerted by words like 'rationality', 'truth', 'scientificity', although almost no one can tell us what these things are, what truth is, what rationality is, and what determines scientific behavior."

Paul Feyerabend