One of the best physics thought experiment, i know about is the monkey and the hunter a thought experiment, used to illustrate the effect of gravity and projectile motion. Summary this chapter recounts an imaginary situation which the author confronts with while reading the book of life. If a tree falls in the forest, but no one hears it, does it make a sound. This account is given by him in an early work, the 1929 lecture on ethics, and it matches also his position given in the early. The routledge companion to thought experiments 1st. Surprisingly, this is a book on spiritual growth written by a professor of western and eastern philosophy. Success here will radiate to my secondary goal of understanding philosophical thought experiments. It contends that the conclusions will be more plausible. Gives a lively presentation of an a to z of 26 fascinating and influential thought experiments from philosophy and science. Widely used in many disciplines, thought experiments allow. Since they were mengeles children, they were treated differently than other prisoners. Doing philosophy an introduction through thought experiments.
The paradox of the tortoise and achilles comes from ancient greece and explores motion as an illusion. Gavaler and goldbergs book should be required reading both for philosophers and for fans of comics interested in how philosophy is done. I recommend the desmond elliott prize longlisted live and other thought experiments by sophie ward, a playful and compelling novel inspired by some of. Some science is too big, dangerous, or weird to happen in the lab. Especially concerned with the relation between thought experiments and modal notions necessity and possibility. He analyses a wide variety of thought experiments, ranging from aesthetics to zoology, and explores what thought experiments are, how they work, and what their positive and negative aspects are. From the fine folks at the open university comes 60second adventures in thought, a fascinating and delightfully animated series exploring six famous thought experiments. Our most curious device skepticism about thought experiments mach and inner cognitive africa the wonder of armchair inquiry kuhntradictions the logical structure of thought experiments conflict vagueness and precisification the evolution of thought experiment are thought experiments experiments fallacies and antifallacies. Sorensen presents a general theory of thought experiments. Though they suffered through medical experiments, the twins were often allowed to. In this book julian baggini presents 100 of the most intriguing thought experiments from the history of philosophy and ideas. Superhero thought experiments presents a novel perspective on both comics and philosophy, arguing that superhero comics provide a rich source of philosophical thought experiments. A thought experiment can always be reconstructed as a straightforward argument, without the irrelevant particulars. Mind games 25 thought experiments to ignite your imagination.
He imagined that running at the front of the beam might be like running from the end of a pier toward the shore alongside an incoming wave. Wards investigation and practice of empathy is easily the best thing in the book. Taking examples from sources as diverse as plato and steven spielberg, author julian baggini presents abstract philosophical issues in concrete. This experiment was devised by john rawls in 1971 to explore notions of justice in his book a theory of justice. One of the largest leaps in scientific understanding in the last 200 years. Books with various philosophical thought experiments. Thought experiments invoke particulars that are irrelevant to the generality of their conclusions. A thought experiment by scott adams, standard romance story.
The study aims to use science fact rather than science fiction of fantasy. Most often, theyre used in more abstract fields like philosophy and theoretical physics, where physical experiments arent possible. Philosophy offers numerous examples of thought experiments that play a. Superhero thought experiments university of iowa press. Scientific thought experimentsespecially those in physicsare the clear cases, so my primary goal is to establish true and interesting generalizations about them. Forty of my most favorite thought experiments are contained in drew leders brilliant book, games for the soul. Personal identity has been the ground for bizarre, entertaining, confusing, and inconclusive thought experiments. If the ship of theseus has its components replaced throughout its journey, does it at any point become a different ship. In neuromancer, a wildly inventive book by william gibson written in 1984, people can use neural implants to jack into the sensory experiences of others.
Can merely thinking about an imaginary situation provide evidence for how the world actually isor how it ought to be. In 1984, he envisioned a teleporter malfunction, like the one that made two james t. Sorensen addresses this question with an analysis of a wide variety of thought experiments ranging from aesthetics to zoology. The characters are all interconnected in such an intricate way and it makes the book really special. Parfits teleporter philosopher derek parfit is famous for basing thought experiments on scifi.
The instructor presents a thought experiment that requires students to make a decision or respond. The big book is a thought experiment developed by ludwig wittgenstein about the nature of ethics and the verifiability of ethical knowledge. Thought experiments are a means of imaginative reasoning that lie at the heart of philosophy, from the presocratics to the modern era, and they also play central roles in a range of fields, from physics to politics. I have purchased peter singers ethics in the real world. Wittgensteins beetle and other classic thought experiments. A history of mengeles gruesome experiments on twins.
If fictions are thought experiments, they advance understanding of the world in the same way that other thought experiments do. What if serious scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions by randall munroe plato and a platypus walk into a bar understanding philosophy through jokes by thomas cath. Reading love and other thought experiments, not least the virtuoso chapter in which the narrator impersonates the ants thought processes, i couldnt help recalling george eliots squirrel in middlemarch. Thought experiments are among the most important tools in the intellectual toolbox. In this view, philosophy differs from science in degree, but not in kind. It is the invocation of these particulars that give thought experiments their experimentlike appearance. Nevertheless, they evidently enhance understanding of the phenomena they pertain to. They serve as some hearty food for thought, but given their. For this reason, the book claims, it is possible to understand philosophical thought experiments by concentrating on their resemblance to scientific relatives.
Student vote live using polling technology, and their realtime results are displayed with a chart. The most famous of this thought experiments was on a beam of light, which was made into a brilliant childrens book. In his book the philosophy of philosophy 2007, williamson provides an account of thought experiments according to which a thought. The problem statement of this situation goes like this. A critical discussion of the early rival accounts of thought experiments. Thought experiments in the classroom educational leadership. During the last decades of the twentieth century highly imaginative thought experiments were introduced in philosophy. Thought experiments in methodological and historical contexts brill. In this book, roy sorensen presents the first general theory of the thought experiment. Thought experiments like this can be used during lecture to teach political theory. Thought experiments have a rich history in the development of knowledge. Love and other thought experiments is a very unique read. Thought experiments are short scenarios that pose a moral or philosophical problem in a vivid and concrete way.
This semester, we will engage our brains by tackling the following big questions. Each chapter is so distinct but they all blend in together at the same time. What are some of the best books on thought experiments. Perfect for gifting to lovers of philosophy or mining intelligent icebreaker topics for your next party, the pig that wants to be eaten offers one hundred philosophical puzzles that stimulate thought on a host of moral, social, and personal dilemmas. Thought experiments are mental concepts or hypotheses, often resembling riddles, which are used by philosophers and scientists as simple ways of illuminating what are usually very dense ideas. After the twins had been taken from their parents, they were taken to the showers. Presenting the first general theory of thought experiment, he sets it within an evolutionary framework and integrates recent advances in experimental psychology and the history of science. This book focuses upon the sorts of things that can happen to the object called a person and the implications that can be drawn from those things. Wittgensteins beetle and other classic thought experiments invites readers to participate actively in discovering the surprisingly powerful and fruitful tradition of thought experiments.
800 300 1405 699 1242 1401 56 666 88 1505 945 1399 1086 1199 84 1174 118 486 445 672 621 696 904 319 167 833 14 501 954 83 393 330 446 1160 334 49 1278 804 1260