Article2004

Thought Experiments Rethought—and Reperceived

172 citations0/0 files storedPhilosophy of Science

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Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics Philosophy and History of Science Philosophy, Science, and History

Abstract

Contemplating imaginary scenarios that evoke certain sorts of quasi-sensory intuitions may bring us to new beliefs about contingent features of the natural world. These beliefs may be produced quasi-observationally; the presence of a mental image may play a crucial cognitive role in the formation of the belief in question. And this albeit fallible quasi-observational belief-forming mechanism may, in certain contexts, be sufficiently reliable to count as a source of justification. This sheds light on the central puzzle surrounding scientific thought experiment, which is how contemplation of an imaginary scenario can lead to new knowledge about contingent features of the natural world.

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References

2000The feeling of what happens: body and emotion in the making of consciousness 2000The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness 2004Contemporary Debates in Philosophy of Science 1992The laboratory of the mind: thought experiments in the natural sciences 1994Thought Experiments in Science and Philosophy.1959The Principal Works of Simon Stevin 1991Thought Experiments in Einstein's Work 2004On Thought Experiments: Is There More to the Argument?

Cited by

2023On Artificial Intelligence and Manipulation 2021Conceptualizing Mobility Inequality: Mobility and Accessibility for the Marginalized 2019Capturing the Scientific Imagination 2012How can computer simulations produce new knowledge?2014Imagination and insight: a new acount of the content of thought experiments 2009A Model for Thought Experiments 2004Peeking into Plato's Heaven

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