The promise and perils of thought experiments

被引:0
作者
Brown J.R. [1 ,2 ]
机构
[1] Department of Philosophy, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont. M5S 1A1
关键词
Einstein; Galileo; Lucretius; Mach; Newton; Picture proofs; Stevin; Thought experiments;
D O I
10.1007/s10780-006-8400-6
中图分类号
学科分类号
摘要
A number of thought experiments are cited, some well-known, some not. These illustrate the power of thought experiments. Other examples are given that show some of the dangers. As well as examples from the science, some examples of visual reasoning from mathematics are also presented, again with an eye to illustrating their promise and perils. Morals are drawn, perhaps the most important being that we still have much to learn about them, just as we once learned about the promise and perils of microscopes in their early days. They are a tool that can mislead, but they can also open up a whole new world. © Springer 2006.
引用
收藏
页码:63 / 75
页数:12
相关论文
共 31 条
[11]  
Gooding D., What is experimental about thought experiments?, PSA, 1992, 2, pp. 280-290, (1993)
[12]  
Hacking I., Do thought experiments have a life of their own?, PSA, 1992, 2, pp. 302-308, (1993)
[13]  
Haggqvist S., Thought Experiments in Philosophy, (1996)
[14]  
Thought Experiments in Science and Philosophy, (1991)
[15]  
Humphries P., Seven theses on thought experiments, Philosophical Problems of the Internal and External World, pp. 205-227, (1994)
[16]  
Koyre A., Galileo's treatise de motu gravium: The use and abuse of imaginary experiment, Metaphysics and Measurement, pp. 44-88, (1968)
[17]  
Kuhn T., A Function for Thought Experiments, (1964)
[18]  
Kuhn T., The Essential Tension, pp. 240-265, (1977)
[19]  
Mach E., Ed.), (1960)
[20]  
Mach E., On thought experiments, Knowledge and Error: Sketches on the Psychology of Enquiry, pp. 134-147, (1976)