Thought Experiments in Methodological and Historical Contexts (History of Science and Medicine Library: Medieval and Early Modern Science 15, 19)

By analysing thought experiments from various periods in the history of philosophy and science, the essays in this volume seek to clarify how thought experiments work, what their limits are, and what their conceptualisation could be. Introduction : The Emergence Of The Notion Of Thought Experiments / Sophie Roux -- Remarks On The History Of An Ancient Thought Experiment / Katerina Ierodiakonou -- Thought Experiments In The De Anima Commentaries / Peter Lautner -- Thought Experiments In Late Medieval Debates On Atomism / Christophe Grellard -- Thought Experiments And Indirect Proofs In Averroes, Aquinas, And Buridan / Simo Knuuttila And Taneli Kukkonen -- Galileo's Use Of Medieval Thought Experiments / Carla Rita Palmerino -- On Kant's Critique Of Thought Experiments In Early Modern Philosophy / Stelios Virvidakis -- Philosophical Thought Experiments : In Or Out Of The Armchair? / Pascal Engel -- On The Very Idea Of A Thought Experiment / Jean-yves Goffi And Sophie Roux -- Thought Experiments And Mental Simulations / John Zeimbekis. Edited By Katerina Ierodiakonou, Sophie Roux. This Book Is The Distant Outcome Of A Workshop On Thought Experiments That Took Place In Athens In April 2007--acknowledgements. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [217]-228) And Index. Contents Acknowledgments List of Contributors S. Roux, Introduction: The Emergence of the Notion of Thought Experiments PART ONE: HISTORICAL USES OF THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS K. Ierodiakonou, Remarks on the History of an Ancient Thought Experiment P. Lautner, Thought Experiments in the De Anima Commentaries C. Grellard, Thought Experiments in Late Medieval Debates on Atomism PART TWO: THE POSSIBILITY OF THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS S. Knuuttila and T. Kukkonen, Thought Experiments and Indirect Proofs in Averroes, Aquinas, and Buridan C.R. Palmerino, Galileo’s Use of Medieval Thought Experiments S. Virvidakis, On Kant’s Critique of Thought Experiments in Early Modern Philosophy PART THREE: HOW DO THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS WORK? P. Engel, Philosophical Thought Experiments: In or Out of the Armchair? J.-Y. Goffi and S. Roux, On the Very Idea of a Thought Experiment J. Zeimbekis, Thought Experiments and Mental Simulations Bibliography Index Nominum During the last decades of the twentieth century highly imaginative thought experiments were introduced in philosophy: Searle's Chinese room, variations on the Brain-in-a-vat, Thomson's violinist. At the same time historians of philosophy and science claimed the title of thought experiment for almost any argument: Descartes'evil genius, Buridan's ass, Gyges'ring. In the early 1990s a systematic debate began concerning the epistemological status of thought experiments. The essays in this volume are an outcome of this debate. They were guided by the idea that, since we cannot forge a strict definition of thought experiments, we should at least tame the contemporary wild usage of this notion by analysing thought experiments from various periods, and thus clarify how they work, what their limits are, and what their conceptualisation could be.Medieval and Early Modern Science, 15 During the last decades of the twentieth century highly imaginative thought experiments were introduced in Searles Chinese room, variations on the Brain-in-a-vat, Thomsons violinist. At the same time historians of philosophy and science claimed the title of thought experiment for almost any Descartes evil genius, Buridans ass, Gyges ring. In the early 1990s a systematic debate began concerning the epistemological status of thought experiments. The essays in this volume are an outcome of this debate. They were guided by the idea that, since we cannot forge a strict definition of thought experiments, we should at least tame the contemporary wild usage of this notion by analysing thought experiments from various periods, and thus clarify how they work, what their limits are, and what their conceptualisation could be. Medieval and Early Modern Science , 15