Thought Experiments in Science, Philosophy, and the Arts (Routledge Studies in the Philosophy of Science)

From Lucretius throwing a spear beyond the boundary of the universe to Einstein racing against a beam of light, thought experiments stand as a fascinating challenge to the necessity of data in the empirical sciences. Are these experiments, conducted uniquely in our imagination, simply rhetorical devices or communication tools or are they an essential part of scientific practice? This volume surveys the current state of the debate and explores new avenues of research into the epistemology of thought experiments. Series Page 3 Title Page 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Table of Contents 8 Acknowledgements 10 List of Figures 12 List of Contributors 14 Introduction • James Robert Brown, Letitia Meynell, and Mélanie Frappier 16 1 Thought Experiment and the Exercise of Imagination in Science • James W. McAllister 26 2 Veridical Idealizations • Roy Sorensen 45 3 What Do We See in a Thought Experiment? • James Robert Brown 68 4 The Body, Thought Experiments, and Phenomenology • Yiftach J. H. Fehige and Harald Wiltsche 84 5 Thought Experiments from a Kantian Point of View • Marco Buzzoni 105 6 Can Thought Experiments Be Resolved by Experiment? The Case of Aristotle’s Wheel • Richard T. W. Arthur 122 7 Chasing the Light: Einstein’s Most Famous Thought Experiment • John D. Norton 138 8 At the Limits of Possibility: Thought Experiments in Quantum Gravity • Mark Shumelda 156 9 Craig Venter’s New Life: The Realization of Some Thought Experiments in Biological Ontology • W. Ford Doolittle 175 10 Genealogical Thought Experiments in Economics • Julian Reiss 192 11 Political Thought Experiments from Plato to Rawls • Nenad Miščević 206 12 Thought Experiment, Definition, and Literary Fiction • Geordie McComb 222 13 Can Philosophical Thought Experiments Be “Screened”? • David Davies 238 14 Computational ModelingIs: This the End of Thought Experiments in Science? • Sanjay Chandrasekharan, Nancy J. Nersessian, and Vrishali Subramanian 254 Index 276 Edited By Mélanie Frappier, Letitia Meynell, And James Robert Brown. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.