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Thought experiments in science are remarkable, or at least they appear so. Through them, we can learn about the world, not by conducting a real experiment, but merely by imagining such experiments. This poses the problem that will be the focus of our meeting:
The epistemological problem of thought experiments
in science:
How can merely experimenting in thought provide new knowledge of the
natural world?
Please Do This in Preparation
1. Select a thought experiment that interests you. If you can, select one in a science, since that will be closest to the lecture and readings. Otherwise, select one in philosophy.
2. Decide whether the thought experiments succeeds in establishing the result sought.
3. If it succeeds, how did it do it? If it fails, why did it fail?
Be ready to explain your chosen thought experiment to the class.
James Robert Brown and Yiftach Fehige, "Thought Experiments", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
John D. Norton, "Why
Thought Experiments Do Not Transcend Empiricism" pp. 44-66 in
Christopher Hitchcock (ed.) Contemporary Debates in the Philosophy of
Science. Blackwell, 2004.
At various times, I have written accounts of different thought experiments in physics. Here are links to some of them for you to browse, as your inclinations lead you.
Here's an early survey of several of Einstein's thought experiments (and
the first statement of the "argument" view):
"Thought Experiments in
Einstein's Work," in Thought Experiments In Science and
Philosophy, eds. T. Horowitz, G. J. Massey, Savage, MD: Rowman and
Littlefield, 1991.
This is one of Einstein's most famous thought experiments and, it turns
out, one that is almost invariably misunderdstood. Find out what Einstein
was really up to:
"Chasing the Light:
Einstein's Most Famous Thought Experiment," Thought Experiments
in Philosophy, Science and the Arts, eds., James Robert Brown,
Mélanie Frappier and Letitia Meynell, New York: Routledge, 2013. pp.
123-140.
There is, in my view, no doubt as to the worst thought experiment in
science, both for its misuse of the medium and the lingering confusion it
has caused.
"The Worst Thought Experiment,"
Prepared for The Routledge Companion to Thought Experiments.
Eds. Michael T. Stuart, James Robert Brown, and Yiftach Fehige.
Just what does it take to build an infinite lottery machine that chooses
among an infinity of outcomes without favor? The thought experiment turns
out to be much harder and more intriguing than I expected.
"How to Build an
Infinite Lottery Machine," European Journal for Philosophy of
Science, 8 (2018), pp. 71-95.
"How NOT to Build an
Infinite Lottery Machine," Studies in History and Philosophy of
Science. 82(2020), pp. 1-8.
For more, see my page on thought experiments.
