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Thought Experiments in Philosophy

Can philosophical hypotheses be tested from the armchair? Yes: by conducting thought experiments. In this course, we explore a range of thought experiments and reflect on the nature and use of this method in philosophy.

Date created:

2013-01-08 11:54
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Resources for this course

Displaying 1 - 11 of 11
Type Resource Description People Full details
Link Thought Experiments

Entry in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy by J. R. Brown and Y. Fehige, 2011.

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Link Baggini on Thought Experiments

A podcast about thought experimenting in philosophy.

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Link The Argument View

Article Preprint: Norton, J. D. (2004). Thought Experiment: is there More to the Argument? Philosophy of Science, 71, 1139–51....

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Document Handout 2: What are Thought Experiments?

Sheet with some characterisations (quotes).

Peter Wyss view
Document Handout 3: Overview Theories of Thought Experiments

A list with sketches; Molyneux's Question on the back.

Peter Wyss view
Document Handout 5: The Knowledge and Zombie Arguments

Background for the Mary and zombie thought experiments.

Peter Wyss view
Link The 'Trigger' View

A selection of articles by T. Szabo Gendler. Of particular interest is 'Philosophical Thought Experiments, Intuitions, and Cognitive Equilibrium...

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Document Handout 6: Function and Experience

Background about functionalism and internalism. Extract from Kuhn.

Peter Wyss view
Link Philosophy Experiments

A link to a website with interactive experiments, associated with The Philosophers Magazine.

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Link The Model View

Link to N. Nersessian's website with online publications; look for 'In the theoretician's laboratory: Thought experimenting as mental modeling'...

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Document Handout 7: The Twin Earth Case

Revised background information about Putnam's thought experiment; sketch of Häggqvist's model for thought experiments.

Peter Wyss view