A Minimalist Framework for Thought Experiment Analysis
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2016 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Organon F |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | http://www.klemens.sav.sk/fiusav/organon/?q=sk/minimalist-framework-thought-experiment-analysis |
| Field | Philosophy and religion |
| Keywords | experimentalism; Galileo; minimalism; reconstruction; Rescher; Sorensen; thought experiments |
| Description | Thought experiments are frequently vague and obscure hypothetical scenarios that are difficult to assess. The paper proposes a simple model of thought experiments. In the first part, I introduce two contemporary frameworks for thought experiment analysis: an experimentalist approach that relies on similarities between real and thought experiment, and a reasonist approach focusing on the answers provided by thought experimenting. Further, I articulate a minimalist approach in which thought experiment is considered strictly as doxastic mechanism based on imagination. I introduce the basic analytical tool that allows us to differentiate an experimental core from an attached argumentation. The last section is reserved for discussion. I address several possible questions concerning adequacy of minimalistic definition and analysis. |
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