The Routledge Companion to Thought Experiments

Thought experiments are a means of imaginative reasoning that lie at the heart of philosophy, from the pre-Socratics to the modern era, and they also play central roles in a range of fields, from physics to politics. The Routledge Companion to Thought Experiments is an invaluable guide and reference source to this multifaceted subject. Comprising over 30 chapters by a team of international contributors, the Companion covers the following important areas:· the history of thought experiments, from antiquity to the trolley problem and quantum non-locality;· thought experiments in the humanities, arts, and sciences, including ethics, physics, theology, biology, mathematics, economics, and politics;· theories about the nature of thought experiments;· new discussions concerning the impact of experimental philosophy, cross-cultural comparison studies, metaphilosophy, computer simulations, idealization, dialectics, cognitive science, the artistic nature of thought experiments, and metaphysical issues.This broad ranging Companion goes backwards through history and sideways across disciplines. It also engages with philosophical perspectives from empiricism, rationalism, naturalism, skepticism, pluralism, contextualism, and neo-Kantianism to phenomenology. This volume will be valuable for anyone studying the methods of philosophy or any discipline that employs thought experiments, as well as anyone interested in the power and limits of the mind.

ContentsThought Experiments: State of the Art – Michael T. Stuart, Yiftach Fehige and James Robert Brown Part One: Selected History of Thought ExperimentsThe Triple Life of Ancient Thought Experiments – Katerina Ierodiakonou Thought Experiments in Plato – Alexander Becker Aristotle and Thought Experiments – Klaus CorciliusExperimental Thoughts on Thought Experiments in Medieval Islam – Jon McGinnisGalileo's Thought Experiments: Projective Participation and the Integration of Paradoxes – Paolo Palmieri Thought Experiments in Newton and Leibniz – Richard T. W. ArthurKant, Hegel and Wittgenstein: Thought Experiments, Epistemology and Our Cognitive (In)Capacities – Kenneth R. WestphalPart Two: Thought Experiments and their FieldsThought Experiments in Political Philosophy – Nenad Mišcevic Thought Experiments in Economics – Margaret Schabas Theology and Thought Experiments – Yiftach FehigeThought Experiments in Ethics – George Brun Happiest Thoughts: Great Thought Experiments of Modern Physics – Kent A. Peacock Thought Experiments in Biology – Guillaume Schlaepfer and Marcel Weber Thought Experiments in Mathematics – Irina Starikova and Marcus GiaquintoPart Three: Contemporary Philosophical Approaches to Thought ExperimentsThe Argument View: Are Thought Experiments Mere Picturesque Arguments? – Elke Brendel Platonism and the A Priori in Thought Experiments – Thomas GrundmannCognitive Science, Mental Modeling, and Thought Experiments – Nancy J. Nersessian Kantian Accounts of Thought Experiments – Marco Buzzoni Phenomenology and Thought Experiments: Thought Experiments as Anticipation Pumps – Harald A. Wiltsche Part Four: Issues, Challenges and InteractionsIntuition and Its Critics – Stephen Stich and Kevin Tobia Thought Experiments and Experimental Philosophy – Kirk Ludwig Thought Experiments in Current Metaphilosophical Debates – Daniel Cohnitz and Sören Häggqvist Historicism and Cross-Culture Comparison – James W. McAllister A Dialectical Account of Thought Experiments – Jean-Yves Goffi and Sophie RouxThe Worst Thought Experiment – John D. NortonThought Experiments and Idealizations – Julian Reiss Thought Experiments and Simulation Experiments: Exploring Hypothetical Worlds – Johannes Lenhard Images and Imagination in Thought Experiments – Letitia Meynell