Thought Experiments Between Nature And Society

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Thought Experiments between Nature and Society

Author : Bojan Borstner
Publisher : Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1443873152
Total Pages : 490 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (438 download)

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Book Synopsis Thought Experiments between Nature and Society by : Bojan Borstner

Download or read book Thought Experiments between Nature and Society written by Bojan Borstner and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2017-06-23 with total page 490 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As a prominent figure in analytic philosophy of the 20th and 21st centuries, Nenad Miščević has enriched, enhanced, and expanded many areas of the field. This volume, dedicated to him for his 65th birthday, follows the virtues he so much respects – conceptual analysis, rigorous use of logics, and clear definitions – and applies them to a very hot topic in philosophy, thought experiments. Present throughout the history of philosophy, thought experiments have become indispensable for the discipline and for analytic philosophy in particular. But questions can be asked, as to what exactly is a thought experiment, what it consists of, and, most importantly, if it is even useful for philosophy. Next to these conceptual questions, this collection tackles thought experiments that have tradition, some of them very long, like The Ring of Gyges, The Social Contract, and Descartes’ Evil Demon. Others, like Twin Earth, Gettier cases and Brain-in-a-Vat thought experiments, have prompted at least half-a-century-long trails. One cannot understand contemporary analytic philosophy without understanding these trails and traditions. Nenad’s closest friends and colleagues, from all over Europe, share their thoughts on this topic in this book, followed diligently by Nenad’s comments on their work.

Evolutionary Philosophy

Author : Ed Gibney
Publisher : Lulu.com
ISBN 13 : 110569660X
Total Pages : 234 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (56 download)

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Book Synopsis Evolutionary Philosophy by : Ed Gibney

Download or read book Evolutionary Philosophy written by Ed Gibney and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Thought Experiments in Methodological and Historical Contexts

Author :
Publisher : BRILL
ISBN 13 : 9004201777
Total Pages : 243 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (42 download)

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Book Synopsis Thought Experiments in Methodological and Historical Contexts by :

Download or read book Thought Experiments in Methodological and Historical Contexts written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2011-06-09 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By analysing thought experiments from various periods in the history of philosophy and science, the essays in this volume seek to clarify how thought experiments work, what their limits are, and what their conceptualisation could be.

Philosophical Imagination

Author : Boris Vezjak
Publisher : Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1527570711
Total Pages : 264 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (275 download)

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Book Synopsis Philosophical Imagination by : Boris Vezjak

Download or read book Philosophical Imagination written by Boris Vezjak and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2021-06-07 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thought experiments by ancient philosophers are often open to debate: in what sense did their reasoning really concern thought experimentation? For instance, in Plato’s Republic, Glaucon uses the myth of Gyges to demonstrate why people who practice justice do so unwillingly. A challenge, posed to Socrates and provided through some sort of thought experiment by imagining the effects of using the ring of invisibility, was intended to answer the question of human nature and our basis for the inclination towards justice or injustice. This collection expands the current, but rare, topic of whether it is possible to articulate a discussion about thought experiments and their arguments from the historical perspective of philosophy and science. It may sometimes seem that, in a loose sense, any philosophical reflection can already be interpreted as some form of thought experiment. Although the functions of it are very diverse and complex, and often closely linked to other cognitive tools, such as visualization, imagination or idealization, the contributions in this book provide new insights into how the concept of a thought experiment coincides with more modern perceptions. The purpose of the book is to show how philosophers, already in antiquity, began to use thought experiments and argumentation to convey theories in an accessible manner and how philosophical hypotheses, often being subjective and impossible to prove through empirical evidence, helped to promote scientific knowledge and discoveries. Different authors develop several lines of argumentation, claiming that philosophical thinking can be understood by comparing it to scientific experimenting, or vice versa: if empirical evidence is usually necessary for science, thought experiments may be used to develop a hypothesis or to prepare for experimentation. The analysis of historical examples of thought experiments might also contribute to a better understanding of philosophical endeavour in antiquity as a whole.

The Laboratory of the Mind

Author : James Robert Brown
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1134865805
Total Pages : 190 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (348 download)

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Book Synopsis The Laboratory of the Mind by : James Robert Brown

Download or read book The Laboratory of the Mind written by James Robert Brown and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2005-09-26 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An investigation into the philosophical implications of thought experiments in science. Brown provides a fascinating account of some of the most influential thought experiments in the history of science.

What If?

Author : Nicholas Rescher
Publisher : Transaction Publishers
ISBN 13 : 9781412841337
Total Pages : 198 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (413 download)

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Book Synopsis What If? by : Nicholas Rescher

Download or read book What If? written by Nicholas Rescher and published by Transaction Publishers. This book was released on with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thought experimentation has been a staple of philosophical methodology since classical antiquity, when Xenophanes of Colophon speculated that if horses had gods, they would be equine in form. Nicholas Rescher's What If? undertakes a systematic survey of the role and utility of thought experiments in philosophy. After surveying the historical issues, Rescher examines the principles involved, and explains the conditions under which thought experimentation can validly yield instructive results in philosophy. The reader gains understanding of the differences between scientific and philosophical experiments. What If? begins by examining the nature of thought experiments. It presents an overview of how thought experiments have figured in natural science and in historical studies, before moving on to examine how they function as an instrument of philosophical inquiry. After examining thought experiments from the pre-Socratics to the present day, Rescher turns from history to analysis, and examines the modes of reasoning involved in the use of speculative hypotheses in philosophical problem solving. He shows the limitations of speculative ontology, showing that thought experimentation can lead readily to paradox in a way that increasingly diminishes its usefulness. The book concludes by arguing and illustrating how and when it becomes pointless to push speculation, or thought experimentation beyond the limits of intelligibility and cogent sense. Among the principal features of Rescher's book is its elaborate analysis of the appropriate conditions for philosophical thought experimentation. Its cardinal thesis is that there indeed are limits to the appropriateness of this important methodological resource and that transgressing these limits destroys the prospect of drawing any valid lessons for the philosophical enterprise. What If? will be of interest to philosophers, students of philosophy, and theorists of logic and reasoning. Nicholas Rescher is University Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh. He is the author of numerous philosophical works and holds six honorary degrees from universities on three continents. He has served as a president of the American Philosophical Association, the American Metaphilosophical Society, and the American Catholic Philosophical Association.

Thought Experiments

Author : Nenad Miscevic
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3030810828
Total Pages : 130 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (38 download)

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Book Synopsis Thought Experiments by : Nenad Miscevic

Download or read book Thought Experiments written by Nenad Miscevic and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-09-29 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers a readable introduction to the main aspects of thought experimenting in philosophy and science (together with related imaginative activities in mathematics and linguistics). It presents the main options in understanding thought experiments, from empiricism to Platonism, and discusses their strengths and weaknesses. However, it also provides some original perspectives on the topic. Firstly, it provides a new definition and analysis of thought experimenting that brings it closer to laboratory experimenting. Secondly, it develops the author’s earlier theory of “mental modelling”, proposed some decades ago by him, and some other researchers in the field as the crucial procedure in thought experimenting. The mental modelling approach links work with thought experimenting to cognitive science and to research on mental simulation which is a hot topic in present-day research. Thirdly, it proposes a principled way to respond to criticism of thought experimenting by “experimental philosophers” as they have been dominating the present-day debates. The response suggests a possible ameliorative, self-help project for thought experimenting. Finally, the book provides a way to systematize the history of important thought experiments in science and philosophy and thus connects, in an original way, the systematic investigation of experimenting to the historical work of famous thought experiments. It is of interest to scholars interested in history of ideas and philosophy of science.

Of Literature and Knowledge

Author : Peter Swirski
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1134104413
Total Pages : 207 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (341 download)

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Book Synopsis Of Literature and Knowledge by : Peter Swirski

Download or read book Of Literature and Knowledge written by Peter Swirski and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2007-02-12 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Of Literature and Knowledge looks ... like an important advance in this new and very important subject... literature is about to become even more interesting." – Edward O. Wilson, Pellegrino University Professor, Harvard University. Framed by the theory of evolution, this colourful and engaging volume presents a new understanding of the mechanisms by which we transfer information from narrative make-believe to real life. Ranging across game theory and philosophy of science, as well as poetics and aesthetics, Peter Swirski explains how literary fictions perform as a systematic tool of enquiry, driven by thought experiments. Crucially, he argues for a continuum between the cognitive tools employed by scientists, philosophers and scholars or writers of fiction. The result is a provocative study of our talent and propensity for creating imaginary worlds, different from the world we know yet invaluable to our understanding of it. Of Literature and Knowledge is a noteworthy challenge to contemporary critical theory, arguing that by bridging the gap between literature and science we might not only reinvigorate literary studies but, above all, further our understanding of literature.

Philosophical Method: a Very Short Introduction

Author : Timothy Williamson
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0198810008
Total Pages : 161 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (988 download)

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Book Synopsis Philosophical Method: a Very Short Introduction by : Timothy Williamson

Download or read book Philosophical Method: a Very Short Introduction written by Timothy Williamson and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2020-08-27 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What are philosophers trying to achieve? How can they succeed? Does philosophy make progress? Is it in competition with science, or doing something completely different, or neither? Timothy Williamson tackles some of the key questions surrounding philosophy in new and provocative ways, showing how philosophy begins in common sense curiosity, and develops through our capacity to dispute rationally with each other. Discussing philosophy's ability to clarify our thoughts, he explains why such clarification depends on the development of philosophical theories, and how those theories can be tested by imaginative thought experiments, and compared against each other by standards similar to those used in the natural and social sciences. He also shows how logical rigour can be understood as a way of enhancing the explanatory power of philosophical theories. Drawing on the history of philosophy to provide a track record of philosophical thinking's successes and failures, Williams overturns widely held dogmas about the distinctive nature of philosophy in comparison to the sciences, demystifies its methods, and considers the future of the discipline. From thought experiments, to deduction, to theories, this Very Short Introduction will cause you to totally rethink what philosophy is. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable. Previously published in hardback as Doing Philosophy

Geographic Thought

Author : Tim Cresswell
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1119602831
Total Pages : 342 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (196 download)

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Book Synopsis Geographic Thought by : Tim Cresswell

Download or read book Geographic Thought written by Tim Cresswell and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2024-01-12 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Geographic Thought An accessible and engaging introduction to geographic thought In the newly expanded Second Edition of Geographic Thought: A Critical Introduction, renowned scholar Tim Cresswell delivers a thoroughly up-to-date and accessible examination of the major thinkers and key theoretical developments in the field. Coverage of the complete range of the development of theoretical knowledge—from ancient geography to contemporary theory—appears alongside treatments of the influence of Darwin and Marx, the emergence of anarchist geographies, the impact of feminism, and myriad other central bodies of thought. This latest edition also includes new chapters on physical geography and theory, postcolonialism and decoloniality, and black geographies. The author emphasizes the importance of geographic thought and its relevance to our understanding of what it means to be human and to the people, places, and cultures of the world in which we live. This new edition contains: New examples throughout consisting of contemporary research from a wider range of geographical contexts and by geographers from diverse backgrounds Comprehensive explorations of physical geography that combine updated coverage from the first edition with brand new material Updated discussions of spatial science and quantitative methods that include considerations of the role of place and specificity in quantitative work In-depth examinations of the Anthropocene, the uses of assemblage theory, and the emergence of the GeoHumanities. Perfect for students of undergraduate and graduate courses in geographic thought, Geographic Thought: A Critical Introduction will also earn a place in the libraries of students and scholars researching the history and philosophy of geography, as well as practicing geographers.

Karl Marx’s Philosophy of Nature, Action and Society

Author : Justin Holt
Publisher : Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1443811874
Total Pages : 200 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (438 download)

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Book Synopsis Karl Marx’s Philosophy of Nature, Action and Society by : Justin Holt

Download or read book Karl Marx’s Philosophy of Nature, Action and Society written by Justin Holt and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2009-05-27 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work analyses Marx's philosophy of nature and shows how it is the basis for his practical philosophy. Previous analysis of Marx's philosophy of nature has considered humans as only natural beings and social beings. But, Marx analyzed humans' relationship to the natural world and to themselves as natural, social, and material. This material feature of human action can server as a basis for social critique and as the foundation for a practical analysis. The first chapter of this book analyzes Marx's philosophy of nature from his early to late works and argues that humans are natural begins that use nature to develop new capacities. This consideration is central in Marx's critiques of Hegel and Feuerbach. The second chapter discusses Marx's material critique of social forms and discusses why the distinction between material action and social action is a key component of Marx critique of capitalism. This chapter also discusses industrial history, ideology, wages, justice, and valorization. The third and final chapter builds on Marx's materialist analysis to develop a standard of practical action that takes human's material activity as its basis. This chapter also discusses classical historical materialist claims, liberal ethical theories, and a practical philosophic consideration of socialism.

Knowing and Checking

Author : Guido Melchior
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 0429638604
Total Pages : 274 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (296 download)

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Book Synopsis Knowing and Checking by : Guido Melchior

Download or read book Knowing and Checking written by Guido Melchior and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-04-29 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Checking is a very common concept for describing a subject’s epistemic goals and actions. Surprisingly, there has been no philosophical attention paid to the notion of checking. This is the first book to develop a comprehensive epistemic theory of checking. The author argues that sensitivity is necessary for checking but not for knowing, thereby finding a new home for the much discussed modal sensitivity principle. He then uses the distinction between checking and knowing to explain central puzzles about knowledge, particularly those concerning knowledge closure, bootstrapping and the skeptical puzzle. Knowing and Checking: An Epistemological Investigation will be of interest to epistemologists and other philosophers looking for a general theory of checking and testing or for new solutions to central epistemological problems.

Thought Experiments

Author : Roy A. Sorensen
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 019512913X
Total Pages : 331 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (951 download)

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Book Synopsis Thought Experiments by : Roy A. Sorensen

Download or read book Thought Experiments written by Roy A. Sorensen and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1992 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text analyses a variety of thought experiments, and explores what they are, how they work, and what their positive and negative aspects are. It also sets the theory within an evolutionary framework of advances in experimental psychology.

Knowledge Politics

Author : Nico Stehr
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317257030
Total Pages : 252 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (172 download)

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Book Synopsis Knowledge Politics by : Nico Stehr

Download or read book Knowledge Politics written by Nico Stehr and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-12-03 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book argues that new technologies and society's response to them have created a relatively new phenomenon, "knowledge politics." Nico Stehr describes Western society's response to a host of new technologies developed only since the 1970s, including genetic experiments, test-tube human conception, recombinant DNA, and embryonic stem cells; genetically engineered foods; neurogenetics and genetic engineering; and reproductive cloning and the reconstruction of the human ancestral genome. He looks also at the prospective fusion of nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, transgenic human engineering, and cognitive science whose products may, as its boosters claim, some day cure disease, slow the aging process, eliminate pollution, and generally enhance human performance. Knowledge Politics shows how human civilization has reached a new era of concern about the life-altering potentials of new technologies. Concerns about the societal consequences of an unfettered expansion of (natural) scientific knowledge are being raised more urgently and are moving to the center of disputes in society-- and thus to the top of the political agenda. Stehr explains the ramifications of knowledge politics and the approaches society could take to resolve difficult questions and conflicts over present and future scientific innovation.

The Truth of Science

Author : Roger G. Newton
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780674910928
Total Pages : 286 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (19 download)

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Book Synopsis The Truth of Science by : Roger G. Newton

Download or read book The Truth of Science written by Roger G. Newton and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 1997 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It's not a scientific truth that has come into question lately but the truth--the very notion of scientific truth. Bringing a reasonable voice to the culture wars that have sprung up around this notion, this book offers a clear and constructive response to those who contend, in parodies, polemics and op-ed pieces, that there really is no such thing as verifiable objective truth--without which there could be no such thing as scientific authority. A distinguished physicist with a rare gift for making the most complicated scientific ideas comprehensible, Roger Newton gives us a guided tour of the intellectual structure of physical science. From there he conducts us through the understanding of reality engendered by modern physics, the most theoretically advanced of the sciences. With its firsthand look at models, facts, and theories, intuition and imagination, the use of analogies and metaphors, the importance of mathematics (and now, computers), and the "virtual" reality of the physics of micro-particles, The Truth of Science truly is a practicing scientist's account of the foundations, processes, and value of science. To claims that science is a social construction, Newton answers with the working scientist's credo: "A body of assertions is true if it forms a coherent whole and works both in the external world and in our minds." The truth of science, for Newton, is nothing more or less than a relentless questioning of authority combined with a relentless striving for objectivity in the full awareness that the process never ends. With its lucid exposition of the ideals, methods, and goals of science, his book performs a great feat in service of this truth.

The Routledge Companion to Thought Experiments

Author : Michael T Stuart
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351705512
Total Pages : 709 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (517 download)

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Book Synopsis The Routledge Companion to Thought Experiments by : Michael T Stuart

Download or read book The Routledge Companion to Thought Experiments written by Michael T Stuart and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-07-20 with total page 709 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Environmental Thought

Author : Robin Attfield
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1509536671
Total Pages : 268 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (95 download)

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Book Synopsis Environmental Thought by : Robin Attfield

Download or read book Environmental Thought written by Robin Attfield and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2021-03-16 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Environmental thought has a rich and extensive history. Philosopher Robin Attfield guides readers through the key developments and debates that have defined the field from ancient times to the present. Attfield investigates ancient, medieval and early modern environmental contributions; Darwin and his successors; the debate in America involving Thoreau, Marsh, Muir and Pinchot; the foundation of the science of ecology in the Western world; and twentieth century trailblazers like Aldo Leopold and Rachel Carson. Central themes of key environmentalist works of the 1970s and 1980s are discussed, along with the major debates in environmental philosophy, including Lovelock’s Gaia hypothesis. Attfield then turns to the current environmental emergency, encompassing the crises of climate change, air pollution and biodiversity loss, exploring contemporary intellectual responses to it. Each chapter concludes with a list of recommended readings, selected to invite readers to explore the book’s topics in greater depth. Environmental Thought: A Short History will become a pivotal text in its field, of interest to students and scholars of history, philosophy, ethics, geography, religion, biology and environmental studies.