El. knyga: Routledge Companion to Thought Experiments [Taylor & Francis e-book]

Thought experiments are a means of imaginative reasoning that lie at the heart of philosophy, from the pre-Socratics to the modern era. They also play central roles in fields from physics to politics. The Routledge Companion to Thought Experiments is an invaluable guide and reference source to this multi-faceted subject. Comprising over thirty chapters by a team of international contributors, the Companion covers the following important areas:

• the history of thought experiments, from antiquity up 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

A major feature of the Companion is its range: going backwards through history, and sideways across disciplines. It also engages with philosophical perspectives from empiricism, rationalism, naturalism, and neo-Kantianism to phenomenology. This makes The Routledge Companion to Thought Experiments more than just a useful collection of thought experiments. It is also a complete introduction to their study, as well as a source of cutting-edge ideas from scholars working on the topic. The Companion 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.