Wittgenstein's Beetle And Other Classic Thought Experiments,9781405121910

Wittgenstein's Beetle And Other Classic Thought Experiments

by
Edition: 1st
ISBN13: 9781405121910
ISBN10: 1405121912
Format: Hardcover
Pub. Date: 2004-11-12
Publisher(s): Wiley-Blackwell
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Summary

Wittgenstein's Beetle and Other Classic Thought Experiments invites readers to participate actively in discovering the surprisingly powerful and fruitful tradition of "thought experiments." Gives a lively presentation of an "A to Z" of 26 fascinating and influential thought experiments from philosophy and science Presents vivid and often humorous discussion of the experiments, including strengths and weaknesses, historical context, and contemporary uses Provides a "how to" section for engaging in thought experiments Includes illustrations, mini-biographies, and suggestions for further reading.

Author Biography

Martin Cohen is a teacher and writer specializing in philosophy, ethics and education, with a special interest in computing. His books include 101 Philosophy Problems (2nd edn., 2001), Political Philosophy (2001) and 101 Ethical Dilemmas (2003). He has been editor of The Philosopher since 1995.

Table of Contents

List of Figures vii
Forward! viii
Introduction: Deep Thought - a brief history of thought experiments 1(14)
The A-Z
A is for Alice and Astronomers Arguing about Acceleration
15(3)
B is for Bernard's Body-Exchange Machine
18(2)
C is for the Catholic Cannibal
20(5)
D is for Maxwell's Demon
25(3)
E is for Evolution (and an Embarrassing Problem with it)
28(2)
F is for the Forms Lost Forever to the Prisoners of the Cave
30(3)
G is for Galileo's Gravitational Balls
33(4)
H is for Hume's Shades
37(4)
I is for the Identity of Indiscernibles
41(4)
J is for Henri Poincaré and Alternative Geometries
45(3)
K is for the Kritik and Kant's Kind of Thought Experiments
48(4)
L is for Lucretius' Spear
52(3)
M is for Mach's Motionless Chain
55(3)
N is for Newton's Bucket
58(4)
O is for Others' Paradox
62(3)
P is for Parlit's Person
65(2)
Q is for the Questions Raised by Thought Experiments Quotidiennes
67(3)
R is for the Rule-Ruled Room
70(4)
S is for Salvatius' Ship, Sailing along its own Space-Time Line
74(4)
T is for the Time-Travelling Twins
78(3)
U is for the Universe, and Einstein's Attempts to Understand it
81(3)
V is for the Vexed Case of the Violinist
84(3)
W is for Wittgenstein's Beetle
87(3)
X is for Xenophanes and Thinking by Examples
90(3)
Y is for Counterfactuals and a Backwards Approach to History
93(4)
Z is for Zeno and the Mysteries of Infinity
97(6)
Notes for Experimenters
How to Experiment
103(14)
Notes and Cuttings
117(9)
Who's Who of Experimenting
126(5)
Acknowledgements 131(1)
Index 132

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