WEEK 2.4

Question 1

why are thought experiments useful?

Answer 1

• clarification: help throw light on difficult/abstract ideas
• testing: provide reasons for/against a hypothesis
• because can’t consult actual experiments

Question 2

why not use actual experiments?

Answer 2

• physically, technologically, financially impossible or currently unfeasible to conduct
• ethically impermissable

Question 3

destructive thought experiments

Answer 3

• providing reasons to reject a hypothesis
• e.g. by showing that it is internally/externally inconsistent

Question 4

constructive thought experiments

Answer 4

• providing reasons to accept a hypothesis
• e.g. by illustrating its claims and therefore providing understanding

Question 5

Brown on thought experiments (a priori view, intuition view)

Answer 5

thought experiments help us acquire worldly truths a priori and therefore transcend empirical knowledge

Question 6

objection to a priori view

Answer 6

intuitions need not be shared as various experiments have shown and can lead us astray

Question 7

Norton on thought experiments (a posteriori view, argument view)

Answer 7

thought experiment is an (implicit or explicit) argument with premises grounded in experience

Question 8

objection to a posteriori view

Answer 8

• presented as arguments may lose force
• how can we claim the conc. of such arguments provide new empirical data?

Question 9

how to counter a thought experiment?

Answer 9

• question the plausibility of initial conditions
• cast doubt on justifiability of conclusion
• put forth thought experiments with contradictory conclusions
• criticise details as inadequate
• adopt a more general sceptical attitude towards them

Question 10

Maxwell’s demon

Answer 10

though experiment showing that contrary to classical second law of thermodynamics, entropy can sometimes decrease

Question 11

Searle’s Chinese room

Answer 11

• thought experiment showing that the mere manipulation of symbols, even if successful at language tasks, does not entail understanding
• challenges Turing test

Question 12

Thomson’s violinist

Answer 12

thought experiment which challenged anti-abortion argument that violating rights is morally wrong but there are situations in which unplugging not morally wrong

Question 13

Jackson’s Mary and the black-and-white room

Answer 13

• seeks to disprove physicalism (only physical things exist and facts about them can be fully captured by physics
• Mary born in black-and-white room, knows every fact but will still learn something new if sees color