My basic means of reaching these two goals is to let the surface grammar of ‘thought experiment’ be my guide and to pitch this book as part of the growing literature on experiment. Understand science, understand the parameters to be varied, and you understand philosophy. The reason for this optimism is subscription to a gradualistic metaphilosophy: philosophy differs from science in degree, not kind. Success here will radiate to my secondary goal of understanding philosophical thought experiments. Scientific thought experiments-especially those in physics-are the clear cases, so my primary goal is to establish true and interesting generalizations about them. ![]() Thus, the discussion ranges over thought experiments from many disparate fields, from aesthetics to zoology. But the emphasis is on variety, rather than quantity. There is a special abundance of examples from ethics and the metaphysics of personal identity because thought experiments in these areas have recently attracted heavy commentary. ![]() Since my aim is synoptic, a wide corpus of thought experiments has been incorporated. Sorensen This book presents a general theory of thought experiments: what they are how they work their virtues and vices. Sorensen Professor of Philosophy, New York University
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