Why Thought Experiments are Not Arguments

Philosophy of Science 66 (4):534-541 (1999)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Are thought experiments nothing but arguments? I argue that it is not possible to make sense of the historical trajectory of certain thought experiments if one takes them to be arguments. Einstein and Bohr disagreed about the outcome of the clock-in-the-box thought experiment, and so they reconstructed it using different arguments. This is to be expected whenever scientists disagree about a thought experiment's outcome. Since any such episode consists of two arguments but just one thought experiment, the thought experiment cannot be the arguments.

Author's Profile

Michael Bishop
Florida State University

Analytics

Added to PP
2009-01-28

Downloads
963 (#19,937)

6 months
206 (#12,365)

Historical graph of downloads since first upload
This graph includes both downloads from PhilArchive and clicks on external links on PhilPapers.
How can I increase my downloads?