Abstract
In some of the papers in which she develops and defends the mental modelview of thought experiments in physics, Nersessian expresses the belief that her account has implications for thought experiments in other domains as well. In this paper, I argue, firstly, that counterfactual reasoning has a legitimate place in historical inquiry, and secondly, that the mental model view can account for such "alternative histories".
I proceed as follows. Firstly, I review the main accounts of thought experiments in physics and point at some explanatory advantages of the mental model view. Subsequently, I argue that historians cannot dispense with counterfactual reasoning altogether and qualify a number of principled objections against the explicit use of alternative histories for theoretical purposes. Finally, I show that the mental model view can account for such thought experiments in history.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
V.A. Bell P.N. Johnson-Laird (1998) ArticleTitleA Model Theory of Modal Reasoning Cognitive Science 22 22–51 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0364-0213(99)80034-2
M. Bishop (1998) An Epistemological Role for Thought Experiments N. Shanks (Eds) Idealization IX: Idealization in Contemporary Physics Rodopi Amsterdam 19–33
T. Blom W. Callebaut T. Nijhuis (1989) ArticleTitleModalities and Counterfactuals in History and the Social Sciences: Some Preliminary Reflections Philosophica 44 3–14
J.R. Brown (1991) The Laboratory of the Mind: Thought Experiments in the Natural Sciences Routledge London
J. Bulhof (1999) ArticleTitleWhat If? Modality and History History and Theory 38 145–168 Occurrence Handle10.1111/0018-2656.00084
W. Callebaut (1993) Taking the Naturalistic Turn or How Real Philosophy of Science is Done University of Chicago Press Chicago
E.H. Carr (1964) What is History Knopf New York
A. Demandt (1986) Ungeschehene Geschichte Vondenhoeck & Ruprecht Göttingen
P. Duhem (1962) The Aim and Structure of Physical Theory Atheneum New York
J. Elster (1978) Logic and Society: Contradictions and Possible Worlds Wiley New York
J. Elster (1983) Explaining Technical Change Cambridge University Press Cambridge
N. Ferguson (Eds) (1997) Virtual History: Alternatives and Counterfactuals Picador London
P. Feyerabend (1978) Against Method Verso London
D.H. Fisher (1970) Historians’ Fallacies: Toward a Logic of Historical Thought Harper & Row New York
R. Fogel (1964) Railroads and American Economic Growth Johns Hopkins University Press Baltimore
J. Forge (1991) Thought Experiments in the Philosophy of Physical Science T. Horowitz G.J. Massey (Eds) Thought Experiments in Science and Philosophy Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Maryland 209–222
T.S. Gendler (1998) ArticleTitleGalileo and the Indispensability of Scientific Thought Experiment Brit. J. Phil. Sci 49 397–424
D. Goldhagen (1996) Hitler’s Willing Executioners Knopf New York
S. Häggqvist (1996) Thought Experiments in Philosophy Stockholm Studies in Philosophy Stockholm
G. Hawthorn (1991) Plausible Worlds: Possibility and Understanding in History and the Social Sciences Cambridge University Press Cambridge
A.D. Irvine (1991) On the Nature of Thought Experiments in Scientific Reasoning T. Horowitz G.J. Massey (Eds) Thought Experiments in Science and Philosophy Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Maryland 149–165
P.N. Johson-Laird Y. Goldvarg (1997) How to Make the Possible Seem Possible M.G. Shafto P. Langley (Eds) Proceedings of the nineteenth Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Mahwah, NJ 354–357
Y.F. Khong (1996) Confronting Hitler and Its Consequences P.E. Tetlock A. Belkin (Eds) Counterfactual Thought Experiments in World Politics: Logical, Methodological, and Psychological Perspectives Princeton University Press Princeton, NJ 95–118
A. Koyré (1968) Metaphysics and Measurement Chapman & Hall London
Kuhn, T.: 1964, A Function for Thought Experiments. In L’aventure de l’esprit: Mélanges Alexandere Koyré II. Paris: Hermann, 307–334.
E. Mach (1976) Knowledge and Error Reidel Dordrecht
J.W. McAllister (1996) ArticleTitleThe Evidential Significance of Thought Experiment in Science Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci 27 233–250
P.D. McClelland (1975) Causal Explanation and Model Building in History, Economics, and the Ne Economic History Cornell University Press Ithaca
N. Miščević (1992) ArticleTitleMental Models and Thought Experiments Int. Stud. Phil. Sci 6 215–226
N.J. Nersessian (1998) In the Theoretician’s Laboratory: Thought Experimenting as Mental Modeling D. Anapolitanos A. Baltas S. Tsinorema (Eds) Philosophy and the Many Faces of Science Rowman & Little-field Publishers Lanham, MD 260–272
N.J. Nersessian (1999) Model-Based Reasoning in Conceptual Change L. Magnani N.J. Nersessian P. Thagard (Eds) Model-Based Reasoning in Scientific Discovery Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers New York, NY 5–22
J. Norton (1991) Thought Experiments in Einstein’s Work T. Horowitz G.J. Massey (Eds) Thought Experiments in Science and Philosophy Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Maryland 129–144
R.A.C. Parker (2000) Churchill and Appeasement Macmillan London
N. Rescher (1991) Thought Experimentation in Presocratic Philosophy T. Horowitz G.J. Massey (Eds) Thought Experiments in Science and Philosophy Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Maryland 31–41
F. Ringer (1997) Max Weber’s Methodology: The Unification of the Cultural and Social Sciences Harvard University Press Cambridge
W.R. Shea (1972) Galileo’s Intellectual Revolution Macmillan London
D. Sylvan S. Majeski (1998) ArticleTitleA Methodology for the Study of Historical Counterfactuals International Studies Quarterly 42 79–108 Occurrence Handle10.1111/0020-8833.00070
P.E. Tetlock A. Belkin (1996) Counterfactual Thought Experiments in World Politics: Logical, Methodological, and Psychological Perspectives P.E. Tetlock A. Belkin (Eds) Counterfactual Thought Experiments in World Politics: Logical, Methodological, and Psychological Perspectives Princeton University Press Princeton, NJ 3–38
H.R. Trevor-Roper (1981) History and Imagination H. Lloyd-Jones V. Pearl B. Worden (Eds) History and Imagination: Essays in honour of H.R. Trevor-Roper Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd London 356–369
A. Tucker (1999) ArticleTitleHistoriographical Counterfactuals and Historical Contingency History and Theory 38 264–276 Occurrence Handle10.1111/0018-2656.00090
S.P. Turner R.A. Factor (1994) Max Weber: The Lawyer as Social Thinker Routledge New York
G. Wagner H. Zipprian (1985) ArticleTitleMethodologie und Ontologie: Zum Problem kausaler Erklärung bei Max Weber Zeitschrift für Soziologie 14 115–130
Weber, M.: 1949, Objective Possibility and Adequate Causation in Historical Explanation. In The Methodology of the Social Sciences. Glencoe, IL: Free Press of Glencoe, 164–188.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
De Mey, T. Remodeling the Past. Found Sci 10, 47–66 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10699-005-3005-6
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10699-005-3005-6