Skip to main content
Log in

Towards a Pluralistic Account of Thought Experiments

  • Published:
Philosophia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In light of our knowledge about neurodiversity, I argue that the cognitive science framework Miščević uses in Thought Experiments must be broaden to create a pluralistic account of thought experimentation, one able to account for the many ways thought experiments are replicated using not only visual models, but also arguments, conceptual analyses, and images as some of the many instruments used in the laboratory of our mind.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. This is why we had to rely on real experimentation to imagine what would happen in zero G before first going to space (Golberg, 2022).

References

  • Betts, G. H. (1909). The distribution and functions of mental imagery. Teachers College, Columbia University. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015013276053.

  • Bokulich, A., & Frappier, M. (2017). On the identity of thought experiments: Thought experiments rethought. In M. T. Stuart, Y. Fehige, & J. R. Brown (Eds.), The Routledge companion to thought experiments (pp. 545–557). Routledge.

  • Brown, J. R. (2012). What do we see in a thought experiment? In M. Frappier, L. Meynell, & J. R. Brown (Eds.), Thought experiments in science, philosophy, and the arts (pp. 53–68). Routledge.

  • Farah, M. J. (1984). The neurological basis of mental imagery: A componential analysis. Cognition, 18(1), 245–272. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0277(84)90026-X.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Faw, B. (2009). Conflicting intuitions may be based on differing abilities: Evidence from mental imaging research. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 16(4), 45–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frappier, M. (2016). ‘In the no-man’s-land between physics and logic’: On the dialectical role of the microscope experiment. In E. Crull & G. Bacciagaluppi (Eds.), Grete Hermann—Between Physics and Philosophy (pp. 85–105). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-0970-3_6.

  • Galton, F. (1880). Statistics of mental imagery. Mind, 5(19), 301–318.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Golberg, S. (2022). Falling with style: Zero gravity in early spaceflight thought. Quest, 29(3), 35–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gulyás, Gombos, F., Sütöri, S., Lovas, A., Ziman, G., & Kovács, I. (2022). Visual imagery vividness declines across the lifespan. Cortex; a Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior, 154, 365–374. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2022.06.011.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hacking, I. (1983). Representing and intervening: Introductory topics in the philosophy of Natural Science. Cambridge University Press.

  • Hacking, I. (1992). Do thought experiments have a life of their own? Comments on James Brown, Nancy Nersessian and David Gooding. PSA, 1992(2), 302–308. https://doi.org/10.1086/psaprocbienmeetp.1992.2.192844.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meynell, L. (2017). Images and imagination in thought experiments. In M. T. Stuart, Y. Fehige, & J. R. Brown (Eds.), The Routledge Companion to Thought experiments (pp. 498–511). Routledge.

  • Miscevic, N. (2023). Thought experiments. Springer.

  • Norton, J. D. (1996). Are thought experiments just what you thought? Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 26(3), 333–366.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson, A. (1994). Individual differences in imaging: Their measurement, origins, and consequences. Baywood Pub. Co.

  • Zeman, A., Dewar, M., & Della Sala, S. (2015). Lives without imagery – congenital aphantasia. Cortex; a Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior, 73, 378–380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2015.05.019.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mélanie Frappier.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Frappier, M. Towards a Pluralistic Account of Thought Experiments. Philosophia (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-023-00704-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-023-00704-2

Keywords

Navigation