Abstract :
Thought experiments are ubiquitous in the sciences. We can trace their use back to the age of the Pre-Socratic philosophers, but from the start of the seventeenth century onwards, scientists such as Galileo, Newton and Leibniz recognized the very great importance of these mental instruments. To be sure, in our own time, thought experiments play a pivotal role in relativistic physics and in quantum mechanics. This paper aims to investigate these important instruments of scientific reasoning from a philosophical point of view. Firstly, a short historical background is presented concerning thought experiments and their use in the sciences is discussed. Secondly, a well-known example is presented, in order to show some of the common features of thought experiments. Finally, through the presentation of several examples, some of the basic functions of thought experiments are exhibited.
NaturalLanguageKeyword :
Thought Experiments , Ernst Mach , Pierre Duhem , Philosophy of Science , Epistemology
