A Summary Of Thought Experiments
Similar to certain scientific experiments, thought experiments also involve objects that are not found anywhere in nature. As mentioned earlier in this paper, genetically identical mice, which were used in an experiment to test whether or not a certain chemical caused lung cancer, are not found anywhere in nature — the genetically identical mice are a product of science. In this example, the elements of the experiment (the mice) were unnatural, yet the conclusion of the experiment yielded significant, real-world implications. Similarly, since thought experiments are solely composed of thoughts and occur in the mental realm, they do not involve objects that are found anywhere in nature. Rather, they involve abstract properties pertaining to
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As previously mentioned, Sorenson thinks, “the aim of any experiment is to answer or raise its question rationally” (Sorenson, 205). Furthermore, Sorenson goes on to say, “A thought experiment is an experiment that purports to achieve its aim without the benefit of execution” (Sorenson, 205). The main difference between an experiment and a thought experiment, according to Sorenson, is that experiments are actually tested and tried out in the physical world, while thought experiments are never actually put to test in the physical world. Thought experiments purport to answer a question about the world if the world were operating under certain, specific conditions. While the mice example is not a thought experiment, nonetheless it sheds light on how experimenting on an unnatural object (genetically identical mice) can yield significant, real-world results. However, given this newfound understanding, one can see how Galileo’s thought experiment should be taken as a serious refutation of the Aristotelian notion of gravity, even though Galileo never actually put his thought experiment physically to the test. In this example, the thought experiment exemplified a path between how the world is and how the world would be under certain, specific conditions.
Given that thought experiments purport to answer a question about the world if the world were operating under certain, specific conditions, one can see how this would apply to fiction, as well. In reading and understanding a fiction, the reader comes to see what is true in a fiction; that is, the reader comes to see what would happen if such and such were the case. A fiction may be a thought experiment by exemplifying between the example and what is being made an example
As previously mentioned, Sorenson thinks, “the aim of any experiment is to answer or raise its question rationally” (Sorenson, 205). Furthermore, Sorenson goes on to say, “A thought experiment is an experiment that purports to achieve its aim without the benefit of execution” (Sorenson, 205). The main difference between an experiment and a thought experiment, according to Sorenson, is that experiments are actually tested and tried out in the physical world, while thought experiments are never actually put to test in the physical world. Thought experiments purport to answer a question about the world if the world were operating under certain, specific conditions. While the mice example is not a thought experiment, nonetheless it sheds light on how experimenting on an unnatural object (genetically identical mice) can yield significant, real-world results. However, given this newfound understanding, one can see how Galileo’s thought experiment should be taken as a serious refutation of the Aristotelian notion of gravity, even though Galileo never actually put his thought experiment physically to the test. In this example, the thought experiment exemplified a path between how the world is and how the world would be under certain, specific conditions.
Given that thought experiments purport to answer a question about the world if the world were operating under certain, specific conditions, one can see how this would apply to fiction, as well. In reading and understanding a fiction, the reader comes to see what is true in a fiction; that is, the reader comes to see what would happen if such and such were the case. A fiction may be a thought experiment by exemplifying between the example and what is being made an example