Thought experiments play an important role in philosophy and philosophical theorizing. In this book Eleanor Helms examines thought experiments and charts their use in the work of Danish thinkers Hans Christian Orsted (17771851) and Soren Kierkegaard (181355), arguing that both were influenced by Kant. She demonstrates how key Kantian concepts shape the methods of both thinkers, especially Kant's claim that regulative ideas like the self, God, and nature cannot be directly represented. Kant proposed some ways in which we can make sense of, or 'cognize,' these kinds of abstract ideas, and Ørsted and Kierkegaard take up the practical challenge of realizing Kant's optimism by designing thought experiments to make these big ideas meaningfully accessible to individual thinkers. Helms's book is the first comprehensive study of Kierkegaard's use of thought experiments as a method, and reveals its significance for our contemporary understanding of how thought experiments work.
Arvustused
'Helms shows how H. C. Ørsted and Søren Kierkegaard both develop sophisticated accounts of thought experiments long before Ernst Mach (who is widely credited with introducing the term 'thought experiment'). Her book is indispensable reading for scholars working on Kant, Ørsted, and Kierkegaard as well as those who work on thought experiments (and related conceptual history).' Roe Fremstedal, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Muu info
Examines H. C. Ørsted's use of thought experiments and his influence on Kierkegaard, arguing that both were inspired by Kant.
Introduction; Part I. The Origins of 'Thought Experiment' in Kant and
Ørsted:
1. Thought experiments as tools of cognition;
2. How thought
experiments work;
3. Ørsted, mach, and the history of thought experiment;
4.
Empiricism and kantian accounts of thought experiment;
5. Rationalism and the
question of intellectual intuition; Part II. A Kantian Account of Thought
Experiment:
6. Varieties of cognition;
7. An Apparatus for cognition;
8.
Cognizing regulative ideas;
9. Bizarre cases and context: two problems for
thought experiments; Part III. Kierkegaard and the Concept of Thought
Experiment:
10. Kierkegaard and the concept of thought experiment;
11.
Controlled experiments;
12. Repetition as thought experiment: a method of
variation;
13. Kantian strains in stages on life's way;
14. Cognition as
synthesis; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.
Eleanor Helms is Professor of Philosophy at California Polytechnic State University. She is co-editor of The Kierkegaardian Mind (2019) and has published articles in numerous journals and collections.
