Stuart, Michael T. (2017) How Thought Experiments Increase Understanding. In: UNSPECIFIED.

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Abstract

We might think that thought experiments are at their most powerful or most interesting when they produce new knowledge. This would be a mistake; thought experiments that seek understanding are just as powerful and interesting, and perhaps even more so. A growing number of epistemologists are emphasizing the importance of understanding for epistemology, arguing that it should supplant knowledge as the central notion. In this chapter, I bring the literature on understanding in epistemology to bear on explicating the different ways that thought experiments increase three important kinds of understanding: explanatory, objectual and practical.

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Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (UNSPECIFIED)
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Stuart, Michael T. mike.stuart.post@gmail.com 0000-0002-4165-2641
Keywords:	thought experiments, understanding, explanation, epistemology of science
Subjects:	General Issues > Experimentation General Issues > Explanation General Issues > Science Education General Issues > Thought Experiments
Depositing User:	Michael T. Stuart
Date Deposited:	23 Jul 2017 16:28
Last Modified:	23 Jul 2017 16:28
Item ID:	13249
Subjects:	General Issues > Experimentation General Issues > Explanation General Issues > Science Education General Issues > Thought Experiments
Date:	22 July 2017
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/13249

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