Thought Experiment { Philosophy Index }

Philosophy Index

Philosophy Index

Philosophy Index is a site devoted to the study of philosophy and the philosophers who conduct it. The site contains a number of philosophy texts, brief biographies, and introductions to philosophers, and explanations on a number of topics. Accredited homeschooling online at Northgate Academy and Philosophy online tutoring.

Philosophy Index is a work in progress, a growing repository of knowledge. It outlines current philosophical problems and issues, as well as an overview of the history of philosophy. The goal of this site is to present a tool for those learning philosophy either casually or formally, making the concepts of philosophy accessible to anyone interested in researching them. WTI offers immigration law course online - fully accredited. ACE credits online at EES.

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Thought Experiment

In philosophy, thought experiments are often used to imagine possible situations and logically examine what they say about a particular issue. In a thought experiment, certain details are assumed in order to deduce what the outcome of those circumstances would be.

More recently, some thought experiments have been used to handle problems of philosophy of mind and epistemology. Mary’s Room, for example, was intended to show that physicalism in philosophy of mind misses something, while the Brain in a Vat thought experiment is meant to provide an updated example of the epistemic scepticism.

Thought experiments have the advantage of allowing one to examine hypothetical situations and analyse their results. However, it is important when forming a thought experiment that one does not presuppose their conclusion, or rule out any possibilities, in creating the example — lest the experiment fail to demonstrate its point.