Algebra As Thought Experiment ABSTRACT: This paper addresses the problem of understanding what mathematics contributes to the exceptional success of modern mathematical physics. I urge that we give up the Kantian construal of the division between mathematics (synthetic a priori) and physics (experimental), and that we ask instead how algebra helps synthetic a posteriori mathematics improve our ability to study the world. The theses suggested are: 1) Mathematical theories are about the empirical
it would only bring about much confusion and a kind of awkwardness which, I think, is unnecessary. However, it is only fair to fully consider an argument before criticising it. I will therefore discuss, in detail, Descartes' "Evil Demon" thought experiment; as to what type of information is it designed to undercut, and how it accomplishes the task of dismissing all his knowledge, opinions and beliefs as false. In his pursuit of certainty, Descartes applies a special method that he has devised
The Thought-experiments in Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five or the Children's Crusade: A Duty Dance With Death In 1945 Kurt Vonnegut witnessed a horrific series of bombings that led to the destruction of the German city of Dresden, where he was taken as a prisoner of war. The controversial fire-storm raid, carried out by bombers of the Royal Air Force and US Air Force, took casualties of up to a quarter million people (Klinkowitz x-xi). As a prisoner of war, Vonnegut was forced to participate
justified in his claims that our senses cannot be trusted. Only by questioning all that is known as human beings, can one find the absolute truth in life. Through the use of two different thought experiments, Descartes uses reasoning to questions what we perceive as reality and truth. René Descartes first thought experiment examined the manipulation of the senses when unconscious and dreaming. When one is in a state of dreaming, the boundaries between both reality and the dream become blurred. A dream
Evaluation of Hedonism and Utilitarianism and approval of Nozick’s Experience Machine Thought Experiment In the following essay, I will be discussing the similarities and differences that exist between the ethical philosophies of Hedonism and Utilitarianism, and how these moral theories relate to Nozick’s Experience Machine thought experiment. Both of these theories hold a fundamental value that is to find that which is “good” in their own ways, but slightly differ in the meaning of what the “good”
Physicalism, or the idea that everything, including the mind, is physical is one of the major groups of theories about how the nature of the mind, alongside dualism and monism. This viewpoint strongly influences many ways in which we interact with our surrounding world, but it is not universally supported. Many objections have been raised to various aspects of the physicalist viewpoint with regards to the mind, due to apparent gaps in its explanatory power. One of these objections is Frank Jackson’s
“Can philosophy be screened?” (pg. 272) He then used thought experiment as a way that a film can represent philosophy. So what is “thought experiment”? Thought examinations include nonexistent situations in which the audience are asked to envision what things might be similar to if such-and-such were the situation. The individuals who feel that movies can really do philosophy show that fiction films can work as philosophical thought experiments and consequently qualify as philosophical. Wartenberg
Singer explains the reasoning beg=hind his thesis by offering the reader a thought experiment from Unger’s book called “Living high and letting die”. In the experiment a scenario is presented where a child is on a train track and a train is headed towards him and is surely going to kill shim. Now, a man named Bob has the opportunity to save the child. In order to do so he would have to divert the train by throwing a switch. But by doing so he would also wreck his prized and expensive Bugatti. The
What Mary Didn’t Know Malia Mandl Philosophy 101 Jackson’s paper What Mary Didn’t Know presents and clarifies a thought experiment is intended to argue against physicalism, the view that everything is physical when it is broken down to its most basic properties. The paper starts off by setting Mary up in a black-and-white room where she is, and always has been, solely exposed to a black-and-white world. Mary is an intelligent scientist who knows everything that can be known about the physical properties
permissible. Through multiple thought experiments she shows that the Western perspective often places more importance on the right to autonomy than the right to life even though it is claimed otherwise, and that if a mother does not intend to become pregnant she is not morally obligated to carry the fetus to term in most cases. I will examine these thought experiments and their implications in Thomson’s argument, present a rebuttal and speculate on her response.
strong objectivity and then the experiences and knowledge gained would be valuable and be credible. However, when I considered Alcoff’s (1991-1992) article “The Problem of Speaking for Others,” has raised valid issues and points that stimulate my thoughts and the implications of strong objectivity, about ethics and about ignorance and knowledge seeking, and I am back to the issue, I would not be speaking for others if I was speaking from experience. That said, I asked myself, when would I
contends against physicalism in his article "What Mary Didn't Know" (1986). He intended to disprove physicalism, the view that all knowledge is physical by proving that some knowledge is only obtainable through conscious experience. Jackson proposes an experiment where a scientist, Mary, is an expert in the science of color but has been raised in an entirely black and white world. When Mary has learned all that there is to know about color, she is released into the world where she will finally experience
Essay 2 Notre Dame ID: 902008117 In Frank Jackson’s What Mary Didn’t Know, Jackson provides an argument against physicalism, the belief that the actual world is entirely physical. His argument, known as the knowledge argument, involves a woman named Mary who is educated only inside a black and white room her entire life. She is educated using only black and white pictures, books, and other black and white things. Through this education, Mary learns all the physical things that there are to know
In the “Knowledge Argument” also Frank Jackson proposed known as Mary’s room, in his article called Epiphenomenal Qualia, Jackson argues against physicalism and the view that the universe, including all that is conscious/mental is fully physical. While Jackson no longer consents to it, it is still known as one of the most significant arguments in the philosophy of mind. In this paper, I will explain the argument, assess the argument for validity and soundness, explain what problem it presents for
An article written by an animal researcher and psychology professor discusses the lack of ethical treatment towards primates in research labs. The author of Second Thoughts of an Animal Researcher, John P. Gluck, justified the unethical treatment of primates by believing that scientific advancements are superior to the harm the primates experienced. One day a student of his presented a dissertation about a female rhesus monkey who unexpectedly passed away. The dissertation caused Gluck to feel that
variety of experimental methods including; laboratory, field and natural experiments. These methods are the most scientific method due to them being highly objective and systematic. In addition, this method is regarded as the most powerful research method used in psychology because of the potential to investigate the causes of events and therefore, identifying the cause and effect relationship. When carrying out an experiment the researcher intervenes directly in the situation being investigated.
The idea of this article came after another experiment tested negative false belief and the experimenters were interested in seeing if a similar experiment but with positive false belief could affect memory. The article experimented by testing adults and their memories by creating a false memory and seeing how they act according the information given. The adults were told they “loved eating asparagus as children” (Laney, Morris, Bernstein, and Wakefield, & Loftus, 2008, p.291), after this they were
these horrible conditions, children were deliberately infected with Hepatitis under the guidance of Dr. Saul Krugman, as part of an experiment to understand it more. Saul Krugman studied at New York School of Medicine. He came to Willowbrook as a consultant in infectious disease from New York University and Bellevue Hospital. He was in charge with the hepatitis experiments. He proposed research that appeared promising in distinguishing between strains of Hepatitis and in developing a vaccine. The research
in the experiment. Because the experiment is rooted around attractiveness, experimenters needed to make sure that the products used were attractiveness-related products. Thirty-five students participated in the study for course credi... ... middle of paper ... ...hemselves higher or lower on the questionnaire depending on how anonymous the results will be. I’m sure none of the participants wanted it to get out that that they thought of themselves in certain ways. Overall, I thought the experiment
wasted per year. An experiment done by metrompg.com found that inflating a vehicle’s tires by 7 psi could increase their rolling distance by 12.5%. They also state from another source that fuel efficiency is reduced by one percent for every three psi that a tire is under inflated. This equates roughly to a four percent increase gas mileage when increasing the tire inflation. Another poster to a forum by the name of Lee posted impressive results to his daughter’s science experiment from school. He noted