What If... PDF Download

Author: Peg Tittle
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1315509318
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
What If. . .Collected Thought Experiments in Philosophy is a brief collection of over 100 classic and contemporary “thought experiments,” each exploring an important philosophical argument. These thought experiments introduce students to the kind of disciplined thought required in philosophy, and awaken their intellectual curiosity. Featuring a clear and conversational writing style that doesn't dilute the ideas, the value of the book is in its simplicity–in both format and tone. Each thought experiment is accompanied by commentary from the author that explains its importance and provides thought-provoking questions, all encapsulated on two pages.

Author: Ed Gibney
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 110569660X
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 234

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Book Description
Evolutionary Philosophy is the foundation text for a new belief system. We are all products of evolution. Understanding all of the implications of this statement leads to a comprehensive worldview that can answer our universally shared questions: Where did I come from? What am I? What is a good life? How do I know? These questions and many more are answered in this book, before the beliefs of 60 of the top philosophers of history are put to the test in an evaluation of the survival of their fittest ideas. This is an audacious work of research and analysis from author Ed Gibney, who finishes by asking readers to help Evolutionary Philosophy to grow and adapt as mankind's knowledge continues to accumulate. This clear and accessible work promises to help you reevaluate mankind's place in the universe and your place in society.

Author: Michael T Stuart
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351705512
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 709

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Book Description
Thought experiments are a means of imaginative reasoning that lie at the heart of philosophy, from the pre-Socratics to the modern era, and they also play central roles in a range of fields, from physics to politics. The Routledge Companion to Thought Experiments is an invaluable guide and reference source to this multifaceted subject. Comprising over 30 chapters by a team of international contributors, the Companion covers the following important areas: · the history of thought experiments, from antiquity to the trolley problem and quantum non-locality; · thought experiments in the humanities, arts, and sciences, including ethics, physics, theology, biology, mathematics, economics, and politics; · theories about the nature of thought experiments; · new discussions concerning the impact of experimental philosophy, cross-cultural comparison studies, metaphilosophy, computer simulations, idealization, dialectics, cognitive science, the artistic nature of thought experiments, and metaphysical issues. This broad ranging Companion goes backwards through history and sideways across disciplines. It also engages with philosophical perspectives from empiricism, rationalism, naturalism, skepticism, pluralism, contextualism, and neo-Kantianism to phenomenology. This volume will be valuable for anyone studying the methods of philosophy or any discipline that employs thought experiments, as well as anyone interested in the power and limits of the mind.

Author: Sophie Ward
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 059331431X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
This impressive debut novel, longlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize, takes its premise and inspiration from ten of the best-known thought experiments in philosophy—the what-ifs of philosophical investigation—and uses them to talk about love in a wholly unique way. Married couple Rachel and Eliza are considering having a child. Rachel wants one desperately, and Eliza thinks she does, too, but she can't quite seem to wrap her head around the idea. When Rachel wakes up screaming one night and tells Eliza that an ant has crawled into her eye and is stuck there, Eliza initially sees it as a cry for attention. But Rachel is adamant. She knows it sounds crazy—but she also knows it's true. As a scientist, Eliza is skeptical. Suddenly their entire relationship is called into question. What follows is a uniquely imaginative sequence of ten interconnecting episodes—each from a different character's perspective—inspired by some of the best-known thought experiments in philosophy. Together they form a sparkling philosophical tale of love lost and found across the universe.

Author: Scott Adams
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
ISBN: 9780740747878
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 148

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Book Description
In God's Debris, best-selling author and creator of Dilbert Scott Adams fashioned a thought-provoking exploration of life's great mysteries (everything from quantum physics and God to psychic phenomena and dating) that quickly captured the attention and imaginations of readers everywhere. The intriguing story of a deliveryman who meets the world's smartest person and learns the secret of reality is threaded with a variety of hypnosis techniques that Adams, a certified hypnotist, used to induce a feeling of euphoric enlightenment in readers to mirror the main character's feelings as he discovers the true nature of the universe.Launched to coincide with the hardcover publication of its sequel, The Religion War (see opposite page), this first paperback edition of God's Debris will soon make the leap to a broader audience. As Adams designed it, the book will "make your brain spin around inside your skull" and drive readers toward The Religion War as they seek to confirm or deny the dizzying impressions and chaotic memories of reading God's Debris.The book provides one of the most compelling visions of reality ever experienced on the printed page. Along the way, readers will enjoy the Thought Experiment: Trying to discover what's wrong with the sage's explanation of reality. This is a book, as Adams says, to be shared and savored with smart friends.

Author: Roy A. Sorensen
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 019512913X
Category : Electronic books
Languages : en
Pages : 331

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Book Description
This text analyses a variety of thought experiments, and explores what they are, how they work, and what their positive and negative aspects are. It also sets the theory within an evolutionary framework of advances in experimental psychology.

Author: Philip E. Tetlock
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 9780691027913
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 362

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Book Description
Political scientists often ask themselves what might have been if history had unfolded differently: if Stalin had been ousted as General Party Secretary or if the United States had not dropped the bomb on Japan. Although scholars sometimes scoff at applying hypothetical reasoning to world politics, the contributors to this volume--including James Fearon, Richard Lebow, Margaret Levi, Bruce Russett, and Barry Weingast--find such counterfactual conjectures not only useful, but necessary for drawing causal inferences from historical data. Given the importance of counterfactuals, it is perhaps surprising that we lack standards for evaluating them. To fill this gap, Philip Tetlock and Aaron Belkin propose a set of criteria for distinguishing plausible from implausible counterfactual conjectures across a wide range of applications. The contributors to this volume make use of these and other criteria to evaluate counterfactuals that emerge in diverse methodological contexts including comparative case studies, game theory, and statistical analysis. Taken together, these essays go a long way toward establishing a more nuanced and rigorous framework for assessing counterfactual arguments about world politics in particular and about the social sciences more broadly.

Author: Leonard Lowe
Publisher: Ars Amatoria
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 411

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Book Description
We will not let our joy in the diversity of ideas, thoughts, topics, questions, and 'conspiracy theories' be restricted this time either. One must confront the madness currently wreaking havoc in the world to avoid falling into the web of the insane criminals who are acting out their psychoses here… but one must also be able to look away at times and turn to other topics and thoughts – for otherwise, one risks becoming a victim of these machinations nonetheless. Therefore, as usual and in the fine tradition of the Gedankenspiele series, we have once again put together a broad menu of important and unimportant, exciting and interesting considerations, most of all positioned far from the mainstream, that appeared before our mind’s eye in the second half of 2021 and seemed worthy of our contemplation and consideration... Here are the topics that we will once again attempt to present broadly and unusually… to encourage you, dear reader (and audiobook listener), to expand your horizons as you please...

Author: Martin Cohen
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470777257
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 148

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Book Description
Wittgenstein’s Beetle and Other Classic Thought Experiments invites readers to participate actively in discovering the surprisingly powerful and fruitful tradition of "thought experiments." Gives a lively presentation of an "A to Z" of 26 fascinating and influential thought experiments from philosophy and science Presents vivid and often humorous discussion of the experiments, including strengths and weaknesses, historical context, and contemporary uses Provides a "how to" section for engaging in thought experiments Includes illustrations, mini-biographies, and suggestions for further reading.

Author: Katerina Ierodiakonou
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004201769
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
By analysing thought experiments from various periods in the history of philosophy and science, the essays in this volume seek to clarify how thought experiments work, what their limits are, and what their conceptualisation could be.