Is every playing with imagination a thought experiment?
In this paper we are analyzing thought experiments that could be found in Einstein and Galileo's work, noticing that some researchers are even declaring certain presocratic thinking as thought experiments. The term was coined before Einstein, and there were others who designed experiments full...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Science
2016-01-01
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| Series: | Kragujevac Journal of Science |
| Online Access: | http://scindeks-clanci.ceon.rs/data/pdf/1450-9636/2016/1450-96361638063S.pdf |
| _version_ | 1818007643328872448 |
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| author | Stanković Nina D. Ristić Vladimir M. |
| author_facet | Stanković Nina D. Ristić Vladimir M. |
| author_sort | Stanković Nina D. |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this paper we are analyzing thought experiments that could be found in Einstein and Galileo's work, noticing that some researchers are even declaring certain presocratic thinking as thought experiments. The term was coined before Einstein, and there were others who designed experiments full of imagination. Yet thought experiments are a subset of scientific experiments and should be looked for in experimental sciences like physics, so here imaginative exercises are not accepted as thought experiments. Thus in this paper a new working definition of a thought experiment is proposed and some rather dubious examples that are now widely being proclaimed for thought experiments are properly classified. Also, we will give a general characterization of thought experiments as they appear in modern physics, to draw some conclusions about them and then analyze some Einstein's work. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T05:18:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4170dc735b5e40cd806d939250709908 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1450-9636 2466-5509 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T05:18:19Z |
| publishDate | 2016-01-01 |
| publisher | University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Science |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Kragujevac Journal of Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-4170dc735b5e40cd806d9392507099082022-12-22T02:10:17ZengUniversity of Kragujevac, Faculty of ScienceKragujevac Journal of Science1450-96362466-55092016-01-01201638636910.5937/KgJSci1638063S1450-96361638063SIs every playing with imagination a thought experiment?Stanković Nina D.0Ristić Vladimir M.1Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, KragujevacDepartment of Physics, Faculty of Science, KragujevacIn this paper we are analyzing thought experiments that could be found in Einstein and Galileo's work, noticing that some researchers are even declaring certain presocratic thinking as thought experiments. The term was coined before Einstein, and there were others who designed experiments full of imagination. Yet thought experiments are a subset of scientific experiments and should be looked for in experimental sciences like physics, so here imaginative exercises are not accepted as thought experiments. Thus in this paper a new working definition of a thought experiment is proposed and some rather dubious examples that are now widely being proclaimed for thought experiments are properly classified. Also, we will give a general characterization of thought experiments as they appear in modern physics, to draw some conclusions about them and then analyze some Einstein's work.http://scindeks-clanci.ceon.rs/data/pdf/1450-9636/2016/1450-96361638063S.pdf |
| spellingShingle | Stanković Nina D. Ristić Vladimir M. Is every playing with imagination a thought experiment? Kragujevac Journal of Science |
| title | Is every playing with imagination a thought experiment? |
| title_full | Is every playing with imagination a thought experiment? |
| title_fullStr | Is every playing with imagination a thought experiment? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Is every playing with imagination a thought experiment? |
| title_short | Is every playing with imagination a thought experiment? |
| title_sort | is every playing with imagination a thought experiment |
| url | http://scindeks-clanci.ceon.rs/data/pdf/1450-9636/2016/1450-96361638063S.pdf |
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