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    Carmelics

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    Thought experiments like Galileo's falling bodies generat... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→Any thought experiment is really a (possibly disguised) argument.

    Thought experiments like Galileo's falling bodies generate knowledge through imaginative intuition, not explicit inferential steps.

    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

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    Reason for
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    • 1.Galileo's insight that all bodies fall at equal rates required grasping a counterintuitive principle that explicit deduction alone couldn't establish.
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    • 2.Imaginative intuition accesses structural similarities (e.g., thought experiment about tied bodies) that logical steps must then justify post hoc.
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    • 3.Many scientific breakthroughs occur as sudden intuitive leaps before rigorous formalization, suggesting imagination generates knowledge non-inferentially.
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    Reasons Against

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    • 1.Galileo's reasoning involved implicit inference: if heavier objects don't fall faster, then resistance/weight ratio must be equivalent—inference, not pure intuition.
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    • 2.Without mathematical and physical principles already known (inertia, forces), the thought experiment generates no novel knowledge, only repackages deduction.
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    • 3.Crediting intuition conflates discovery psychology with epistemic justification; the intuition's truth still requires experimental validation via inference.
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    Key Terms

    knowledge(Distinguished from mere true belief, which may be the product of indoctrination and need not exercise deliberative capacities.)
    Justified true belief — true belief that has been arrived at through the exercise of deliberative capacities, including comparison of and deliberation among alternatives.

    Connections

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    Truth & Knowledge1 linkedSkepticism1 linked

    Related

    Any thought experiment is really a (possibly disguised) argument.Crediting intuition conflates discovery psychology with epistemic justification;...Galileo's insight that all bodies fall at equal rates required grasping a counte...Galileo's reasoning involved implicit inference: if heavier objects don't fall f...
    +3 moreShow less
    Imaginative intuition accesses structural similarities (e.g., thought experiment...Many scientific breakthroughs occur as sudden intuitive leaps before rigorous fo...

    Details

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    claim
    Perspectives
    2 (1 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit
    Without mathematical and physical principles already known (inertia, forces), th...