Thought experiments conference in Grenoble

2008年05月25日 22:03

Thought experiments being central to contemporary philosophy and
science, the following questions were asked in recent literature. What
is their definition? Are they heuristic devices, arguments, paradoxes?
Are they comparable to real experiments? Do intuition and
conceivability intervene? Equally imaginative thought experiments are
found in ancient, medieval, and Renaissance texts. Paying attention to
prime historical examples of thought experiments, we will show that
historical perspectives help answer these general questions. The
purpose of this meeting will be the edition of a book on thought
experiments. It follows a first meeting, that took place in Athens in
April 2007.

Conference schedule:

JUNE 12, morning
09:30-10:45 : Roux-Goffi, « On the Very Idea of a Thought Experiment »,
under scrutiny
09.30-10:00 : comment by Iannis Zeimbekis (Université Grenoble II)
10:00-10:45 : general discussion
10:45-11:15 : coffee break
11:15-12:30 : Engel, « Philosophical Thought Experiments: In or Out of
the Armchair?», under scrutiny
11:15-11:45 : comment by Jean-Yves Goffi (Université Grenoble II)
11:45-12:30 : general discussion
12:30-14:00 : Lunch break
JUNE 12, afternoon
14:00-15:15 : Virvidakis, «A Kantian Critique of Some Thought
Experiments in Early Modern Philosophy», under scrutiny
14:00-14:30 : comment by Pascal Engel (Université de Genève)
14:30-15:15 : general discussion
15:15-15:45 : coffee break
15:45-17:00 : Zeimbekis, « Thought Experiments and Mental
Simulations », under scrutiny
15:45-16:15 : comment by Stelios Virvidakis (University of Athens)
16:15-17:00 : general discussion

JUNE 13, morning
09:30-10:45 : Ierodiakonou, « Remarks on the History of an Ancient
Thought Experiment », under scrutiny
9:30-10:00 : comment by Péter Lautner (Pázmány Péter Katolikus Egyetem)
10:00-10:45 : general discussion
10:45-11:15 : coffee break
11:15-12:30 Lautner, «Thought Experiments in Late Neoplatonic Theories
of the Soul» under scrutiny
11.15-11:45 : comment by Katerina Ierodiakonou (University of Athens)
11:45-12:30 : general discussion
12:30-14:00 : Lunch break
JUNE 13, afternoon
14:00-15:15 Knuuttila-Kukkonen, «Thought Experiments and Indirect
Proofs in Averroes, Aquinas, and Buridan », under scrutiny
14:00-14:30 : comment by Christophe Grellard : (Université Paris I)
14:30-15:15 : general discussion
15:15-15:45 : coffee break
15:45-17:00 : Grellard, «Thought Experiments in Late Medieval Debates
on Atomism» under scrutiny
15:45-16:15 : comment by Carla-Rita Palmerino (Radboud Universiteit
Nijmegen)
16:15-17:00 : general discussion

JUNE 14, Morning
09:00-10:15 : Palmerino, «Galileo’s use of Medieval Thought Experiments
on Motion », under scrutiny
09:00-09:30 : comment by Sophie Roux (Université Grenoble II)
09:30-10:15 : general discussion
10:15-10:45 : coffee break
10:45-12:00 : Concluding remarks or, at least, practical matters (e.g.
title of the book, calendar, target-publisher)

—–
anna c. zielinska
Laboratoire: Philosophie, Langages & Cognition
Département de philosophie
Université Pierre Mendès France
Grenoble 2
France
http://www.plc-grenoble2.fr/