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Thought Experiment Format Questions

jordan_o

New Blood
J
Joined
May 11, 2005
Messages
19
Hey guys I have a question for you.

First, I've been given an assignment to write a thought experiment for philosophy class. I had to come up with one and then write it, and it must be 1 to 2 pages in length. I've got my idea, and I've created the imaginary situation in which it takes place. But after writing all that, I'm at a loss for what comes after it? Am I supposed to make an argument now saying that my idea is true/false?

We were given examples from the textbook, but from looking at them they are no help to me. All they are is those imaginary situations, and then a few questions the reader must answer.

Sorry if this seems like a simple question, but I'm new to this and really don't know where I should go from here.
 
Perhaps you should just pose questions about the possible outcome, since you haven't yet conducted the experiment?
 
jordan_o said:
Hey guys I have a question for you.

First, I've been given an assignment to write a thought experiment for philosophy class. I had to come up with one and then write it, and it must be 1 to 2 pages in length. I've got my idea, and I've created the imaginary situation in which it takes place. But after writing all that, I'm at a loss for what comes after it? Am I supposed to make an argument now saying that my idea is true/false?

We were given examples from the textbook, but from looking at them they are no help to me. All they are is those imaginary situations, and then a few questions the reader must answer.

Sorry if this seems like a simple question, but I'm new to this and really don't know where I should go from here.
Click to expand...

A simple thought experiment that happens every day at every middle school in the USA, and probably much of the world.

“Oh, my gawd! Could you imagine if Jenny found out that Billy knew she liked him? She’d, like, totally DIE!”

Now, that is rather crudely put, and lacks many of the important steps. Hence, it could be re-written (for the middlescloolese as a second language speakers)

Take Jenny (J), who is known to like Billy.

Take also Billy (B), knows of J’s desires through another agent.

Allow J to know of B’s knowledge.

B has not made any declaration of this knowledge directly.

From this, J now assumes that B has no such reciprocal desires.

J will then become terribly depressed.

J continues to dwell on B’s lack of desire on a continual basis.

J lives on one side of the river, and the school is on the other.

From this, J must, at some time, be crossing the river while depressed an while thinking of B’s lack of desire.

It is then inevitable that, during one of those crossings, J will throw herself off the bridge into the icy waters below.

J will then totally DIE.
 
Now that I’ve had my fun, to the process proper:

The gendankenexperiment above is a silly, but educational example. It starts with some knowledge of a situation, and knowledge of the players involved. From that, it follows a step-by-step process of determining what will happen, by applying a combination of that knowledge and logic. If A and B are true, then C must happen.

Care must be taken to avoid gaps in the thinking, each step must be logically supported. Prior steps are used as evidence for later steps, so if an early step is uncertain, then the experiment as a whole is uncertain. For instance, we assume that J will become depressed, but have not shown evidence for that, this if fixed below.

It is sometimes useful to number the steps in a more formal proof, and also to separate the observations of prior known fact from the step-by-step conclusions. This allows a bit more certainty of exactly what information went into which conclusion, and allows for more flexibility on the order of items.

Sample:

O1: Take Jenny (J), who is known to like Billy.

O2: Take also Billy (B), knows of J’s desires through another agent.

O3: B has not made any declaration of this knowledge directly.

O4: Allow J to know of B’s knowledge through another agent.

C1: From O3 and O4, J now assumes that B has no such reciprocal desires.

O6: Knowledge of non-reciprocation of desire leads to depression.

C2: From C1 and O6, J will then become terribly depressed.

etc.
 
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