Over at OTB Steven Taylor discusses Thomas Hobbes and liberty. Certainly a worthy discussion. In response to a comment I made critical of Hobbes Taylor replies that Hobbes was was simply doing “thought experiments.” What an interesting idea. Philosophy has never been more than “thought experiments.” The interpretation of history usually turns out to be a “thought experiment.” This got me thinking – what about science? Modern physics and cosmology have consisted primarily of “thought experiments” for decades. Yes we have built the large Hadron Collider in Switzerland, but why? To prove the existence or non existence of mythical or non mythical particles that were the result of “thought experiments.” If you have been tuning in to Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Cosmos you are witnessing perhaps the greatest “thought experiment” in the history of man. Is our current cosmological thought experiment accurate – probably not but it’s fun anyway.
This brings up an interesting point – where do you draw the line between philosophy, physics and cosmology, they are after all largely “thought experiments.”