ROUTLEDGE PHILOSOPHY THE ROUTLEDGE COMPANION oS TO THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS Edited by Resend pbb Michael T. Stuart, Yiftach Fehige The RoutdgeConparon to Phicpy of Medine and James Robert Brown diay Metin Soon, Joeny Re So end Hard cad The Rouge Conpeion wo Philoey of tre Eddy Nol Carel en J en ‘The Rowisdge Companion wo slanic Piso died y Reerd Trends Naver Lge Pa The Rouge Compaion Vie ately Loi Beer Joe ond Mi The Rowlige Companion Bethe dtd yo va Reb Klis ad Bice Fon “The Rouleige Companion to Hemenesss ately ef land Fs Heh ander The Rostldge Companion Egtenth Century Pilsophy Fite ty Amen Gare The Rowledge Companion lop diedby Fes Sei ond J The Rostldge Companion o Soi and Pola Ploy Eiki y Gold Gus ond Fed D Ast I Routledge Routledge1 THE TRIPLE LIFE OF ANCIENT THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS Katerina Ierodiakonou ‘There is no ancient Gree: the theories of chit third way in which esperiments were used Hellenistic philosophy inorder to induce suspension of judgement. The ancient Sceptics, who wanced ions, made abundant use of thoughe exper philosophical controversies but co emulate arguments of the same scrength in support of contradictory beliefs. Indeed, in some cases the hypor thetical scenario of one and the same thought experiment wat evoked on both sides of ' philocophical dispute. Thu, thought experiments were used by ancient philosophers: st to support philosophical cherie; second, ro rebut philosophical theories; and third, ta induce suspension of judgement. This is what I call ch eile life of ancient thought commentary on Aristotle's Physics (457.26-3 svho sands at che edge ofthe universe eying 9 ext bor offourteenth-century jialeran, used its Stole ‘version and atthe same time elaborated on tin che light of thee in early modem times, Pierre Gassndi, Oreo von Guercke, JohnSELECTED HISTORY OF THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS erred wit each for one's own reasons. The general stucrue of Archytas'chought iment isthe following: Imagine, Archy ere are three cates which aremeant to either defend or rete an anclentphilosoph ‘eal theory in ethics and in natural philosophy and which would nowadays unreservedly be regarded as chought experiments, But dit che anci tes a scientific hypothesis re accept that in certain Aid periorn experiments "THE TRIPLE LIFE OF ANCIENT THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS that could have mer the contemporary erie have considered what we nov teat ab ex ments, 36 belonging toa category of ther own,SELECTED HISTORY OF THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS sed by our ancient sources in order co introduce or characterize such examples, are cleasly indicat spotherleal stats. le; when posible, ie means Fhuman being ean bring it abou, though there may be no evidence that anyone ver did due petheps to practical dificulties or moral obstacles, for instance in Parcs thought experiment about These lackof the relevane power, though igh the action of ome othe agent, epicllya divine tance in Plato's though« experiment sbout Gyger ting But although ancient philosophers recognised the distinctive role ofthe hy narios in chee and similar thought experiments, evidence tha ‘examples bsted on imaginary or invented assumptions in special cacegory. I hus ea- sonable think that che conceived of dhough experiments a examples, hough they had tion ofa thought cients employed a the contemporary customary usage of gh elementary textbooks experiments often Bepin shought experiments, chase after a beam of igh, Eine ‘ot couse the cerm “thought experiment” dankenexpernen:), which bad aeady been coined by Hans Christian Desed in the ; * Nevertheless, since employed specific methods of argumentation that we nowadays ‘thought experiment, we generally have no uals to make use ofthe notion ofa of cerain ancient exampl ‘So, assuming that many ancient philosophers used chought experiments and regarded them as examples based on hypothetical scenarios, that i, a some kind of imaginary or now co investigate what sore of funtion they attributed to ly conser how contemporary philosophers understand the cog 3 experiments; for instance, how Anna-Sara Malmgren presents standard model of che procedure and function of thoughe experiments, used in philosophy or cheoey that ly a necesary bi “THE TRIPLE LIFE OF ANCIENT THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS sconatio a che bars of ancient thought expe to be accepted as somehow imaginable both by those who use the thought ir theories end by their opponents, tis not necessary that imagined. In other words, ents in favour there be agreement aso the responses induced by theSELECTED HISTORY OF THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS Plato's Republic by Glave behaves unjustly when there is no chance that is unjust dlaloge alo by the org they also evoke in others athe diferent if werial character of thought experiment let us discuss thought experiment about Theseus chip; and in port thought experiment was ued in Helle With the aim to question the very concepts of growth the notion of identity. They invoked the dogmace psition that wh nother thought experimen defend the pos ‘Chuysippus in his treatise On the Growing Argent , ofthe following kind ind, Having ist etl oc ib pubic br to pi nae een ‘THE TRPLELIE OF ANCIENT THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS ‘So, Chrysippu’thoughe experiment asks us to imagine two invidals~ leew cll them ‘Dio’ wd Teor” Team easo betas been amputated whereas Theon has had no pat of his chopped of" This, indeed, is what one would be eying if one accepted the Growing Argumen tolleave the plank to the one whore life mos Sceptics, on the other hand, suggestedSELECTED HISTORY OF THOUGHT EXTERIMENTS and I give chem 10 che Stoic one ingle one, or the one and then or the superior se appearance, even though he as the appearances fon smped the Sceptics’ thought experiment asked the Stoics to imagine what would shown one egg and then another identical one, or one man ata her, would they be able to distinguish ‘The Scepics suggested that it would Swi mise man may have false impress hem as rc; fr inseance, i may be the ease that he chinks heb sccordng to which thee re no two things which for che wise man, atleast in principle, to other dissingush the false impressions fom the cognitive ones, sccept them at cognisive, and consequently the distinction bee thus prone to wrongly en cogaitive and non” the theory conte could be as good enough, ora etong, as those that che Stokes, did not adhere to any theory whatsoever Stoies were not could also be supporeed by equally strong arguments. To thi techniques, che so-called ceptical modes" (sept tof) counter any given claim, by formulating he slogmazic opponents. They managed inthis manner to show dl ‘THE TRIPLE LFEOF ANCIENT THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS inorder rove oro diuone a theory. So, f ne want fo wea thought exerinent Ee a za ‘that the intuitions invoked by its hypothetical te remic satus and che kind of knowledge they are supposed to provide. For ve judgement juried and what f anything, makesSELECTED HISTORY OF THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS ‘THE TRIPLE LIFE OF ANCIENT THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS everyday lif here i no dou Acknowledgements wise men may have good ressons to most mattered for hie own and for his ‘man cen disinguish the to eggs and cpl wl impressions given eo them by an omnipotent god, even ible co suggest chat che Seepis favoured en ‘of our human experienc; 9, our evident, but requie the ute of our Erpicus 201) pn edie, Ly (1964,SELECTED HISTORY OF THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS “THE TRIPLE LIFE OF ANCIENT THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS References ‘On Diss, wanslanl by MT. Gif and M. Akins Canbrigg Camis gent stbued to Epcharnas (DK 73 B2) which pus forth jure no: Parc, Desa mumins undes S89A-By Anonyeny in Fa The Theon ithe erongest, sk ath For how a lank and evo ales both of hem re men, Wed eachof them er woul one give othe ces?” tothe one whose ie most mates fer hisowa or the such considerations are equal fer both" “There wl be no conte, but one wl ve into theater asi osing byl clara evene™