Thought experiments play an important role in philosophy and philosophical theorizing. In this book Eleanor Helms examines thought experiments and charts their use in the work of Danish thinkers Hans Christian Orsted (1777–1851) and Soren Kierkegaard (1813–55), arguing that both were influenced by Kant. She demonstrates how key Kantian concepts shape the methods of both thinkers, especially Kant's claim that regulative ideas like the self, God, and nature cannot be directly represented. Kant proposed some ways in which we can make sense of, or 'cognize,' these kinds of abstract ideas, and Ørsted and Kierkegaard take up the practical challenge of realizing Kant's optimism by designing thought experiments to make these big ideas meaningfully accessible to individual thinkers. Helms's book is the first comprehensive study of Kierkegaard's use of thought experiments as a method, and reveals its significance for our contemporary understanding of how thought experiments work.

‘Helms shows how H. C. Ørsted and Søren Kierkegaard both develop sophisticated accounts of thought experiments long before Ernst Mach (who is widely credited with introducing the term ‘thought experiment'). Her book is indispensable reading for scholars working on Kant, Ørsted, and Kierkegaard as well as those who work on thought experiments (and related conceptual history).'

Roe Fremstedal - Norwegian University of Science and Technology