Article contents
Counter Thought Experiments
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 November 2007
Extract
Let's begin with an old example. In De Rerum Naturua, Lucretius presented a thought experiment to show that space is infinite. We imagine ourselves near the alleged edge of space; we throw a spear; we see it either sail through the ‘edge’ or we see it bounce back. In the former case the ‘edge’ isn't the edge, after all. In the latter case, there must be something beyond the ‘edge’ that repelled the spear. Either way, the ‘edge’ isn't really an edge of space, after all. So space is infinite.
- Type
- Papers
- Information
- Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplements , Volume 61: Philosophy of Science , October 2007 , pp. 155 - 177
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Royal Institute of Philosophy and the contributors 2007
- 5
- Cited by