Placement Practice Job Talk—Geordie McComb

Geordie McComb is a recent PhD graduate from the Department of Philosophy. Please join us for his practice job talk, which will begin at 3:00 PM sharp.

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82635474180?pwd=WGZrSTFmS3kwUjZUZlZSSjd3NVpWUT09

Passcode: Qui8Cc

Talk Title

Thought Experiment Imaginings

Talk Abstract

Thought experiments are devices of the imagination, but their mechanisms do not always include imaginings.  How could this be?  The puzzle arises, in part, from a certain compelling picture.  On it, thought experiments are performed in the laboratory of the mind, and imaginings are essential to carrying them out.  To partly clear away the puzzle, I argue, we could draw attention to a certain other picture.  On it, to thought experiment is to follow a certain no-responding rule, and imaginings are not essential to doing so.   This approach to the puzzle, I then argue, could, in principle, help to clear away a more important puzzle.  Namely, how, by carrying out a thought experiment, can we come to know anything about the world?