Martin Cohen 
Wittgenstein’s Beetle and Other Classic Thought Experiments 

Wittgenstein’s Beetle and Other Classic Thought
Experiments invites readers to participate actively in
discovering the surprisingly powerful and fruitful tradition of
‘thought experiments.’

* * Gives a lively presentation of an ‘A to Z’ of 26 fascinating
and influential thought experiments from philosophy and
science

* Presents vivid and often humorous discussion of the
experiments, including strengths and weaknesses, historical
context, and contemporary uses

* Provides a ‘how to’ section for engaging in thought
experiments

* Includes illustrations, mini-biographies, and suggestions for
further reading.

Table of Content

List of Figures vii

Forward! viii

Introduction: Deep Thought – a brief history of thought
experiments 1

The A-Z

A is for Alice and Astronomers Arguing about Acceleration 15

B is for Bernard’s Body-Exchange Machine 18

C is for the Catholic Cannibal 20

D is for Maxwell’s Demon 25

E is for Evolution (and an Embarrassing Problem with it) 28

F is for the Forms Lost Forever to the Prisoners of the Cave
30

G is for Galileo’s Gravitational Balls 33

H is for Hume’s Shades 37

I is for the Identity of Indiscernibles 41

J is for Henri Poincaré and Alternative Geometries 45

K is for the Kritik and Kant’s Kind of Thought Experiments
48

L is for Lucretius’ Spear 52

M is for Mach’s Motionless Chain 55

N is for Newton’s Bucket 58

O is for Olbers’ Paradox 62

P is for Parfit’s Person 65

Q is for the Questions Raised by Thought Experiments
Quotidiennes 67

R is for the Rule-Ruled Room 70

S is for Salvatius’ Ship, Sailing along its own Space-Time
Line 74

T is for the Time-Travelling Twins 78

U is for the Universe, and Einstein’s Attempts to
Understand it 81

V is for the Vexed Case of the Violinist 84

W is for Wittgenstein’s Beetle 87

X is for Xenophanes and Thinking by Examples 90

Y is for Counterfactuals and a Backwards Approach to

History 93

Z is for Zeno and the Mysteries of Infinity 97

Notes for Experimenters

How to Experiment 103

Notes and Cuttings 117

Who’s Who of Experimenting 126

Acknowledgements 131

Index 132

About the author

Martin Cohen is a teacher and writer specializing in philosophy, ethics and education, with a special interest in computing. His books include 101 Philosophy Problems (2nd edn., 2001), Political Philosophy (2001) and 101 Ethical Dilemmas (2003). He has been editor of The Philosopher since 1995.