Issue
Published
2023-06-06
Section
Essays
Intuition and imagination in mental experiments for teaching sciences
https://doi.org/10.22383/ri.v21i38.184

Authors

Juan Carlos Vélez Rengifo

In this article I will present two fundamental features of mental experiments, namely intuition and imagination, which will allow to delimit the criteria to determine when an EM is a justified intuition pump and when it is not. The theses of Elke Brendel (2003) and Jorge Ornelas (2016), mainly, will be exposed for this purpose. However, a brief review will be made by the main positions about EMs. Finally, I argue that EMs within the field of science teaching theory constitute the best thinking tool we have, since they run on mental models, and, therefore, they constitute fundamental elements to promote science teaching.

Keywords: thought experiments, intuition bombs, science education, intuition, imagination, philosophy of science
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Intuition and imagination in mental experiments for teaching sciences

Authors

  • Juan Carlos Vélez Rengifo Universidad del Valle

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22383/ri.v21i38.184

Keywords:

thought experiments, intuition bombs, science education, intuition, imagination, philosophy of science

Abstract

In this article I will present two fundamental features of mental experiments, namely intuition and imagination, which will allow to delimit the criteria to determine when an EM is a justified intuition pump and when it is not. The theses of Elke Brendel (2003) and Jorge Ornelas (2016), mainly, will be exposed for this purpose. However, a brief review will be made by the main positions about EMs. Finally, I argue that EMs within the field of science teaching theory constitute the best thinking tool we have, since they run on mental models, and, therefore, they constitute fundamental elements to promote science teaching.

Author Biography

Juan Carlos Vélez Rengifo, Universidad del Valle

PhD in Education, Philosophy Master and BA by Universidad del Valle

References

Aguilar, Y., & Romero, A. (2011). A propósito de los experimentos mentales: una tentativa para la construcción de explicaciones en ciencias. En 5º Congreso Nacional de Enseñanza de la Física. Universidad Pedagógica Nacional (U.P.N) Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas (U.D.F.J.C). Bogotá, Colombia. 16 al 20 de mayo 2011. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14483/23448350.613

Biélik, L. (2011). Thought Experiments: Their Structure and Function. http://www.amesh.sk/pdf/Bielik-Thought_Experiments_Their_Structure_and_Function.pdf

Brendel, E. (2003). Pompas de intuición y el uso adecuado de los experimentos mentales. Ideas y valores, 123, 59-74.

Brown, J. R. (2018). Porqué los experimentos mentales trascienden el empirismo. En C. Ornelas, G. Cíntora, & L. Hernández (Eds.), Trabajando en el laboratorio de la mente: Naturaleza y alcance de los experimentos mentales (pp. 75-86). Universidad Autónoma de San Luis de Potosí.

Clement, J. (2009). The role of imagistic simulation in scientific thought experiments. Topics in Cognitive Science, 1, 686-710. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1756-8765.2009.01031.x

Dennett, D. (2015). Bombas de intuición y otras herramientas de pensamiento. Fondo de Cultura Económica.

Mach, E. (2018). Sobre los experimentos mentales. En C. Ornelas, L. Cíntora, & E. Hernández (Eds.), Trabajando en el laboratorio de la mente. Naturaleza y alcance de los experimentos mentales (pp. 27-34). Universidad Autónoma de San Luis de Potosí.

Norton, J. (2018). Porque los experimentos mentales no trascienden el empirismo. En C. Ornelas, L. Cíntora, & E. Hernández (Eds.), Trabajando en el laboratorio de la mente. Naturaleza y alcance de los experimentos mentales (pp. 35-64). Universidad Autónoma de San Luis de Potosí.

Ornelas, J. (2016). Metáforas, analogías y experimentos mentales como condicionales contrafácticos: Una aproximación metafilosófica a la metodología científica. Revista Praxis Filosófica, 43, 201-224. https://doi.org/10.25100/pfilosofica.v0i43.3161 DOI: https://doi.org/10.25100/pfilosofica.v0i43.3161

Vélez, J. C. (2022). La enseñanza de la ciencia mediante

experimentos mentales. En A. F. Uscátegui-Narváez y D. A. Rodríguez-Ortiz

(comps.), Retos de la pedagogía, la investigación y la cultura (pp. 226-245). Editorial UNIMAR. https://doi.org/10.31948/editorialunimar.168.c207 DOI: https://doi.org/10.31948/editorialunimar.168.c207

Williamson, T. (2016). Experimentos mentales. En La filosofía de la filosofía (pp. 239-274). Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

Published

2023-06-06

How to Cite

Vélez Rengifo, J. C. (2023). Intuition and imagination in mental experiments for teaching sciences. Revista De Investigaciones, 21(38). https://doi.org/10.22383/ri.v21i38.184