writing assignment, the first

(Back to course page.)

Please write a 250 word response to one of the following questions:

• Should philosophers regard thought experiments as relevant tests of their philosophical analyses? Chemists, after all, don’t test their chemical analyses against intuitions.
• If thought experiments are a relevant test of philosophical analyses, whose intuitions should we regard as relevant? After all, different people might have different intuitions.

A response will require you to state an answer and then provide reasons for your answer. It won’t be easy to respond in 250 words, but that is your limit. Please use short, crisp sentences and simple, anglo-saxon words. Eliminate typographical and grammatical errors.

I highly recommend William Strunk’s classic, The Elements of Style, as a reference for proper English style. I imagine the bookstore sells copies. It is available for free from the Google books project.

You would do well to develop your answer in your head before you begin writing. (Like certain cuts of meat, philosophical ideas benefit from marinating.) Walter Benjamin said it best:

“Keep your pen aloof from inspiration, which it will then attract with magnetic power. The more circumspectly you delay writing down an idea, the more maturely developed it will be on surrendering itself. Speech conquers thought, but writing commands it.”

I would like your responses printed and set in 12-point serif type. Please see me if you have trouble—I’m here to help.