Kierkegaard and the Structure of Imagination - Rethinking Thought Experiments with Kant and Ørsted

"This book examines Hans Christian [rsted's use of thought experiments and his influence on Kierkegaard, arguing that both were inspired by Kant. It is the first book-length study of how Kierkegaard used thought experiments as a method, showing the implications for our contemporary understanding of how thought experiments work."--

List of contents

Introduction; Part I. The Origins of 'Thought Experiment' in Kant and Ørsted: 1. Thought experiments as tools of cognition; 2. How thought experiments work; 3. Ørsted, mach, and the history of thought experiment; 4. Empiricism and kantian accounts of thought experiment; 5. Rationalism and the question of intellectual intuition; Part II. A Kantian Account of Thought Experiment: 6. Varieties of cognition; 7. An Apparatus for cognition; 8. Cognizing regulative ideas; 9. Bizarre cases and context: two problems for thought experiments; Part III. Kierkegaard and the Concept of Thought Experiment: 10. Kierkegaard and the concept of thought experiment; 11. Controlled experiments; 12. Repetition as thought experiment: a method of variation; 13. Kantian strains in stages on life's way; 14. Cognition as synthesis; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

About the author

Eleanor Helms is Professor of Philosophy at California Polytechnic State University. She is co-editor of The Kierkegaardian Mind (2019) and has published articles in numerous journals and collections.

Product details

• Authors: Helms Eleanor
• Publisher: Cambridge Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 30.09.2025
• EAN: 9781009594936
• ISBN: 978-1-009-59493-6
• Illustrations: Worked examples or Exercises
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Philosophy: antiquity to present day; PHILOSOPHY / History & Surveys / Modern, Philosophy of Science, Western philosophy: c 1600 to c 1900, Cognitive and behavioural neuroscience, Western philosophy: Enlightenment, Philosophy: epistemology and theory of knowledge