Whereas thought experiments have long been a common practice in science and an important topic of philosophical analysis, the recent development of computer simulation has not been paid much philosophical attention yet in relation to thought experiments. Conceptual investigation has focused on the links between thought experiments and experiments on the one hand and computer simulation and experiments on the other. However, striking similarities between thought experiment and computer simulation can be found. They are both used when experiments cannot be made. More generally, both are instrumental in answering questions of the type: "What would happen if X or Y was the case?" and in exploring the explanatory potential of theories.

The workshop aims to further investigate the relationships between thought experiments and computer simulation. A major question to be addressed will be whether computer simulations can be viewed as implemented thought experiments, at least in certain cases. The workshop is open both to case studies and to general considerations comparing computer simulations and thought experiments in all disciplines. While physics is undoubtedly an ideal playground for these investigations, talks devoted to fields in which theories play a weaker or different role, like economics, biology or artificial life, are especially welcomed.

Programme

Colloque International : Simulations numériques et expériences de pensée 

Organisé par Rawad El Skaf, IHPST 
Comité Scientifique : Anouk Barberousse, IHPST, Rawad El Skaf, IHPST, Paul Humphreys, Université de Virginie et John Norton, Université de Pittsburgh 

Du Jeudi 11 mars 2010 au Samedi 13 mars 2010

Jeudi 11 mars 2010

IHPST, 13 rue du Four, 75006, Paris, Grande salle

Présidente de séance : Marion Vorms
09h00-10h30 : Paul Humphreys, University of Virginia
Computer Simulations and Materiality
10h30-11h00 : PAUSE

Président de séance : Philippe Huneman
11h00-11h45 : Claus Beisbart, University of TU Dortmund
Computer simulations are thought experiments are arguments?
11h45-12h30 : Margherita Arcangeli, Institut Nicod, Paris
The Experimental Triangle: a Plea for a Ménage à Trois

12h30-14h30 : LUNCH

Président de séance : Alexandre Guay
14h30-16h00 : Seth Bullock, University of Southampton
Ten years of opaque thought experiments

16h00-16h30 : PAUSE

Présidente de seéance : Elodie Baget
16h30-17h15 : Yiftach Fehige, University of Toronto
Thought experiments, Computer Simulations and Blended Simulations
17h15-18h00 : Viola Schiaffonati and Davide Mazza, Politecnico di Milano
Exploring the world: Why computer simulations are not just implemented thought experiments

Vendredi 12 mars

Matin : Salle Weil, rez-de-chaussée gauche, Ecole normale supérieure, 45 rue d'Ulm, 75005 Paris

Président de séance : Cyrille Imbert
09h00-10h30 : Michael Weisberg, University of Pennsylvania
Getting Serious About Similarity

10h30-11h00 : PAUSE

Présidente de séance : Anouk Barberousse
11h00-11h45 : Matthias Dörries, University of Strasbourg
From Thought Experiments to Simulations: Cold War Science and Climatic Change
11h45-12h30 : Corinna Elsenbroich, University of Surrey
Thought-Experiments and Agent-Based-Simulation

12h30-14h30 : LUNCH

Après-midi : Salle 235A, 2ème étage, Ecole normale supérieure, 29 rue d'Ulm, 75005 Paris

Présidente de séance : Isabelle Drouet
14h30-15h15 : Darrell Rowbottom, University of Oxford
Thought Experiments and Computer Simulations: Different Ends, Same Means!
15h15-16h00 : Eran Tal, University of Toronto
Affording Ignorance: The Epistemic Economy of Simulations and Thought Experiments

16h00-16h30 : PAUSE

Président de séance : Thomas Boyer
16h30-17h15 : Johannes Lenhard, University of Bielefeld
When Experiments Start. Simulation experiments within simulation experiments

Samedi 13 mars

IHPST, 13 rue du Four, 75006, Paris, Grande salle

Président de séance : Rawad El Skaf
09h00-10h30 : Erik Olsson, Lund University
A simulation approach to social epistemology

10h30-11h00 : PAUSE

Président de séance : Carlo Proietti
11h00-11h45 : Deena Skolnick Weisberg, Rutgers University
The Psychology of the Scientific Imagination
11h45-12h30 : Henrik Kragh Sørensen, University of Aarhus
Are proofs mathematical experiments? Are mathematical experiments proofs?
12h30-13h15 : Ryan Muldoon, Joseph L. Rotman Institute of Science and Values
Replacing Thought Experiments with Computer Simulation in Political Philosophy