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Full Idea
Naturalists can allow for thought-experiments in philosophy. Intuitions play an important role, but only because they embody substantial information about the world.
Gist of Idea
Intuition and thought-experiments embody substantial information about the world
Source
David Papineau (Philosophical Insignificance of A Priori Knowledge [2010], §3)
A Reaction
In this sense, intuitions are just memories which are too complex for us to articulate. They are not the intuitions of 'pure reason'. It is hard to connect the intuitive spotting of a proof with memories of the physical world.
| 13407 | All worthwhile philosophy is synthetic theorizing, evaluated by experience [Papineau] |
| 13406 | A priori knowledge is analytic - the structure of our concepts - and hence unimportant [Papineau] |
| 13408 | Intuition and thought-experiments embody substantial information about the world [Papineau] |
| 13409 | Our best theories may commit us to mathematical abstracta, but that doesn't justify the commitment [Papineau] |
| 13410 | Verificationism about concepts means you can't deny a theory, because you can't have the concept [Papineau] |