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Chapter 5 - Rationalism and the Question of Intellectual Intuition

from Part I - The Origins of “Thought Experiment” in Kant and Ørsted

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2025

Eleanor Helms
Affiliation:
California Polytechnic State University
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Summary

Rationalist accounts of thought experiment in epistemology offer an alternative to the more predominantly empiricist approaches in philosophy of science. In this chapter, I will pose a Kantian critique of recent rationalist accounts of intellectual intuition. Some epistemologists have recently argued that intellectual intuitions can provide prima facie justification for judgments. In this chapter, I highlight some promising elements of recent rationalist accounts, especially the proposal that there can be nonsensory presentations analogous to empirical perceptions. If they are right, then thought experiments can provide new experiential content even without empirical confirmation. However, I also draw attention to Kant’s objections to the possibility of purely intellectual intuitions.

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Kierkegaard and the Structure of Imagination
Rethinking Thought Experiments with Kant and Ørsted
, pp. 76 - 86
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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