
What were six results of the Peace of Westphalia?
What Were Six Results Of The Peace Of Westphalia? As a result of Westphalia, the German princeies from the Holy Roman Emperor, the break-up of Europe’s religious wars, the abolition of Catholic rule over Europe, and the introduction of the peace summit all result.
Why was the Peace of Westphalia agreed to?
The Peace of Westphalia “confirmed the Peace of Augsburg which had granted Lutherans religious tolerance in the Empire” that had been taken away by Emperor Ferdinand II in his Edict of Restitution of 1629 (the Peace also granted the same tolerance to Calvinists). For religious issues, the peace was “essentially a broadening and
What was the outcome of the Peace of Westphalia?
The Peace of Westphalia ended with the signing of two treaties between the empire and the new great powers, Sweden and France, and settled the conflicts inside the empire with their guarantees. A new electorate was established for the exiled son of the revolt’s leader, the elector Palatine.
What resulted from the Peace of Westphalia?
The Peace of Westphalia, which comprised two treaties, ended the Thirty Years' War. The most important provisions of this treaty were the granting of each prince within the Holy Roman Empire the right to decide the official religion of their own territory and granting imperial subjects religious freedom.

What were the main points of the Treaty of Westphalia?
The Peace of Westphalia, which comprised two treaties, ended the Thirty Years' War. The most important provisions of this treaty were the granting of each prince within the Holy Roman Empire the right to decide the official religion of their own territory and granting imperial subjects religious freedom.
What were 3 significant outcomes of the Peace of Westphalia?
As a result of the Treaty of Westphalia, the Netherlands gained independence from Spain, Sweden gained control of the Baltic and France was acknowledged as the preeminent Western power.
What did the Treaty of Westphalia end?
The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties that were signed in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties, essentially, ended the European wars of religion, including the Thirty Years' War.
What were six results of the Peace of Westphalia?
Six results of the peace of Westphalia were the weakening of Austria and Spain, the strengthening of France, the independency of German princes from the Holy Roman Emperor, the end to religious wars in Europe, the introduction of the peace summit, and the abandonment of Catholic rule over Europe.
Why was the Treaty of Westphalia necessary?
The Treaty of Westphalia is regarded as a key step in the development of tolerance and secularization across the world. It also strengthened nations since they could now enter into foreign alliances and decide important matters, such as peace and war.
What caused the Westphalia treaty?
Two destructive wars were the major triggers behind signing the eventual Peace of Westphalia: the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic. The Thirty Years' War was a series of wars in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648.
What Treaty ended the 30 Years war?
The Thirty Years' War ended with the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, which changed the map of Europe irrevocably. The peace was negotiated, from 1644, in the Westphalian towns of Münster and Osnabrück.
What is the meaning of Westphalia?
(wɛstˈfeɪlɪə ) noun. a historic region of NW Germany, now mostly in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
How did the Peace of Westphalia mark a turning point in European history?
The Treaty of Westphalia was signed which brought peace to the region and and structure for the future of Europe. Germany was destroyed and setback while France took the lead, and became the dominant power in Europe. Without this war and its consequences, the Europe of today will not have been the same.
What was the impact of the Peace of Westphalia?
The Peace of Westphalia is regarded as a milestone in the development toward tolerance and secularization. This settlement also strengthened the imperial Estates: they could enter into foreign alliances and decide important matters, such as peace and war, along with the emperor.
How many countries signed the Treaty of Westphalia?
Peace of WestphaliaTreaties of Osnabrück and MünsterDrafted1646–1648Signed24 October 1648LocationOsnabrück and Münster, Westphalia, Holy Roman EmpireParties1092 more rows
What was the main cause of the 30 years war?
The primary cause of the Thirty Years' War was the actions of Emperor Ferdinand II in forcing the protestants into Catholicism. The war ended with the Peace of Westphalia, a treaty that laid boundaries for European countries and recognized subsequent territorial sovereignty throughout Europe.
What were some effects of the Peace of Westphalia quizlet?
Some of the effects of the Peace of Westphalia were that France emerged a clear winner, gaining territory on both its Spanish and German frontiers. The Hapsburgs were not so fortunate. They had to accept the almost total independence of all the princes of the Holy Roman Empire.
What was a result of the treaty known as the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 quizlet?
The Peace of Westphalia (1648) ended the Thirty Years' War and laid the foundations for a system of competing, independent European states. The treaty's terms mandated that European states recognize each other as sovereign and equal.
What are the three principles of political sovereignty of Peace of Westphalia?
National self-determination; Precedent for ending wars through diplomatic congresses; Peaceful coexistence among sovereign states as the norm; Maintained by a balance of power among sovereign states and acceptance of principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other sovereign states.
How did the Peace of Westphalia mark a turning point in European history?
The Treaty of Westphalia was signed which brought peace to the region and and structure for the future of Europe. Germany was destroyed and setback while France took the lead, and became the dominant power in Europe. Without this war and its consequences, the Europe of today will not have been the same.
Who won the Thirty Years' War?
Many people believe that Protestants won the Thirty Years' War since they were granted religious freedom. However, an argument can be made that no...
What were the main terms of the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648?
The Treaty of Westphalia granted religious tolerance to Lutherans and Calvinists in the Holy Roman Empire. It recognized Dutch independence, gave t...
What is the lasting significance of the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia?
The lasting significance of the Treaty of Westphalia was religious tolerance. The treaty also ended over a century of conflict between Catholics an...
What did the Treaty of Westphalia accomplish?
The Treaty of Westphalia ended the Thirty Years' War. It also recognized the Netherlands as an independent nation and promised religious tolerance...
What did the Peace of Westphalia do?
The Peace of Westphalia was a couple of treaties that helped end the Thirty Years' War. It also helped establish independent states within the Euro...
What was the cause of the Thirty Years War?
The Protestant Reformation helped cause the Thirty Years' War. Within the regions, and during the Peace of Augsburg, there was rising tension betwe...
What is the importance of the Treaty of Westphalia?
The treaty helped establish the more modern boundaries of the European Nations, so the borders to some of the countries that we see today were put...
Treaty of Westphalia's Significance
To understand the significance of the Treaty of Westphalia, one must first understand the history of the Protestant Reformation. A Protestant is someone who "protests" against the theology of the Catholic Church.
The Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire should not be confused with the Roman Empire. In fact, a saying about the empire reads, "The Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, Roman, nor an empire." The Holy Roman Empire controlled much of Europe between 800 AD and 1806 AD.
The Thirty Years' War
Some of the initial discord in the Holy Roman Empire was quelled by the Peace of Augsburg in 1555. In this treaty, Emperor Charles V granted religious tolerance to Lutherans. However, the peace was temporary. The Thirty Years' War began during the reign of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II.
The Treaty of Westphalia Fractured 1,000 Years of Catholic Dominance Over Europe
One of the major reasons why the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia is significant to history is because it fractured nearly 1,000 years of Catholic dominance over Europe.
The Treaty of Westphalia Forced States to Form Alliances and Engage in Diplomacy
One of the main reasons why the Treaty of Westphalia is important to history is because it forced sovereign states to work together to secure their future. Before the treaty each state was reliant upon the European church to prevent wars and conflict.
The Treaty of Westphalia Solidified States Borders
One of the main reasons why the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia is significant to history is because it solidified much of the current state borders of Europe.
Conclusion
There you have it; an entire article dedicated to the 3 reasons why the treaty of Westphalia is significant to western history.
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What Was the Thirty Years' War and the Treaty of Westphalia?
The Thirty Years' War was a series of conflicts that took place between 1618 and 1648. While there were many factors across various conflicts, the root cause of the fighting centered on religious freedom and the conflict between Catholicism and Protestantism, especially in the Holy Roman Empire.
The Thirty Years' War and the Peace of Westphalia: Background
The Protestant Reformation was a religious movement started by Martin Luther. Martin Luther famously published a document called the Disputation on the Power of Indulgences ( 95 Theses) in 1517. In this document, Luther proposed ideas about Christianity that conflicted with the Catholic Church's doctrines and policies.
The Thirty Years' War: Summary and History
Leading into the Thirty Years' War, the Holy Roman Empire was religiously divided among largely autonomous territories. The emperor's authority over the territories was not particularly strong. Moreover, while Catholics and Lutherans had arrived at a relatively stable peace, Calvinism was spreading and disrupting the peace.
What is Westphalia in the world?
Westphalia is a term used in international relations, supposedly arising from the Treaties of Westphalia 1648 which ended the Thirty Years War . It is generally held to mean a system of states or international society comprising sovereign state entities possessing the monopoly of force within their mutually recognized territories. Relations between states are conducted by means of formal diplomatic ties between heads of state and governments, and international law consists of treaties made (and broken) by those sovereign entities. [ 3]
When was the 350th anniversary of the Peace of Westphalia?
The 350th anniversary of the Peace of Westphalia in 1998 was marked by a flurry of conferences and publications by historians, but it was largely ignored in the discipline of international relations (IR). This oversight is odd because in IR the end of the Thirty Years’ War is regarded as the beginning of the international system with which ...
How do SAPs affect the poor?
So SAPs hurt the poor most, because they depend heavily on these services and subsidies. SAPs encourage countries to focus on the production and export of primary commodities such as cocoa and coffee to earn foreign exchange. But these commodities have notoriously erratic prices subject to the whims of global markets which can depress prices just when countries have invested in these so-called ‘cash crops’. [ 33]
How did industrialization affect the Third World?
Industrialization by state elites in Third World Countries domestic policy is the process of social and economic change that transforms a human group from a pre-industrial society into an industrial one. It is a part of a wider modernization process, where social change and economic development are closely related with technological innovation, particularly with the development of large-scale energy and metallurgy production. It is the extensive organization of an economy for the purpose of manufacturing. Countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America and the Caribbean in the late 20th century found that high levels of structural differentiation, functional specialization, and autonomy of economic systems from government were likely to contribute greatly to industrial-commercial growth and prosperity. Amongst other things, relatively open trading systems with zero or low duties on goods imports tended to stimulate industrial cost-efficiency and innovation across the board. Free and flexible labor and other markets also helped raise general business-economic performance levels, as did rapid popular learning capabilities.
What is the foreign policy of a country?
However, a country’s foreign policy, also called the international relations policy, is strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals in international relations.
What is the separation of the domestic and international spheres?
The term implies a separation of the domestic and international spheres , such that states may not legitimately intervene in the domestic affairs of another, whether in the pursuit of self-interest or by appeal to a higher notion of sovereignty, be it religion, ideology, or other supranational ideal.
How has the creation of ARAs improved the relationship between tax authorities and larger corporate taxpayers?
The creation of ARAs has improved relationships between tax authorities and larger corporate taxpayers, and increased, at least marginally, the capacity of governments to raise revenue . [ 18] Several African states have implemented democratic and liberal constitutional reforms during the last two decades.
What was the peace of Westphalia?
Peace of Westphalia, European settlements of 1648, which brought to an end the Eighty Years’ War between Spain and the Dutch and the German phase of the Thirty Years’ War. The peace was negotiated, from 1644, in the Westphalian towns of Münster and Osnabrück. The Spanish-Dutch treaty was signed on January 30, 1648.
Which treaty was the foundation of the modern state system?
Peace of Westphalia. The Swearing of the Oath of Ratification of the Treaty of Münster, oil on copper by Gerard Terborch, 1648, depicting the settlement of the Peace ...
What were the results of the peace settlement?
Under the terms of the peace settlement, a number of countries received territories or were confirmed in their sovereignty over territories. The territorial clauses all favoured Sweden, France, and their allies. Sweden obtained western Pomerania (with the city of Stettin ), the port of Wismar, the archbishopric of Bremen, and the bishopric of Verden. These gains gave Sweden control of the Baltic Sea and the estuaries of the Oder, Elbe, and Weser rivers. France obtained sovereignty over Alsace and was confirmed in its possession of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, which it had seized a century before; France thus gained a firm frontier west of the Rhine River. Brandenburg obtained eastern Pomerania and several other smaller territories. Bavaria was able to keep the Upper Palatinate, while the Rhenish Palatinate was restored to Charles Louis, the son of the elector palatine Frederick V. Two other important results of the territorial settlement were the confirmation of the United Provinces of the Netherlands and the Swiss Confederation as independent republics, thus formally recognizing a status which those two states had actually held for many decades. Apart from these territorial changes, a universal and unconditional amnesty to all those who had been deprived of their possessions was declared, and it was decreed that all secular lands (with specified exceptions) should be restored to those who had held them in 1618.
What was the difficult question of the ownership of spiritual lands?
The difficult question of the ownership of spiritual lands was decided by a compromise. The year 1624 was declared the “standard year” according to which territories should be deemed to be in Roman Catholic or Protestant possession. By the important provision that a prince should forfeit his lands if he changed his religion, an obstacle was placed in the way of a further spread of both the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation. The declaration that all protests or vetoes of the Peace of Westphalia by whomsoever pronounced should be null and void dealt a blow at the intervention of the Roman Curia in German affairs.
What was more important than territorial redistribution?
Even more important than the territorial redistribution was the ecclesiastical settlement. The Peace of Westphalia confirmed the Peace of Augsburg (1555), which had granted Lutherans religious tolerance in the empire and which had been rescinded by the Holy Roman emperor Ferdinand II in his Edict of Restitution (1629).
What were the two results of the territorial settlement?
Two other important results of the territorial settlement were the confirmation of the United Provinces of the Netherlands and the Swiss Confederation as independent republics , thus formally recognizing a status which those two states had actually held for many decades.
Which country gained control of the Baltic Sea?
These gains gave Sweden control of the Baltic Sea and the estuaries of the Oder, Elbe, and Weser rivers. France obtained sovereignty over Alsace and was confirmed in its possession of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, which it had seized a century before; France thus gained a firm frontier west of the Rhine River.
What were the main tenets of the Peace of Westphalia?
The options were Catholicism, Lutheranism, and now Calvinism.
Who eulogized the Peace of Westphalia?
Joachim Whaley, a leading English-language historian of the Holy Roman Empire, mentions that later commentators such as Leibniz, Rousseau, Kant, and Schiller eulogized the Peace of Westphalia as the first step towards a universal peace, but he points out that "their projections for the future should not be mistaken for descriptions of reality".
What was the peace treaty between the Holy Roman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire?
The Peace of Westphalia ( German: Westfälischer Friede, pronounced [vɛstˈfɛːlɪʃɐ ˈfʁiːdə] ( listen)) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and Eighty Years' War (1568–1648), and brought peace to the Holy Roman Empire, closing a calamitous period of European history that killed approximately eight million people. The Holy Roman Emperor ( Ferdinand III of Habsburg ), the Spanish Monarchy, the kingdoms of France and Sweden, the United Provinces (Netherlands), and their respective allies among the princes of the Holy Roman Empire participated in these treaties.
What is the Westphalian sovereignty?
Main article: Westphalian sovereignty. Scholars of international relations have identified the Peace of Westphalia as the origin of principles crucial to modern international relations , including the inviolability of borders and non-interference in the domestic affairs of sovereign states .
What was the first peace agreement between France and the Habsburgs?
In Hamburg and Lübeck, Sweden and the Holy Roman Empire negotiated the Treaty of Hamburg with the intervention of Richelieu. The Holy Roman Empire and Sweden declared that the preparations of Cologne and the Treaty of Hamburg were preliminaries of an overall peace agreement.
When was the Treaty of Münster signed?
The Peace of Münster was signed by the Dutch Republic and the Kingdom of Spain on 30 January 1648 , and was ratified in Münster on 15 May 1648. The Treaty of Münster ( Instrumentum Pacis Monasteriensis, IPM), between the Holy Roman Emperor and France, along with their respective allies.
Which countries were involved in the peace negotiations in Münster?
Both cities were maintained as neutral and demilitarized zones for the negotiations. In Münster, negotiations took place between the Holy Roman Empire and France, as well as between the Dutch Republic and Spain who on 30 January 1648 signed a peace treaty, that was not part of the Peace of Westphalia.
What was the Treaty of Westphalia?
The Treaty of Westphalia is a collective name given to the settlements which the Imperial-Habsburg delegates drew up with France, at Munster, and with Sweden, at Osnabruck. It represents an important landmark in modern European history, as it had a considerable impact on the religious situation in Germany, on the political development of the major powers and the German states, and on international relations for the next hundred and fifty years.
How did the Treaty of Westphalia affect the war?
The major powers participating in the war were affected in fundamentally different ways by the Treaty of Westphalia. For some, like Spain, 1648 began a sharp downward trend into decline. For others, like France, Westphalia was a significant phase in the ascent to military supremacy. There were variations, too, between these extremes. Sweden reached her apex at Westphalia but set into slow decline shortly afterwards. Austria started a downward trend but recovered later in the century and once again became a formidable power.
Why was Spain excluded from the deliberations between the powers in 1648?
Spain was excluded from the deliberations between the powers in 1648 because of French resentment at the separate peace treaty concluded between Spain and the Netherlands. The Treaty of West-phalia did not attempt to solve the territorial disputes between France and Spain in Franche Comte; nor did it guarantee peace in the southern Netherlands. The war between France and Spain, in fact, continued until it was concluded by the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 (by which Spain lost substantial territory in Flanders). Nevertheless, the Treaty of Westphalia indirectly weakened Spain in two ways. First, French territorial gains along the Rhine threatened the Spanish hold on Flanders and Franche Comte and drove a wedge into the traditional power bloc of the Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs in Central Europe. Second, the Treaty killed off any remnants of the ambitious foreign policy inherited from Charles V by Philip II, which had been to establish Spanish dominance over Europe and to crush Protestantism and incipient nationalism. Spain had burned herself out as a major power by 1648, and for the rest of the seventeenth century was further weakened in a series of wars with France. By the time of the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) Spain's ties with Austria had been permanently severed and she had lost to the latter those European territories not already annexed by France. Although Spain did experience a period of revival in the eighteenth century (occasioned partly by this reduction of responsibilities), she was never again to reach her earlier peak of power and influence in European affairs.
What were the major defects of the Religious Peace of Augsburg?
One of the major defects of the Religious Peace of Augsburg had been that the right to religious choice had been granted to rulers only, which meant that the princes were entitled to impose either Catholicism or Lutheranism as the only religion within their states. The Treaty of Westphalia allowed rulers to maintain the state religion of their choice and to direct the institutions of that religion but, at the same time, urged them to acknowledge the right of their subjects to practise minority religions in private. There were two loopholes in the settlement. No attempt was made to force the Emperor to grant toleration in Habsburg lands, a grave deficiency since it had been the religious situation in Bohemia which had provided the immediate background to the Thirty Years’ War. Secondly, any German ruler was entitled to expel religious dissidents who had not been free to practise their faith in 1624; this power was, however, circumscribed by special rules, one of which allowed religious emigres to own property in absentia.1Even though these reservations diluted the religious clauses of the Treaty, there was a far greater degree of acceptance of the spirit of toleration and there were no further religious ‘test cases’ like the Cologne issue (1583–4) or the Donauworth Incident (1607). The possibility of another intensive period of the secularization of Church property or of winning back Lutheran areas to Catholicism was prevented by a provision of the Treaty that the year 1624 was to be regarded as the criterion for the demarcation between Lutheran and Catholic states. This meant the withdrawal of the unpopular Edict of Restitution (1629) and the restoration to the Protestants of some of the areas conquered by Tilly during the War.
What were the German states affected by the Treaty of Westphalia?
The German states were affected in different ways by the Treaty of Westphalia, but the general trend was for the larger ones to grow more powerful at the expense of the smaller and weaker administrative units . Saxony, for example, received Lusatia, Brunswick was given the negotiating centre of Osnabruck, and Bavaria was enlarged to include the Upper Palatinate and received the honour of an Electorate (bringing the total number within the Empire to eight). But undoubtedly the main beneficiary of the settlement was Brandenburg. The Great Elector had used his troops in the 1640s to gain territory rather than to play a direct part in the war, with the result that Brandenburg was in a strong negotiating position in 1648. She eventually received eastern Pomerania (the Great Elector expressed great disappointment that western Pomerania was given to Sweden), the Archbishopric of Magdeburg, the Bishoprics of Halberstadt and Minden, and the Duchies of Cleves and Ravensberg.
What was Sweden's power in 1648?
Sweden was one of the victorious powers in 1648 and considered herself the diplomatic equal of France (hence the insistence on negotiating separately). By the Treaty of Westphalia Sweden, too, gained substantial territory, including Western Pomerania, Stettin, Wollin, Wismar, Rugen and the Bishoprics of Bremen and Verden. Having now become a major German power, Sweden was also granted the right to deliberate and vote in the Diet. Her future should have been as promising as that of France. The rest of the century, however, saw her gradual decline and inability to take advantage of her gains. Indeed, the Treaty of Westphalia had a deleterious effect on Swedish power; from 1648 Sweden devoted most of her limited resources to maintaining German territories which were by no means essential for her major power status. She came into conflict with Brandenburg when the Great Elector of Brandenburg (1640–88) prodded at Swedish territory in northern Germany and weakened Swedish military power at the Battle of Fehrbellin (1675). The struggles between Sweden and Brandenburg were one of the unfortunate results of the 1648 territorial settlement and considerably weakened Sweden's capacity to resist the later and much greater threat of Russian expansion into the Baltic. When Peter the Great of Russia joined the Great Northern War (1700–21) Sweden was already in decline; and the Treaty of Nystadt (1721) was a formal recognition of Sweden's ‘second division’ status.
Who coined the term "prefactual"?from en.wikipedia.org
Prefactual (before the fact) thought experiments — the term prefactual was coined by Lawrence J. Sanna in 1998 — speculate on possible future outcomes, given the present, and ask "What will be the outcome if event E occurs?"
What is counterfactual speculation?from en.wikipedia.org
The study of counterfactual speculation has increasingly engaged the interest of scholars in a wide range of domains such as philosophy, psychology, cognitive psychology, history, political science, economics, social psychology, law, organizational theory, marketing, and epidemiology.
What is the most ancient pattern of mathematical proof?from en.wikipedia.org
The ancient Greek deiknymi ( δείκνυμι ), or thought experiment, "was the most ancient pattern of mathematical proof ", and existed before Euclidean mathematics, where the emphasis was on the conceptual, rather than on the experimental part of a thought-experiment.
What is the skeptical challenge of Kathleen Wilkes?from plato.stanford.edu
Frequently discussed is the skeptical challenge raised by Kathleen Wilkes. She expresses a deep suspicion of scenarios such as Derek Parfit’s people splitting like an amoeba (see Parfit 1987; Gendler 2002a). Wilkes wants philosophy “to use science fact rather than science fiction or fantasy” (Wilkes 1988, p. 1), and therefore to refrain from using thought experiments because they are “both problematic and positively misleading.” (Wilkes 1988, p. 2) She claims that thought experiments about personal identity in particular often fail to provide the background conditions against which the experiment is set (see Wilkes 1988, p. 7). She thinks we would not know what to say if we encountered someone who split like an amoeba. She insists that a legitimate thought experiment must not violate the known laws of nature. We do agree with Wilkes that underdetermination can be a problem. But instead of dismissing thought experiments in philosophy we should consider it a crucial factor in assessing the quality of a thought experiment (see Rescher 2005, pp. 9–14). The more detailed the imaginary scenario in the relevant aspects, the better the thought experiment (see Brendel 2004, pp. 97–99; Häggqvist 1996, p. 28).
What is Gualeni's argument?from en.wikipedia.org
Gualeni's argument is that the history of philosophy has, until recently, merely been the history of written thought, and digital media can complement and enrich the limited and almost exclusively linguistic approach to philosophical thought. He considers virtual worlds to be philosophically viable and advantageous in contexts like those of thought experiments, when the recipients of a certain philosophical notion or perspective are expected to objectively test and evaluate different possible courses of action, or in cases where they are confronted with interrogatives concerning non-actual or non-human phenomenologies.
Who refuses to acknowledge Galileo?from en.wikipedia.org
Strange then, as Cohen says, that philosophers and scientists alike refuse to acknowledge either Galileo in particular, or the thought experiment technique in general for its pivotal role in both science and philosophy.
Is a counter thought experiment plausible?from plato.stanford.edu
To be effective, counter thought experiments needn’t be very plausible at all. In a court of law a jury would convict provided guilt is established “beyond a reasonable doubt.” A common defence strategy is to provide an alternative account of the evidence that has just enough plausibility to put the prosecution’s case into some measure of doubt. That is sufficient to undermine it. A counter thought experiment need only do that much to be effective, and in this sense it operates like a “necessity refuter” in Sorensen’s sense.
