Nov 18, 2020 · In Bedeviled (Princeton University Press, 2020), Jimena Canales reveals how the greatest scientific thinkers used demons to explore problems, test the limits of what is possible, and better understand nature.

Descartes’ demon, for example, describes the challenge of discerning whether our perceptual experiences are real or entirely fictitious. Perhaps the most famous is Maxwell’s demon, which poses...

Oct 24, 2021 · We know that there is always some science behind supposed ‘demons’ — science which we will eventually be able to discover and explore, just as we have with sleep paralysis and mental illnesses like schizophrenia.

Jan 8, 2021 · Both quantitative and qualitative demonologies have largely fallen out of favor these days, but the historian of science Jimena Canales has just published one. “ Bedeviled: A Shadow History of...

Nov 13, 2020 · Maxwell imagined a “very observant and neat fingered” demon who could detect and react to the motions of individual molecules. We learn a great deal about the scientists who have used demons to confront difficult challenges and approach apparent paradoxes.

In thought experiments, philosophers and scientists occasionally imagine entities with special abilities as a way to pose thought experiment or highlight apparent paradoxes. The word "demon" here does not necessarily connote a demon, a malevolent being.

Nov 30, 2020 · To conceptualize such unseen forces, researchers have long invoked thought experiments involving demons, devils, golems or genies. These strange beasts aren’t creatures of superstition and...

Descartes worked hard to find ways to deliver us from a world of maddening illusions—to discover a method for distinguishing fact from fiction and separating sanity from insanity. He articulated the best...

Nov 13, 2020 · We learn a great deal about the scientists who have used demons to confront difficult challenges and ap-proach apparent paradoxes.

This book is the first all-encompassing exploration of the role of demons in philosophical and scientific thought experiments. In Part I, the author explains the importance of thought experiments in science and philosophy.