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Intuition pump denotes a family of techniques used to transform thought through reconceptualization. Dennett (1984) coined the term “intuition pump” in criticism of philosophers who persuade without recourse to logical argument. Dennet associates intuition pumps with thought-experiments, though the examples he gives include allegories, analogies, stories, metaphors, paradoxes, and puzzles. An analysis of these techniques shows that they include a broad range of cognitive and linguistic activities that operate in a variety of ways and leaves open the question whether they may be clustered under a single rhetorical category. Dennet’s (1984) point is that some techniques affect persuasion by means other than rigorous deliberation and tend to supplant logical argument. In voicing this concern he invokes long-standing questions in philosophy, psychology, science, and education about the relations between intuition...
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Louis Dorbolo, J. (2012). Intuition Pumps and Augmentation of Learning. In: Seel, N.M. (eds) Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1428-6_827
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1428-6_827
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