Method
Thought Experiment
Classification
- Method family
- argumentative
- Domains
- Ethics , Metaphysics , Philosophy of Mind
Overview
A thought experiment constructs an imagined case and reasons through it to isolate a principle, intuition, possibility, or conceptual consequence.
Purpose. The method tests how a claim behaves when relevant features are varied or stripped away. An imagined case can clarify reasoning, but it is not an empirical experiment and its conclusion remains open to criticism.
Characteristic operations
- Construct the case: Specify an imagined situation with the features relevant to the question.
- Vary one feature: Hold other conditions steady while changing the point under examination.
- Run the scenario: Work out what would happen or what judgments the case elicits.
- Draw and test the inference: State the proposed lesson, then check whether hidden assumptions or misleading details drove it.
Used by traditions
Applied to questions
References
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Thought Experiments
- Harry Frankfurt, 'Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility', Journal of Philosophy 66 (1969)
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Personal Identity, §§3–4