MIXORA CONCEPT
Thought experiment
A deliberately imagined scenario used to clarify a concept, test a principle or explore consequences.
Thought experiments make assumptions and intuitions visible by controlling an imagined case. Their result depends on what the scenario includes, omits and invites the reader to imagine.
What “Strong evidence” means
The core definition or effect is well established across authoritative standards, foundational research or a broad research literature. The label does not make every practical prediction certain.
VISUAL EXPLANATION · MARKER BOARDThe trolley problem varies action, intention and outcome to test whether a moral reason remains stable.
A thought experiment is not empirical evidence that people or nature actually behave that way.
Which variable changed, and which hidden assumptions stayed fixed?
A case that satisfies a claim’s conditions but not its stated conclusion.
→thoughtConsequentialismA family of moral theories that evaluates choices centrally by the value of their consequences.
→thoughtDeontologyA family of moral theories centered on duties, permissions, prohibitions or rights rather than consequences alone.
→SOURCES & TRUST
References
Last reviewed
- 01Thought ExperimentsReference source
James Robert Brown and colleagues · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Uses and limits of imagined cases in philosophy and science.
What the source labels mean
- Primary source
- Original work, experiment, standard or historical text.
- Academic source
- Scholarly research or review published for an academic audience.
- Reference source
- An expert standard, encyclopedia or institutional explanation that summarizes a field.
- General reference
- A practical specialist resource useful for application, but not treated as decisive research by itself.