Variety[edit]

Thought experiments have been used in a variety of fields,

including philosophy, law, physics, and mathematics. In philosophy, they have been used
at least sinceclassical antiquity, some pre-dating Socrates. In law, they were well-known
to Roman lawyers quoted in the Digest.[6] In physics and other sciences, notable thought
experiments date from the 19th and especially the 20th century, but examples can be
found at least as early as Galileo.

Origins and use of the literal term[edit]

Johann Witt-Hansen established that Hans Christian rsted was the first to use the LatinGerman mixed term Gedankenexperiment (lit. thought experiment) circa 1812.[7] rsted
was also the first to use its entirely German equivalent, Gedankenversuch, in 1820.
Much later, Ernst Mach used the term Gedankenexperiment in a different way, to denote
exclusively the imaginary conduct of a real experiment that would be subsequently
performed as a real physical experiment by his students.[8] Physical and mental
experimentation could then be contrasted: Mach asked his students to provide him with
explanations whenever the results from their subsequent, real, physical experiment
differed from those of their prior, imaginary experiment.
The English term thought experiment was coined (as a calque) from
Mach's Gedankenexperiment, and it first appeared in the 1897 English translation of one
of Machs papers.[9] Prior to its emergence, the activity of posing hypothetical questions
that employed subjunctive reasoning had existed for a very long time (for both scientists
and philosophers). However, people had no way of categorizing it or speaking about it.
This helps to explain the extremely wide and diverse range of the application of the term
"thought experiment" once it had been introduced into English.

Uses[edit]
Thought experiments, which are well-structured, well-defined hypothetical questions that
employ subjunctive reasoning (irrealis moods) "What might happen (or, what might have
happened) if . . . " have been used to pose questions in philosophy at least since Greek
antiquity, some pre-dating Socrates (see Rescher 1991). In physics and other sciences
many famous thought experiments date from the 19th and especially the 20th Century,
but examples can be found at least as early as Galileo.
In thought experiments we gain new information by rearranging or reorganizing already
known empirical data in a new way and drawing new (a priori) inferences from them or by
looking at these data from a different and unusual perspective. In Galileos thought
experiment, for example, the rearrangement of empirical experience consists in the
original idea of combining bodies of different weight.[10]
Thought experiments have been used in philosophy (especially ethics), physics, and other
fields (such as cognitive psychology, history, political science, economics,social
psychology, law, organizational studies, marketing, and epidemiology). In law, the
synonym "hypothetical" is frequently used for such experiments.
Regardless of their intended goal, all thought experiments display a patterned way of
thinking that is designed to allow us to explain, predict and control events in a better and
more productive way.