The Epistemology of Thought Experiments

Thought experiments are widely used and accepted as a standard method of gaining new knowledge about things or raising doubts about them in philosophy, in science and in everyday life. However, even though the phenomenon is commonplace, accounting for their nature and their epistemic properties have been far from simple. The aim of this research is to defend an account of the nature of thought experiments and their evidential significance using the resources of virtue epistemology.