ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses a few of the many aspects of Kant's critical philosophy that are intimately connected with theories of thought experiment (TE), such as the definition of scientific experiment, the distinction between knowing and thinking. The theory of TE also includes the fact that Kant held that the "experiments" of pure and practical reason embody the special method of philosophy. Experiments of pure reason are intended to clarify the method of transcendental philosophy: this is why they are central to a Kantian appraisal of philosophical TEs. To the extent that experiments of pure reason are methodologically similar to scientific experiments, one may agree with Shi-Hyong and Fulkerson-Smith that "experiments of pure reason" show Bacon's influence on Kant. However, one should not stress similarities at the expense of fundamental differences between two kinds of experimentation. It is true that Kant associates reason's capacity to abstract the material from the formal components of a phenomenon with the chemist's activity of experimenting.
