ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an outline of a phenomenological theory of thought experiments (TEs). It introduces five phenomenological concepts that will prove crucial for an understanding of TE-reasoning: fulfillment, frustration, horizon, anticipation and background knowledge. The chapter gives a brief sketch of how knowledge acquisition works in the perceptual realm. It outlines how knowledge is generated in the realm of TE-reasoning. The chapter suggests some basic directions in which a phenomenological theory of TEs is developed. The purpose of a TE-narrative is to prime its audience for the performance of the ensuing TE. The main tools for doing so are the concepts of which the narrative is composed. To perform a TE means to successfully "live through" the anticipatory horizons against the background of which fulfilled intentions towards particular phases of the imaginative process always stand out. The performance stage of a TE is completed when it reaches the state of TE-scenario which the presenter deems relevant for the projected target-thesis.
