ABSTRACT
This chapter presents and evaluates the Platonic account of thought experiments that is currently most prominently advocated by James Robert Brown. The introductory section will locate Brown’s position within a general taxonomy of thought experiments. The second section will give an outline of Brown’s own view and elucidate the main concepts involved in it. In the third section, Brown’s two main arguments for epistemological Platonism will be critically discussed. The fourth section is devoted to Brown’s Platonic account of the laws of nature. Major problems and possible advancements will be explored. The fifth section discusses general objections to the Platonic epistemology. Finally, the sixth section will consider the viability of Platonism if it is restricted to philosophical thought experiments.
