Thought experiments have been used throughout history by great thinkers to expand our knowledge of ourselves and the world. In this course, you’ll explore fascinating thought experiments on subjects like personal identity and selfhood, special relativity and quantum mechanics, free will and moral responsibility, and what makes a life truly worth living. Join history’s great thinkers in The Power of Thought Experiments for an extraordinary journey into your own mind.
The Power of Thought Experiments
11h 54m 19s
English
Paid
About the Authors
Daniel Breyer
Daniel Breyer is an educator focused on the practical craft of structured thinking — particularly the use of thought experiments as a deliberate tool for clarifying problems and exploring conceptual edges in everyday and professional decision-making.
His CourseFlix listing carries The Power of Thought Experiments — a structured walkthrough of the thought-experiment tradition across philosophy, science, and decision theory, with practical patterns for using them in everyday thinking.
Material is paid and aimed at general adult learners interested in better thinking practice. The course sits in the broader Soft Skills & Communication catalog on CourseFlix.
Wondrium (The Great Courses)
Wondrium (formerly The Great Courses Plus and originally The Great Courses) is a US online education platform that has been publishing university-level video lecture series since 1990. The platform's distinctive contribution is the depth and production quality of its courses — each is taught by a tenured university professor with the production values of a documentary series, not a YouTube tutorial.
The catalog covers academic disciplines rather than technical-skill training: history, philosophy, science, mathematics, literature, music theory, religion, economics. Material is taught by faculty from Stanford, Yale, Princeton, the University of Chicago, MIT, and similar institutions. Wondrium is typically used by intellectually-curious adult learners filling in the liberal-arts side of their education.
The CourseFlix listing under this source carries over 19 Wondrium / Great Courses titles spanning that range — sitting in the broader CourseFlix catalog as general-interest reference rather than as a software-engineering track. Material is paid; Wondrium itself runs on a monthly / annual subscription on the original platform.
Watch Online 24 lessons
0:00
/ #1: 1. How thought experiments work
All Course Lessons (24)
| # | Lesson Title | Duration | Access |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1. How thought experiments work Demo | 24:43 | |
| 2 | 2. Saving others or letting them die | 28:52 | |
| 3 | 3. What the trolley problem reveals about you | 27:22 | |
| 4 | 4. Suppose you're impartial; Suppose you care | 27:02 | |
| 5 | 5. Unmasking the hidden pitfails of testimony | 30:13 | |
| 6 | 6. Can you time-travel and change the past | 28:04 | |
| 7 | 7. Paradoxes as mental workouts | 30:53 | |
| 8 | 8. What Newcomb's paradox says about decisions | 29:56 | |
| 9 | 9. Stories as thought experiments | 29:08 | |
| 10 | 10. Einstein's revolutionary thought experiments | 31:57 | |
| 11 | 11. Galileo's and Schrodinger's thought experiments | 33:16 | |
| 12 | 12. What makes identify the same over time | 31:26 | |
| 13 | 13. Mind swapping and personal identity | 27:34 | |
| 14 | 14. Who are you after a brain transplant | 29:11 | |
| 15 | 15. Who are you right now | 30:24 | |
| 16 | 16. Exploring the mysteries of consciousness | 31:18 | |
| 17 | 17. When are you morally responsible | 30:30 | |
| 18 | 18. How luch changes moral thought experiments | 31:21 | |
| 19 | 19. Challenging whether you have free will | 31:59 | |
| 20 | 20. Suppose you're immortal. What do you value | 26:29 | |
| 21 | 21. Visit twin earth to explore meaning | 24:06 | |
| 22 | 22. How do you know when you know something | 32:42 | |
| 23 | 23. How to create civilization from chaos | 32:26 | |
| 24 | 24. Thought experiments as a way of life | 33:27 |
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Frequently asked questions
What is The Power of Thought Experiments about?
Thought experiments have been used throughout history by great thinkers to expand our knowledge of ourselves and the world. In this course, you’ll explore fascinating thought experiments on subjects like personal identity and selfhood…
Who teaches this course?
It is taught by Daniel Breyer, Wondrium (The Great Courses). You can find more courses by these instructors on the corresponding source pages.
How long is the course?
It contains 24 lessons with a total runtime of 11 hours 54 minutes. Every lesson is available to watch online at your own pace.
Is it free to watch?
It is part of CourseFlix's premium catalog. A subscription unlocks the full video player; the course description, table of contents, and preview information are available to everyone.
Where can I watch it online?
The course is available to watch online on CourseFlix at https://courseflix.net/course/the-power-of-thought-experiments. The page hosts every lesson with the integrated video player; no download is required.