 Many taxonomies can be found in the literature. They are not mutually exclusive. We will present three of them. The first follows the type of purpose thought experiments serve. A very rudimentary version of it can be found in (Mach, 1897 and 1905). Such a classification makes sense, because an “imaginary experiment should be judged on its specific purpose” (Krimsky 1973, p. 331). Thought experiments are conducted for diverse reasons (see, e.g., DeMay 2006; Sorensen 1992, pp. 7–15), and this in a variety of areas, including the economics (see, e.g., Herfeld 2019; Thoma 2016), education (Helm and Gilbert 1985; Helm et al. 1985, Klassen 2006; Sriraman 2006; Stonier 1990), history (see, e.g., Maar 2014; Reiss 2009), literature (see, e.g., Davies 2007; Elgin 2004), mathematics (see, e.g. Brown 1991 [2011], pp. 90–97; Glas 1999), morality (see, e.g., Hauerwas 1996; Wilson 2016), as well as the natural (see Krimsky 1973), the socio-political realm (see, e.g. Roberts 1993: Thaler 2016), and theology (see, e.g., Gregersen 2014; Fehige 2018). Thought experiments may be used to entertain. This is probably true of short stories or novels which some argue qualify as thought experiments if certain conditions apply (see, e.g., Davenport 1983). Some thought experiments fulfil a specific function within a theory (see Borsboom et al. 2002). Others are executed because it is impossible to run the experimental scenario in the real world (see, e.g., Sorensen 1992, pp. 200–202). Sometimes thought experiments help to illustrate and clarify very abstract states of affairs, thereby accelerating the process of understanding (see Behmel 2001). Again others serve as examples in conceptual analysis (see Cohnitz 2006). And, then there are those that matter in the process of theory discovery (Praem and Steglich–Peterson 2015). The thought experiments that have received most of the attention are taken to provide evidence for or against a theory, putting them on a par with real-world experiments (see, e.g., Gendler 2004). The different ways to use thought experiments, of course, do not exclude one another. Most obviously, for example, a thought experiment can both entertain and make a case against a theory.