So a “good” thought experiment in the philosophic community is one that generates lots of citations and academic prestige. This seems to have heavy network/first-mover/lock-in effects. Also, an emphasis on drama and counter-intuitiveness and communicating with academics. There’s surely some selection pressure for thought experiments that “allow difficult and contentious problems to be understood, remembered, and referred to”, for example, but it seems to be pretty weak compared to the other factors.
So a “good” thought experiment in the philosophic community is one that generates lots of citations and academic prestige. This seems to have heavy network/first-mover/lock-in effects. Also, an emphasis on drama and counter-intuitiveness and communicating with academics. There’s surely some selection pressure for thought experiments that “allow difficult and contentious problems to be understood, remembered, and referred to”, for example, but it seems to be pretty weak compared to the other factors.