Editing Thought experiment (section)

===Semifactual===
[[File:The Semifactual Thought Experiment.jpg|thumb|right|Temporal representation of a semifactual thought experiment<ref name="auto1" />]]
''Semifactual thought experiments'' – the term ''semifactual'' was coined by [[Nelson Goodman]] in 1947<ref name="Goodman, N. 1947 pp. 113-128" /><ref>Goodman's original concept has been subsequently developed and expanded by (a) Daniel Cohen (Cohen, D., "Semifactuals, Even-Ifs, and Sufficiency", ''International Logic Review'', Vol.16, (1985), pp. 102–111), (b) Stephen Barker (Barker, S., "''Even'', ''Still'' and Counterfactuals", ''Linguistics and Philosophy'', Vol.14, No.1, (February 1991), pp. 1–38; Barker, S., "Counterfactuals, Probabilistic Counterfactuals and Causation", ''Mind'', Vol.108, No.431, (July 1999), pp. 427–469), and (c) Rachel McCloy and Ruth Byrne (McCloy, R. & Byrne, R.M.J., "Semifactual 'Even If' Thinking", ''Thinking and Reasoning'', Vol.8, No.1, (February 2002), pp. 41–67).</ref> – speculate on the extent to which things might have remained the same, despite there being a different past; and asks the question Even though X happened instead of E, would Y have still occurred? (e.g., Even if the goalie '''''had''''' moved left, rather than right, could he have intercepted a ball that was traveling at such a speed?).<ref>See Yeates, Lindsay Bertram (2004). ''Thought Experimentation: A Cognitive Approach'' (Thesis). pp.&nbsp;[https://archive.org/details/TECA2004/page/n147/mode/2up 139–140], [https://archive.org/details/TECA2004/page/n149/mode/2up 141–142], [https://archive.org/details/TECA2004/page/n152/mode/1up 144].</ref><ref name="GJFa" />

Semifactual speculations are an important part of clinical medicine.