Experimental Philosophy

by Joshua Knobe (Editor), Shaun Nichols (Editor)

Experimental philosophy is a new movement that seeks to return the discipline of philosophy to a focus on questions about how people actually think and feel. Departing from a long-standing tradition, experimental philosophers go out and conduct systematic experiments to reach a better understanding of people's ordinary intuitions about philosophically significant questions. Although the movement is only a few years old, it has already sparked an explosion of new research, challenging a number of cherished assumptions in both philosophy and cognitive science.

The present volume provides an introduction to the major themes of work in experimental philosophy, bringing together some of the most influential articles in the field along with a collection of new papers that explore the theoretical significance of this new research.

Genres: Philosophy, Psychology, Nonfiction

244 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2008

Reviews

[Jana Light · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first heard of experimental philosophy, I was both excited and skeptical. On the one hand, philosophy concerns itself with subjects across all scientific fields, so I was thrilled to hear that it might be trying to take that relevancy seriously and amplify what it already does well with emperical methods and active data-gathering. On the other, philosophy degree programs do not train students in emperical methods and statistics; to take on that activity responsibly would require skills that have not traditionally been cultivated in philosophy training. I worried that experimental philosophers would overstep their bounds when collaboration was always on the table.

However, this book put any concerns I have to rest. Experimental philosophy is a very new field, and philosophers undertaking its aims understand this. At present, experimental philosophy is primarily concerned with understanding common intuitions, or what they frequently call "folk psychology." While intutions affect all aspects of human cognition, experimental philosophy (as described in this book) has primarily been concerned with gaining a better understanding of how our intuitions affect our moral and epistemic judgments. (Of course, this brings up questions about intuitions themselves and how they differ from individual to group to culture to country to historical tradition.) The experiments in this book range from very rudimentary to something approaching the precision and scope of a psychology study.

The four chapters not to miss are "An Experimental Philosophy Manifesto," "The Concept of Intentional Action: A Case Study in the Uses of Folk Psychology," "Bad Acts, Blameworthy Agents, and Intentional Actions: Some Problems for Juror Impartiality," and "Emperical Philosophy and Experimental Philosophy." But all are excellent.

I came away from this book with two thoughts: 1). Our moral judgments are even less clear-cut and the issues less black-and-white than we acknowledge; and 2). There is exciting opportunity for philosophy to contribute emperically to issues of human cognition and well-being, as well as exciting opportunity for collaboration between philosophers and psychologists that Experimental Philosophy is nudging forward. Experimental Philosophy is definitely stretching the traditional bounds of current practices of philosophy, but as long as the limitations of the field's training are kept in mind (or if pedagogy starts to require training in emperical methods), I am excited to see where this development will take the field itself and our understanding of humanity and human concerns.

[Petr Špecián · Rating 3 out of 5]

The quality of the studies included in the volume is pretty diverse. Some are methodologically crude (if not primitive) and/or dealing with what I consider obscure pseudoproblems. There are other, nevertheless, that are highly rewarding reads. Especially the manifesto of experimental philosophy by Knobe and Nichols (Chapter 1) and Prinz's piece on empirical and experimental philosophy (Ch. 10) belong to the latter category.

[Sandra]

I miss uni. I miss reading abstract stuff that calms me. Also, intuition is so overrated.

[L’oreal g · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written introduction to experimental philosophy, however, some studies especially those considering gettier’s cases did not replicate.