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History and Philosophy of Experimental Philosophy: All in the Family

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The Compact Compendium of Experimental Philosophy
This chapter is in the book The Compact Compendium of Experimental Philosophy

Abstract

Experimental philosophy (or “x-phi”) is a way of doing philosophy. It is “traditional” philosophy, but with a little something extra: In addition to the expected philosophical arguments and engagement, x-phi involves the use of empirical methods to test the empirical claims that arise. This extra bit strikes some as a new, perhaps radical, addition to philosophical practice. We don’t think so. As this chapter will show, empirical claims have been common across the history of Western philosophy, as have appeals to empirical observation in attempting to support or subvert these claims. While conceptions of philosophy have changed over time, across these changes we find philosophers employing empirical methods in pursuing their philosophical questions. Our primary aim in this chapter is to illustrate this fact. We begin by discussing the relevance of history to experimental philosophy (Section 2), then offer a necessarily condensed and highly selective history of empirical work in Western philosophy, ranging from the ancients (Section 3), to the early moderns (Section 4), to the late moderns (Section 5), and on to the present (Section 6).

Abstract

Experimental philosophy (or “x-phi”) is a way of doing philosophy. It is “traditional” philosophy, but with a little something extra: In addition to the expected philosophical arguments and engagement, x-phi involves the use of empirical methods to test the empirical claims that arise. This extra bit strikes some as a new, perhaps radical, addition to philosophical practice. We don’t think so. As this chapter will show, empirical claims have been common across the history of Western philosophy, as have appeals to empirical observation in attempting to support or subvert these claims. While conceptions of philosophy have changed over time, across these changes we find philosophers employing empirical methods in pursuing their philosophical questions. Our primary aim in this chapter is to illustrate this fact. We begin by discussing the relevance of history to experimental philosophy (Section 2), then offer a necessarily condensed and highly selective history of empirical work in Western philosophy, ranging from the ancients (Section 3), to the early moderns (Section 4), to the late moderns (Section 5), and on to the present (Section 6).

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. List of Abbreviations VII
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Part 1: The Philosophy of Experimental Philosophy
  6. History and Philosophy of Experimental Philosophy: All in the Family 9
  7. Projects and Methods of Experimental Philosophy 39
  8. Intuitions in Experimental Philosophy 71
  9. Limitations and Criticism of Experimental Philosophy 101
  10. Part 2: Topics from Theoretical Philosophy
  11. Experimental Metaphysics: Causation 133
  12. Experimental Epistemology: Knowledge and Gettier Cases 163
  13. Experimental Philosophy of Language: Proper Names and Predicates 183
  14. The Experimental Philosophy of Logic and Formal Epistemology: Conditionals 211
  15. Experimental Philosophy of Science: Scientific Explanation 237
  16. Experimental Philosophy of Mind: Conscious State Attribution 263
  17. Part 3: Topics from Practical Philosophy
  18. Experimental Political Philosophy: Social Contract 291
  19. Experimental Legal Philosophy: General Jurisprudence 309
  20. Experimental Philosophy of Action: Free Will and Moral Responsibility 327
  21. Experimental Philosophy of Emotion: Emotion Theory 353
  22. Experimental Philosophy of Religion: Problem of Evil 371
  23. Experimental Philosophy of Aesthetics: Aesthetic Judgment 393
  24. List of Contributors 417
  25. Index 421
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110716931-003

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. List of Abbreviations VII
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Part 1: The Philosophy of Experimental Philosophy
  6. History and Philosophy of Experimental Philosophy: All in the Family 9
  7. Projects and Methods of Experimental Philosophy 39
  8. Intuitions in Experimental Philosophy 71
  9. Limitations and Criticism of Experimental Philosophy 101
  10. Part 2: Topics from Theoretical Philosophy
  11. Experimental Metaphysics: Causation 133
  12. Experimental Epistemology: Knowledge and Gettier Cases 163
  13. Experimental Philosophy of Language: Proper Names and Predicates 183
  14. The Experimental Philosophy of Logic and Formal Epistemology: Conditionals 211
  15. Experimental Philosophy of Science: Scientific Explanation 237
  16. Experimental Philosophy of Mind: Conscious State Attribution 263
  17. Part 3: Topics from Practical Philosophy
  18. Experimental Political Philosophy: Social Contract 291
  19. Experimental Legal Philosophy: General Jurisprudence 309
  20. Experimental Philosophy of Action: Free Will and Moral Responsibility 327
  21. Experimental Philosophy of Emotion: Emotion Theory 353
  22. Experimental Philosophy of Religion: Problem of Evil 371
  23. Experimental Philosophy of Aesthetics: Aesthetic Judgment 393
  24. List of Contributors 417
  25. Index 421
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