Knowra Experimental philosophy Experimental philosophy Experimental philosophy uses empirical methods, especially surveys and behavioral experiments, to investigate intuitions and judgments relevant to philosophical questions.
Philosophical intuition : A seeming or judgment that presents a philosophical claim as plausible or implausible without explicit inference. Experimental studies treat these judgments as data rather than assuming they are universal.
Experimental philosophy movement : A philosophical movement that applies empirical research to questions about intuitions, concepts, and judgment. Its early program made experimental testing an explicit challenge to intuition-based philosophical practice.
Epistemic intuition : An intuitive judgment about knowledge, justification, evidence, or related epistemic concepts. Studies of knowledge cases test whether epistemological theories match widespread judgments.
Armchair philosophy : Philosophical inquiry conducted primarily through reflection and reasoning rather than empirical investigation. Experimental philosophy tests claims that armchair reflection alone can establish how people judge cases.
Survey research : A method for collecting standardized responses from a sample of people through questionnaires or interviews. Surveys let researchers compare judgments across carefully varied scenarios and populations.
Edouard Machery : A philosopher whose research examines concepts, categorization, and the empirical study of philosophical intuitions. His work helped establish cross-cultural experiments as a central test of intuition claims.
Moral responsibility : The status of an agent as deserving praise or blame for an action or omission. Experiments examine how causal details and moral evaluations affect responsibility judgments.
Philosophical analysis : The clarification of concepts and propositions through careful examination of their meanings and implications. Experiments can assess whether proposed analyses fit judgments beyond the philosopher’s own reflection.
Vignette study : A research method that elicits judgments about short, constructed descriptions of situations. Many experiments vary a vignette’s details to test what shifts a philosophical judgment.
Stephen Stich : An American philosopher known for work in philosophy of mind, cognitive science, and experimental philosophy. His critique of intuition as a reliable philosophical method helped motivate empirical alternatives.
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