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X-Phi
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X-Phi

Timothy
Undead Mariachi

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Posted 10/11/09 - 12:15 PM: Subject: X-Phi	#1
I have a problem with experimental philosophy, especially the branch that thinks of it as a completely different methodology from the traditional one. Just why is it philosophically relevant to consider empirical data regarding people's intuitions? I can see there's a pragmatic side to it, but I fail to see the philosophical importance of it. I consider empirical data to be helpful in philosophical debate (for example, for counterexamples finding), but I'm to be convinced that it actually constitutes a sound, different way of doing philosophy. Certainly it cannot be a democratic thing were the content of concepts (especially the ethical ones) is decided by checking what most people think such content is. Edited by Timothy on 10/11/09 - 12:20 PM
"Neither Aristotelian nor Russellian rules give the exact logic of any expression of ordinary language; for ordinary language has no exact logic." P.F. Strawson

Arkady
Assistant Professor

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Posted 10/11/09 - 01:00 PM:	#2
Timothy wrote: I have a problem with experimental philosophy, especially the branch that thinks of it as a completely different methodology from the traditional one. Just why is it philosophically relevant to consider empirical data regarding people's intuitions? I can see there's a pragmatic side to it, but I fail to see the philosophical importance of it. I consider empirical data to be helpful in philosophical debate (for example, for counterexamples finding), but I'm to be convinced that it actually constitutes a sound, different way of doing philosophy. Certainly it cannot be a democratic thing were the content of concepts (especially the ethical ones) is decided by checking what most people think such content is. I agree. Experimental philosophy has been around for centuries. It's called SCIENCE
"Sit down before fact like a little child, and be prepared to give up every preconceived notion. Follow humbly wherever and to whatever abyss Nature leads, or you shall learn nothing." -T.H. Huxley

Timothy
Undead Mariachi

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Posted 10/12/09 - 04:22 PM:	#3
From a strictly normativist POV in, for example, a theory of rationality, what philosophical weight could surveys about case-scenarios have? In the best possible case, it would probably show how irrational people actually is and how unreliable their intuitions are concerning the decidability of questions about rationality. Same would hold with normative ethics, normative epistemology, etc. The result of the surveys would seem to be that "conceptual analysts", or traditional philosophers, are urgently needed!
"Neither Aristotelian nor Russellian rules give the exact logic of any expression of ordinary language; for ordinary language has no exact logic." P.F. Strawson

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