Experimental philosophy and experimental economics: A hybrid approach Articles uri icon

publication date

  • January 2015

start page

  • 623

end page

  • 647

issue

  • 51

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 1130-2097

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1988-8376

abstract

  • The aim of this paper is to present the main trends inside Experimental Philosophy, paying special attention to a severe criticism on this recent proposal of methodological change. According to Antti Kauppinen, Experimental Philosophy is doomed to failure because it cannot elicit through its methods the kind of intuitions philosophers are looking for - competent speakers' robust intuitions. Even if Kauppinen's criticism is partially right, in this article we hold, firstly, that the supposed inability of Experimental Philosophy to elicit speakers' robust intuitions is due mainly to the kind of experimental methods used until now by experimental philosophers. Secondly, we claim that the project of reform in which Experimental Philosophy is embarked can be saved only if Experimental Philosophy accepts some methodological recommendations coming from Experimental Economics. Only by doing so experimental philosophers would successfully face Kauppinen's criticism.

keywords

  • intentional action; ordinary language; intuitions