Experimental Philosophy

Experimental philosophy, or “x-phi”, applies the methods of experimental psychology to the study of intuitions. In a broad sense, experimental philosophy encompasses any work within philosophy that uses experimental methods to address philosophical questions.

Bristol philosophers working in experimental philosophy:

Ken Binmore’s experimental work has mostly been devoted to testing economic theories of bargaining in the laboratory. The papers are reprinted with a linking commentary in Does Game Theory Work? The Bargaining Challenge, published by MIT Press in 2007. He has also tested various auction designs in the laboratory for commercial enterprises. With Alex Voorhoeve, he is currently studying the extent to which irrationalities deriving from similarity-based reasoning may distort the ethical judgements of subjects asked to evaluate differing public health issues. His next project is to test the extent to which the Hurwicz criterion for making rational decisions under uncertainty can explain experimental behaviour in the Ellsberg paradox.

A paper on this research can be found here: 'An Experiment on the Ellsberg Paradox' (paper co-authored with Stewart and Voorhoeve)

See also 'An Experimental Test of Rubinstein's Bargaining Model' (paper co-authored with Swierzbinski and Tomlinson)

Bryony Pierce is conducting research in the fields of philosophy of action and philosophy of mind. Her experimental work so far has been on the Knobe effect and the folk concept of free will.

June 2012 3:AM Magazine Interview about Bryony Pierce's research and her views on experimental philosophy.

Experimental Philosophy Group UK

Experimental Philosophy Group UK has been set up to enable experimental philosophers and other researchers interested in this field to communicate and collaborate with others involved in UK-based research. The founder members are Stephen Stich (Rutgers/Sheffield), Bryony Pierce (Bristol), James Andow (Nottingham) and Robin Scaife (Sheffield). Regular events will be held in Bristol, Nottingham and Sheffield, the first of which was on September 15th 2010, at the University of Bristol. The keynote speakers were David Papineau, Finn Spicer and Stephen Stich.

2nd Workshop, Sheffield University, 17-18 September 2011

This workshop was financially supported by a Mind Association Major Conference Grant.

Keynote speakers: Joshua Knobe (Yale) and Paulo Sousa (QUB), plus submitted papers, discussion sessions and training session.

Further information is on the Experimental Philosophy Group UK website.

Intuitions, Experiments and Philosophy
3rd Workshop of the Experimental Philosophy Group UK,
8-9th September 2012, University of Nottingham

The workshop was financially supported by a Mind Association Major Conference Grant.

Keynote speakers: Jessica Brown (St Andrews), Shaun Nichols (Arizona), and Simon Schnall (Cambridge), plus submitted papers, posters and discussion sessions.

Further information is on the Experimental Philosophy Group UK website.

Experimental Philosophy: Philosophy of Mind and Action
4th Workshop of the Experimental Philosophy Group UK
12-13 September 2013, University of Bristol

Call for Abstracts

Deadline for Submissions: 5 July 2013

Experimental Philosophy Group UK invites the submission of 500-word abstracts for 45-minute presentations or poster presentations on 'Experimental Philosophy: Philosophy of Mind and Actions' for their upcoming workshop. Keynote presentations will be given by Natalie Gold (KCL), James Moore (Goldsmiths), Regina Rini (oxford) and Eric Schwitzgebel (UC Riverside).

We welcome submissions presenting recently completed experimental work, engaging with the work of any of this year's keynote speakers, proposing new experimental work, discussing existing empirical studies in the fields of Philosophy of Mind and Action, introducing novel approaches in this area or raising relevant methodological questions.

All high-quality submissions considered. Submissions encouraged from all levels of academia. 500-word abstracts to be sent as PDF or Word documents to experimentalphilosophyuk@gmail.com by 5th July 2013. Subject line of email should read "SUBMISSION [YOUR NAME]". In the body of the email please state your name, affiliation and in which category (presentation or poster) you wish your submission to be considered. Submissions for presentations that are unsuccessful will be automatically considered for poster presentation. Presenters should be prepared to obtain funding from their home department, or to fund themselves.

Experimental Philosophy Group UK aims to provide a forum for UK-based researchers from all disciplines who are engaged in or interested in the investigation of philosophical topics using empirical methods. The workshop will have a focus upon (i) providing a platform for UK-based experimental philosophers, (ii) providing a forum for constructive discussion and collaboration to help and encourage new experimental work, (iii) encouraging constructive debate about the relevance of empirical findings to the philosophical study of Mind and Action.

Workshop Organisers: Bryony Pierce (Bristol), Robin Scaife (Sheffield) and James Andow (Nottingham).

We are grateful for the generous support of the University of Bristol Department of Philosophy, a Mind Association Major Conference Grant and the University of Bristol Centre for Science and Philosophy.

Links to other Experimental Philosophy resources on the internet:

Experimental Philosophy Society (XPS)

Thomas Nadelhoffer’s Experimental Philosophy blog

Joshua Knobe’s Experimental Philosophy page

University of Arizona Experimental Philosophy Lab

The Experimental Philosophy Page

(Contact Bryony Pierce if you would like your site to be listed here.)

Links to questionnaires:

James Andow's latest survey is now closed.

Find out more about Experiment Month surveys here.

Selja Seppälä and Edouard Machery's survey on metaphors is now closed.

Fiery Cushman and Eric Schwitzgebel's Moral Sense Test