An Issue Set Aside
Before we begin, it is worth saying something briefly about whether experimental philosophy really is philosophy.2 It has become somewhat fashionable to charge that it is not; that it is, instead, simply experimental psychology, or perhaps the psychology of philosophy.
This charge usually comes packaged together with a story about what kinds of questions count as genuine philosophical questions and what kinds of methods can be employed when trying to answer these questions. The trouble with packaging the charge in this way is that it smacks of philosophical imperialism. Unless we adopt overly narrow and seemingly arbitrary standards, it is hard to sustain the idea that experimental philosophical questions aren't genuine philosophical questions, or the idea that the methods of the social and cognitive sciences aren't legitimate philosophical methods. The real problem isn't how the charge is packaged, however; it's the charge itself. To see why, let's suppose that experimental philosophy is experimental psychology. So what? Unless we adopt a strict division of intellectual labor that permits no overlap, the fact that experimental philosophy asks questions about human cognition that are often associated with experimental psychology and uses the methods of the social and cognitive sciences doesn't mean that it isn't approaching genuine philosophical questions using appropriate philosophical methods. Questions can have both psychological and philosophical significance, and methods can transcend traditional academic boundaries. So, what's going on here? I suspect that the charge is usually motivated by the worry that some genuine philosophical questions simply cannot be answered using the methods of the social and cognitive sciences. Fair enough, but this only means that not all philosophy is experimental philosophy. Quite right. What follows is the story of that part of philosophy that is.
Source:
Alexander J.. Experimental Philosophy: An Introduction. Cambridge: Polity Press,2021. — 186 p.. 2021
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