"Experimental philosophy" uses experimental methods to explore philosophical questions. For instance, much of experimental philosophy explores the boundaries of philosophically important concepts – concepts like responsibility, morality, and knowledge – by conducting survey experiments on ordinary people’s intuitions. Experimental philosophers also try to uncover the psychological processes that underlie everyday judgments about such philosophically charged notions.  This kind of research is provocative in part because many philosophers regard the discipline as largely an a priori or “armchair” endeavor, one that is defined precisely by its contrast with empirical work.  So while experimental philosophy addresses specific, empirical components of philosophical questions, it simultaneously raises much more general questions about proper philosophical methodology.

     This NEH Summer Institute for College and University Teachers is designed to enable interested participants to engage such experimental work in both their research and in their teaching. The Institute will expose participants to many of the best paradigms and practitioners of this growing body of research, including work in such philosophical subfields as metaphysics, moral psychology, and the philosophy of science.  This will enable participants to include experimental philosophy in their undergraduate teaching as well as their research. The Institute will also provide participants with the opportunity to acquire a basic facility with the central experimental techniques and principles.