PHIL 491 Seminar for Philosophy of Majors (sec 003)
Experimental Philosophy and Philosophical Methodology

One of the most controversial issues in contemporary philosophy is how philosophy itself should be practiced. Is philosophy an a priori discipline? Should philosophers be content to develop their theories while sitting in the proverbial armchair? Proponents of experimental philosophy argue that philosophy needs to look at concrete empirical work on how ordinary people think and reason and that this work has important implications for a wide variety of philosophical debates—everything from semantics and epistemology to metaphysics and ethics. Some experimental philosophers have even argued that recent experimental work shows that traditional philosophical methods are hopelessly misguided. In this seminar, we will examine the experimental philosophy movement and how it relates to other approaches to philosophy.

Term 2: Monday 2:00-5:00pm
**UPDATE** This seminar will be on Monday afternoon (not Wednesday afternoon).

This course is intended for 4th year philosophy majors—other students require permission of the instructor.