Editing Philosophical methodology (section)

=== Experimental philosophy ===
[[Experimental philosophy]] is the most recent development of the methods discussed in this article: it began only in the early years of the 21st century.<ref name="StanfordExperimental"/> Experimental philosophers try to answer philosophical questions by gathering empirical data. It is an interdisciplinary approach that applies the methods of [[psychology]] and the [[cognitive sciences]] to topics studied by philosophy.<ref name="StanfordExperimental">{{cite web |last1=Knobe |first1=Joshua |last2=Nichols |first2=Shaun |title=Experimental Philosophy |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/experimental-philosophy/ |website=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |access-date=1 March 2022 |date=2017}}</ref><ref name="Plakias">{{cite web |last1=Plakias |first1=Alexandra |title=Experimental Philosophy |url=https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935314.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199935314-e-17 |website=Oxford Handbooks Online |access-date=1 March 2022 |language=en |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935314.013.17 |date=3 February 2015|isbn=978-0-19-993531-4 }}</ref><ref name="RoutledgeExperimental">{{cite book |last1=Mallon |first1=Ron |last2=Nichols |first2=Shaun |title=Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=Routledge |url=https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/thematic/experimental-philosophy/v-1 |language=en |chapter=Experimental philosophy}}</ref> This usually takes the form of surveys probing the intuitions of ordinary people and then drawing conclusions from the findings. For example, one such inquiry came to the conclusion that [[justified true belief]] may be sufficient for knowledge despite various [[Gettier cases]] claiming to show otherwise.<ref name="DalyHandbook"/> The method of experimental philosophy can be used both in a negative or a positive program. As a negative program, it aims to challenge traditional philosophical movements and positions. This can be done, for example, by showing how the [[intuition]]s used to defend certain claims vary a lot depending on factors such as [[culture]], [[gender]], or [[ethnicity]]. This variation casts doubt on the reliability of the intuitions and thereby also on theories supported by them.<ref name="StanfordExperimental"/><ref name="Plakias"/> As a positive program, it uses empirical data to support its own philosophical claims. It differs from other philosophical methods in that it usually studies the intuitions of ordinary people and uses them, and not the experts' intuitions, as philosophical evidence.<ref name="StanfordExperimental"/><ref name="Plakias"/>

One problem for both the positive and the negative approaches is that the data obtained from surveys do not constitute hard empirical evidence since they do not directly express the intuitions of the participants. The participants may react to subtle pragmatic cues in giving their answers, which brings with it the need for further interpretation in order to get from the given answers to the intuitions responsible for these answers.<ref name="DalyHandbook"/> Another problem concerns the question of how reliable the intuitions of ordinary people on the often very technical issues are.<ref name="StanfordExperimental"/><ref name="Plakias"/><ref name="RoutledgeExperimental"/> The core of this objection is that, for many topics, the opinions of ordinary people are not very reliable since they have little familiarity with the issues themselves and the underlying problems they may pose. For this reason, it has been argued that they cannot replace the [[expert]] intuitions found in trained philosophers.<ref name="StanfordExperimental"/><ref name="Plakias"/><ref name="RoutledgeExperimental"/> Some critics have even argued that experimental philosophy does not really form part of ''philosophy''. This objection does not reject that the method of experimental philosophy has value, it just rejects that this method belongs to philosophical methodology.<ref name="StanfordExperimental"/>