Current Controversies in Experimental Philosophy

Edouard Machery is Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh.Elizabeth O'Neill is a graduate student in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh.

"Experimental philosophy is playing an increasingly important role in contemporary philosophical debates. This volume assembles new papers surveying and advancing these debates on four central philosophical topics – semantics, consciousness, epistemology and free will. It is an extremely valuable text for courses that deal with any of these topics, as well as for courses focused on experimental philosophy. It is also a book that philosophers, and anyone interested in philosophy, should read, if they want to see the direction in which philosophy is heading." Stephen Stich, Rutgers University, USA"This book provides an excellent account of the current state of experimental philosophy, written by some of the most prominent defenders and critics of various approaches. It provides a useful introduction as well as a significant contribution. Highly recommended!"Gilbert Harman, Princeton University, USA"This collection is an excellent addition to Routledge's Current Controversies in Philosophy series. Together the different entries compose a snappy and accessible introduction to experimental philosophy for those who are new to the subject whilst still providing plenty of material that will interest specialists. The introduction by Edouard Machery and Elizabeth O'Neill also gives a helpful overview of some of the big picture questions about experimental philosophy and its relationship to more traditional forms of philosophy . . . . If you're at all interested in experimental philosophy you will want to get your hands on a copy."Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

• Introduction: Experimental Philosophy: What is it Good For? Elizabeth O’Neill and Edouard Machery I Language 1 "What is the Significance of the Demographic Variation in Semantic Intuitions?" Edouard Machery 2 "Reference and Experimental Semantics" Genoveva Martí Part I Suggested Readings II Consciousness 1 "You, Robot" Brian Fiala, Adam Arico, and Shaun Nichols 2 "The Robots of the Dawn of Experimental Philosophy of Mind" Justin Sytsma Part II Suggested Readings III Free Will and Responsibility1 "Free Will and the Scientific Vision" Joshua Knobe 2 "A Naturalistic Vision of Free Will" Eddy Nahmias and Morgan Thompson Part III Suggested Readings IV Epistemology and the Reliability of Intuitions 1 "The Reliability of Epistemic Intuitions" Kenneth Boyd and Jennifer Nagel 2 "The 'Unreliability' of Epistemic Intuitions" Joshua Alexander and Jonathan M. Weinberg Part IV Suggested Readings Supplemental Guide to Further Controversies Index