Eksperimentelle filosofer har hævdet, at empiriske data kan have indirekte effekt på filosofiske spørgsmål ved at muliggøre en bedre forståelse af de underliggende, filosofiske processor, der leder til filosofisk intuition.<ref>Knobe, Joshua and Nichols, Shaun. [http://pantheon.yale.edu/~jk762/manifesto.pdf An Experimental Philosophy Manifesto] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160111053128/http://pantheon.yale.edu/~jk762/manifesto.pdf |date=11. januar 2016 }}, in Knobe & Nichols (eds.) [http://www.amazon.com/Experimental-Philosophy-Joshua-Knobe/dp/0195323262 ''Experimental Philosophy''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100814071001/http://www.amazon.com/Experimental-Philosophy-Joshua-Knobe/dp/0195323262 |date=14. august 2010 }}, § 2.1. 2008.</ref> Denne brug af [[empirisk]]e data opfattes bredt som stående i modsætning til en filosofisk metodologi, der alene sætter sin lid til a priori-begrundelse, undertiden omtalt som 'lænestolsfilosofi'.<ref name="Against Intuition"/><ref name="Philosophy’s great experiment"/> Uenighed om hvad eksperimentel filosofi kan opnå er udbredt, og adskillige filosoffer har fremsat kritik.<ref>Kauppinen, A. (2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20110805040203/http://www.helsinki.fi/~amkauppi/phil/The_Rise_and_Fall_of_Experimental_Philosophy.pdf The Rise and Fall of Experimental Philosophy.] Philosophical Explorations 10 (2), pp. 95–118.</ref><ref>Ludwig, K. (2007). [http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/ludwig/mws2007ludwig.pdf The Epistemology of Thought Experiments: First vs. Third Person Approaches] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310050716/http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/ludwig/mws2007ludwig.pdf |date=10. marts 2012 }}. Midwest Studies in Philosophy. 31:128-159.</ref><ref>Cullen, S. (forthcoming). [http://discursively.org/x-phi/survey-driven-romanticism.pdf Survey-Driven Romanticism.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091122080347/http://discursively.org/x-phi/survey-driven-romanticism.pdf |date=22. november 2009 }} European Review of Philosophy, 9.</ref>
 
Eksperimentel filosofi begyndte oprindelig med at fokusere på spørgsmål, der drejer sig om forskelle på tværs af kulturer,<ref>Weinberg, J., Nichols, S., & Stich, S. (2001). [http://ruccs.rutgers.edu/ArchiveFolder/Research%20Group/Publications/NEI/NEIPT.html Normativity and Epistemic Intuitions.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110803080118/http://ruccs.rutgers.edu/ArchiveFolder/Research%20Group/Publications/NEI/NEIPT.html |date= 3. august 2011 }} ''Philosophical Topics'' 29, pp. 429–460.</ref><ref>Machery, E., Mallon, R., Nichols, S., & Stich, S. (2004). [http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~stich/Publications/Papers/SemanticIntuitions.pdf Semantics, Cross-Cultural Style] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921213425/http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~stich/Publications/Papers/SemanticIntuitions.pdf |date=21. september 2017 }}. ''Cognition'' 92, pp. B1-B12.</ref> [[fri vilje]]<ref>Nahmias,E., Morris, S., Nadelhoffer, T. & Turner, J. [http://www2.gsu.edu/~phlean/papers/Surveying_Freedom.pdf Surveying Freedom: Folk Intuitions about Free Will and Moral Responsibility] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091122173645/http://www2.gsu.edu/~phlean/papers/Surveying_Freedom.pdf |date=22. november 2009 }}. ''Philosophical Psychology'' (18) 2005 p.563</ref> og filosofi om handlen.<ref>Knobe, J. (2003a). [http://pantheon.yale.edu/~jk762/Side-Effect.pdf Intentional action and side effects in ordinary language,] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009073557/http://pantheon.yale.edu/~jk762/Side-Effect.pdf |date= 9. oktober 2014 }} ''Analysis'' 63, pp.&nbsp;190–193.</ref><ref>Shaun Nichols & Joseph Ulatowski (2007). [http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/117998150/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 Intuitions and Individual Differences: The Knobe Effect Revisited.]{{Dødt link|date=april 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Mind & Language 22 (4):346–365.</ref> Siden da har eksperimentel filosofi fortsat med at udvide sit emneområde og undersøgelsesfelt.
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