Experimental philosophy
Some examples

Intentional action: the Knobe effect
• Intentional action: things I do ‘on purpose,’ not ‘by accident’.
• E.g. when writing student comments, I intend to communicate which parts of the paper are strong, and which need improvement.

Intentional action: the Knobe effect
• Intentional action: things I do ‘on purpose,’ not ‘by accident’.
• E.g. when writing student comments, I intend to communicate which parts of the paper are strong, and which need improvement.
– But I also unintentionally
(i)disturb the air molecules around my pen,
(ii)exercise my hand-muscles,
(iii)…

Intentional action: the Knobe effect
• Why does intentional action matter?

Intentional action: the Knobe effect
• Why does intentional action matter?
• Moral/ Legal praise and blame
– The law recognizes a huge difference between killing someone on purpose vs. by accident
– E.g. The person who pulls the baby out the road

Intentional action: the Knobe effect
• Why does intentional action matter?
• Moral/ Legal praise and blame
– The law recognizes a huge difference between killing someone on purpose vs. by accident
– E.g. The person who pulls the baby out the road
• Q: Does it matter to the question of ‘Was that action on purpose?’ whether the results of the action are (considered) harmful or not?

Intentional action: the Knobe effect
• Consider the following scenario:
A CEO is given a report about various options her company can pursue. The option that will generate the most profit also reduces pollution. The CEO says: ‘I don’t care about the environment; I choose the option that gives the biggest profit.’

Intentional action: the Knobe effect
• Consider the following scenario:
A CEO is given a report about various options her company can pursue. The option that will generate the most profit also reduces pollution. The CEO says: ‘I don’t care about the environment; I choose the option that gives the biggest profit.’
• Q1: Did the CEO help the environment on
purpose/ intentionally?

Intentional action: the Knobe effect
• Now consider the following scenario:
A CEO is given a report about various options her company can pursue. The option that will generate the most profit also increases pollution. The CEO says: ‘I don’t care about the environment; I choose the option that gives the biggest profit.’

Intentional action: the Knobe effect
• Now consider the following scenario:
A CEO is given a report about various options her company can pursue. The option that will generate the most profit also increases pollution. The CEO says: ‘I don’t care about the environment; I choose the option that gives the biggest profit.’
• Q2: Did the CEO hurt the environment on
purpose/ intentionally?

Intentional action: the Knobe effect
• The Knobe effect = People’s judgments of whether an action is intentional or not depends on whether that action has good or bad consequences
• Specifically: if the consequences of action A are (considered) bad, then people are more likely to say A was done intentionally
– and if the consequences are good, then people are less likely to say A was done intentionally.

Knobe’s method
• This effect could be found via ‘traditional’ or standard philosophical method: the armchair

Knobe’s method
• This effect could perhaps be found via
‘traditional’/ standard philosophical method: the armchair
• However, Knobe actually created a survey with the two questions on it, and asked many people in Central Park.
• This method is new—Knobe did an
experiment of the same sort a social
psychologist would do.

How do names get their meanings?
• Theory 1: via descriptions: ‘Barack Obama’ means ‘the actual 44 th president of the US’
• Theory 2: via causal-historical links: Obama’s parents, at his birth, tagged him ‘Barack
Obama,’ and through a (very complicated) set of causal links from one English-speaker to another, we can trace back to that first tagging
• Which theory is right?

Suppose John was told in college that Gödel is the man who proved the incompleteness of arithmetic. But this is the only thing he has heard about Gödel.
Now suppose that Gödel was not the author of this theorem. A man called “Schmidt” actually did the work in question. Gödel got hold of the manuscript and claimed credit for the work, which was thereafter attributed to Gödel. Most people who have heard the name “Gödel” are like John; Gödel’s discovery of the incompleteness theorem is all they have heard about Gödel.

Suppose John was told in college that Gödel is the man who proved the incompleteness of arithmetic. But this is the only thing he has heard about Gödel. Now suppose that
Gödel was not the author of this theorem. A man called
“Schmidt” actually did the work in question. Gödel got hold of the manuscript and claimed credit for the work, which was thereafter attributed to Gödel. Most people who have heard the name “Gödel” are like John; Gödel’s discovery of the incompleteness theorem is all they have heard about Gödel.
• Q: When John says “Gödel,” is he talking about: (A) the person who discovered incompleteness of arithmetic? or
(B) the person who claimed credit for the work?

How do names get their meanings?
• [simplifying]: ~ 60% of Western university students answered (B)
• ~ 70% of East Asian students answered (A)
• So: Westerners favor causal-historical theory;
East Asians favor the descriptivist theory

How do names get their meanings?
• [simplifying]: ~ 60% of Western university students answered (B)
• ~ 70% of East Asian students answered (A)
• So: Westerners favor causal-historical theory;
East Asians favor the descriptivist theory
• Bigger question: So does this question really have an objective answer? Or is it a merely cultural difference, like fashion and tastes?