Experiments in Philosophy

Punishment

Justice and Honor

Tamler Sommers Ph.D. on June 16, 2008

A 2006 Washington Post article profiles a big-time Washington D.C. gang leader known as "A.J." The author reveals that A.J.'s half-brother was recently murdered. The killer then turned himself in and was charged with first degree murder. Here's A.J.'s reaction:"I would have rather him stayed on the street -- and get some street justice . . . I'm very upset that I can't do nothing about it. I'm very upset that this dude took the sucker way out and turned himself in. I'm mad and angry."(From "In or Out of the Game" by Kevin Merida. Washington Post, December 31, 2006)A.J. was upset, mad, angry, and yet it seems like justice was served. The murderer was charged for his crime and is going to be punished according to the gravity of his offense. He will receive his "just-deserts." So why is A.J. so angry and upset?

A 2006 Washington Post article profiles a big-time Washington D.C. gang leader known as "A.J." The author reveals that A.J.'s half-brother was recently murdered. The killer then turned himself in and was charged with first degree murder. Here's A.J.'s reaction:"I would have rather him stayed on the street -- and get some street justice . . . I'm very upset that I can't do nothing about it. I'm very upset that this dude took the sucker way out and turned himself in. I'm mad and angry."(From "In or Out of the Game" by Kevin Merida. Washington Post, December 31, 2006)A.J. was upset, mad, angry, and yet it seems like justice was served. The murderer was charged for his crime and is going to be punished according to the gravity of his offense. He will receive his "just-deserts." So why is A.J. so angry and upset?

No doubt, racism is one of the most important evils in our pluralistic, open societies need to confront. And various programs are meant to do so. But what are the odds that these programs will work? Psychology can help us answer this question.

Philosophy

Torn Between Left and Right

Joshua Knobe on June 11, 2008

New research in experimental philosophy explores the psychology behind our political preferences

New research in experimental philosophy explores the psychology behind our political preferences

Knowledge about our own mental states seems to be the most secure thing in the world, doesn’t it? I certainly know what I feel and think right now and I know it more securely than any other thing I might know. Right? Philosopher Eric Schwitzgebel begs to differ.

Suppose you learned that someone had committed a horrible rape. And now suppose you find out that he is suffering from a neurological condition. Would you still hold him responsible for what he had done?

What our reaction to incest can tell us about morality.

Philosophy

Would You be Willing to Enter the Matrix?

Joshua Knobe on April 13, 2008

A new study in experimental philosophy asks whether people would be willing to live a life of illusion.

A new study in experimental philosophy asks whether people would be willing to live a life of illusion.

Do you think members of the opposition party are a bunch or idiots? Or worse, might they bad people deliberately trying to achieve reprehensible ends? The real problem is that liberals and conservatives have different basic values, and political debates are just cross talk.

Environment

What's Innate and What's Not? And Should We Care?

Edouard Machery on April 2, 2008

Philosophers and psychologists often debate about whether our beliefs, emotions, desires, values, etc., are innate or whether they are learned. But does this type of debate make sense? Paul Griffiths, Stefan Linquist and I have argued that it does not!

Philosophers and psychologists often debate about whether our beliefs, emotions, desires, values, etc., are innate or whether they are learned. But does this type of debate make sense? Paul Griffiths, Stefan Linquist and I have argued that it does not!

Imagine a world where no one believed in free will. Life would no longer have meaning, right? We'd be robots, puppets on a string, living a mockery of a real human existence. And why be moral? After all, if we do something bad, we didn't freely choose to do it, and so we cannot be morally responsible for that choice. So why bother?

As my second official post, I'll point our readers to a finding that recently appeared in Science. Elizabeth Dunn (UBC) and her colleagues demonstrated that giving money to others makes us more happy overall than using that money for ourselves.

I have a confession to make. Although our group of bloggers is described as "a band of philosophers," I'm faking the funk, so to speak. In real life, I'm a psychologist through and through. So I'm thankful to my real-philosopher colleagues for giving me a "pass" to contribute to this blog (and to the field). At the end of the day, I like to think that experimental philosophy is really social psychology with a fresh set of questions to investigate.

Philosophers have long wondered whether the mind depends on the body or whether our thoughts and feelings reside in an immaterial 'soul.' Though intellectuals are still arguing back and forth about the right answer to that question, experimental studies have revealed some surprising facts about how ordinary people think of these issues.

It may seem a bit odd that a magazine like Psychology Today is sponsoring a blog by a band of philosophers. After all, isn't philosophy supposed to be something entirely separate from psychology? Aren't philosophers just supposed to sit in their armchairs pondering the great imponderables, while psychologists busy themselves delving into the actual facts of human thought and behavior?