TY - JOUR

T1 - Exclusion Criteria in Experimental Philosophy

AU - Bergenholtz, Carsten

AU - Busch, Jacob

AU - Praëm, Sara Kier

PY - 2021/12

Y1 - 2021/12

N2 - When experimental philosophers carry out studies on thought experiments, some participants are excluded based on certain exclusion criteria, mirroring standard social science vignette methodology. This involves excluding people that do not pay attention or who miscomprehend the scenario presented in thought experiments. However, experimental philosophy studies sometimes exclude an alarmingly high number of participants. We argue that this threatens the external and internal validity of the conclusions being drawn and we show how a simple visualization of thought experiments can reduce exclusion rates significantly. Furthermore, we argue that focus should not merely be on how many are excluded, but also why they are excluded, and we highlight the role of comprehension questions in this regard. Philosophical thought experiments often rely on the acceptance of certain key premises that may be regarded contestable, and asking comprehension questions involving such key assumptions could be problematic as that may result in some participants being inadvertently excluded from the study, potentially creating a selection bias.

AB - When experimental philosophers carry out studies on thought experiments, some participants are excluded based on certain exclusion criteria, mirroring standard social science vignette methodology. This involves excluding people that do not pay attention or who miscomprehend the scenario presented in thought experiments. However, experimental philosophy studies sometimes exclude an alarmingly high number of participants. We argue that this threatens the external and internal validity of the conclusions being drawn and we show how a simple visualization of thought experiments can reduce exclusion rates significantly. Furthermore, we argue that focus should not merely be on how many are excluded, but also why they are excluded, and we highlight the role of comprehension questions in this regard. Philosophical thought experiments often rely on the acceptance of certain key premises that may be regarded contestable, and asking comprehension questions involving such key assumptions could be problematic as that may result in some participants being inadvertently excluded from the study, potentially creating a selection bias.

KW - EPISTEMIC INTUITIONS

KW - GETTIER

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85076482381&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s10670-019-00168-5

DO - 10.1007/s10670-019-00168-5

M3 - Journal article

VL - 86

SP - 1531

EP - 1545

JO - Erkenntnis: An International Journal of Scientific Philosophy

JF - Erkenntnis: An International Journal of Scientific Philosophy

SN - 0165-0106

IS - 6

ER -