For the past ten years，Experimental philosophy has risen rapidly and becomes a new hot topic in the domestic philosophy community。Where，Many scholars are "ecstatic" about this，So boldly asserted that "experimental philosophy indicates a new philosophical change"，or claiming that "philosophical experiments are becoming a new method that affects contemporary philosophy"。They basically think，Experimental philosophy is a new way to do philosophy that is obviously different from traditional philosophy。There is a premise hidden behind this view: traditional philosophy is a hand armrest chair philosophy，In addition to philosophical demonstration and conceptual speculation，Not involved in any experimental method to test the philosophical proposition。This view ignores the complexity and richness of the philosophy itself。This article intends to demonstrate the experimental philosophy from the perspective of the history of philosophy is not a new philosophy，It has always been an important part of traditional philosophy。

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The current academic circles are basically used to tracing the experimental philosophy back to Nobel (J. Knobe)、Related studies from scholars such as S. Nichols and S. Stich。These studies are particularly attractive in the early 21st century，They mainly study the intuition judgment of ordinary people on philosophical propositions or philosophical cases through questionnaires，Frequent folk understanding that is different from philosophers intuitive，Then the philosophical inspiration of related propositions。At the same time，This experimental method can also be used to study people's psychological models and cognitive mechanisms with relevant intuition。bet365 live casino games The latter allows Nobel to directly attribute the experimental philosophy as cognitive science。This can easily make people mistakenly believe that all experimental philosophy belongs to the research field of "cognitive science"。In fact，Many experimental philosophy research and cognitive science have no relationship with much relationship。

But，This is a fairly narrow experimental philosophy。In a broad sense，Experimental philosophy is not a research field，Contrary to，It should be appropriately understood as a philosophical method，A way of doing philosophy，No matter what the theme or field is。Experimental philosophy mainly clarifies or help answer philosophy questions through experimental methods。In other words，Experimental philosophers have a basic methodology commitment -enjoys commitment commitment。It neither explains what these experimental methods are，What is the purpose of the philosophy of research that is not stipulated。So，It is not limited to the method used by the current experimental philosophy -questionnaire survey method，Not limited to studying people’s intuition，Not to mention people's intuition about philosophical ideological experiments。For example，Except for the questionnaire survey method，A qualitative interview has been developed recently、Computer simulation、Analysis of corpus library analysis。But the expansion of the method has not changed the standard image of experimental philosophy: experimental philosophy is an empirical study of philosophy case intuition。Only back to the history of philosophy，Only the long tradition of experimental philosophy can be discovered，Then completely change this current stereotype。

　Aristotle's experimental philosophy

Experimental philosophy can be traced back to the ancient Greek period，At that time, philosophers had experience evidence of systematic experience，Bet365 app download To achieve philosophical purposes。Aristotle provides a quite obvious example。This ancient philosopher used the system's empirical survey in its philosophy research，Make a philosophical assertion。Darwin once wrote in a letter to his friends: "Lin Nai and Koshiye have always been my two gods ... but they are just a primary school student in the eyes of Aristotle。"This sentence helps remind us to pay attention to the huge achievements of Aristotle in biology。In fact，About one -fifth of the existing works of Aristotle are related to biology，Among them, more than 500 natural species are impressive knowledge。Obviously，These biological works and related knowledge need to rely on the empirical research of the system。But，Aristotle did not leave us too many detailed research descriptions，Details record of experimental research。But we still have enough evidence that he does depend on animal anatomy，and beekeeper、An testimony of people who are closely related to animals in fishermen and divers。So，It can be said that Aristotle is a great experimental philosopher。

But some people might refute: We do not know what kind of substantial connection between Aristotle's biological research and its philosophical exploration; maybe he is just a scholar -sometimes wearing biologists from biologists hat，Sometimes wearing a philosopher's hat (and many other hats)。The problem of this refutation is，It failed to capture the close connection between Aristotle's biology research and its philosophical thoughts，Even if there is such a vague distinction。In fact，Aliberdo's biology and their philosophy have a deep contact。Greni and D. Depew correctly pointed out: "The core philosophy issues of not seeing him (Aristotle) ​​are closely related to his biology interest. Down，It is difficult for a person to read his work。"J. Lennox (J. Lennox) bet365 best casino games also believes that there is an important connection between the theoretical and methods of the relationship between the body and the soul that defended in the" On the Soul "and the unique way of studying animals in Aristotle.。"So，Aristotle to engage in and rely on system biological research to obtain the method of philosophical conclusions，It belongs to the category of experimental philosophy。

　Early modern experimental philosophy

In early modern，Especially in the middle of the 17th century，experimental methods really started to boom in Western philosophy。The so -called "early modern experimental philosophy"，Just like contemporary experimental philosophy，It is a broad movement that avoids the inquiry of speculative philosophy，Especially in the field of natural philosophy。It emphasizes any natural philosophy that does not take observation and experiments.，Especially the "assumptions" formed by not resorting experience should be rejected，Because they are the historical root of fallacy。The powerful control of these studies against the school and go to school，Eventually affecting medicine、The field of moral philosophy and aesthetics。Like the early modern experimental philosophy，An important factor behind contemporary experimental philosophy is dissatisfaction with the accidental appeal of the philosopher's own intuition，These intuition is usually considered to be widely shared，and considered high reliability。But there are important differences between the two。On the one hand，Early experimental philosophy is more ambitious，Try to treat itself as a common method for studying nature，and the attitude of contemporary experimental philosophy is more mild，Focus on people's intuitive understanding of various philosophical propositions。On the other hand，Early experimental philosophy generally believes that experimental philosophy should be guided by the experience method of bacon，Bet365 lotto review But with the deepening of scientific understanding and the intensification of scientific methods，Experiments are also more professional。This makes the philosophy of contemporary experimental complicated、Powerful and tested methodological practice principles，At the same time, you can also learn from the scientific knowledge of various industries。

Descartes is often depicted as an armchair philosopher in this period，But he is also an experimental philosopher。If we only pay attention to Descartes' contemplation and common doubt method，Maybe it may be considered that he is anti -experimental，Because of its method to eliminate any experience of knowledge。But in fact，Descartes' experiments and scientific work is an important part of its philosophical research。In "Optics"，Descartes explained the visual perception，Experimental means。For example，Descartes think，Although the image in the mind does not have to be similar to what I perceive，But they are still printed with a perfect image behind our eyes。To prove this，He later described in detail the eyes of those who had just died，or the process of the eyes of dissection cows and other large animals。Descartes think，This experiment played a key role in clarifying the visual process，Become part of its philosophy of perception。

　　Short silence of experimental philosophy and contemporary revival

Starting from the end of the 19th century，Experimental philosophy began to have a short silence。There are at least two reasons for this phenomenon: on the one hand，Looking at the history of philosophy since modern times，As science continues to break away from the philosophical mother and gradually move towards professionalization，The field of experimental methods in philosophy becomes increasingly narrow。On the other hand，Analysis of the rise of philosophy，It also prompted philosophers Bet365 app download to remove any remaining empirical work from mainstream philosophy。Although some philosophers (such as Pierce、James、Berguson, etc.) Use experimental methods to make progress in emerging psychology，But analyzing the overwhelming effects of philosophy made most philosophers turn to the language、This body theory and mathematical foundation。So，Compared with experience or experimental methods，Concept analysis and formal reasoning method occupies the mainstream of philosophy。It can be said，This effect continues until contemporary。But the important thing is to recognize，Empirical work has never completely disappeared from philosophy。Except the psychology mentioned earlier，Philosophy research is still full of many unbound experimental activities。Many philosophers conduct experimental exploration of various philosophical themes，Including aesthetics、belief and knowledge、Happiness、Logic、Memory and the vertical effect of moral demonstration to students，etc.。

"Experimental Philosophy" is almost forgotten throughout the 20th century，until the beginning of the 21st century，A number of new researchers began to accept this term，But I know very little about its previous use and its traditions。The new experimental philosophy is mainly Nobel、Several pioneering papers opened by Nichols and Stek and others，The research theme of its research includes cross -cultural differences of cognitive intuition、Institutional intuition of introducing side effects effects、Intuition of free will, etc.，Then a unique field of current philosophical research has been formed，attracted the attention and joining of many scholars。But we should not permanently forget this，It should not be a narrow understanding of the experimental philosophy; on the contrary，We should admit that contemporary experimental philosophy is not a new philosophy。

　(This article is the results of the Renmin University of China in 2022, the results of the nursery of innovative talent cultivation of talents)

(Author Unit: School of Philosophy of Renmin University of China)