scholarly journals Loose Constitutivity and Armchair Philosophy

2010 ◽  
pp. 177-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan M. Weinberg ◽  
Stephen J. Crowley
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Work ◽  
Philosophical Methodology ◽  
Armchair Philosophy ◽  
Brian Weatherson

Standard philosophical methodology which proceeds by appeal to intuitions accessible "from the armchair" has come under criticism on the basis of empirical work indicating unanticipated variability of such intuitions. Loose constitutivity---the idea that intuitions are partly, but not strictly, constitutive of the concepts that appear in them---offers an interesting line of response to this empirical challenge. On a loose constitutivist view, it is unlikely that our intuitions are incorrect across the board, since they partly fix the facts in question. But we argue that this ratification of intuitions is at best rough and generic, and can only do the required methodological work if it operates in conjunction with some sort of further criteria of theory selection. We consider two that we find in the literature: naturalness (Brian Weatherson, borrowing from Lewis) and charity (Henry Jackman, borrowing from Davidson). At the end of the day, neither provides the armchair philosopher complete shelter from extra-armchair inquiry.

Armchair Philosophy

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-25
Author(s):  
Timothy Williamson ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Science ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Philosophical Methodology ◽  
A Posteriori ◽  
Armchair Philosophy

The article presents an anti-exceptionalist view of philosophical methodology, on which it is much closer to the methodology of other disciplines than many philosophers like to think. Like mathematics, it is a science, but not a natural science. Its methods are notprimarily experimental, though it can draw on the results of natural science. Likefoundational mathematics, its methods are abductive as well as deductive. As in the natural sciences, much progress in philosophy consists in the construction of better models rather than in the discovery of new laws. We should not worry about whether philosophy is a priori or a posteriori, because the distinction is epistemologically superficial.

Philosophy or Auto-Anthropology?

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 26-28
Author(s):  
Daniel C. Dennett ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Computer Modeling ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
The Other ◽  
Theoretical Physics ◽  
Experimental Physics ◽  
Timothy Williamson ◽  
Working Out ◽  
Armchair Philosophy

Timothy Williamson is mainly right, I think. He defends armchair philosophy as a variety of armchair science, like mathematics, or computer modeling in evolutionary theory, economics, statistics, and I agree that this is precisely what philosophy is, at its best: working out the assumptions and implications of any serious body of thought, helping everyone formulate the best questions to ask, and then leaving the empirical work to the other sciences. Philosophy – at its best – is to other inquiries roughly as theoretical physics is to experimental physics. You can do it in the armchair, but you need to know a lot about the phenomena with which the inquiry deals.

Metaphilosophy: History and Perspectives

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 6-18
Author(s):  
Vadim V. Vasilyev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Analysis ◽  
Analytic Philosophy ◽  
Philosophical Methodology ◽  
Early Modernity ◽  
Linguistic Turn ◽  
The Common ◽  
Main Ideas ◽  
Armchair Philosophy ◽  
Separate Discipline ◽  
Field Of Inquiry

In this paper I discuss a prehistory of the recent metaphilosophical research and provide an overview of its most important areas. I review the ways of understanding of philosophy by the authors of the Early Modernity and contemporary continental philosophers and outline a trajectory of metaphilosophical discussions in analytic philosophy of 20th century. I try to show that the recent surge of metaphilosophy research in it could be explained by a search for a new identity of analytic philosophy after wide disappointment in the “linguistic turn,” as well as after criticism of Quine and his followers of various aspects of the common method of conceptual analysis, and expansion of the field of inquiry. I argue that contemporary analytic philosophy is much closer to the classical and modern tradition than to the early analytic philosophy. And the most important question for contemporary metaphilosophers seems to be a question about possible substitutes of an old-fashioned conceptual analysis. Some authors propose to get rid of armchair methods at all and follow experimental line of research. This, however, could be destructive to the philosophy as a separate discipline. That’s why it is important to pay utmost attention to those philosophers who try to save armchair philosophy. As Timothy Williamson is one of the most interesting authors working in this vein, I asses his role in the recent metaphilosophical research. I give a brief review of his book “Doing Philosophy” (2018) and draw attention to the fact that its main ideas are briefly expressed in his paper “Armchair Philosophy”, published in this issue of the journal. I claim that the importance of Timothy Williamson’s work is best explained by its role in realizing that philosophers now have to make a hard choice between dissolving philosophical methodology in methods of experimental sciences and trying to find way of justification of armchair philosophy.

Philosophical Naturalism

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hilary Kornblith
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Philosophy ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Philosophical Methodology ◽  
A Posteriori ◽  
Cognitive Sciences ◽  
Philosophical Naturalism ◽  
Philosophical Questions

This article focuses on naturalistic approaches to philosophical methodology. It begins with an overview of naturalism, its relationship with views about the a priori, and the implications of a philosopher’s commitment to naturalism for proper method in philosophy. It then considers the disagreement among naturalists about the tenability of the a priori/a posteriori distinction with respect to naturalism, before turning to a discussion of the use of science to address philosophical questions. It also looks at work in epistemology which draws on results in the cognitive sciences as a way of understanding the nature of knowledge, with particular emphasis on the role of Alvin Goldman in getting epistemologists to pay attention to the import of empirical work for understanding epistemological issues. Finally, it explores experimental philosophy as a methodological approach to philosophical questions and comments on the debate over the legitimacy of armchair methods in philosophy.

Animal welfare science, varieties of value and philosophical methodology

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 387-397
Author(s):  
DW Bruckner
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Conceptual Analysis ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Philosophical Methodology ◽  
Philosophical Investigation ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Animal Welfare Science ◽  
The Common

There are competing conceptions of animal welfare in the scientific literature. Debate among proponents of these various conceptions continues. This paper examines methodologies for use in attempting to justify a conception of animal welfare. It is argued that philosophical methodology relying on conceptual analysis has a central role to play in this debate. To begin, the traditional division between facts and values is refined by distinguishing different types of values, or norms. Once this distinction is made, it is argued that the common recognition that any conception of animal welfare is inherently normative is correct, but that it is not ethical normativity that is at issue. The sort of philosophical methodology appropriate to use in investigating the competing normative conceptions of animal welfare is explained. Finally, the threads of the paper are brought together to consider the appropriate role of recent empirical work into folk conceptions of animal welfare in determining the proper conception of animal welfare. It is argued that empirical results about folk conceptions are useful inputs into conceptual philosophical investigation into the competing conceptions of animal welfare. Further mutual inquiry by philosophers and animal welfare scientists is needed to advance our knowledge of what animal welfare is.

Reply to Dennett, Knobe, Kuznetsov, and Stoljar on Philosophical Methodology

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 46-52
Author(s):  
Timothy Williamson ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Philosophical Methodology ◽  
Armchair Philosophy

The paper replies to replies by Dennett, Knobe, Kuznetsov, and Stoljar to the author’s ‘Armchair Philosophy’.

Trust in Management Information Systems (MIS)

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah M. Meeßen ◽  
Meinald T. Thielsch ◽  
Guido Hertel
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Information Overload ◽  
Management Information Systems ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Management Information ◽  
Trust In Management ◽  
Actual Use ◽  
Trust In Technology ◽  
The Internet Of Things

Abstract. Digitalization, enhanced storage capacities, and the Internet of Things increase the volume of data in modern organizations. To process and make use of these data and to avoid information overload, management information systems (MIS) are introduced that collect, process, and analyze relevant data. However, a precondition for the application of MIS is that users trust them. Extending accounts of trust in automation and trust in technology, we introduce a new model of trust in MIS that addresses the conceptual ambiguities of existing conceptualizations of trust and integrates initial empirical work in this field. In doing so, we differentiate between perceived trustworthiness of an MIS, experienced trust in an MIS, intentions to use an MIS, and actual use of an MIS. Moreover, we consider users’ perceived risks and contextual factors (e. g., autonomy at work) as moderators. The introduced model offers guidelines for future research and initial suggestions to foster trust-based MIS use.

Aboutness

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Yablo
Keyword(s):  
Subject Matter ◽  
Philosophy Of Language ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Library Science ◽  
Philosophical Methodology ◽  
Major Advance ◽  
Truth Conditions ◽  
Ways Of Being ◽  
Made In

Aboutness has been studied from any number of angles. Brentano made it the defining feature of the mental. Phenomenologists try to pin down the aboutness features of particular mental states. Materialists sometimes claim to have grounded aboutness in natural regularities. Attempts have even been made, in library science and information theory, to operationalize the notion. However, it has played no real role in philosophical semantics, which is surprising. This is the first book to examine through a philosophical lens the role of subject matter in meaning. A long-standing tradition sees meaning as truth conditions, to be specified by listing the scenarios in which a sentence is true. Nothing is said about the principle of selection—about what in a scenario gets it onto the list. Subject matter is the missing link here. A sentence is true because of how matters stand where its subject matter is concerned. This book maintains that this is not just a feature of subject matter, but its essence. One indicates what a sentence is about by mapping out logical space according to its changing ways of being true or false. The notion of content that results—directed content—is brought to bear on a range of philosophical topics, including ontology, verisimilitude, knowledge, loose talk, assertive content, and philosophical methodology. The book represents a major advance in semantics and the philosophy of language.

Sustainability Practices in Hotel Industry: A Study on Guest Awareness and Satisfaction

GIS Business ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (6) ◽  
pp. 9-10
Author(s):  
Shweta Mathur ◽  
Kavita Khanna ◽  
Sanjeev Kumar Saxena
Keyword(s):  
Hotel Industry ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Management Policy ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Customer Preferences ◽  
Sustainability Strategy ◽  
Sustainability Practices ◽  
Sustainability Initiatives ◽  
Hotel Managers ◽  
Relationship Of

The research paper is an empirical work to ascertain the awareness and satisfaction levels of the hotel guests on the sustainability practices in Five Star hotels in Delhi. This paper also aims to determine the extent to which certain sustainability practices influence customer preferences and requirements. The methodology used in this research included a survey method, combined with an extensive secondary research and descriptive methods. The survey was conducted in selected Five star and Five-star deluxe hotels in Delhi from June 2016 until September 2016. The results of the study establish a direct relationship of sustainability practices with customers satisfaction in Five Star Hotels in Delhi, however, it reveals that the prevailing sustainability practices do not satisfy the guests to a considerable extent. The research results can be used by hotel managers in order to improve and adopt sustainability strategy in their management policy in order to raise the level of awareness towards the hotels sustainability initiatives undertaken and then to meet the demands of cognizant guests and for the sake of its own business survival.

Merleau-Ponty, Hegel, and the Task of Phenomenological Explanation

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-52
Author(s):  
Dimitris Apostolopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Philosophical Methodology ◽  
Circular Structure ◽  
Phenomenological Reflection ◽  
Phenomenological Methodology

This paper provides an analysis of Merleau-Ponty’s view of philosophical explanation. Some commentators stress his indebtedness to the transcendental tradition, but this influence does not extend to his viewof explanation. I argue that Merleau-Ponty gives up on the transcendental ideal of explanatory completeness, shared by Husserl and Kant. Motivated by a distinctive understanding of transcendental expression, he argues that phenomenological reflection, and the explanations that issue from it, must both have a circular structure if they are to provide a persuasive account of experience. This circular view of phenomenological methodology is further developed in later texts, which stress the openness and incompleteness of both reflection and explanation. Merleau-Ponty’s reliance on the concept of circularity testifies to the increasing importance of Hegel for his viewof phenomenological explanation and philosophical methodology.

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