Experimental Philosophy of Science and Philosophical Differences across the Sciences

TLDR

This article contributes to the underdeveloped field of experimental philosophy of science. We examine variability in the philosophical views of scientists by analyzing responses from the Toolbox Dialogue Initiative on prompts covering methodology, confirmation, values, reality, reductionism, and motivation, assessing variance among physical, life, and social/behavioral scientists, and evaluating differences between natural and social sciences and challenges of interdisciplinary integration. We find six prompts that revealed differences, with several more promising for future research.

Abstract

This article contributes to the underdeveloped field of experimental philosophy of science. We examine variability in the philosophical views of scientists. Using data from Toolbox Dialogue Initiative, we analyze scientists’ responses to prompts on philosophical issues (methodology, confirmation, values, reality, reductionism, and motivation for scientific research) to assess variance in the philosophical views of physical scientists, life scientists, and social and behavioral scientists. We find six prompts about which differences arose, with several more that look promising for future research. We then evaluate the difference between the natural and social sciences and the challenge of interdisciplinary integration across scientific branches.