Philosophy asks important questions, but it doesn't have a distinctive methodology for answering them. In the Philosophical Science Lab, we use scientific methods to make progress on philosophical questions, new and old.
John is the Canada Research Chair in Philosophy and Cognitive Science at the University of Waterloo.
YeounJun earned his MA in Philosophy and Theoretical Neuroscience from the University of Waterloo. During his time in the lab, he studied the concepts of knowledge and belief by synthesizing evidence from neuroscience, psychology, anthropology, and philosophy, and through new behavioral experiments.
Ashley earned her PhD in Philosophy and Cognitive Science from the University of Waterloo. During her studies, she published research on mindreading in humans and birds. Some of this research involved collaboration between the Philosophical Science Lab and the Child Cognition Lab.
After earning her PhD in Developmental Psychology from the University of British Columbia, Julia held a joint postdoctoral research fellowship in the Philosophical Science Lab and the Child Cognition Lab. During her time here, Julia conducted research on the moral psychology of punishment.
Haider earned his MA in Philosophy from the University of Waterloo. During his time in the lab, he studied the concept of property ownership by synthesizing evidence from neuroscience, psychology, anthropology, and philosophy. This involved collaboration between the Philosophical Science Lab and the Child Cognition Lab.
Aubrie earned her MA in Philosophy from the University of Waterloo. During her time in the lab, she conducted virtual reality experiments to study how sensorimotor function contributes to the human sense of self. This involved collaboration between the Philosophical Science Lab and the Multisensory Brain and Cognition Lab.
You can disagree with someone even if you don’t speak their language so good.
An objectively compelling case that falsity is truly essential to lying.
Straight from the horse’s mouth, a shocking truth, or thereabout.
Americans and Koreans engage in excuse validation at similar rates.
“Philosophy” is ancient Greek for “love of an embarrassing and unproductive mess.” No, wait …
Some evidence on how values affect the perceived credibility of science.
The concept of knowledge is an ancient part of our primate heritage.
One of these theories is demonstrably better, and it doesn’t begin with “V”.
Some words do not mean what philosophers think they mean.
Commonsense views humans as exceptional parts of the natural world, capable of resisting deterministic laws.
The best evidence to date for compatibilism in commonsense morality.
Some initial evidence that the ordinary concept of modesty might be primarily behavioral.
The “ought implies can” principle is false but reflects something true about moral language.
Multiple ordinary concepts of belief relate differently to moral motivation.
When we predict what people will do, what they know matters more than what they think.
Sometimes we judge that someone lied without judging that they intended to deceive.
Judgments about how someone should act cause judgments about what they know.
This experiment supports the hypothesis that transmitting knowledge is the point of assertion.
Enabling the unreliable masses to transcend their lack of virtue.
Studies show that Locke was right, Descartes was wrong.
Scientists observe hybridization of compatibilism and incompatibilism in commonsense morality.
They said truth didn’t matter. It turns out they shouldn’t have.
Proving philosophers wrong, one barn at a time.
A condensed review of the definitive case that knowledge is a central norm of assertion.
Surprising similarities between contemporary commonsense and ancient Indian philosophy.
Philosophers make a mess. Science cleans it up. You're welcome.
Assertion is more closely linked to knowledge than it is to certainty.
In case you were wondering what philosophers think about philosophy.
Philosophy’s self-inflicted public relations problem: a report from the field.
Even in a highly misleading environment, perception provides knowledge.
Don't believe the hype: you should believe the truth.
Unreliably produced knowledge is so possible that it happens all the time.
Multiple ordinary concepts of belief relate differently to knowledge.
How some different forms of probability affect knowledge attributions.
Observational evidence that explanations should express understanding.
The best evidence yet of factive norms of belief and decision-making.
The philosophy of fiction encounters an unpleasant reality.
Based on new findings, we propose a new model of weakness of will as a failure of self-control.