Experimental Philosophy Gets Real

A new study confirms what philosophers have long suspected: ordinary folk disapprove of violently killing innocent bystanders.  The study, published this week in Science, is turning heads less for its conclusion and more for its methods.  Studying folk intuitions in moral dilemmas is nothing new. But in response to criticism that his laboratory experiments lack ecological validity, Harvard’s Joshua Greene decided to take his research out of the lab and into the field.

“Sure, people will say that pushing a man in front of a speeding trolley is wrong on paper,” says Greene, the study’s lead author.  ”But what happens when they actually get out there and kill a man?  Still wrong?  Nobody knew because nobody had tested it.”

More details here.