Titile: Can Someone Be a Semantic Externalist Experimental Philosopher?

Abstract: Among experimental philosophy of language, semantic internalism is not merely the dominant metasemantic view – it is universal. Experimental philosophers of language take the target of their inquiry to be wholly mind-dependent and revealed by participant responses to survey questions. At the same time, some of the biggest critics of experimental philosophy have been semantic externalists. This talk will argue that this split is not principled. Not only should experimental philosophers interested in the semantic properties of words be using empirical methods, but many existing experimental studies can be reinterpreted to shed light on externally-grounded semantic properties. The talk will also consider the implications for debates in conceptual engineering.