Experimental Jurisprudence (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
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Experimental jurisprudence (or “X-Jur”) addresses questions of jurisprudence or legal philosophy by complementing traditional philosophical analysis with empirical methods. Often those methods include survey experiments that examine laypeople’s intuitions about legal-philosophical thought experiments and concepts of legal significance (e.g., causation, intent, reasonableness). Other times, experimental jurisprudence focuses on the cognitive processes underlying legal reasoning. This entry reviews representative work in experimental jurisprudence and discusses major objections and critiques.