Corpus Methods: A New Horizon for the Experimental Philosophy of Language

Abstract

The aim of this paper is twofold. First, to investigate and evaluate the current state of the experimental philosophy of language. For this purpose, I will present the two principal methodologies in the field: questionnaires and corpus methods, indicating the common and specific problems. Second, to argue that corpus methods represent a new methodological horizon for research in experimental philosophy of language for two reasons. On the one hand, because they have fewer problems than questionnaires. On the other hand, they have certain additional advantages: i) they consider a greater amount of evidence; ii) in employing them, we have the possibility of having additional information that can illuminate other aspects of the research; iii) the count with greater replicability.