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Ethnographic Philosophy

A Qualitative Method for Naturalised Philosophy

Bibliographic Data

ID4079295
AuthorsHelene Scott-Fordsmand (0000-0002-3527-1340, University of Cambridge, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume20
Issue3
Publication date2025-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePhilosophy Compass (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1747-9991 • E-ISSN: 1747-9991
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/phc3.70031
OpenAlexW4408382443
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited126

Recent years have seen a rise in the engagement with empirical methods in philosophy. However, explicit discussion of the method and methodology behind such approaches is scarce, in particular for engagement with qualitative ethnographic styles of empirical research. This entry gathers debates from various philosophical subfields where ethnography has found a philosophical use. First, I introduce ethnography and highlight different versions through examples from phenomenology, political philosophy, ethics and philosophy of science. Then, I address three common challenges raised against the relevance and legitimacy of ethnographic philosophy, some specific to ethnography, others shared with experimental philosophy and integrated history and philosophy of science. The entry ends by suggesting some benefits of ethnographic philosophy, including a potential for genuine surprise, the opportunity to fine-tune and enrichen concepts and a better grasp at philosophical significance in human lives. In addition, I note that ethnography encourages more thoroughgoing philosophical self-reflection about contextual and situational features of philosophical theories and about the particularities of the philosophers developing them, introducing the idea of 'naturalising the philosopher

Epistemology · Ethnography · Sociology · Anthropology · Philosophy · Pragmatism in Philosophy and Education

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    Open Access•Nedie B Sevilla, Michael Estremera•Journal of Ethnic and Cultural…•2026

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    Open Access•Michael Estremera, Nedie B Sevilla•Journal of Contemporary…•2025

  • The Madurese tribe’s indigenous knowledge in environmental preservation on Gili Ketapang Island, Indonesia

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  • Data Analysis in Qualitative Research

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  • Solitary Confinement

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  • Abductive Analysis

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  • Illness

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  • Phenomenology of Perception

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  • Can we trust the phenomenological interview? Metaphysical, epistemological, and methodological objections

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  • Translational or translationable? A call for ethno‐immersion in (empirical) bioethics research

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  • The Meaning of “Phenomenology”

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  • Modeling complexity

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  • Decolonising philosophical analysis

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  • Throwing like a girl

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  • Fusing Philosophy and Fieldwork in a Study of Being a Person in the World

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  • On the pursuitworthiness of qualitative methods in empirical philosophy of science

    Open Access•Nora Hangel, Christopher ChoGlueck•Studies in History and Philosophy…•2023

  • Rethinking Ethnography for Philosophy of Science

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  • On the Uses of Phenomenology in Sociological Research

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  • Philosophy in Science

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  • Naturalistic inquiry

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  • Being Ethnographic

    Raymond Madden•Being Ethnographic•2017

  • Key Concepts in Ethnography

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  • Political Theory with an Ethnographic Sensibility

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  • Fieldwork in Political Theory

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  • Can ethnography save the life of medical ethics

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  • Toward an Agenda for Evaluation of Qualitative Research

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  • A Method of Phenomenological Interviewing

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  • Political Theory in an Ethnographic Key

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  • Ontological Relativity and Other Essays

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  • Situated Knowledges

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  • Anthropology and Bioethics

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  • On Reflexivity

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  • Phenomenological Ethnography in Sociology and Anthropology

    Open Access•J Katz, T J Csordas•Ethnography•2003

  • Getting it right

    Open Access•Kirsten Hastrup•Anthropological Theory•2004

  • How to Talk About the Body? the Normative Dimension of Science Studies

    Open Access•Bruno Latour•Body & Society•2004

  • Five Misunderstandings About Case-Study Research

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  • Provincializing bioethics

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Unique citing works3
Citations per year3
Citation span2025 - 2026 (2)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 2
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