Philosophy Pursued Through Empirical Research: Introduction to the Special Issue Terri S. Wilson • Doris A. Santoro Published online: 24 February 2015 Ó Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015 Abstract Many scholars have pursued philosophical inquiry through empirical research. These empirical projects have been shaped—to varying degrees and in different ways—by philosophical questions, traditions, frameworks and analytic approaches. This issue ex- plores the methodological challenges and opportunities involved in these kinds of projects. In this essay, we briefly introduce the nine projects featured in this issue and then address two key questions: First, how do these diverse contributors understand their empirical research as a mode of philosophical inquiry? And, second, what is the value in engaging in empirical research oneself, as opposed to drawing on the empirical work of others? As the essays in this issue demonstrate, there is no single answer to these questions. Our hope is that these guiding questions—and the diverse and divergent answers offered within this special issue—might demonstrate the live and pressing methodological questions involved in integrating empirical research and philosophical inquiry. Keywords Philosophy Á Methodology Á Philosophy of education Introduction Philosophers, and scholars interested in educational philosophy, have often conducted empirical research. 1 These empirical projects have been shaped—to varying degrees and in T. S. Wilson (&) University of Colorado Boulder, 249 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0249, USA e-mail: terri.wilson@colorado.edu D. A. Santoro Bowdoin College, 7400 College Station, Brunswick, ME 04011, USA e-mail: dantoro@bowdoin.edu 1 Here, we deliberately use the terms ‘philosophers and those interested in educational philosophy’ to underscore that many diverse theorists and scholars are interested in philosophical issues, but only some would call themselves ‘philosophers of education.’ Our goal, in this issue, was to recognize a range of scholarship being done at the intersection of philosophy and education. That being said, many scholars in 123 Stud Philos Educ (2015) 34:115–124 DOI 10.1007/s11217-015-9460-9