ABSTRACT
I want to call the kind of research I described above ‘empirical philosophy’, as research that is divided from classical philosophy and empirical research, but is an approach that is in need of empirical elements in which the researcher is actively involved (Mol, 2000). That I, by doing so, associated my contribution with a research tradition that already exists, a style of thinking and doing that is developed collectively, does not mean that I have tried to do justice to this research tradition in advance. What you can read above is my particular attempt to speak and write about something I have done. A story. I call it a story on purpose. A story refers to a possibility, not to an ideal. It is a word that suggests that there is also the possibility of singularity and imagination. Therefore, it is often related to literature or art, instead of science and research. Doing research, however, does not mean that singularity and imagination are not at stake. Imagination includes the promise that there are other possible ways of thinking and seeing. And it makes possible a better understanding of what research can do. I relate my reading and writing to empirical philosophy precisely for the reason that its practice cannot be integrated in a method or a programme with particular instructions that can be applied anywhere, and where any content can be inserted. The substantive question of empirical philosophy is not how to do research, but how to do difference. Furthermore, empirical philosophy not only tries to answer that question. It understands difference as a basic assumption and an experiment that has to be done time and again. Hence, philosophical research not only describes, convinces, interprets, or criticises. Empirical philosophy is first of all a doing. Where this activity comes from is not always clear. Activity is not a prerequisite for reading and writing practices. The starting point is that there is activity in reading and writing itself. The reading and writing do something. Reading and writing propose action. Each research (text or image) is an intervention in reality. So is my story.
