Delving into depth: an empirical investigation of the ordinary concepts of depth and profundity

Article Article scientifique Article Delving into depth: an empirical investigation of the ordinary concepts of depth and profundity eng 2024-10-28 2024-10-28 author Cova Florian 0000-0001-9360-8290 762816 Département de philosophie (PHIL1) author Schöpfer Céline 0000-0001-5111-9245 709335 Département de philosophie (PHIL1) author Bezat Morgane Myling 855509 35 10.1007/s11229-024-04786-7 0039-7857 We sometimes say about certain things (such as philosophical questions) that they are ‘deep’ or ‘profound’. But what does it mean exactly? Surprisingly, philosophers have been quite silent on this topic and there is neither consensual nor prominent conceptual analysis of ‘depth’. After surveying different proposals that have tried to capture depth in terms of explanatory depth, subject matter, emotional impact, understanding or complexity, we present the results of three studies in which we combine qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate the everyday concept of ‘depth’. Our results suggest that depth and profundity are generally characterized as (i) something with a meaning, (ii) that stimulates cognitive activity, to (iii) promote epistemic progress about (iv) important issues, thus (v) having an emotional impact. Based on these findings, we propose a first characterization of the ordinary concepts of depth and profundity. Depth Emotions Experimental philosophy Folk concept Profundity Dewey 128.37 Dewey 100/501 15 Centre interfacultaire en sciences affectives 0D8 89 Département de philosophie 3G false Synthese 204 5 a39fa492-86fb-4ace-952c-88334ce5122e Article (Published version) Public Article_scientifique_from_crossref.pdf 1686023 application/pdf CC BY-4.0 f3ce8cd975d8cddfc2e23d65a6541002bc4089a49e1bea7e653cd327c76124cb openAccess Centres et instituts / Centre interfacultaire en sciences affectives Faculté des lettres / Département de philosophie

Title	Published in	Access level	OA Policy	Year	Views	Downloads

Delving into depth: an empirical investigation of the ordinary concepts of depth and profundity	Synthese			2024	62	415

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Bezat, Morgane Myling