Survey Results

Hume (what is his view?): naturalist or skeptic?

Population

AOS

Region

for

Exclude answers beyond respondent's first 50

Include skip/insufficiently familiar answers

872 respondents

What the percentages mean: "Accept or lean toward P: 50% (40%)" means that 50% of respondents endorsed this answer inclusively (including multiple-answer endorsements) and 40% endorsed this answer exclusively (excluding multiple-answer endorsements).

These results should not be used for comparison to 2009 results due to different populations and parameters. For meaningful longitudinal comparisons, see the longitudinal analysis section.

Collapse accept and lean towards

Accept or lean towards:
skeptic

36.47% (28.90%)

Reject or lean against:
skeptic

0.11% (0.00%)

Accept or lean towards:
naturalist

54.93% (47.36%)

Reject or lean against:
naturalist

0.11% (0.00%)

Accept a combination of views

7.91%

Accept an alternative view

2.06%

The question is too unclear to answer

3.10%

There is no fact of the matter

0.80%

Agnostic/undecided

9.40%

Other

0.46%

N = 872, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (263 respondents)

Alternative Views

22 target respondents indicated that they accept or lean toward an alternative view. The words used in their responses cluster as follows. These results are not filtered by AOS, region, etc.

BOTH (7): both (7)

Longitudinal comparison to 2009 survey

This question was not in the 2009 survey

Strongest correlations with main questions (target population)

r: -0.25	Mind: physicalism
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	130	150
Reject	294	153

n: 727

p < 0.0001

r: -0.24	Metaphilosophy: naturalism
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	117	136
Reject	276	137

n: 666

p < 0.0001

r: 0.24	God: theism
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	93	196
Reject	64	400

n: 753

p < 0.0001

r: 0.23	Consciousness: dualism
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	77	142
Reject	63	313

n: 595

p < 0.0001

r: 0.2	Epistemic justification: internalism
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	133	129
Reject	146	279

n: 687

p < 0.0001

r: 0.19	Morality: non-naturalism
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	84	145
Reject	76	326

n: 631

p < 0.0001

r: -0.19	Practical reason: Humean
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	55	167
Reject	133	216

n: 571

p < 0.0001

r: 0.18	Personal identity: further-fact view
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	63	178
Reject	53	329

n: 623

p < 0.0001

r: 0.18	Time: A-theory
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	77	113
Reject	71	225

n: 486

p < 0.0001

r: 0.17	Free will: libertarianism
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	83	212
Reject	79	385

n: 759

p < 0.0001

r: -0.17	Knowledge: empiricism
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	123	119
Reject	260	136

n: 638

p < 0.0001

r: 0.16	External world: skepticism
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	37	253
Reject	17	450

n: 757

p < 0.0001

r: 0.16	Theory of reference: descriptive
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	60	138
Reject	75	251

n: 524

p: 0.0002

r: 0.16	Cosmological fine-tuning: design
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	53	149
Reject	38	273

n: 513

p: 0.0002

r: -0.16	Abortion: permissible
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	196	60
Reject	373	51

n: 680

p < 0.0001

r: -0.16	Analysis of knowledge: no analysis
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	62	179
Reject	143	245

n: 629

p < 0.0001

r: 0.15	A priori knowledge: yes
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	246	55
Reject	333	132

n: 766

p < 0.0001

r: -0.15	Consciousness: functionalism
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	68	151
Reject	165	212

n: 596

p: 0.0002

r: 0.15	Meaning of life: objective
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	121	138
Reject	145	252

n: 656

p < 0.0001

r: -0.15	Personal identity: psychological view
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	112	130
Reject	213	170

n: 625

p: 0.0002

r: 0.15	Justification: nonreliabilist foundationalism
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	73	137
Reject	81	260

n: 551

p: 0.0006

r: 0.14	Aim of philosophy: wisdom
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	132	156
Reject	139	294

n: 721

p < 0.0001

r: 0.14	Arguments for theism: cosmological
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	72	155
Reject	70	267

n: 564

p: 0.0007

r: -0.14	Justification: reliabilism
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	65	145
Reject	147	196

n: 553

p: 0.0009

r: -0.14	Metaontology: deflationary realism
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	46	124
Reject	94	174

n: 438

p: 0.0038

r: 0.14	Grounds of intentionality: phenomenal
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	25	146
Reject	34	248

n: 453

p: 0.0034

r: 0.14	Mental content: internalism
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	84	164
Reject	107	299

n: 654

p: 0.0005

r: 0.13	Aesthetic value: objective
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	154	115
Reject	203	221

n: 693

p: 0.0004

r: 0.13	Perceptual experience: qualia theory
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	49	166
Reject	52	305

n: 572

p: 0.0013

r: -0.13	Philosophical methods: empirical philosophy
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	179	120
Reject	318	147

n: 764

p: 0.0002

r: -0.13	Mind uploading: survival
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	58	183
Reject	125	232

n: 598

p: 0.001

r: -0.13	Extended mind: yes
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	118	111
Reject	208	159

n: 596

p: 0.0012

r: -0.13	Interlevel metaphysics: realization
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	28	127
Reject	86	203

n: 444

p: 0.0058

r: 0.13	Newcomb's problem: one box
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	72	99
Reject	99	214

n: 484

p: 0.0041

r: -0.13	Political philosophy: egalitarianism
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	103	145
Reject	213	178

n: 639

p: 0.001

r: 0.13	Hard problem of consciousness: yes
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	169	77
Reject	230	157

n: 633

p: 0.0013

r: 0.13	Metaontology: heavyweight realism
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	79	91
Reject	104	165

n: 439

p: 0.0085

r: 0.12	Knowledge claims: invariantism
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	96	157
Reject	108	298

n: 659

p: 0.0016

r: -0.12	Kant: one world
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	83	103
Reject	151	135

n: 472

p: 0.0103

r: -0.12	Free will: compatibilism
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	168	128
Reject	311	154

n: 761

p: 0.0012

r: -0.12	Other minds: future AI systems
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	94	175
Reject	178	233

n: 680

p: 0.0023

r: 0.12	Political philosophy: communitarianism
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	105	144
Reject	106	284

n: 639

p: 0.0033

r: -0.11	Morality: naturalist realism
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	66	165
Reject	158	246

n: 635

p: 0.0039

r: 0.11	Gender: biological
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	113	156
Reject	132	296

n: 697

p: 0.0027

r: -0.11	Laws of nature: Humean
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	85	194
Reject	156	273

n: 708

p: 0.0027

r: 0.11	Immortality: yes
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	133	122
Reject	180	232

n: 667

p: 0.0037

r: 0.11	Propositional attitudes: phenomenal
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	22	173
Reject	12	307

n: 514

p: 0.0113

r: 0.11	Meta-ethics: moral realism
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	201	87
Reject	300	158

n: 746

p: 0.0024

r: -0.11	Normative ethics: consequentialism
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	80	185
Reject	174	256

n: 695

p: 0.0034

r: -0.11	External world: non-skeptical realism
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	234	55
Reject	409	57

n: 755

p: 0.0024

r: -0.11	Consciousness: identity theory
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	25	193
Reject	68	308

n: 594

p: 0.0078

r: 0.11	Practical reason: Aristotelian
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	108	114
Reject	136	213

n: 571

p: 0.0096

r: -0.11	Morality: expressivism
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	21	209
Reject	57	347

n: 634

p: 0.0072

r: 0.11	Moral judgment: cognitivism
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	211	64
Reject	326	124

n: 725

p: 0.0042

r: 0.11	Philosophical methods: intuition-based philosophy
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	165	134
Reject	228	237

n: 764

p: 0.0036

r: -0.1	Vagueness: semantic
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	124	131
Reject	242	157

n: 654

p: 0.0075

r: 0.1	Temporal ontology: presentism
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	47	124
Reject	47	234

n: 452

p: 0.0266

r: -0.1	Cosmological fine-tuning: brute fact
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	63	138
Reject	108	203

n: 512

p: 0.0184

r: 0.1	Concepts: nativism
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	71	117
Reject	103	229

n: 520

p: 0.0179

r: -0.1	Human genetic engineering: permissible
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	159	81
Reject	289	105

n: 634

p: 0.0089

r: -0.1	Teletransporter: survival
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	92	160
Reject	167	221

n: 640

p: 0.0094

r: 0.1	Analytic-synthetic distinction: yes
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	214	87
Reject	289	175

n: 765

p: 0.005

r: -0.1	Arguments for theism: pragmatic
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	35	190
Reject	63	271

n: 559

p: 0.0172

r: -0.1	Knowledge claims: contextualism
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	134	119
Reject	252	157

n: 662

p: 0.0097

r: -0.1	Causation: counterfactual/difference-making
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	64	128
Reject	152	207

n: 551

p: 0.0186

r: 0.1	Plato: knowledge only of forms
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	124	66
Reject	140	112

n: 442

p: 0.0381

r: -0.1	Chinese room: understands
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	44	195
Reject	86	281

n: 606

p: 0.0153

r: 0.1	Proper names: Fregean
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	94	110
Reject	128	217

n: 549

p: 0.0224

r: 0.1	Vagueness: epistemic
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	83	171
Reject	100	297

n: 651

p: 0.0143

r: 0.1	Abstract objects: Platonism
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	128	137
Reject	161	266

n: 692

p: 0.0123

r: 0.09	Causation: process/production
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	61	130
Reject	85	273

n: 549

p: 0.0273

r: 0.09	Capital punishment: permissible
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	59	203
Reject	73	341

n: 676

p: 0.0154

r: 0.09	Properties: immanent universals
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	54	129
Reject	50	243

n: 476

p: 0.0447

r: -0.09	Truth: deflationary
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	64	204
Reject	127	298

n: 693

p: 0.017

r: 0.09	Causation: primitive
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	56	132
Reject	73	282

n: 543

p: 0.0357

r: -0.09	Time travel: metaphysically possible
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	91	147
Reject	162	184

n: 584

p: 0.0306

r: 0.09	Well-being: objective list
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	131	79
Reject	193	166

n: 569

p: 0.0331

r: 0.09	Zombies: metaphysically possible
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	81	181
Reject	105	305

n: 672

p: 0.0226

r: 0.08	Aim of philosophy: happiness
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	51	228
Reject	63	366

n: 708

p: 0.0259

r: 0.08	Analysis of knowledge: other analysis
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	92	149
Reject	118	270

n: 629

p: 0.0386

r: 0.08	Vagueness: metaphysical
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	61	192
Reject	78	316

n: 647

p: 0.0375

r: -0.08	Meaning of life: nonexistent
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	54	201
Reject	104	288

n: 647

p: 0.0409

r: -0.08	Zombies: conceivable but not metaphysically possible
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	101	162
Reject	180	231

n: 674

p: 0.0454

r: 0.08	Normative ethics: virtue ethics
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	136	132
Reject	178	252

n: 698

p: 0.0456

r: 0.08	Philosophical methods: conceptual analysis
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	231	68
Reject	343	122

n: 764

p: 0.0376

r: 0.07	Philosophical progress: none
Hume: skeptic	Accept	Reject
Accept	16	279
Reject	12	453

n: 760

p: 0.0484

Strongest correlations with demographic questions (target population)

r: -0.16	Philosopher: Hume
Hume: skeptic	Yes	No
Accept	36	216
Reject	93	303

n: 648

p < 0.0001

r: -0.13	Tradition: Analytic
Hume: skeptic	Yes	No
Accept	236	69
Reject	426	55

n: 786

p: 0.0002

r: 0.13	Philosopher: Nāgārjuna
Hume: skeptic	Yes	No
Accept	9	243
Reject	2	394

n: 648

p: 0.001

r: 0.12	Philosopher: Aquinas
Hume: skeptic	Yes	No
Accept	22	230
Reject	12	384

n: 648

p: 0.0017

r: -0.12	Philosopher: Quine
Hume: skeptic	Yes	No
Accept	14	238
Reject	46	350

n: 648

p: 0.0032

r: 0.11	AOS: Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy
Hume: skeptic	Yes	No
Accept	19	290
Reject	9	479

n: 797

p: 0.0017

r: 0.09	Tradition: Other tradition
Hume: skeptic	Yes	No
Accept	43	262
Reject	36	445

n: 786

p: 0.0104

r: 0.09	Tradition: Continental
Hume: skeptic	Yes	No
Accept	26	279
Reject	19	462

n: 786

p: 0.0149

r: -0.09	AOS: Philosophy of Cognitive Science
Hume: skeptic	Yes	No
Accept	23	286
Reject	52	436

n: 797

p: 0.0148

r: 0.09	Philosopher: Plato
Hume: skeptic	Yes	No
Accept	22	230
Reject	18	378

n: 648

p: 0.0292

r: 0.09	Philosopher: Heidegger
Hume: skeptic	Yes	No
Accept	10	242
Reject	5	391

n: 648

p: 0.03

r: 0.08	AOS: Metaphysics
Hume: skeptic	Yes	No
Accept	79	230
Reject	107	381

n: 797

p: 0.0166

r: 0.08	Philosopher: Hegel
Hume: skeptic	Yes	No
Accept	14	238
Reject	8	388

n: 648

p: 0.0329

r: -0.08	Philosopher: Davidson
Hume: skeptic	Yes	No
Accept	6	246
Reject	21	375

n: 648

p: 0.0332

r: 0.08	AOS: Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy
Hume: skeptic	Yes	No
Accept	28	281
Reject	24	464

n: 797

p: 0.0239

r: 0.08	AOS: Continental Philosophy
Hume: skeptic	Yes	No
Accept	25	284
Reject	17	471

n: 797

p: 0.0266

r: 0.08	Philosopher: Aristotle
Hume: skeptic	Yes	No
Accept	61	191
Reject	73	323

n: 648

p: 0.0476

r: 0.07	AOS: Philosophy of Religion
Hume: skeptic	Yes	No
Accept	37	272
Reject	39	449

n: 797

p: 0.0442