Survey Results

Units of selection: genes or organisms?

Population

AOS

Region

for

Exclude answers beyond respondent's first 50

Include skip/insufficiently familiar answers

682 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:
genes

43.55% (32.99%)

Reject or lean against:
genes

0.29% (0.00%)

Accept or lean towards:
organisms

43.11% (32.70%)

Reject or lean against:
organisms

0.29% (0.00%)

Accept a combination of views

11.00%

Accept an alternative view

6.89%

The question is too unclear to answer

3.08%

There is no fact of the matter

2.35%

Agnostic/undecided

10.26%

Other

0.73%

N = 682, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (447 respondents)

Alternative Views

77 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.

MULT (29): multilevel (10) multiple (9) multi-level (8) multi (2)
GROU (15): groups (13) group (2)
LEVE (10): levels (8) level (2)
PLUR (7): pluralism (7)
INCL (5): including (3) includes (2)
BOTH (5): both (5)
MORE (3): more (3)
PHEN (3): phenotypic (2) phenotypes (1)
TRAI (3): traits (2) trait (1)
POPU (3): populations (3)

Longitudinal comparison to 2009 survey

This question was not in the 2009 survey

Strongest correlations with main questions (target population)

r: 0.29	Human genetic engineering: permissible
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	190	44
Reject	149	82

n: 465

p < 0.0001

r: -0.26	Practical reason: Aristotelian
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	67	132
Reject	112	102

n: 413

p < 0.0001

r: 0.26	Temporal ontology: eternalism
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	82	88
Reject	50	123

n: 343

p < 0.0001

r: 0.25	Practical reason: Humean
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	92	107
Reject	53	160

n: 412

p < 0.0001

r: 0.25	Other minds: future AI systems
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	128	121
Reject	86	162

n: 497

p < 0.0001

r: 0.25	Propositional attitudes: representational
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	115	83
Reject	76	111

n: 385

p < 0.0001

r: 0.25	Law: legal positivism
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	78	76
Reject	52	112

n: 318

p < 0.0001

r: 0.24	True contradictions: impossible
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	172	43
Reject	138	72

n: 425

p < 0.0001

r: -0.23	God: theism
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	33	249
Reject	72	195

n: 549

p < 0.0001

r: 0.23	Mind: physicalism
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	189	81
Reject	134	135

n: 539

p < 0.0001

r: 0.22	Values in science: necessarily value-free
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	63	174
Reject	27	208

n: 472

p < 0.0001

r: -0.22	Values in science: necessarily value-laden
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	87	150
Reject	127	108

n: 472

p < 0.0001

r: 0.22	Time travel: metaphysically possible
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	112	99
Reject	81	143

n: 435

p < 0.0001

r: -0.21	Meaning of life: objective
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	75	166
Reject	120	127

n: 488

p < 0.0001

r: 0.21	Philosophical methods: formal philosophy
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	190	101
Reject	146	136

n: 573

p < 0.0001

r: 0.2	Normative ethics: consequentialism
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	125	123
Reject	83	183

n: 514

p < 0.0001

r: 0.2	Causation: counterfactual/difference-making
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	105	109
Reject	66	138

n: 418

p < 0.0001

r: -0.2	Principle of sufficient reason: true
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	77	145
Reject	94	128

n: 444

p < 0.0001

r: -0.2	Meta-ethics: moral realism
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	160	117
Reject	208	68

n: 553

p < 0.0001

r: -0.2	Normative ethics: virtue ethics
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	85	162
Reject	130	136

n: 513

p < 0.0001

r: 0.19	Method in history of philosophy: analytic/rational reconstruction
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	153	62
Reject	126	89

n: 430

p < 0.0001

r: -0.19	Political philosophy: communitarianism
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	63	169
Reject	101	142

n: 475

p < 0.0001

r: 0.19	Abortion: permissible
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	223	27
Reject	197	51

n: 498

p < 0.0001

r: -0.19	True contradictions: actual
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	24	191
Reject	36	174

n: 425

p < 0.0001

r: 0.18	Metaphilosophy: naturalism
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	177	80
Reject	133	120

n: 510

p < 0.0001

r: 0.18	Mind uploading: survival
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	90	137
Reject	56	163

n: 446

p < 0.0001

r: -0.18	Arguments for theism: moral
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	14	194
Reject	29	160

n: 397

p: 0.0004

r: -0.18	Free will: libertarianism
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	40	241
Reject	73	199

n: 553

p < 0.0001

r: 0.17	Concepts: nativism
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	73	124
Reject	54	134

n: 385

p: 0.0006

r: 0.17	Consciousness: functionalism
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	106	117
Reject	62	149

n: 434

p: 0.0004

r: 0.16	Vagueness: semantic
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	145	99
Reject	111	123

n: 478

p: 0.0004

r: 0.16	Race: biological
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	75	180
Reject	47	222

n: 524

p: 0.0003

r: -0.16	Cosmological fine-tuning: design
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	17	180
Reject	43	147

n: 387

p: 0.0021

r: 0.16	Philosophical methods: empirical philosophy
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	212	79
Reject	176	106

n: 573

p: 0.0002

r: -0.15	Temporal ontology: presentism
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	33	137
Reject	41	132

n: 343

p: 0.0043

r: 0.15	Teletransporter: survival
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	110	128
Reject	80	159

n: 477

p: 0.0009

r: -0.15	Aesthetic value: objective
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	116	146
Reject	156	104

n: 522

p: 0.0006

r: 0.15	Quantum mechanics: many-worlds
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	38	114
Reject	26	118

n: 296

p: 0.0096

r: 0.15	Response to external-world skepticism: abductive
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	62	156
Reject	32	166

n: 416

p: 0.0026

r: -0.15	Perceptual experience: disjunctivism
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	24	183
Reject	39	165

n: 411

p: 0.003

r: -0.14	Analysis of knowledge: justified true belief
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	54	179
Reject	84	143

n: 460

p: 0.0018

r: 0.14	Science: scientific realism
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	237	46
Reject	192	67

n: 542

p: 0.0011

r: 0.14	Cosmological fine-tuning: multiverse
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	47	150
Reject	30	160

n: 387

p: 0.0066

r: -0.14	Truth: epistemic
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	24	236
Reject	40	219

n: 519

p: 0.0017

r: -0.14	Time: A-theory
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	54	125
Reject	57	114

n: 350

p: 0.0109

r: 0.14	Political philosophy: egalitarianism
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	127	105
Reject	106	138

n: 476

p: 0.003

r: -0.13	Well-being: objective list
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	107	99
Reject	130	88

n: 424

p: 0.0054

r: 0.13	Epistemic justification: internalism
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	112	139
Reject	85	167

n: 503

p: 0.0025

r: 0.13	Propositions: sets
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	28	156
Reject	10	164

n: 358

p: 0.012

r: -0.13	Propositions: nonexistent
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	27	156
Reject	38	135

n: 356

p: 0.0124

r: 0.13	Chinese room: understands
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	60	151
Reject	43	185

n: 439

p: 0.0061

r: 0.13	Footbridge: push
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	95	171
Reject	52	195

n: 513

p: 0.003

r: -0.13	Causation: process/production
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	45	167
Reject	60	144

n: 416

p: 0.0079

r: -0.13	Material composition: nihilism
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	8	102
Reject	12	109

n: 231

p: 0.0485

r: 0.13	Properties: tropes
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	37	137
Reject	25	152

n: 351

p: 0.0163

r: 0.13	Analysis of knowledge: other analysis
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	84	149
Reject	63	164

n: 460

p: 0.0063

r: -0.13	Response to external-world skepticism: pragmatic
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	55	161
Reject	57	143

n: 416

p: 0.0098

r: -0.13	Other minds: flies
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	69	180
Reject	102	146

n: 497

p: 0.005

r: 0.13	Well-being: desire satisfaction
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	59	149
Reject	45	173

n: 426

p: 0.0094

r: 0.12	Propositions: structured entities
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	82	103
Reject	62	111

n: 358

p: 0.019

r: 0.12	Meaning of life: subjective
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	110	132
Reject	94	153

n: 489

p: 0.0077

r: -0.12	Personal identity: further-fact view
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	34	196
Reject	50	182

n: 462

p: 0.0098

r: 0.12	Meaning of life: nonexistent
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	68	174
Reject	45	200

n: 487

p: 0.0082

r: -0.12	Other minds: worms
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	48	201
Reject	73	175

n: 497

p: 0.0083

r: -0.12	Semantic content: radical contextualism (most or all)
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	54	135
Reject	56	128

n: 373

p: 0.0225

r: -0.12	Consciousness: panpsychism
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	11	212
Reject	27	184

n: 434

p: 0.0141

r: -0.12	Other minds: plants
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	12	237
Reject	29	219

n: 497

p: 0.0091

r: 0.12	Morality: error theory
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	26	204
Reject	7	207

n: 444

p: 0.0147

r: 0.11	Grounds of intentionality: inferential
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	23	151
Reject	13	157

n: 344

p: 0.0363

r: -0.11	Temporal ontology: growing block
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	30	140
Reject	43	130

n: 343

p: 0.0371

r: 0.11	Perceptual experience: representationalism
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	117	92
Reject	96	110

n: 415

p: 0.0241

r: 0.11	Aim of philosophy: truth/knowledge
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	139	132
Reject	113	158

n: 542

p: 0.0109

r: -0.1	Propositional attitudes: dispositional
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	66	132
Reject	69	116

n: 383

p: 0.0441

r: -0.1	Arguments for theism: cosmological
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	50	158
Reject	53	137

n: 398

p: 0.0417

r: 0.1	Moral principles: moral generalism
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	127	87
Reject	122	98

n: 434

p: 0.0336

r: 0.1	Knowledge claims: invariantism
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	74	165
Reject	59	182

n: 480

p: 0.028

r: 0.1	Philosophical methods: conceptual engineering
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	139	152
Reject	115	167

n: 573

p: 0.0164

r: 0.1	Well-being: hedonism/experientialism
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	44	164
Reject	31	185

n: 424

p: 0.0392

r: -0.1	Consciousness: dualism
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	43	180
Reject	56	155

n: 434

p: 0.0403

r: 0.1	Gender: psychological
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	80	171
Reject	57	204

n: 512

p: 0.0268

r: 0.1	Eating animals and animal products: veganism (no and no)
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	63	214
Reject	43	237

n: 557

p: 0.0216

r: -0.1	True contradictions: possible but non-actual
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	9	206
Reject	16	194

n: 425

p: 0.0451

r: 0.1	Laws of nature: Humean
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	101	159
Reject	73	178

n: 511

p: 0.0299

r: 0.1	Other minds: cats
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	234	15
Reject	229	19

n: 497

p: 0.0325

r: 0.09	Free will: compatibilism
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	191	91
Reject	171	101

n: 554

p: 0.033

r: 0.09	Philosophical methods: experimental philosophy
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	119	172
Reject	93	189

n: 573

p: 0.032

r: -0.09	Zombies: conceivable but not metaphysically possible
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	102	151
Reject	127	121

n: 501

p: 0.0456

r: -0.09	Philosophical progress: none
Units of selection: genes	Accept	Reject
Accept	12	271
Reject	13	260

n: 556

p: 0.0432

Strongest correlations with demographic questions (target population)

r: 0.22	Tradition: Analytic
Units of selection: genes	Yes	No
Accept	256	30
Reject	225	60

n: 571

p < 0.0001

r: 0.2	Philosopher: Hume
Units of selection: genes	Yes	No
Accept	62	162
Reject	30	210

n: 464

p < 0.0001

r: -0.17	Tradition: Other tradition
Units of selection: genes	Yes	No
Accept	20	266
Reject	38	247

n: 571

p < 0.0001

r: -0.16	Philosopher: Aristotle
Units of selection: genes	Yes	No
Accept	35	189
Reject	64	176

n: 464

p: 0.0005

r: -0.16	AOS: Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy
Units of selection: genes	Yes	No
Accept	8	279
Reject	24	268

n: 579

p: 0.0002

r: 0.14	Philosopher: Lewis
Units of selection: genes	Yes	No
Accept	29	195
Reject	11	229

n: 464

p: 0.0018

r: -0.13	Tradition: Continental
Units of selection: genes	Yes	No
Accept	10	276
Reject	22	263

n: 571

p: 0.0022

r: -0.12	AOS: 19th Century Philosophy
Units of selection: genes	Yes	No
Accept	8	279
Reject	19	273

n: 579

p: 0.003

r: -0.12	Region of nationality: Europe
Units of selection: genes	Yes	No
Accept	46	236
Reject	63	208

n: 553

p: 0.0052

r: -0.11	Region of affiliation: Europe
Units of selection: genes	Yes	No
Accept	40	254
Reject	58	230

n: 582

p: 0.0068

r: 0.11	Philosopher: Quine
Units of selection: genes	Yes	No
Accept	30	194
Reject	18	222

n: 464

p: 0.0197

r: -0.1	Philosopher: Plato
Units of selection: genes	Yes	No
Accept	8	216
Reject	20	220

n: 464

p: 0.0248

r: 0.1	Philosopher: Mill
Units of selection: genes	Yes	No
Accept	18	206
Reject	9	231

n: 464

p: 0.0249

r: -0.1	AOS: 20th Century Philosophy
Units of selection: genes	Yes	No
Accept	15	272
Reject	25	267

n: 579

p: 0.0127

r: 0.1	Philosopher: Russell
Units of selection: genes	Yes	No
Accept	19	205
Reject	10	230

n: 464

p: 0.0326

r: 0.1	Gender: male
Units of selection: genes	Yes	No
Accept	251	41
Reject	225	59

n: 576

p: 0.0223

r: -0.1	Gender: female
Units of selection: genes	Yes	No
Accept	41	251
Reject	59	225

n: 576

p: 0.0223

r: 0.09	Philosopher: Hobbes
Units of selection: genes	Yes	No
Accept	7	217
Reject	3	237

n: 464

p: 0.0443

r: 0.09	AOS: Decision Theory
Units of selection: genes	Yes	No
Accept	11	276
Reject	3	289

n: 579

p: 0.0376

r: 0.09	AOS: General Philosophy of Science
Units of selection: genes	Yes	No
Accept	51	236
Reject	38	254

n: 579

p: 0.0393

r: 0.08	AOS: Meta-Ethics
Units of selection: genes	Yes	No
Accept	49	238
Reject	32	260

n: 579

p: 0.0453