Survey Results

Philosophical questions

Epistemology

407 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.

Main questions

A priori knowledge: yes or no?
Accept or lean towards:
yes
76.12% (76.12%)
Accept or lean towards:
no
15.67% (15.67%)
Other
8.21%
N = 402, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (5 respondents)
Abstract objects: Platonism or nominalism?
Accept or lean towards:
Platonism
48.04% (48.04%)
Accept or lean towards:
nominalism
33.94% (33.94%)
Other
18.02%
N = 383, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (24 respondents)
Aesthetic value: objective or subjective?
Accept or lean towards:
objective
44.30% (41.71%)
Accept or lean towards:
subjective
34.20% (31.87%)
Other
26.42%
N = 386, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (21 respondents)
Aim of philosophy (which is most important?): truth/knowledge, understanding, wisdom, happiness, or goodness/justice?
Accept or lean towards:
truth/knowledge
48.51% (19.90%)
Accept or lean towards:
understanding
57.21% (26.37%)
Accept or lean towards:
wisdom
28.36% (6.47%)
Accept or lean towards:
happiness
11.44% (1.24%)
Accept or lean towards:
goodness/justice
22.39% (1.74%)
Other
44.28%
N = 402, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (5 respondents)
Analytic-synthetic distinction: yes or no?
Accept or lean towards:
yes
66.00% (65.50%)
Accept or lean towards:
no
25.00% (24.50%)
Other
10.00%
N = 400, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (7 respondents)
Eating animals and animal products (is it permissible to eat animals and/or animal products in ordinary circumstances?): omnivorism (yes and yes), vegetarianism (no and yes), or veganism (no and no)?
Accept or lean towards:
omnivorism (yes and yes)
41.94% (41.19%)
Accept or lean towards:
vegetarianism (no and yes)
26.80% (24.57%)
Accept or lean towards:
veganism (no and no)
21.34% (19.60%)
Other
14.64%
N = 403, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (4 respondents)
Epistemic justification: internalism or externalism?
Accept or lean towards:
internalism
45.21% (37.84%)
Accept or lean towards:
externalism
43.98% (37.35%)
Other
24.82%
N = 407
Experience machine (would you enter?): yes or no?
Accept or lean towards:
yes
10.00% (10.00%)
Accept or lean towards:
no
80.00% (80.00%)
Other
10.00%
N = 380, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (27 respondents)
External world: idealism, skepticism, or non-skeptical realism?
Accept or lean towards:
idealism
3.93% (2.70%)
Accept or lean towards:
skepticism
5.41% (4.67%)
Accept or lean towards:
non-skeptical realism
84.28% (83.05%)
Other
9.58%
N = 407
Footbridge (pushing man off bridge will save five on track below, what ought one do?): push or don't push?
Accept or lean towards:
push
21.66% (21.41%)
Accept or lean towards:
don't push
56.68% (56.68%)
Other
21.91%
N = 397, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (10 respondents)
Free will: compatibilism, libertarianism, or no free will?
Accept or lean towards:
compatibilism
57.46% (56.22%)
Accept or lean towards:
libertarianism
21.14% (20.90%)
Accept or lean towards:
no free will
10.95% (10.20%)
Other
12.69%
N = 402, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (5 respondents)
Gender: biological, psychological, social, or unreal?
Accept or lean towards:
biological
27.27% (15.70%)
Accept or lean towards:
psychological
19.56% (4.96%)
Accept or lean towards:
social
60.61% (42.42%)
Accept or lean towards:
unreal
5.23% (2.20%)
Other
34.71%
N = 363, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (44 respondents)
God: theism or atheism?
Accept or lean towards:
theism
19.11% (19.11%)
Accept or lean towards:
atheism
67.99% (67.74%)
Other
13.15%
N = 403, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (4 respondents)
Knowledge: empiricism or rationalism?
Accept or lean towards:
empiricism
39.75% (35.50%)
Accept or lean towards:
rationalism
35.25% (31.00%)
Other
33.50%
N = 400, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (7 respondents)
Knowledge claims: contextualism, relativism, or invariantism?
Accept or lean towards:
contextualism
41.04% (38.44%)
Accept or lean towards:
relativism
6.23% (4.94%)
Accept or lean towards:
invariantism
37.14% (35.84%)
Other
20.78%
N = 385, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (22 respondents)
Laws of nature: Humean or non-Humean?
Accept or lean towards:
Humean
31.78% (31.51%)
Accept or lean towards:
non-Humean
55.34% (54.79%)
Other
13.70%
N = 365, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (42 respondents)
Logic: classical or non-classical?
Accept or lean towards:
classical
56.42% (53.07%)
Accept or lean towards:
non-classical
24.86% (21.51%)
Other
25.42%
N = 358, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (49 respondents)
Meaning of life: subjective, objective, or nonexistent?
Accept or lean towards:
subjective
30.26% (26.15%)
Accept or lean towards:
objective
32.82% (29.23%)
Accept or lean towards:
nonexistent
17.95% (16.41%)
Other
28.21%
N = 390, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (17 respondents)
Mental content: internalism or externalism?
Accept or lean towards:
internalism
27.51% (22.22%)
Accept or lean towards:
externalism
63.23% (57.94%)
Other
19.84%
N = 378, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (29 respondents)
Meta-ethics: moral realism or moral anti-realism?
Accept or lean towards:
moral realism
65.24% (64.99%)
Accept or lean towards:
moral anti-realism
21.66% (21.41%)
Other
13.60%
N = 397, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (10 respondents)
Metaphilosophy: naturalism or non-naturalism?
Accept or lean towards:
naturalism
45.01% (44.47%)
Accept or lean towards:
non-naturalism
34.23% (33.69%)
Other
21.83%
N = 371, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (36 respondents)
Mind: physicalism or non-physicalism?
Accept or lean towards:
physicalism
50.00% (49.75%)
Accept or lean towards:
non-physicalism
34.83% (34.58%)
Other
15.67%
N = 402, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (5 respondents)
Moral judgment: cognitivism or non-cognitivism?
Accept or lean towards:
cognitivism
75.00% (74.74%)
Accept or lean towards:
non-cognitivism
16.67% (16.41%)
Other
8.85%
N = 384, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (23 respondents)
Moral motivation: internalism or externalism?
Accept or lean towards:
internalism
37.61% (35.47%)
Accept or lean towards:
externalism
42.81% (40.67%)
Other
23.85%
N = 327, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (80 respondents)
Newcomb's problem: one box or two boxes?
Accept or lean towards:
one box
32.34% (31.68%)
Accept or lean towards:
two boxes
41.91% (41.25%)
Other
27.06%
N = 303, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (104 respondents)
Normative ethics: deontology, consequentialism, or virtue ethics?
Accept or lean towards:
deontology
29.32% (21.05%)
Accept or lean towards:
consequentialism
32.58% (26.07%)
Accept or lean towards:
virtue ethics
29.82% (20.55%)
Other
32.33%
N = 399, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (8 respondents)
Perceptual experience: disjunctivism, qualia theory, representationalism, or sense-datum theory?
Accept or lean towards:
disjunctivism
22.59% (19.88%)
Accept or lean towards:
qualia theory
10.54% (8.73%)
Accept or lean towards:
representationalism
42.47% (38.55%)
Accept or lean towards:
sense-datum theory
3.92% (2.71%)
Other
30.12%
N = 332, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (75 respondents)
Personal identity: biological view, psychological view, or further-fact view?
Accept or lean towards:
biological view
18.82% (15.86%)
Accept or lean towards:
psychological view
38.98% (34.95%)
Accept or lean towards:
further-fact view
17.47% (16.13%)
Other
33.06%
N = 372, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (35 respondents)
Philosophical methods (which methods are the most useful/important?)
Accept or lean towards:
conceptual analysis
69.19%
Reject or lean against:
conceptual analysis
13.64%
Accept or lean towards:
conceptual engineering
42.17%
Reject or lean against:
conceptual engineering
20.20%
Accept or lean towards:
empirical philosophy
57.83%
Reject or lean against:
empirical philosophy
13.64%
Accept or lean towards:
experimental philosophy
29.29%
Reject or lean against:
experimental philosophy
39.39%
Accept or lean towards:
formal philosophy
61.87%
Reject or lean against:
formal philosophy
10.86%
Accept or lean towards:
intuition-based philosophy
58.84%
Reject or lean against:
intuition-based philosophy
22.73%
Accept or lean towards:
linguistic philosophy
51.77%
Reject or lean against:
linguistic philosophy
20.71%
Other
100.00%
N = 396, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (11 respondents)
Philosophical progress (is there any?): none, a little, or a lot?
Accept or lean towards:
none
2.22% (2.22%)
Accept or lean towards:
a little
43.60% (42.36%)
Accept or lean towards:
a lot
49.01% (48.28%)
Other
7.14%
N = 406, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (1 respondents)
Political philosophy: communitarianism, egalitarianism, or libertarianism?
Accept or lean towards:
communitarianism
31.06% (24.84%)
Accept or lean towards:
egalitarianism
38.20% (32.30%)
Accept or lean towards:
libertarianism
14.91% (11.80%)
Other
31.06%
N = 322, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (85 respondents)
Proper names: Fregean or Millian?
Accept or lean towards:
Fregean
36.42% (35.22%)
Accept or lean towards:
Millian
40.00% (38.81%)
Other
25.97%
N = 335, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (72 respondents)
Race: biological, social, or unreal?
Accept or lean towards:
biological
18.41% (11.54%)
Accept or lean towards:
social
63.19% (52.20%)
Accept or lean towards:
unreal
14.84% (10.99%)
Other
25.27%
N = 364, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (43 respondents)
Science: scientific realism or scientific anti-realism?
Accept or lean towards:
scientific realism
78.09% (76.83%)
Accept or lean towards:
scientific anti-realism
12.34% (11.08%)
Other
12.09%
N = 397, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (10 respondents)
Teletransporter (new matter): survival or death?
Accept or lean towards:
survival
31.00% (30.73%)
Accept or lean towards:
death
40.97% (40.70%)
Other
28.57%
N = 371, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (36 respondents)
Time: A-theory or B-theory?
Accept or lean towards:
A-theory
28.87% (27.82%)
Accept or lean towards:
B-theory
36.62% (35.56%)
Other
36.62%
N = 284, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (123 respondents)
Trolley problem (five straight ahead, one on side track, turn requires switching, what ought one do?): switch or don't switch?
Accept or lean towards:
switch
69.75% (69.25%)
Accept or lean towards:
don't switch
9.50% (9.00%)
Other
21.75%
N = 400, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (7 respondents)
Truth: correspondence, deflationary, or epistemic?
Accept or lean towards:
correspondence
53.83% (49.74%)
Accept or lean towards:
deflationary
26.28% (22.19%)
Accept or lean towards:
epistemic
7.65% (6.12%)
Other
21.94%
N = 392, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (15 respondents)
Vagueness: epistemic, metaphysical, or semantic?
Accept or lean towards:
epistemic
25.21% (19.94%)
Accept or lean towards:
metaphysical
14.40% (12.19%)
Accept or lean towards:
semantic
48.20% (41.83%)
Other
26.04%
N = 361, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (46 respondents)
Zombies: inconceivable, conceivable but not metaphysically possible, or metaphysically possible?
Accept or lean towards:
inconceivable
15.32% (14.81%)
Accept or lean towards:
conceivable but not metaphysically possible
30.39% (30.13%)
Accept or lean towards:
metaphysically possible
30.65% (30.65%)
Other
24.42%
N = 385, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (22 respondents)

Additional questions

Abortion (first trimester, no special circumstances): permissible or impermissible?
Accept or lean towards:
permissible
80.78% (80.78%)
Accept or lean towards:
impermissible
13.52% (13.52%)
Other
5.69%
N = 281, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (13 respondents)
Aesthetic experience: perception, pleasure, or sui generis?
Accept or lean towards:
perception
27.88% (26.06%)
Accept or lean towards:
pleasure
11.52% (9.70%)
Accept or lean towards:
sui generis
34.55% (32.73%)
Other
31.52%
N = 165, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (123 respondents)
Analysis of knowledge: justified true belief, other analysis, or no analysis?
Accept or lean towards:
justified true belief
17.59% (16.90%)
Accept or lean towards:
other analysis
35.86% (35.17%)
Accept or lean towards:
no analysis
34.48% (34.14%)
Other
13.79%
N = 290, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (2 respondents)
Arguments for theism (which argument is strongest?): cosmological, design, ontological, pragmatic, or moral?
Accept or lean towards:
cosmological
19.62% (15.77%)
Accept or lean towards:
design
24.23% (20.00%)
Accept or lean towards:
ontological
9.23% (6.92%)
Accept or lean towards:
pragmatic
10.38% (8.08%)
Accept or lean towards:
moral
11.15% (6.54%)
Other
42.69%
N = 260, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (28 respondents)
Belief or credence (which is more fundamental?): belief, credence, or neither?
Accept or lean towards:
belief
36.07% (35.25%)
Accept or lean towards:
credence
25.82% (25.41%)
Accept or lean towards:
neither
25.82% (25.41%)
Other
13.93%
N = 244, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (43 respondents)
Capital punishment: permissible or impermissible?
Accept or lean towards:
permissible
17.52% (17.52%)
Accept or lean towards:
impermissible
74.45% (74.45%)
Other
8.03%
N = 274, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (10 respondents)
Causation: counterfactual/difference-making, process/production, primitive, or nonexistent?
Accept or lean towards:
counterfactual/difference-making
38.20% (33.05%)
Accept or lean towards:
process/production
18.03% (14.16%)
Accept or lean towards:
primitive
23.18% (20.60%)
Accept or lean towards:
nonexistent
3.43% (2.58%)
Other
29.61%
N = 233, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (54 respondents)
Chinese room: understands or doesn't understand?
Accept or lean towards:
understands
17.56% (17.18%)
Accept or lean towards:
doesn't understand
69.08% (69.08%)
Other
13.74%
N = 262, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (24 respondents)
Concepts: nativism or empiricism?
Accept or lean towards:
nativism
28.44% (24.17%)
Accept or lean towards:
empiricism
51.18% (46.92%)
Other
28.91%
N = 211, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (72 respondents)
Consciousness: dualism, eliminativism, functionalism, identity theory, or panpsychism?
Accept or lean towards:
dualism
26.67% (24.81%)
Accept or lean towards:
eliminativism
4.07% (2.96%)
Accept or lean towards:
functionalism
35.19% (31.11%)
Accept or lean towards:
identity theory
10.37% (8.89%)
Accept or lean towards:
panpsychism
5.19% (4.07%)
Other
28.15%
N = 270, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (21 respondents)
Continuum hypothesis (does it have a determinate truth-value?): determinate or indeterminate?
Accept or lean towards:
determinate
43.75% (43.75%)
Accept or lean towards:
indeterminate
27.78% (27.78%)
Other
28.47%
N = 144, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (136 respondents)
Cosmological fine-tuning (what explains it?): design, multiverse, brute fact, or no fine-tuning?
Accept or lean towards:
design
18.96% (17.54%)
Accept or lean towards:
multiverse
13.74% (10.90%)
Accept or lean towards:
brute fact
32.23% (28.91%)
Accept or lean towards:
no fine-tuning
21.80% (19.43%)
Other
23.22%
N = 211, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (75 respondents)
Environmental ethics: anthropocentric or non-anthropocentric?
Accept or lean towards:
anthropocentric
34.13% (33.65%)
Accept or lean towards:
non-anthropocentric
54.81% (54.33%)
Other
12.02%
N = 208, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (77 respondents)
Extended mind: yes or no?
Accept or lean towards:
yes
48.45% (48.45%)
Accept or lean towards:
no
38.37% (38.37%)
Other
13.18%
N = 258, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (33 respondents)
Foundations of mathematics: constructivism/intuitionism, formalism, logicism, structuralism, or set-theoretic?
Accept or lean towards:
constructivism/intuitionism
14.46% (13.25%)
Accept or lean towards:
formalism
5.42% (4.22%)
Accept or lean towards:
logicism
13.25% (11.45%)
Accept or lean towards:
structuralism
21.69% (18.07%)
Accept or lean towards:
set-theoretic
12.65% (11.45%)
Other
41.57%
N = 166, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (110 respondents)
Gender categories: preserve, revise, or eliminate?
Accept or lean towards:
preserve
20.25% (18.99%)
Accept or lean towards:
revise
43.04% (40.51%)
Accept or lean towards:
eliminate
16.46% (15.61%)
Other
24.89%
N = 237, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (53 respondents)
Grounds of intentionality: causal/teleological, inferential, interpretational, phenomenal, or primitive?
Accept or lean towards:
causal/teleological
30.85% (25.37%)
Accept or lean towards:
inferential
9.45% (5.97%)
Accept or lean towards:
interpretational
13.93% (10.95%)
Accept or lean towards:
phenomenal
12.44% (10.45%)
Accept or lean towards:
primitive
16.92% (15.42%)
Other
31.84%
N = 201, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (90 respondents)
Hard problem of consciousness (is there one?): yes or no?
Accept or lean towards:
yes
62.70% (62.70%)
Accept or lean towards:
no
28.69% (28.69%)
Other
8.61%
N = 244, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (36 respondents)
Human genetic engineering: permissible or impermissible?
Accept or lean towards:
permissible
67.83% (67.83%)
Accept or lean towards:
impermissible
14.34% (14.34%)
Other
17.83%
N = 258, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (33 respondents)
Hume (what is his view?): skeptic or naturalist?
Accept or lean towards:
skeptic
36.77% (24.22%)
Accept or lean towards:
naturalist
56.50% (43.95%)
Other
31.84%
N = 223, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (66 respondents)
Immortality (would you choose it?): yes or no?
Accept or lean towards:
yes
48.54% (48.54%)
Accept or lean towards:
no
36.86% (36.86%)
Other
14.60%
N = 274, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (13 respondents)
Interlevel metaphysics (which is the most useful?): grounding, identity, realization, or supervenience?
Accept or lean towards:
grounding
29.95% (22.84%)
Accept or lean towards:
identity
11.68% (7.11%)
Accept or lean towards:
realization
20.81% (13.20%)
Accept or lean towards:
supervenience
23.35% (17.26%)
Other
39.59%
N = 197, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (80 respondents)
Justification: coherentism, infinitism, nonreliabilist foundationalism, or reliabilism?
Accept or lean towards:
coherentism
17.25% (11.27%)
Accept or lean towards:
infinitism
1.76% (1.06%)
Accept or lean towards:
nonreliabilist foundationalism
38.03% (31.69%)
Accept or lean towards:
reliabilism
33.80% (27.11%)
Other
28.87%
N = 284, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (15 respondents)
Kant (what is his view?): one world or two worlds?
Accept or lean towards:
one world
39.34% (39.34%)
Accept or lean towards:
two worlds
39.34% (39.34%)
Other
21.31%
N = 183, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (116 respondents)
Law: legal positivism or legal non-positivism?
Accept or lean towards:
legal positivism
38.93% (38.93%)
Accept or lean towards:
legal non-positivism
39.69% (39.69%)
Other
21.37%
N = 131, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (151 respondents)
Material composition: nihilism, restrictivism, or universalism?
Accept or lean towards:
nihilism
5.06% (5.06%)
Accept or lean towards:
restrictivism
39.87% (39.87%)
Accept or lean towards:
universalism
29.75% (29.11%)
Other
25.95%
N = 158, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (119 respondents)
Metaontology: heavyweight realism, deflationary realism, or anti-realism?
Accept or lean towards:
heavyweight realism
40.32% (39.78%)
Accept or lean towards:
deflationary realism
27.42% (26.88%)
Accept or lean towards:
anti-realism
10.75% (10.75%)
Other
22.58%
N = 186, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (94 respondents)
Method in history of philosophy (which do you prefer?): analytic/rational reconstruction or contextual/historicist?
Accept or lean towards:
analytic/rational reconstruction
65.02% (45.74%)
Accept or lean towards:
contextual/historicist
36.77% (17.94%)
Other
36.32%
N = 223, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (71 respondents)
Method in political philosophy (which do you prefer?): ideal theory or non-ideal theory?
Accept or lean towards:
ideal theory
29.51% (21.31%)
Accept or lean towards:
non-ideal theory
53.55% (45.36%)
Other
33.33%
N = 183, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (97 respondents)
Mind uploading (brain replaced by digital emulation): survival or death?
Accept or lean towards:
survival
27.13% (26.74%)
Accept or lean towards:
death
51.55% (51.16%)
Other
22.09%
N = 258, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (25 respondents)
Moral principles: moral generalism or moral particularism?
Accept or lean towards:
moral generalism
51.17% (49.61%)
Accept or lean towards:
moral particularism
32.03% (30.08%)
Other
20.31%
N = 256, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (41 respondents)
Morality: non-naturalism, naturalist realism, constructivism, expressivism, or error theory?
Accept or lean towards:
non-naturalism
32.42% (30.47%)
Accept or lean towards:
naturalist realism
33.59% (29.30%)
Accept or lean towards:
constructivism
12.50% (9.77%)
Accept or lean towards:
expressivism
12.11% (9.77%)
Accept or lean towards:
error theory
4.30% (2.34%)
Other
18.36%
N = 256, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (26 respondents)
Normative concepts (which is most fundamental?): fit, ought, reasons, or value?
Accept or lean towards:
fit
7.11% (5.33%)
Accept or lean towards:
ought
12.00% (9.33%)
Accept or lean towards:
reasons
20.89% (17.33%)
Accept or lean towards:
value
40.44% (36.44%)
Other
31.56%
N = 225, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (60 respondents)
Other minds (for which groups are some members conscious?)
Accept or lean towards:
adult humans
95.85%
Reject or lean against:
adult humans
0.00%
Accept or lean towards:
cats
90.57%
Reject or lean against:
cats
1.13%
Accept or lean towards:
fish
68.30%
Reject or lean against:
fish
12.83%
Accept or lean towards:
flies
38.11%
Reject or lean against:
flies
40.00%
Accept or lean towards:
worms
25.66%
Reject or lean against:
worms
49.06%
Accept or lean towards:
plants
6.79%
Reject or lean against:
plants
80.75%
Accept or lean towards:
particles
2.64%
Reject or lean against:
particles
90.94%
Accept or lean towards:
newborn babies
85.66%
Reject or lean against:
newborn babies
5.28%
Accept or lean towards:
current AI systems
2.26%
Reject or lean against:
current AI systems
84.53%
Accept or lean towards:
future AI systems
35.09%
Reject or lean against:
future AI systems
30.57%
Other
100.00%
N = 265, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (17 respondents)
Ought implies can: yes or no?
Accept or lean towards:
yes
60.22% (59.85%)
Accept or lean towards:
no
31.60% (31.23%)
Other
8.92%
N = 269, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (20 respondents)
Philosophical knowledge (is there any?): none, a little, or a lot?
Accept or lean towards:
none
3.52% (3.52%)
Accept or lean towards:
a little
32.75% (32.04%)
Accept or lean towards:
a lot
56.34% (55.63%)
Other
8.80%
N = 284, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (7 respondents)
Plato (what is his view?): knowledge only of forms or knowledge also of concrete things?
Accept or lean towards:
knowledge only of forms
49.09% (49.09%)
Accept or lean towards:
knowledge also of concrete things
24.24% (24.24%)
Other
26.67%
N = 165, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (123 respondents)
Politics: capitalism or socialism?
Accept or lean towards:
capitalism
31.84% (28.09%)
Accept or lean towards:
socialism
49.81% (45.69%)
Other
26.22%
N = 267, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (19 respondents)
Possible worlds: abstract, concrete, or nonexistent?
Accept or lean towards:
abstract
62.77% (61.31%)
Accept or lean towards:
concrete
3.65% (3.65%)
Accept or lean towards:
nonexistent
25.55% (24.09%)
Other
10.95%
N = 274, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (17 respondents)
Practical reason: Aristotelian, Humean, or Kantian?
Accept or lean towards:
Aristotelian
32.29% (29.15%)
Accept or lean towards:
Humean
33.18% (32.29%)
Accept or lean towards:
Kantian
17.04% (13.45%)
Other
25.11%
N = 223, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (70 respondents)
Principle of sufficient reason: true or false?
Accept or lean towards:
true
27.92% (27.92%)
Accept or lean towards:
false
52.08% (52.08%)
Other
20.00%
N = 240, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (41 respondents)
Properties: classes, immanent universals, transcendent universals, tropes, or nonexistent?
Accept or lean towards:
classes
6.34% (6.34%)
Accept or lean towards:
immanent universals
17.56% (16.59%)
Accept or lean towards:
transcendent universals
23.90% (22.44%)
Accept or lean towards:
tropes
12.20% (11.22%)
Accept or lean towards:
nonexistent
8.78% (8.78%)
Other
34.63%
N = 205, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (75 respondents)
Propositional attitudes: dispositional, phenomenal, representational, or nonexistent?
Accept or lean towards:
dispositional
33.48% (23.18%)
Accept or lean towards:
phenomenal
7.30% (3.00%)
Accept or lean towards:
representational
53.65% (44.21%)
Accept or lean towards:
nonexistent
3.43% (3.00%)
Other
26.61%
N = 233, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (51 respondents)
Propositions: sets, structured entities, simple entities, acts, or nonexistent?
Accept or lean towards:
sets
7.85% (7.44%)
Accept or lean towards:
structured entities
40.91% (38.43%)
Accept or lean towards:
simple entities
9.50% (8.26%)
Accept or lean towards:
acts
6.20% (5.37%)
Accept or lean towards:
nonexistent
12.81% (11.98%)
Other
28.51%
N = 242, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (45 respondents)
Quantum mechanics: collapse, hidden-variables, many-worlds, or epistemic?
Accept or lean towards:
collapse
19.59% (18.24%)
Accept or lean towards:
hidden-variables
20.27% (16.89%)
Accept or lean towards:
many-worlds
19.59% (16.22%)
Accept or lean towards:
epistemic
10.81% (10.14%)
Other
38.51%
N = 148, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (142 respondents)
Race categories: preserve, revise, or eliminate?
Accept or lean towards:
preserve
8.04% (7.59%)
Accept or lean towards:
revise
28.57% (26.79%)
Accept or lean towards:
eliminate
41.07% (40.18%)
Other
25.45%
N = 224, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (77 respondents)
Rational disagreement (can two people with the same evidence rationally disagree?): non-permissivism or permissivism?
Accept or lean towards:
non-permissivism
22.79% (22.79%)
Accept or lean towards:
permissivism
68.38% (68.38%)
Other
8.82%
N = 272, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (15 respondents)
Response to external-world skepticism (which is strongest?): abductive, contextualist, dogmatist, epistemic externalist, semantic externalist, or pragmatic?
Accept or lean towards:
abductive
20.82% (14.87%)
Accept or lean towards:
contextualist
11.90% (5.95%)
Accept or lean towards:
dogmatist
23.05% (15.61%)
Accept or lean towards:
epistemic externalist
26.39% (17.84%)
Accept or lean towards:
semantic externalist
9.29% (5.20%)
Accept or lean towards:
pragmatic
16.73% (10.04%)
Other
30.48%
N = 269, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (18 respondents)
Semantic content (which expressions are context-dependent?): minimalism (no more than a few), moderate contextualism (intermediate), or radical contextualism (most or all) ?
Accept or lean towards:
minimalism (no more than a few)
13.82% (12.90%)
Accept or lean towards:
moderate contextualism (intermediate)
54.84% (53.46%)
Accept or lean towards:
radical contextualism (most or all)
22.12% (20.74%)
Other
12.90%
N = 217, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (65 respondents)
Sleeping beauty (woken once if heads, woken twice if tails, credence in heads on waking?): one-third or one-half?
Accept or lean towards:
one-third
34.25% (34.25%)
Accept or lean towards:
one-half
15.07% (15.07%)
Other
50.68%
N = 146, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (139 respondents)
Spacetime: relationism or substantivalism?
Accept or lean towards:
relationism
38.65% (38.65%)
Accept or lean towards:
substantivalism
28.22% (28.22%)
Other
33.13%
N = 163, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (120 respondents)
Statue and lump: one thing or two things?
Accept or lean towards:
one thing
28.10% (27.69%)
Accept or lean towards:
two things
40.50% (40.08%)
Other
32.23%
N = 242, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (38 respondents)
Temporal ontology: presentism, eternalism, or growing block?
Accept or lean towards:
presentism
23.67% (22.71%)
Accept or lean towards:
eternalism
37.20% (36.23%)
Accept or lean towards:
growing block
15.94% (15.94%)
Other
25.12%
N = 207, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (77 respondents)
Theory of reference: causal, descriptive, or deflationary?
Accept or lean towards:
causal
40.08% (35.32%)
Accept or lean towards:
descriptive
21.83% (17.06%)
Accept or lean towards:
deflationary
15.48% (14.68%)
Other
32.94%
N = 252, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (34 respondents)
Time travel: metaphysically possible or metaphysically impossible?
Accept or lean towards:
metaphysically possible
44.12% (44.12%)
Accept or lean towards:
metaphysically impossible
41.18% (41.18%)
Other
14.71%
N = 238, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (55 respondents)
True contradictions: impossible, possible but non-actual, or actual?
Accept or lean towards:
impossible
75.41% (75.41%)
Accept or lean towards:
possible but non-actual
5.33% (5.33%)
Accept or lean towards:
actual
8.20% (8.20%)
Other
11.07%
N = 244, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (31 respondents)
Units of selection: genes or organisms?
Accept or lean towards:
genes
46.62% (32.43%)
Accept or lean towards:
organisms
40.54% (27.03%)
Other
40.54%
N = 148, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (136 respondents)
Values in science (is ideal scientific reasoning necessarily sensitive or insensitive to non-epistemic values?): necessarily value-free, necessarily value-laden, or can be either?
Accept or lean towards:
necessarily value-free
21.71% (21.32%)
Accept or lean towards:
necessarily value-laden
38.76% (38.76%)
Accept or lean towards:
can be either
32.17% (31.78%)
Other
8.14%
N = 258, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (27 respondents)
Well-being: hedonism/experientialism, desire satisfaction, or objective list?
Accept or lean towards:
hedonism/experientialism
11.67% (10.83%)
Accept or lean towards:
desire satisfaction
14.58% (12.92%)
Accept or lean towards:
objective list
52.08% (50.42%)
Other
25.83%
N = 240, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (36 respondents)
Wittgenstein (which do you prefer?): early or late?
Accept or lean towards:
early
25.19% (20.93%)
Accept or lean towards:
late
51.94% (47.67%)
Other
31.40%
N = 258, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (42 respondents)