Survey Results

Philosophical questions

Metaphysics

373 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
80.59% (80.32%)
Accept or lean towards:
no
12.67% (12.40%)
Other
7.28%
N = 371, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (2 respondents)
Abstract objects: Platonism or nominalism?
Accept or lean towards:
Platonism
51.75% (50.94%)
Accept or lean towards:
nominalism
29.11% (28.84%)
Other
20.22%
N = 371, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (2 respondents)
Aesthetic value: objective or subjective?
Accept or lean towards:
objective
51.27% (49.30%)
Accept or lean towards:
subjective
32.96% (30.99%)
Other
19.72%
N = 355, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (18 respondents)
Aim of philosophy (which is most important?): truth/knowledge, understanding, wisdom, happiness, or goodness/justice?
Accept or lean towards:
truth/knowledge
47.44% (21.83%)
Accept or lean towards:
understanding
56.60% (30.19%)
Accept or lean towards:
wisdom
31.00% (8.63%)
Accept or lean towards:
happiness
11.32% (0.54%)
Accept or lean towards:
goodness/justice
20.75% (1.35%)
Other
37.47%
N = 371, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (2 respondents)
Analytic-synthetic distinction: yes or no?
Accept or lean towards:
yes
68.56% (68.29%)
Accept or lean towards:
no
20.60% (20.33%)
Other
11.38%
N = 369, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (4 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)
50.95% (50.41%)
Accept or lean towards:
vegetarianism (no and yes)
24.80% (22.89%)
Accept or lean towards:
veganism (no and no)
14.71% (13.35%)
Other
13.35%
N = 367, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (6 respondents)
Epistemic justification: internalism or externalism?
Accept or lean towards:
internalism
36.74% (31.49%)
Accept or lean towards:
externalism
49.45% (44.20%)
Other
24.31%
N = 362, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (11 respondents)
Experience machine (would you enter?): yes or no?
Accept or lean towards:
yes
9.97% (9.97%)
Accept or lean towards:
no
80.91% (80.91%)
Other
9.12%
N = 351, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (22 respondents)
External world: idealism, skepticism, or non-skeptical realism?
Accept or lean towards:
idealism
6.99% (6.45%)
Accept or lean towards:
skepticism
2.42% (1.88%)
Accept or lean towards:
non-skeptical realism
84.68% (83.87%)
Other
7.80%
N = 372, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (1 respondents)
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
22.55% (22.55%)
Accept or lean towards:
don't push
56.25% (56.25%)
Other
21.20%
N = 368, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (5 respondents)
Free will: compatibilism, libertarianism, or no free will?
Accept or lean towards:
compatibilism
52.97% (51.62%)
Accept or lean towards:
libertarianism
24.32% (24.05%)
Accept or lean towards:
no free will
13.51% (12.16%)
Other
12.16%
N = 370, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (3 respondents)
Gender: biological, psychological, social, or unreal?
Accept or lean towards:
biological
31.02% (18.98%)
Accept or lean towards:
psychological
16.87% (2.71%)
Accept or lean towards:
social
59.64% (43.37%)
Accept or lean towards:
unreal
3.61% (1.51%)
Other
33.43%
N = 332, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (41 respondents)
God: theism or atheism?
Accept or lean towards:
theism
24.86% (24.86%)
Accept or lean towards:
atheism
61.62% (61.35%)
Other
13.78%
N = 370, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (3 respondents)
Knowledge: empiricism or rationalism?
Accept or lean towards:
empiricism
31.86% (27.15%)
Accept or lean towards:
rationalism
39.89% (34.63%)
Other
38.23%
N = 361, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (12 respondents)
Knowledge claims: contextualism, relativism, or invariantism?
Accept or lean towards:
contextualism
45.23% (43.08%)
Accept or lean towards:
relativism
3.69% (3.08%)
Accept or lean towards:
invariantism
34.46% (32.31%)
Other
21.54%
N = 325, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (48 respondents)
Laws of nature: Humean or non-Humean?
Accept or lean towards:
Humean
23.40% (22.56%)
Accept or lean towards:
non-Humean
66.85% (65.74%)
Other
11.70%
N = 359, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (14 respondents)
Logic: classical or non-classical?
Accept or lean towards:
classical
57.51% (53.76%)
Accept or lean towards:
non-classical
25.72% (21.68%)
Other
24.57%
N = 346, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (27 respondents)
Meaning of life: subjective, objective, or nonexistent?
Accept or lean towards:
subjective
27.58% (23.12%)
Accept or lean towards:
objective
37.33% (33.15%)
Accept or lean towards:
nonexistent
16.16% (15.32%)
Other
28.41%
N = 359, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (14 respondents)
Mental content: internalism or externalism?
Accept or lean towards:
internalism
26.00% (21.43%)
Accept or lean towards:
externalism
63.43% (58.86%)
Other
19.71%
N = 350, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (23 respondents)
Meta-ethics: moral realism or moral anti-realism?
Accept or lean towards:
moral realism
70.91% (70.64%)
Accept or lean towards:
moral anti-realism
19.94% (19.94%)
Other
9.42%
N = 361, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (12 respondents)
Metaphilosophy: naturalism or non-naturalism?
Accept or lean towards:
naturalism
43.27% (42.40%)
Accept or lean towards:
non-naturalism
39.18% (38.30%)
Other
19.30%
N = 342, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (31 respondents)
Mind: physicalism or non-physicalism?
Accept or lean towards:
physicalism
46.90% (46.63%)
Accept or lean towards:
non-physicalism
37.47% (37.20%)
Other
16.17%
N = 371, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (2 respondents)
Moral judgment: cognitivism or non-cognitivism?
Accept or lean towards:
cognitivism
76.40% (75.52%)
Accept or lean towards:
non-cognitivism
14.16% (13.57%)
Other
10.91%
N = 339, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (34 respondents)
Moral motivation: internalism or externalism?
Accept or lean towards:
internalism
40.21% (38.79%)
Accept or lean towards:
externalism
37.37% (35.94%)
Other
25.27%
N = 281, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (92 respondents)
Newcomb's problem: one box or two boxes?
Accept or lean towards:
one box
36.43% (36.06%)
Accept or lean towards:
two boxes
36.80% (36.43%)
Other
27.51%
N = 269, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (104 respondents)
Normative ethics: deontology, consequentialism, or virtue ethics?
Accept or lean towards:
deontology
29.20% (21.21%)
Accept or lean towards:
consequentialism
26.72% (20.94%)
Accept or lean towards:
virtue ethics
33.88% (25.90%)
Other
31.96%
N = 363, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (10 respondents)
Perceptual experience: disjunctivism, qualia theory, representationalism, or sense-datum theory?
Accept or lean towards:
disjunctivism
14.98% (12.70%)
Accept or lean towards:
qualia theory
18.57% (15.96%)
Accept or lean towards:
representationalism
39.09% (34.53%)
Accept or lean towards:
sense-datum theory
5.21% (2.93%)
Other
33.88%
N = 307, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (66 respondents)
Personal identity: biological view, psychological view, or further-fact view?
Accept or lean towards:
biological view
20.62% (16.38%)
Accept or lean towards:
psychological view
38.70% (33.62%)
Accept or lean towards:
further-fact view
20.90% (18.64%)
Other
31.36%
N = 354, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (19 respondents)
Philosophical methods (which methods are the most useful/important?)
Accept or lean towards:
conceptual analysis
67.86%
Reject or lean against:
conceptual analysis
14.29%
Accept or lean towards:
conceptual engineering
42.58%
Reject or lean against:
conceptual engineering
24.45%
Accept or lean towards:
empirical philosophy
57.42%
Reject or lean against:
empirical philosophy
14.84%
Accept or lean towards:
experimental philosophy
23.35%
Reject or lean against:
experimental philosophy
45.88%
Accept or lean towards:
formal philosophy
62.09%
Reject or lean against:
formal philosophy
10.44%
Accept or lean towards:
intuition-based philosophy
58.24%
Reject or lean against:
intuition-based philosophy
21.15%
Accept or lean towards:
linguistic philosophy
45.88%
Reject or lean against:
linguistic philosophy
23.90%
Other
100.00%
N = 364, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (9 respondents)
Philosophical progress (is there any?): none, a little, or a lot?
Accept or lean towards:
none
2.68% (2.68%)
Accept or lean towards:
a little
43.97% (43.43%)
Accept or lean towards:
a lot
47.72% (47.18%)
Other
6.70%
N = 373
Political philosophy: communitarianism, egalitarianism, or libertarianism?
Accept or lean towards:
communitarianism
27.93% (22.41%)
Accept or lean towards:
egalitarianism
36.90% (31.72%)
Accept or lean towards:
libertarianism
13.79% (11.03%)
Other
34.83%
N = 290, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (83 respondents)
Proper names: Fregean or Millian?
Accept or lean towards:
Fregean
32.61% (31.06%)
Accept or lean towards:
Millian
46.58% (45.03%)
Other
23.91%
N = 322, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (51 respondents)
Race: biological, social, or unreal?
Accept or lean towards:
biological
20.85% (12.39%)
Accept or lean towards:
social
62.84% (52.27%)
Accept or lean towards:
unreal
12.39% (10.27%)
Other
25.08%
N = 331, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (42 respondents)
Science: scientific realism or scientific anti-realism?
Accept or lean towards:
scientific realism
79.34% (78.24%)
Accept or lean towards:
scientific anti-realism
9.09% (8.54%)
Other
13.22%
N = 363, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (10 respondents)
Teletransporter (new matter): survival or death?
Accept or lean towards:
survival
35.59% (34.75%)
Accept or lean towards:
death
46.33% (45.48%)
Other
19.77%
N = 354, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (19 respondents)
Time: A-theory or B-theory?
Accept or lean towards:
A-theory
29.45% (28.28%)
Accept or lean towards:
B-theory
46.65% (44.90%)
Other
26.82%
N = 343, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (30 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
63.36% (62.81%)
Accept or lean towards:
don't switch
13.22% (12.67%)
Other
24.52%
N = 363, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (10 respondents)
Truth: correspondence, deflationary, or epistemic?
Accept or lean towards:
correspondence
60.38% (56.83%)
Accept or lean towards:
deflationary
22.13% (19.67%)
Accept or lean towards:
epistemic
2.46% (1.91%)
Other
21.58%
N = 366, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (7 respondents)
Vagueness: epistemic, metaphysical, or semantic?
Accept or lean towards:
epistemic
21.79% (14.53%)
Accept or lean towards:
metaphysical
25.14% (16.48%)
Accept or lean towards:
semantic
55.03% (44.41%)
Other
24.58%
N = 358, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (15 respondents)
Zombies: inconceivable, conceivable but not metaphysically possible, or metaphysically possible?
Accept or lean towards:
inconceivable
14.29% (13.45%)
Accept or lean towards:
conceivable but not metaphysically possible
38.10% (36.69%)
Accept or lean towards:
metaphysically possible
31.37% (31.09%)
Other
18.77%
N = 357, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (16 respondents)

Additional questions

Abortion (first trimester, no special circumstances): permissible or impermissible?
Accept or lean towards:
permissible
73.98% (73.98%)
Accept or lean towards:
impermissible
18.96% (18.96%)
Other
7.06%
N = 269, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (16 respondents)
Aesthetic experience: perception, pleasure, or sui generis?
Accept or lean towards:
perception
33.33% (30.61%)
Accept or lean towards:
pleasure
11.56% (8.84%)
Accept or lean towards:
sui generis
33.33% (31.29%)
Other
29.25%
N = 147, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (130 respondents)
Analysis of knowledge: justified true belief, other analysis, or no analysis?
Accept or lean towards:
justified true belief
18.11% (18.11%)
Accept or lean towards:
other analysis
38.49% (38.49%)
Accept or lean towards:
no analysis
31.70% (31.32%)
Other
12.08%
N = 265, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (14 respondents)
Arguments for theism (which argument is strongest?): cosmological, design, ontological, pragmatic, or moral?
Accept or lean towards:
cosmological
26.46% (19.84%)
Accept or lean towards:
design
27.63% (21.01%)
Accept or lean towards:
ontological
9.34% (6.61%)
Accept or lean towards:
pragmatic
7.78% (4.67%)
Accept or lean towards:
moral
8.56% (4.28%)
Other
43.58%
N = 257, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (22 respondents)
Belief or credence (which is more fundamental?): belief, credence, or neither?
Accept or lean towards:
belief
29.41% (28.92%)
Accept or lean towards:
credence
31.86% (31.37%)
Accept or lean towards:
neither
15.69% (15.69%)
Other
24.02%
N = 204, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (73 respondents)
Capital punishment: permissible or impermissible?
Accept or lean towards:
permissible
22.26% (22.26%)
Accept or lean towards:
impermissible
69.34% (69.34%)
Other
8.39%
N = 274, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (15 respondents)
Causation: counterfactual/difference-making, process/production, primitive, or nonexistent?
Accept or lean towards:
counterfactual/difference-making
31.45% (26.21%)
Accept or lean towards:
process/production
28.23% (22.18%)
Accept or lean towards:
primitive
25.81% (23.39%)
Accept or lean towards:
nonexistent
2.02% (2.02%)
Other
26.21%
N = 248, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (27 respondents)
Chinese room: understands or doesn't understand?
Accept or lean towards:
understands
12.60% (12.60%)
Accept or lean towards:
doesn't understand
72.90% (72.90%)
Other
14.50%
N = 262, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (17 respondents)
Concepts: nativism or empiricism?
Accept or lean towards:
nativism
32.71% (28.97%)
Accept or lean towards:
empiricism
44.86% (40.65%)
Other
30.37%
N = 214, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (61 respondents)
Consciousness: dualism, eliminativism, functionalism, identity theory, or panpsychism?
Accept or lean towards:
dualism
30.38% (28.08%)
Accept or lean towards:
eliminativism
2.69% (2.31%)
Accept or lean towards:
functionalism
27.31% (25.38%)
Accept or lean towards:
identity theory
13.46% (11.92%)
Accept or lean towards:
panpsychism
8.08% (7.31%)
Other
25.00%
N = 260, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (20 respondents)
Continuum hypothesis (does it have a determinate truth-value?): determinate or indeterminate?
Accept or lean towards:
determinate
49.07% (49.07%)
Accept or lean towards:
indeterminate
18.63% (18.63%)
Other
32.30%
N = 161, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (111 respondents)
Cosmological fine-tuning (what explains it?): design, multiverse, brute fact, or no fine-tuning?
Accept or lean towards:
design
28.26% (25.22%)
Accept or lean towards:
multiverse
15.22% (11.30%)
Accept or lean towards:
brute fact
32.17% (26.96%)
Accept or lean towards:
no fine-tuning
14.78% (12.17%)
Other
24.35%
N = 230, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (49 respondents)
Environmental ethics: anthropocentric or non-anthropocentric?
Accept or lean towards:
anthropocentric
36.36% (35.29%)
Accept or lean towards:
non-anthropocentric
52.94% (51.87%)
Other
12.83%
N = 187, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (87 respondents)
Extended mind: yes or no?
Accept or lean towards:
yes
38.56% (38.56%)
Accept or lean towards:
no
50.00% (50.00%)
Other
11.44%
N = 236, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (35 respondents)
Foundations of mathematics: constructivism/intuitionism, formalism, logicism, structuralism, or set-theoretic?
Accept or lean towards:
constructivism/intuitionism
8.24% (6.59%)
Accept or lean towards:
formalism
3.85% (2.20%)
Accept or lean towards:
logicism
13.19% (12.09%)
Accept or lean towards:
structuralism
26.37% (20.88%)
Accept or lean towards:
set-theoretic
16.48% (13.19%)
Other
45.05%
N = 182, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (100 respondents)
Gender categories: preserve, revise, or eliminate?
Accept or lean towards:
preserve
23.11% (21.33%)
Accept or lean towards:
revise
50.22% (48.00%)
Accept or lean towards:
eliminate
14.22% (12.89%)
Other
17.78%
N = 225, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (52 respondents)
Grounds of intentionality: causal/teleological, inferential, interpretational, phenomenal, or primitive?
Accept or lean towards:
causal/teleological
37.88% (30.81%)
Accept or lean towards:
inferential
8.59% (4.55%)
Accept or lean towards:
interpretational
12.63% (10.10%)
Accept or lean towards:
phenomenal
13.13% (8.59%)
Accept or lean towards:
primitive
17.17% (16.16%)
Other
29.80%
N = 198, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (80 respondents)
Hard problem of consciousness (is there one?): yes or no?
Accept or lean towards:
yes
67.95% (67.95%)
Accept or lean towards:
no
24.32% (24.32%)
Other
7.72%
N = 259, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (26 respondents)
Human genetic engineering: permissible or impermissible?
Accept or lean towards:
permissible
64.37% (64.37%)
Accept or lean towards:
impermissible
15.38% (15.38%)
Other
20.24%
N = 247, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (24 respondents)
Hume (what is his view?): skeptic or naturalist?
Accept or lean towards:
skeptic
38.54% (31.22%)
Accept or lean towards:
naturalist
45.85% (38.54%)
Other
30.24%
N = 205, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (77 respondents)
Immortality (would you choose it?): yes or no?
Accept or lean towards:
yes
53.76% (53.76%)
Accept or lean towards:
no
34.59% (34.59%)
Other
11.65%
N = 266, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (10 respondents)
Interlevel metaphysics (which is the most useful?): grounding, identity, realization, or supervenience?
Accept or lean towards:
grounding
38.84% (28.51%)
Accept or lean towards:
identity
18.18% (9.50%)
Accept or lean towards:
realization
20.66% (9.92%)
Accept or lean towards:
supervenience
22.31% (11.98%)
Other
40.08%
N = 242, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (30 respondents)
Justification: coherentism, infinitism, nonreliabilist foundationalism, or reliabilism?
Accept or lean towards:
coherentism
10.21% (7.23%)
Accept or lean towards:
infinitism
2.55% (1.28%)
Accept or lean towards:
nonreliabilist foundationalism
35.74% (31.91%)
Accept or lean towards:
reliabilism
33.62% (29.36%)
Other
30.21%
N = 235, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (44 respondents)
Kant (what is his view?): one world or two worlds?
Accept or lean towards:
one world
39.55% (38.98%)
Accept or lean towards:
two worlds
37.85% (36.72%)
Other
24.29%
N = 177, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (105 respondents)
Law: legal positivism or legal non-positivism?
Accept or lean towards:
legal positivism
39.34% (38.52%)
Accept or lean towards:
legal non-positivism
45.08% (44.26%)
Other
17.21%
N = 122, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (154 respondents)
Material composition: nihilism, restrictivism, or universalism?
Accept or lean towards:
nihilism
4.64% (4.22%)
Accept or lean towards:
restrictivism
40.93% (40.51%)
Accept or lean towards:
universalism
34.60% (33.76%)
Other
21.52%
N = 237, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (45 respondents)
Metaontology: heavyweight realism, deflationary realism, or anti-realism?
Accept or lean towards:
heavyweight realism
57.14% (55.80%)
Accept or lean towards:
deflationary realism
18.75% (17.86%)
Accept or lean towards:
anti-realism
7.59% (7.59%)
Other
18.75%
N = 224, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (48 respondents)
Method in history of philosophy (which do you prefer?): analytic/rational reconstruction or contextual/historicist?
Accept or lean towards:
analytic/rational reconstruction
72.86% (52.38%)
Accept or lean towards:
contextual/historicist
32.86% (12.86%)
Other
34.76%
N = 210, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (65 respondents)
Method in political philosophy (which do you prefer?): ideal theory or non-ideal theory?
Accept or lean towards:
ideal theory
32.14% (25.00%)
Accept or lean towards:
non-ideal theory
49.29% (42.14%)
Other
32.86%
N = 140, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (131 respondents)
Mind uploading (brain replaced by digital emulation): survival or death?
Accept or lean towards:
survival
28.08% (27.69%)
Accept or lean towards:
death
56.15% (56.15%)
Other
16.15%
N = 260, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (14 respondents)
Moral principles: moral generalism or moral particularism?
Accept or lean towards:
moral generalism
52.86% (51.10%)
Accept or lean towards:
moral particularism
37.00% (35.24%)
Other
13.66%
N = 227, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (48 respondents)
Morality: non-naturalism, naturalist realism, constructivism, expressivism, or error theory?
Accept or lean towards:
non-naturalism
37.14% (34.69%)
Accept or lean towards:
naturalist realism
32.24% (28.16%)
Accept or lean towards:
constructivism
10.20% (8.16%)
Accept or lean towards:
expressivism
8.98% (7.35%)
Accept or lean towards:
error theory
7.35% (6.12%)
Other
15.51%
N = 245, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (30 respondents)
Normative concepts (which is most fundamental?): fit, ought, reasons, or value?
Accept or lean towards:
fit
7.81% (4.69%)
Accept or lean towards:
ought
13.54% (10.42%)
Accept or lean towards:
reasons
19.79% (17.19%)
Accept or lean towards:
value
42.19% (37.50%)
Other
30.21%
N = 192, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (80 respondents)
Other minds (for which groups are some members conscious?)
Accept or lean towards:
adult humans
97.73%
Reject or lean against:
adult humans
0.00%
Accept or lean towards:
cats
93.18%
Reject or lean against:
cats
2.65%
Accept or lean towards:
fish
71.97%
Reject or lean against:
fish
10.98%
Accept or lean towards:
flies
40.15%
Reject or lean against:
flies
34.85%
Accept or lean towards:
worms
29.92%
Reject or lean against:
worms
42.80%
Accept or lean towards:
plants
6.44%
Reject or lean against:
plants
84.09%
Accept or lean towards:
particles
2.65%
Reject or lean against:
particles
91.29%
Accept or lean towards:
newborn babies
89.77%
Reject or lean against:
newborn babies
2.27%
Accept or lean towards:
current AI systems
3.41%
Reject or lean against:
current AI systems
84.47%
Accept or lean towards:
future AI systems
44.70%
Reject or lean against:
future AI systems
25.00%
Other
100.00%
N = 264, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (18 respondents)
Ought implies can: yes or no?
Accept or lean towards:
yes
65.37% (64.98%)
Accept or lean towards:
no
26.46% (26.07%)
Other
8.95%
N = 257, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (19 respondents)
Philosophical knowledge (is there any?): none, a little, or a lot?
Accept or lean towards:
none
1.87% (1.87%)
Accept or lean towards:
a little
31.34% (31.34%)
Accept or lean towards:
a lot
60.45% (60.45%)
Other
6.34%
N = 268, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (15 respondents)
Plato (what is his view?): knowledge only of forms or knowledge also of concrete things?
Accept or lean towards:
knowledge only of forms
53.28% (52.55%)
Accept or lean towards:
knowledge also of concrete things
29.20% (28.47%)
Other
18.98%
N = 137, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (140 respondents)
Politics: capitalism or socialism?
Accept or lean towards:
capitalism
32.82% (27.03%)
Accept or lean towards:
socialism
49.42% (42.47%)
Other
30.50%
N = 259, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (21 respondents)
Possible worlds: abstract, concrete, or nonexistent?
Accept or lean towards:
abstract
55.47% (53.28%)
Accept or lean towards:
concrete
5.84% (5.47%)
Accept or lean towards:
nonexistent
29.93% (28.47%)
Other
12.77%
N = 274, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (8 respondents)
Practical reason: Aristotelian, Humean, or Kantian?
Accept or lean towards:
Aristotelian
48.86% (45.45%)
Accept or lean towards:
Humean
27.27% (26.70%)
Accept or lean towards:
Kantian
9.66% (6.82%)
Other
21.02%
N = 176, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (99 respondents)
Principle of sufficient reason: true or false?
Accept or lean towards:
true
32.66% (32.66%)
Accept or lean towards:
false
57.26% (57.26%)
Other
10.08%
N = 248, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (27 respondents)
Properties: classes, immanent universals, transcendent universals, tropes, or nonexistent?
Accept or lean towards:
classes
6.11% (6.11%)
Accept or lean towards:
immanent universals
23.66% (20.23%)
Accept or lean towards:
transcendent universals
27.10% (24.05%)
Accept or lean towards:
tropes
16.79% (13.74%)
Accept or lean towards:
nonexistent
8.78% (8.02%)
Other
27.86%
N = 262, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (20 respondents)
Propositional attitudes: dispositional, phenomenal, representational, or nonexistent?
Accept or lean towards:
dispositional
27.57% (21.96%)
Accept or lean towards:
phenomenal
7.01% (5.14%)
Accept or lean towards:
representational
49.07% (42.52%)
Accept or lean towards:
nonexistent
2.34% (2.34%)
Other
28.04%
N = 214, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (63 respondents)
Propositions: sets, structured entities, simple entities, acts, or nonexistent?
Accept or lean towards:
sets
7.97% (6.77%)
Accept or lean towards:
structured entities
44.22% (41.83%)
Accept or lean towards:
simple entities
7.97% (6.77%)
Accept or lean towards:
acts
7.97% (6.77%)
Accept or lean towards:
nonexistent
13.94% (13.15%)
Other
24.70%
N = 251, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (30 respondents)
Quantum mechanics: collapse, hidden-variables, many-worlds, or epistemic?
Accept or lean towards:
collapse
22.10% (18.78%)
Accept or lean towards:
hidden-variables
24.86% (19.34%)
Accept or lean towards:
many-worlds
22.65% (18.23%)
Accept or lean towards:
epistemic
6.08% (4.42%)
Other
39.23%
N = 181, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (93 respondents)
Race categories: preserve, revise, or eliminate?
Accept or lean towards:
preserve
5.39% (4.90%)
Accept or lean towards:
revise
36.76% (35.29%)
Accept or lean towards:
eliminate
36.27% (35.78%)
Other
24.02%
N = 204, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (74 respondents)
Rational disagreement (can two people with the same evidence rationally disagree?): non-permissivism or permissivism?
Accept or lean towards:
non-permissivism
22.69% (22.69%)
Accept or lean towards:
permissivism
66.81% (66.81%)
Other
10.50%
N = 238, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (39 respondents)
Response to external-world skepticism (which is strongest?): abductive, contextualist, dogmatist, epistemic externalist, semantic externalist, or pragmatic?
Accept or lean towards:
abductive
31.15% (23.77%)
Accept or lean towards:
contextualist
12.70% (7.79%)
Accept or lean towards:
dogmatist
16.39% (12.30%)
Accept or lean towards:
epistemic externalist
20.08% (15.57%)
Accept or lean towards:
semantic externalist
11.07% (6.97%)
Accept or lean towards:
pragmatic
11.48% (7.38%)
Other
26.23%
N = 244, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (33 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)
13.68% (13.68%)
Accept or lean towards:
moderate contextualism (intermediate)
56.13% (55.19%)
Accept or lean towards:
radical contextualism (most or all)
16.98% (16.98%)
Other
14.15%
N = 212, 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
31.40% (31.40%)
Accept or lean towards:
one-half
15.70% (15.70%)
Other
52.89%
N = 121, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (150 respondents)
Spacetime: relationism or substantivalism?
Accept or lean towards:
relationism
34.51% (34.07%)
Accept or lean towards:
substantivalism
40.71% (40.27%)
Other
25.66%
N = 226, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (52 respondents)
Statue and lump: one thing or two things?
Accept or lean towards:
one thing
33.82% (33.46%)
Accept or lean towards:
two things
44.49% (43.75%)
Other
22.79%
N = 272, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (11 respondents)
Temporal ontology: presentism, eternalism, or growing block?
Accept or lean towards:
presentism
18.22% (17.05%)
Accept or lean towards:
eternalism
52.71% (50.78%)
Accept or lean towards:
growing block
11.63% (11.24%)
Other
20.93%
N = 258, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (17 respondents)
Theory of reference: causal, descriptive, or deflationary?
Accept or lean towards:
causal
52.94% (47.06%)
Accept or lean towards:
descriptive
25.21% (19.75%)
Accept or lean towards:
deflationary
9.24% (7.98%)
Other
25.21%
N = 238, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (33 respondents)
Time travel: metaphysically possible or metaphysically impossible?
Accept or lean towards:
metaphysically possible
52.96% (52.96%)
Accept or lean towards:
metaphysically impossible
34.39% (34.39%)
Other
12.65%
N = 253, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (24 respondents)
True contradictions: impossible, possible but non-actual, or actual?
Accept or lean towards:
impossible
77.31% (76.54%)
Accept or lean towards:
possible but non-actual
4.23% (4.23%)
Accept or lean towards:
actual
9.62% (9.23%)
Other
10.00%
N = 260, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (17 respondents)
Units of selection: genes or organisms?
Accept or lean towards:
genes
41.33% (30.00%)
Accept or lean towards:
organisms
42.67% (31.33%)
Other
38.67%
N = 150, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (123 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
18.45% (18.45%)
Accept or lean towards:
necessarily value-laden
33.91% (33.91%)
Accept or lean towards:
can be either
35.19% (33.91%)
Other
13.73%
N = 233, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (42 respondents)
Well-being: hedonism/experientialism, desire satisfaction, or objective list?
Accept or lean towards:
hedonism/experientialism
8.92% (6.10%)
Accept or lean towards:
desire satisfaction
15.96% (12.68%)
Accept or lean towards:
objective list
61.50% (58.69%)
Other
22.54%
N = 213, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (62 respondents)
Wittgenstein (which do you prefer?): early or late?
Accept or lean towards:
early
36.25% (31.25%)
Accept or lean towards:
late
44.58% (39.58%)
Other
29.17%
N = 240, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (39 respondents)