Survey Results

Philosophical questions

Meta-Ethics

228 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
82.96% (82.96%)
Accept or lean towards:
no
9.42% (9.42%)
Other
7.62%
N = 223, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (5 respondents)
Abstract objects: Platonism or nominalism?
Accept or lean towards:
Platonism
42.23% (41.75%)
Accept or lean towards:
nominalism
40.29% (39.81%)
Other
18.45%
N = 206, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (22 respondents)
Aesthetic value: objective or subjective?
Accept or lean towards:
objective
47.11% (43.11%)
Accept or lean towards:
subjective
37.78% (33.78%)
Other
23.11%
N = 225, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (3 respondents)
Aim of philosophy (which is most important?): truth/knowledge, understanding, wisdom, happiness, or goodness/justice?
Accept or lean towards:
truth/knowledge
43.11% (16.89%)
Accept or lean towards:
understanding
60.89% (32.89%)
Accept or lean towards:
wisdom
33.78% (9.33%)
Accept or lean towards:
happiness
12.44% (0.44%)
Accept or lean towards:
goodness/justice
24.89% (2.67%)
Other
37.78%
N = 225, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (3 respondents)
Analytic-synthetic distinction: yes or no?
Accept or lean towards:
yes
74.77% (74.77%)
Accept or lean towards:
no
16.97% (16.97%)
Other
8.26%
N = 218, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (10 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)
47.14% (46.26%)
Accept or lean towards:
vegetarianism (no and yes)
22.91% (22.03%)
Accept or lean towards:
veganism (no and no)
22.47% (22.03%)
Other
9.69%
N = 227, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (1 respondents)
Epistemic justification: internalism or externalism?
Accept or lean towards:
internalism
42.59% (33.33%)
Accept or lean towards:
externalism
49.07% (39.81%)
Other
26.85%
N = 216, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (12 respondents)
Experience machine (would you enter?): yes or no?
Accept or lean towards:
yes
9.29% (9.29%)
Accept or lean towards:
no
84.96% (84.96%)
Other
5.75%
N = 226, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (2 respondents)
External world: idealism, skepticism, or non-skeptical realism?
Accept or lean towards:
idealism
4.89% (3.56%)
Accept or lean towards:
skepticism
6.22% (4.89%)
Accept or lean towards:
non-skeptical realism
86.22% (83.56%)
Other
8.00%
N = 225, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (3 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
20.44% (20.00%)
Accept or lean towards:
don't push
65.33% (65.33%)
Other
14.67%
N = 225, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (3 respondents)
Free will: compatibilism, libertarianism, or no free will?
Accept or lean towards:
compatibilism
64.16% (61.95%)
Accept or lean towards:
libertarianism
18.14% (18.14%)
Accept or lean towards:
no free will
11.06% (9.73%)
Other
10.18%
N = 226, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (2 respondents)
Gender: biological, psychological, social, or unreal?
Accept or lean towards:
biological
23.83% (12.62%)
Accept or lean towards:
psychological
14.95% (3.27%)
Accept or lean towards:
social
64.02% (49.07%)
Accept or lean towards:
unreal
3.27% (1.40%)
Other
33.64%
N = 214, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (14 respondents)
God: theism or atheism?
Accept or lean towards:
theism
17.11% (17.11%)
Accept or lean towards:
atheism
70.61% (70.61%)
Other
12.28%
N = 228
Knowledge: empiricism or rationalism?
Accept or lean towards:
empiricism
36.36% (30.00%)
Accept or lean towards:
rationalism
40.00% (33.64%)
Other
36.36%
N = 220, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (8 respondents)
Knowledge claims: contextualism, relativism, or invariantism?
Accept or lean towards:
contextualism
51.67% (48.33%)
Accept or lean towards:
relativism
4.44% (3.33%)
Accept or lean towards:
invariantism
29.44% (26.11%)
Other
22.22%
N = 180, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (48 respondents)
Laws of nature: Humean or non-Humean?
Accept or lean towards:
Humean
26.74% (26.20%)
Accept or lean towards:
non-Humean
62.57% (62.03%)
Other
11.76%
N = 187, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (41 respondents)
Logic: classical or non-classical?
Accept or lean towards:
classical
57.31% (54.97%)
Accept or lean towards:
non-classical
22.81% (20.47%)
Other
24.56%
N = 171, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (57 respondents)
Meaning of life: subjective, objective, or nonexistent?
Accept or lean towards:
subjective
25.69% (19.27%)
Accept or lean towards:
objective
40.83% (34.40%)
Accept or lean towards:
nonexistent
10.55% (9.17%)
Other
37.16%
N = 218, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (10 respondents)
Mental content: internalism or externalism?
Accept or lean towards:
internalism
28.95% (22.11%)
Accept or lean towards:
externalism
64.21% (57.37%)
Other
20.53%
N = 190, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (38 respondents)
Meta-ethics: moral realism or moral anti-realism?
Accept or lean towards:
moral realism
65.35% (64.04%)
Accept or lean towards:
moral anti-realism
25.88% (24.56%)
Other
11.40%
N = 228
Metaphilosophy: naturalism or non-naturalism?
Accept or lean towards:
naturalism
45.77% (45.27%)
Accept or lean towards:
non-naturalism
39.30% (38.81%)
Other
15.92%
N = 201, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (27 respondents)
Mind: physicalism or non-physicalism?
Accept or lean towards:
physicalism
47.27% (47.27%)
Accept or lean towards:
non-physicalism
38.18% (37.73%)
Other
15.00%
N = 220, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (8 respondents)
Moral judgment: cognitivism or non-cognitivism?
Accept or lean towards:
cognitivism
77.53% (76.65%)
Accept or lean towards:
non-cognitivism
16.74% (15.86%)
Other
7.49%
N = 227, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (1 respondents)
Moral motivation: internalism or externalism?
Accept or lean towards:
internalism
41.18% (39.82%)
Accept or lean towards:
externalism
44.80% (43.44%)
Other
16.74%
N = 221, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (7 respondents)
Newcomb's problem: one box or two boxes?
Accept or lean towards:
one box
29.41% (29.41%)
Accept or lean towards:
two boxes
45.10% (45.10%)
Other
25.49%
N = 153, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (75 respondents)
Normative ethics: deontology, consequentialism, or virtue ethics?
Accept or lean towards:
deontology
41.41% (25.99%)
Accept or lean towards:
consequentialism
31.28% (22.47%)
Accept or lean towards:
virtue ethics
29.52% (16.30%)
Other
35.24%
N = 227, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (1 respondents)
Perceptual experience: disjunctivism, qualia theory, representationalism, or sense-datum theory?
Accept or lean towards:
disjunctivism
21.56% (19.76%)
Accept or lean towards:
qualia theory
12.57% (10.18%)
Accept or lean towards:
representationalism
40.72% (38.32%)
Accept or lean towards:
sense-datum theory
2.40% (1.80%)
Other
29.94%
N = 167, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (61 respondents)
Personal identity: biological view, psychological view, or further-fact view?
Accept or lean towards:
biological view
20.19% (17.31%)
Accept or lean towards:
psychological view
42.31% (39.90%)
Accept or lean towards:
further-fact view
17.31% (17.31%)
Other
25.48%
N = 208, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (20 respondents)
Philosophical methods (which methods are the most useful/important?)
Accept or lean towards:
conceptual analysis
76.68%
Reject or lean against:
conceptual analysis
9.87%
Accept or lean towards:
conceptual engineering
43.05%
Reject or lean against:
conceptual engineering
19.28%
Accept or lean towards:
empirical philosophy
59.64%
Reject or lean against:
empirical philosophy
14.80%
Accept or lean towards:
experimental philosophy
34.98%
Reject or lean against:
experimental philosophy
36.77%
Accept or lean towards:
formal philosophy
58.30%
Reject or lean against:
formal philosophy
12.11%
Accept or lean towards:
intuition-based philosophy
69.51%
Reject or lean against:
intuition-based philosophy
17.04%
Accept or lean towards:
linguistic philosophy
54.26%
Reject or lean against:
linguistic philosophy
22.42%
Other
100.00%
N = 223, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (5 respondents)
Philosophical progress (is there any?): none, a little, or a lot?
Accept or lean towards:
none
0.88% (0.88%)
Accept or lean towards:
a little
40.53% (39.65%)
Accept or lean towards:
a lot
49.34% (48.90%)
Other
10.57%
N = 227, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (1 respondents)
Political philosophy: communitarianism, egalitarianism, or libertarianism?
Accept or lean towards:
communitarianism
22.38% (14.76%)
Accept or lean towards:
egalitarianism
52.86% (43.81%)
Accept or lean towards:
libertarianism
14.29% (9.05%)
Other
32.38%
N = 210, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (18 respondents)
Proper names: Fregean or Millian?
Accept or lean towards:
Fregean
39.51% (37.04%)
Accept or lean towards:
Millian
38.27% (36.42%)
Other
26.54%
N = 162, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (66 respondents)
Race: biological, social, or unreal?
Accept or lean towards:
biological
20.10% (13.73%)
Accept or lean towards:
social
60.29% (51.96%)
Accept or lean towards:
unreal
14.71% (12.75%)
Other
21.57%
N = 204, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (24 respondents)
Science: scientific realism or scientific anti-realism?
Accept or lean towards:
scientific realism
78.08% (77.17%)
Accept or lean towards:
scientific anti-realism
10.05% (8.68%)
Other
14.16%
N = 219, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (9 respondents)
Teletransporter (new matter): survival or death?
Accept or lean towards:
survival
34.13% (34.13%)
Accept or lean towards:
death
43.27% (43.27%)
Other
22.60%
N = 208, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (20 respondents)
Time: A-theory or B-theory?
Accept or lean towards:
A-theory
30.40% (28.00%)
Accept or lean towards:
B-theory
39.20% (36.80%)
Other
35.20%
N = 125, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (103 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
69.91% (69.47%)
Accept or lean towards:
don't switch
13.27% (12.83%)
Other
17.70%
N = 226, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (2 respondents)
Truth: correspondence, deflationary, or epistemic?
Accept or lean towards:
correspondence
58.80% (55.56%)
Accept or lean towards:
deflationary
27.78% (24.54%)
Accept or lean towards:
epistemic
4.63% (4.17%)
Other
15.74%
N = 216, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (12 respondents)
Vagueness: epistemic, metaphysical, or semantic?
Accept or lean towards:
epistemic
20.11% (12.85%)
Accept or lean towards:
metaphysical
25.14% (17.88%)
Accept or lean towards:
semantic
55.31% (45.81%)
Other
23.46%
N = 179, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (49 respondents)
Zombies: inconceivable, conceivable but not metaphysically possible, or metaphysically possible?
Accept or lean towards:
inconceivable
11.88% (11.88%)
Accept or lean towards:
conceivable but not metaphysically possible
38.61% (38.61%)
Accept or lean towards:
metaphysically possible
29.70% (29.70%)
Other
19.80%
N = 202, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (26 respondents)

Additional questions

Abortion (first trimester, no special circumstances): permissible or impermissible?
Accept or lean towards:
permissible
87.80% (87.20%)
Accept or lean towards:
impermissible
7.93% (7.32%)
Other
5.49%
N = 164, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (2 respondents)
Aesthetic experience: perception, pleasure, or sui generis?
Accept or lean towards:
perception
25.00% (22.12%)
Accept or lean towards:
pleasure
10.58% (7.69%)
Accept or lean towards:
sui generis
46.15% (44.23%)
Other
25.96%
N = 104, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (54 respondents)
Analysis of knowledge: justified true belief, other analysis, or no analysis?
Accept or lean towards:
justified true belief
15.07% (15.07%)
Accept or lean towards:
other analysis
33.56% (32.88%)
Accept or lean towards:
no analysis
36.99% (36.30%)
Other
15.75%
N = 146, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (11 respondents)
Arguments for theism (which argument is strongest?): cosmological, design, ontological, pragmatic, or moral?
Accept or lean towards:
cosmological
23.13% (20.41%)
Accept or lean towards:
design
22.45% (19.73%)
Accept or lean towards:
ontological
6.12% (4.08%)
Accept or lean towards:
pragmatic
12.24% (10.20%)
Accept or lean towards:
moral
9.52% (6.80%)
Other
38.78%
N = 147, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (10 respondents)
Belief or credence (which is more fundamental?): belief, credence, or neither?
Accept or lean towards:
belief
31.09% (29.41%)
Accept or lean towards:
credence
31.09% (30.25%)
Accept or lean towards:
neither
22.69% (21.85%)
Other
18.49%
N = 119, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (34 respondents)
Capital punishment: permissible or impermissible?
Accept or lean towards:
permissible
18.59% (18.59%)
Accept or lean towards:
impermissible
74.36% (74.36%)
Other
7.05%
N = 156, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (3 respondents)
Causation: counterfactual/difference-making, process/production, primitive, or nonexistent?
Accept or lean towards:
counterfactual/difference-making
32.14% (28.57%)
Accept or lean towards:
process/production
25.00% (21.43%)
Accept or lean towards:
primitive
25.89% (25.89%)
Accept or lean towards:
nonexistent
0.00% (0.00%)
Other
24.11%
N = 112, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (41 respondents)
Chinese room: understands or doesn't understand?
Accept or lean towards:
understands
14.89% (14.18%)
Accept or lean towards:
doesn't understand
75.18% (75.18%)
Other
10.64%
N = 141, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (18 respondents)
Concepts: nativism or empiricism?
Accept or lean towards:
nativism
33.33% (27.35%)
Accept or lean towards:
empiricism
41.03% (35.04%)
Other
37.61%
N = 117, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (41 respondents)
Consciousness: dualism, eliminativism, functionalism, identity theory, or panpsychism?
Accept or lean towards:
dualism
30.94% (28.78%)
Accept or lean towards:
eliminativism
1.44% (0.72%)
Accept or lean towards:
functionalism
35.25% (29.50%)
Accept or lean towards:
identity theory
5.04% (5.04%)
Accept or lean towards:
panpsychism
2.88% (2.88%)
Other
33.09%
N = 139, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (23 respondents)
Continuum hypothesis (does it have a determinate truth-value?): determinate or indeterminate?
Accept or lean towards:
determinate
42.86% (42.86%)
Accept or lean towards:
indeterminate
20.41% (20.41%)
Other
36.73%
N = 49, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (110 respondents)
Cosmological fine-tuning (what explains it?): design, multiverse, brute fact, or no fine-tuning?
Accept or lean towards:
design
20.35% (19.47%)
Accept or lean towards:
multiverse
14.16% (12.39%)
Accept or lean towards:
brute fact
30.97% (29.20%)
Accept or lean towards:
no fine-tuning
16.81% (14.16%)
Other
24.78%
N = 113, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (46 respondents)
Environmental ethics: anthropocentric or non-anthropocentric?
Accept or lean towards:
anthropocentric
42.64% (39.53%)
Accept or lean towards:
non-anthropocentric
51.94% (48.84%)
Other
11.63%
N = 129, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (25 respondents)
Extended mind: yes or no?
Accept or lean towards:
yes
46.92% (46.92%)
Accept or lean towards:
no
39.23% (39.23%)
Other
13.85%
N = 130, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (35 respondents)
Foundations of mathematics: constructivism/intuitionism, formalism, logicism, structuralism, or set-theoretic?
Accept or lean towards:
constructivism/intuitionism
14.49% (14.49%)
Accept or lean towards:
formalism
4.35% (4.35%)
Accept or lean towards:
logicism
21.74% (20.29%)
Accept or lean towards:
structuralism
11.59% (8.70%)
Accept or lean towards:
set-theoretic
14.49% (13.04%)
Other
39.13%
N = 69, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (85 respondents)
Gender categories: preserve, revise, or eliminate?
Accept or lean towards:
preserve
22.22% (20.74%)
Accept or lean towards:
revise
48.89% (48.15%)
Accept or lean towards:
eliminate
11.11% (9.63%)
Other
21.48%
N = 135, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (23 respondents)
Grounds of intentionality: causal/teleological, inferential, interpretational, phenomenal, or primitive?
Accept or lean towards:
causal/teleological
33.65% (26.92%)
Accept or lean towards:
inferential
8.65% (5.77%)
Accept or lean towards:
interpretational
12.50% (10.58%)
Accept or lean towards:
phenomenal
9.62% (8.65%)
Accept or lean towards:
primitive
19.23% (17.31%)
Other
30.77%
N = 104, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (59 respondents)
Hard problem of consciousness (is there one?): yes or no?
Accept or lean towards:
yes
70.80% (70.80%)
Accept or lean towards:
no
19.71% (19.71%)
Other
9.49%
N = 137, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (20 respondents)
Human genetic engineering: permissible or impermissible?
Accept or lean towards:
permissible
62.00% (62.00%)
Accept or lean towards:
impermissible
20.67% (20.67%)
Other
17.33%
N = 150, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (11 respondents)
Hume (what is his view?): skeptic or naturalist?
Accept or lean towards:
skeptic
33.88% (24.79%)
Accept or lean towards:
naturalist
59.50% (50.41%)
Other
24.79%
N = 121, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (33 respondents)
Immortality (would you choose it?): yes or no?
Accept or lean towards:
yes
49.03% (49.03%)
Accept or lean towards:
no
40.00% (40.00%)
Other
10.97%
N = 155, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (1 respondents)
Interlevel metaphysics (which is the most useful?): grounding, identity, realization, or supervenience?
Accept or lean towards:
grounding
49.51% (36.89%)
Accept or lean towards:
identity
8.74% (2.91%)
Accept or lean towards:
realization
19.42% (7.77%)
Accept or lean towards:
supervenience
23.30% (14.56%)
Other
37.86%
N = 103, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (48 respondents)
Justification: coherentism, infinitism, nonreliabilist foundationalism, or reliabilism?
Accept or lean towards:
coherentism
27.40% (22.60%)
Accept or lean towards:
infinitism
0.68% (0.68%)
Accept or lean towards:
nonreliabilist foundationalism
30.14% (24.66%)
Accept or lean towards:
reliabilism
26.71% (19.86%)
Other
32.19%
N = 146, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (14 respondents)
Kant (what is his view?): one world or two worlds?
Accept or lean towards:
one world
41.41% (41.41%)
Accept or lean towards:
two worlds
35.35% (35.35%)
Other
23.23%
N = 99, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (55 respondents)
Law: legal positivism or legal non-positivism?
Accept or lean towards:
legal positivism
44.34% (44.34%)
Accept or lean towards:
legal non-positivism
40.57% (40.57%)
Other
15.09%
N = 106, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (41 respondents)
Material composition: nihilism, restrictivism, or universalism?
Accept or lean towards:
nihilism
3.85% (3.85%)
Accept or lean towards:
restrictivism
41.03% (41.03%)
Accept or lean towards:
universalism
24.36% (23.08%)
Other
32.05%
N = 78, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (78 respondents)
Metaontology: heavyweight realism, deflationary realism, or anti-realism?
Accept or lean towards:
heavyweight realism
51.89% (51.89%)
Accept or lean towards:
deflationary realism
22.64% (22.64%)
Accept or lean towards:
anti-realism
9.43% (9.43%)
Other
16.04%
N = 106, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (47 respondents)
Method in history of philosophy (which do you prefer?): analytic/rational reconstruction or contextual/historicist?
Accept or lean towards:
analytic/rational reconstruction
68.80% (53.60%)
Accept or lean towards:
contextual/historicist
29.60% (15.20%)
Other
31.20%
N = 125, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (30 respondents)
Method in political philosophy (which do you prefer?): ideal theory or non-ideal theory?
Accept or lean towards:
ideal theory
35.66% (25.58%)
Accept or lean towards:
non-ideal theory
45.74% (35.66%)
Other
38.76%
N = 129, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (31 respondents)
Mind uploading (brain replaced by digital emulation): survival or death?
Accept or lean towards:
survival
31.91% (31.91%)
Accept or lean towards:
death
51.06% (51.06%)
Other
17.02%
N = 141, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (12 respondents)
Moral principles: moral generalism or moral particularism?
Accept or lean towards:
moral generalism
61.25% (59.38%)
Accept or lean towards:
moral particularism
30.63% (28.13%)
Other
12.50%
N = 160, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (3 respondents)
Morality: non-naturalism, naturalist realism, constructivism, expressivism, or error theory?
Accept or lean towards:
non-naturalism
36.36% (32.73%)
Accept or lean towards:
naturalist realism
29.70% (23.64%)
Accept or lean towards:
constructivism
16.97% (11.52%)
Accept or lean towards:
expressivism
15.15% (10.91%)
Accept or lean towards:
error theory
7.27% (4.24%)
Other
16.97%
N = 165, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (2 respondents)
Normative concepts (which is most fundamental?): fit, ought, reasons, or value?
Accept or lean towards:
fit
13.51% (8.11%)
Accept or lean towards:
ought
15.54% (10.14%)
Accept or lean towards:
reasons
31.08% (23.65%)
Accept or lean towards:
value
33.78% (25.00%)
Other
33.11%
N = 148, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (7 respondents)
Other minds (for which groups are some members conscious?)
Accept or lean towards:
adult humans
96.58%
Reject or lean against:
adult humans
0.00%
Accept or lean towards:
cats
87.67%
Reject or lean against:
cats
5.48%
Accept or lean towards:
fish
67.81%
Reject or lean against:
fish
13.70%
Accept or lean towards:
flies
32.19%
Reject or lean against:
flies
39.04%
Accept or lean towards:
worms
22.60%
Reject or lean against:
worms
46.58%
Accept or lean towards:
plants
4.11%
Reject or lean against:
plants
87.67%
Accept or lean towards:
particles
0.68%
Reject or lean against:
particles
92.47%
Accept or lean towards:
newborn babies
84.93%
Reject or lean against:
newborn babies
5.48%
Accept or lean towards:
current AI systems
2.74%
Reject or lean against:
current AI systems
83.56%
Accept or lean towards:
future AI systems
39.04%
Reject or lean against:
future AI systems
27.40%
Other
100.00%
N = 146, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (7 respondents)
Ought implies can: yes or no?
Accept or lean towards:
yes
67.95% (67.95%)
Accept or lean towards:
no
20.51% (20.51%)
Other
11.54%
N = 156, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (2 respondents)
Philosophical knowledge (is there any?): none, a little, or a lot?
Accept or lean towards:
none
1.81% (1.81%)
Accept or lean towards:
a little
35.54% (35.54%)
Accept or lean towards:
a lot
58.43% (58.43%)
Other
4.22%
N = 166, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (4 respondents)
Plato (what is his view?): knowledge only of forms or knowledge also of concrete things?
Accept or lean towards:
knowledge only of forms
48.72% (48.72%)
Accept or lean towards:
knowledge also of concrete things
32.05% (32.05%)
Other
19.23%
N = 78, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (75 respondents)
Politics: capitalism or socialism?
Accept or lean towards:
capitalism
29.80% (27.15%)
Accept or lean towards:
socialism
52.32% (48.34%)
Other
24.50%
N = 151, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (5 respondents)
Possible worlds: abstract, concrete, or nonexistent?
Accept or lean towards:
abstract
59.57% (57.45%)
Accept or lean towards:
concrete
2.84% (2.84%)
Accept or lean towards:
nonexistent
25.53% (24.82%)
Other
14.89%
N = 141, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (14 respondents)
Practical reason: Aristotelian, Humean, or Kantian?
Accept or lean towards:
Aristotelian
31.58% (28.29%)
Accept or lean towards:
Humean
29.61% (28.29%)
Accept or lean towards:
Kantian
19.08% (17.11%)
Other
26.32%
N = 152, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (7 respondents)
Principle of sufficient reason: true or false?
Accept or lean towards:
true
36.00% (36.00%)
Accept or lean towards:
false
46.40% (46.40%)
Other
17.60%
N = 125, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (34 respondents)
Properties: classes, immanent universals, transcendent universals, tropes, or nonexistent?
Accept or lean towards:
classes
8.16% (8.16%)
Accept or lean towards:
immanent universals
18.37% (18.37%)
Accept or lean towards:
transcendent universals
24.49% (24.49%)
Accept or lean towards:
tropes
14.29% (14.29%)
Accept or lean towards:
nonexistent
2.04% (2.04%)
Other
32.65%
N = 98, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (60 respondents)
Propositional attitudes: dispositional, phenomenal, representational, or nonexistent?
Accept or lean towards:
dispositional
41.07% (31.25%)
Accept or lean towards:
phenomenal
7.14% (3.57%)
Accept or lean towards:
representational
50.00% (39.29%)
Accept or lean towards:
nonexistent
0.00% (0.00%)
Other
25.89%
N = 112, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (41 respondents)
Propositions: sets, structured entities, simple entities, acts, or nonexistent?
Accept or lean towards:
sets
6.54% (6.54%)
Accept or lean towards:
structured entities
45.79% (39.25%)
Accept or lean towards:
simple entities
3.74% (1.87%)
Accept or lean towards:
acts
11.21% (8.41%)
Accept or lean towards:
nonexistent
9.35% (8.41%)
Other
35.51%
N = 107, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (52 respondents)
Quantum mechanics: collapse, hidden-variables, many-worlds, or epistemic?
Accept or lean towards:
collapse
5.36% (3.57%)
Accept or lean towards:
hidden-variables
25.00% (21.43%)
Accept or lean towards:
many-worlds
30.36% (25.00%)
Accept or lean towards:
epistemic
14.29% (10.71%)
Other
39.29%
N = 56, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (99 respondents)
Race categories: preserve, revise, or eliminate?
Accept or lean towards:
preserve
11.28% (9.77%)
Accept or lean towards:
revise
33.83% (32.33%)
Accept or lean towards:
eliminate
33.83% (31.58%)
Other
26.32%
N = 133, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (38 respondents)
Rational disagreement (can two people with the same evidence rationally disagree?): non-permissivism or permissivism?
Accept or lean towards:
non-permissivism
21.53% (21.53%)
Accept or lean towards:
permissivism
69.44% (69.44%)
Other
9.03%
N = 144, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (14 respondents)
Response to external-world skepticism (which is strongest?): abductive, contextualist, dogmatist, epistemic externalist, semantic externalist, or pragmatic?
Accept or lean towards:
abductive
28.99% (21.74%)
Accept or lean towards:
contextualist
7.97% (4.35%)
Accept or lean towards:
dogmatist
21.01% (13.77%)
Accept or lean towards:
epistemic externalist
21.01% (13.77%)
Accept or lean towards:
semantic externalist
6.52% (3.62%)
Accept or lean towards:
pragmatic
21.01% (15.22%)
Other
27.54%
N = 138, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (20 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)
7.77% (5.83%)
Accept or lean towards:
moderate contextualism (intermediate)
63.11% (61.17%)
Accept or lean towards:
radical contextualism (most or all)
13.59% (10.68%)
Other
22.33%
N = 103, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (57 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
38.18% (38.18%)
Accept or lean towards:
one-half
25.45% (25.45%)
Other
36.36%
N = 55, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (101 respondents)
Spacetime: relationism or substantivalism?
Accept or lean towards:
relationism
45.21% (45.21%)
Accept or lean towards:
substantivalism
20.55% (20.55%)
Other
34.25%
N = 73, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (84 respondents)
Statue and lump: one thing or two things?
Accept or lean towards:
one thing
28.57% (28.57%)
Accept or lean towards:
two things
44.36% (44.36%)
Other
27.07%
N = 133, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (21 respondents)
Temporal ontology: presentism, eternalism, or growing block?
Accept or lean towards:
presentism
16.48% (16.48%)
Accept or lean towards:
eternalism
31.87% (30.77%)
Accept or lean towards:
growing block
23.08% (23.08%)
Other
29.67%
N = 91, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (58 respondents)
Theory of reference: causal, descriptive, or deflationary?
Accept or lean towards:
causal
31.54% (25.38%)
Accept or lean towards:
descriptive
28.46% (22.31%)
Accept or lean towards:
deflationary
16.15% (16.15%)
Other
36.15%
N = 130, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (27 respondents)
Time travel: metaphysically possible or metaphysically impossible?
Accept or lean towards:
metaphysically possible
38.46% (38.46%)
Accept or lean towards:
metaphysically impossible
43.85% (43.85%)
Other
17.69%
N = 130, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (30 respondents)
True contradictions: impossible, possible but non-actual, or actual?
Accept or lean towards:
impossible
80.80% (80.80%)
Accept or lean towards:
possible but non-actual
2.40% (2.40%)
Accept or lean towards:
actual
8.00% (8.00%)
Other
8.80%
N = 125, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (32 respondents)
Units of selection: genes or organisms?
Accept or lean towards:
genes
51.58% (41.05%)
Accept or lean towards:
organisms
31.58% (22.11%)
Other
36.84%
N = 95, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (62 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
14.17% (14.17%)
Accept or lean towards:
necessarily value-laden
45.67% (45.67%)
Accept or lean towards:
can be either
29.92% (29.92%)
Other
10.24%
N = 127, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (19 respondents)
Well-being: hedonism/experientialism, desire satisfaction, or objective list?
Accept or lean towards:
hedonism/experientialism
10.53% (7.24%)
Accept or lean towards:
desire satisfaction
17.76% (14.47%)
Accept or lean towards:
objective list
59.21% (56.58%)
Other
21.71%
N = 152, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (3 respondents)
Wittgenstein (which do you prefer?): early or late?
Accept or lean towards:
early
21.32% (19.85%)
Accept or lean towards:
late
52.94% (51.47%)
Other
28.68%
N = 136, excluding skipped & insufficiently familiar (23 respondents)