I found an interesting article, What do philosophers believe, available free of charge until Dec. 29.
The authors surveyed professional philosophers (mostly in the analytic tradition) in order to determine their stances on a number of philosophical problems (again, mostly in the analytic tradition). Among some of the interesting results, at least from my perspective:
They discuss correlations between beliefs, with the highest correlation being that between cognitivism and moral realism (duh). The discuss correlations involving gender, national origin, where the PhD was granted, etc.
And then they did a meta-survey, asking philosophers what they thought the percentages from the first part would turn out to be. As it happens, philosophers are not particularly good at guessing which theories are popular among philosophers. For instance, the mean estimate for the percentage of those who believe in the analytic/synthetic distinction was 50%, which is 20.6% lower than the actual results.
Personally, I would have put it at lower than 50%. I thought that the distinction had been largely discredited, although I tend to use it myself. One thing I learned from this paper is that my own judgments about philosophical consensus are just off the mark. I'll try to be a little more circumspect when reporting the consensus hereafter.
Anyway, I found the paper interesting and it's free for anyone who wants to take a gander -- at least for now.
The authors surveyed professional philosophers (mostly in the analytic tradition) in order to determine their stances on a number of philosophical problems (again, mostly in the analytic tradition). Among some of the interesting results, at least from my perspective:
- 71.1% accept or lean toward believing in a priori knowledge.
- A plurality (41%) accept or lean toward believing in objective aesthetic value.
- 64.9% accept or lean toward believing in the analytic/synthetic distinction.
- 72.8% accept or lean toward atheism.
- 56.4% accept or lean toward believing in moral realism.
- 65.7% accept or lean toward believing that moral judgments are either true or false (cognitivism).
- 50.8% accept or lean toward the correspondence theory of truth.
They discuss correlations between beliefs, with the highest correlation being that between cognitivism and moral realism (duh). The discuss correlations involving gender, national origin, where the PhD was granted, etc.
And then they did a meta-survey, asking philosophers what they thought the percentages from the first part would turn out to be. As it happens, philosophers are not particularly good at guessing which theories are popular among philosophers. For instance, the mean estimate for the percentage of those who believe in the analytic/synthetic distinction was 50%, which is 20.6% lower than the actual results.
Personally, I would have put it at lower than 50%. I thought that the distinction had been largely discredited, although I tend to use it myself. One thing I learned from this paper is that my own judgments about philosophical consensus are just off the mark. I'll try to be a little more circumspect when reporting the consensus hereafter.
Anyway, I found the paper interesting and it's free for anyone who wants to take a gander -- at least for now.
via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/1LSKLAr
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