Online research in philosophy

It's interesting to compare answers to a question between the whole target faculty population and those who work in the AOS associated with the question.  The biggest differences by far, unsurprisingly, concern theism and the philosophy of religion.  The next biggest differences are in decision theory (two boxing), philosophy of physical science (B-theory), philosophy of mathematics (Platonism).  Then epistemology (invariantism and to a lesser extent internalism), general philosophy of science (Humeanism),... (read more)

The PhilPapers Survey and Metasurvey have now closed. Both had excellent response rates: 3226 individuals completed the Survey, and 727 completed the Metasurvey. Thanks again to everyone who participated. The preliminary results can be found here: http://philpapers.org/surveys/ This page contains basic data on answers to the Survey and the Metasurvey, broken down by population and by area of specialization. It also contains demographic data on answers to the background questions. There... (read more)

Here is an attempt to say what all and only religions share in common in virtue of which they are religions.
From (2001). A Theory of Religion Revised. Religious Studies 37 (2):177-189. This goes against
the prevailing view that there is only a 'family resemblance' tween religions.
Comments welcome.

I take it to be intuitive that religions are
concerned with a reality that surpasses the ordinary world that
sense perception reveals. This reality consists either of... (read more)

I've been trying to work on the question about how we should individuate, or count, perceptual experiences at a time, and whether or not there is any substantive issue here.
   I am currently looking at my computer, and my desk, and a cup. Is this one visual experience, or three, and what decides this? Individuating experiences across sensory modalities seems an easier task, and we may just say that are... (read more)

Received views are an important part of our symbolic order. Once it becomes apparent that they cannot possibly be true, it is sometimes a valuable philosophical task to preserve them, since no rational and educated person could actually believe them. As an example of a critically endangered received view, consider Jerry Coyne's excellent book, Why Evolution Is True:
[T]he  process   of evolution -- natural selection, the mechanism that drove... (read more)

It is widely believed, both by proponents of the theory-theory and proponents of the simulation theory, that people can successfully predict one another's behavior on the basis of attributions of belief and desire.  The idea is that person A can observe person B's behavior, on that basis figure out that B has certain beliefs and desires, and on the basis of the attribution of those beliefs and desires, successfully predict what... (read more)

Hi,

I'm currently writing a dissertation on the connection between behaviour and the mental concepts for my MA and was wondering whether anyone could point me in the direction of some good articles or authors - particularly early or mid 20th Century - who have criticised the classical Logical Positivist formulation of behaviourism on the grounds that the reduction of behaviour to descriptions at the level of brute, bodily motions breaks down the distinction between action and mere movement which is crucial in forging any kind... (read more)

Here is a summary of some upgrades we are planning for the near future. Please let us know what you think by replying to this message. Embedding of PhilPapers lists and categories A system to allow “my works” and other PhilPapers lists (including category listings) to be embedded on third-party pages. The main anticipated use would for individuals to embed “my works” on their personal page or departmental page. This... (read more)

I've got a strictly sociological question about an epistemological doctrine: rationalist infallibilism. Rationalist infallibilism, defined somewhat tendentiously,holds that a relatively wide range of (i) analytic and (ii) synthetic a priori propositions can be infallibly justified or absolutely warranted. Here I'll define absolute warrant as a proposition that is warranted to such a degree that entails its truth and precludes its falsefood.

Are there any current  proponents of rationalist infallibilism who have... (read more)

I would like to ask each of you two questions.

We all have some goals that I will call professional goals.  For instance, you want to publish such-and-such a paper of yours or institute such-and-such a change in your department or university.  Those are fairly specific goals.  A less specific one might be the goal of making a significant contribution to the profession by advancing the discussion of a... (read more)