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2009-12-09
Metaphysics
Some interesting differences between metaphysicians vs general philosophers of science and philosophers of physics (restricted to faculty/PhDs):

- Laws of nature: There are significantly more Humeans among general philosophers of science and among philosophers of physics than among metaphysicians (41% and 34% vs 23%). 
- Science: There are significantly more scientific realists among metaphysicians than among general philosophers of science and philosophers of physics (83% vs 54% and 66%).
- Time: There are significantly more A-theorists among metaphysicians than among general philosophers of science and philosophers of physics (25% vs 10% and 16%). On the other hand, there are more B-theorists among philosophers of physics than among metaphysicians (44% vs 38%), but there are more B-theorists among metaphysicians than among general philosophers of science (38% vs 30%).
 
Also, some interesting differences between metaphysics faculty/PhDs, grad students, and undergrads:

- Abstract objects: There are more Platonists among faculty than among grad students (50% vs 43%); there are pretty much as many Platonists among undergrads as there are among faculty (52%). 
- God: There are significantly more atheists among faculty than among grad students (70% vs 54%); the proportion of atheists among undergrads in pretty much the same as among grad students (56%). 
- Laws of nature: There are more Humeans among grad students than among faculty (32% vs 23%); undergrads line up again with grad students here (34%). 
- Science: There are significantly more scientific realists among faculty than among grad students (83% vs 66%); undergrads yet again line up with grad students here (63%). 
-  Names: There are more Millians among faculty than among grad students (42% vs 34%); in a lesser but still noticeable proportion, there are more Millians among grad students than among undergrads (34% vs 28%). 


Differences between these three groups of metaphysicians on other salient issues (personal identity, physicalism, time, etc.) are less stark.