prase comments on How would you respond to the Philpapers "What are your Philosophical Positions" Survey? - Less Wrong

9 Post author: InquilineKea 11 April 2011 12:40AM

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Comment author: prase 11 April 2011 11:33:34AM *  1 point [-]
  1. A priori knowledge: Depends on the meaning of "knowledge". A priori beliefs yes, a priori truth no. In general, probably closer to "no".
  2. Abstract objects: Nominalism, but it may as well be a meaningless distinction.
  3. Aesthetic value: subjective.
  4. Analytic-synthetic distinction: no.
  5. Epistemic justification: internalism or externalism, as far as I can tell this is a meaningless distinction.
  6. External world: non-skeptical realism, if I understand correctly what the other options mean.
  7. Free will: compatibilism or no free will, depending on the definition of free will.
  8. God: atheism.
  9. Knowledge: empiricism.
  10. Knowledge claims: contextualism or invariantism, but this is probably meaningless either.
  11. Laws of nature: Humean.
  12. Logic: classical. Other forms of logic can be useful, but the position of the classical logic can hardly be shattered.
  13. Mental content: failed to find a comprehensible definition of either possibilities.
  14. Meta-ethics: anti-realism.
  15. Metaphilosophy: naturalism.
  16. Mind: physicalism.
  17. Moral judgment: non-cognitivism. Not sure what's the difference between this and moral anti-realism.
  18. Moral motivation: mostly internalism.
  19. Newcomb's problem: one box.
  20. Normative ethics: mixed.
  21. Perceptual experience: can't figure out meanings of the alternatives.
  22. Personal identity: there is no ontologically fundamental identity, a confused question.
  23. Politics: mixed.
  24. Proper names: Fregean.
  25. Science: scientific realism.
  26. Teletransporter (new matter): undecided, may depend on various details.
  27. Time: B-theory.
  28. Trolley problem (five straight ahead, one on side track, turn requires switching, what ought one do?): switch (and don't tell anybody).
  29. Truth: deflationary.
  30. Zombies: inconceivable.

Note that (1) I had to find the meanings of many of the terms before answering the questions and so I am probably mistaken about actual meanings of few philosophical positions, and (2) even in many cases where I gave a unique answer I tend to think that the distinction between the positions lacks practical importance and mostly is a matter of formulation; who has better intuition pumps wins. The answers where these disclaimers don't apply (either because I think one side of the debate is much more elegant than the other, or because I can conceive practical implications of the choice) are in bold.