How do philosophers and nonphilosophers think about philosophy? And does personality make a difference?

Abstract

Recent metaphilosophical debates have focused on the methods/epistemology of philosophy (e.g., the role of intuitions), and the structure of the discipline (e.g., which subfields are considered central to philosophy). The paper reports the results of an exploratory study examining the relationship between personality and both kinds of metaphilosophical view. The findings reported are (a) No important link between personality and attitudes to intuitions, (b) Apparent differences between experts and non-experts as to which subfields are considered central, (c) Only limited evidence that perceptions of centrality are related to personality in minor ways. Although no dramatic relationships between personality and metaphilosophical view are found, the results nonetheless prompt some reflection about the role played by judgements about the centrality of subfields within the discipline.

Communicative Approach to Determining the Role of Personality in Science

“…But in fact, it is not about underestimating the personality of a scientist -on the contrary, in recent decades, numerous studies have been carried out at the intersection of philosophy and psychology to identify the conditions under which a scientist's participation in collective scientific work will bring the greatest results (Feist, 2006;Miller, 2021). Especially significant is the critical approach to communication in philosophy -James Andow (2022) identifies the need to combine internal, philosophical criticism with external, non-philosophical criticism. Finally, some authors raise the question of the need to clarify the philosophical and anthropological approach to the very phenomenon of man from the standpoint of taking into account the increasingly active participation of man himself in changing his own essence .…”