Philosophical temperament

Abstract

Many philosophers have worried about what philosophy is. Often they have looked for answers by considering what it is that philosophers do. Given the diversity of topics and methods found in philosophy, however, we propose a different approach. In this article we consider the philosophical temperament, asking an alternative question: What are philosophers like? Our answer is that one important aspect of the philosophical temperament is that philosophers are especially reflective: They are less likely than their peers to embrace what seems obvious without questioning it. This claim is supported by a study of more than 4,000 philosophers and non-philosophers, the results of which indicate that even when we control for overall education level, philosophers tend to be significantly more reflective than their peers. We then illustrate this tendency by considering what we know about the philosophizing of a few prominent philosophers. Recognizing this aspect of the philosophical temperament, it is natural to wonder how philosophers came to be this way: Does philosophical training teach reflectivity or do more reflective people tend to gravitate to philosophy? We consider the limitations of our data with respect to this question and suggest that a longitudinal study be conducted.

Philosophers’ biased judgments persist despite training, expertise and reflection

“…On the other hand, some evidence suggests that philosophers in particular might be unusually skilled at reasoning. Livengood, Sytsma, Feltz, Scheines, and Machery (2010) found that philosophers exhibited superior performance on the Cognitive Reflection Test, a series of simple math problems prone to incorrect intuitive responding (Frederick, 2005), and Kuhn (1991) found that philosophy graduate students were substantially more skilled in evaluating arguments and evidence than were comparison groups, including schoolteachers (though Cheng et al (1986) find no improvement in Wason Selection Task reasoning for undergraduate students after a 40-h lecture course in formal logic).…”

The Gettier Intuition from South America to Asia

“…Here, we embrace a thin characterization of reflection, as was done in previous empirical work on the reflection defense: A judgment is thinly reflective just in case it results from a deliberation process involving attention, focus, cognitive effort, and so on-the type of domain-general psychological resources that careful and attentive thinking requires-and unreflective otherwise. We examined the possible effect of reflection by looking at people's disposition to engage in reflection, using the CRT as our measure (as was done in Livengood, Sytsma, Feltz, Scheines, & Machery, 2010).…”

Experimental Philosophy and the Underrepresentation of Women

“…There is an open debate over the extent to which philosophy provides certain skills (e.g., critical thinking skills) or instead whether students who possess these skills tend to become philosophy majors (Livengood et al 2010). However, it would remain true even on the second view that a philosophy degree is a reliable indicator of these skills, and that women who possess these skills but do not have a philosophy credential may be less likely to be perceived as having the skills.…”

“…These cognitive and socially critical skills are prized across a wide range of careers in business, technology, law, journalism, politics, medicine, and other non-academic jobs. To the extent that, in disproportionate numbers, undergraduate women choose not to take philosophy courses beyond the introductory level, they may not be getting the same value for their educational dollar as male students and risk missing out on career opportunities and benefits that these skills provide.There is an open debate over the extent to which philosophy provides certain skills (e.g., critical thinking skills) or instead whether students who possess these skills tend to become philosophy majors (Livengood et al 2010). However, it would remain true even on the second view that a philosophy degree is a reliable indicator of these skills, and that women who possess these skills but do not have a philosophy credential may be less likely to be perceived as having the skills.…”