Perhaps it's time to retire the economists and send in the philosophers? Imagine there was a broadcast ban on economists for a month and only philosophers were allowed onto the nation's airwaves and op eds? It's worth a try...These and other unprofound thoughts were prompted by the results of a fascinating survey of philosophers (ht Bryan Caplan). You can read the results at philpapers, which includes the questionnaire (an innovative survey exercise in itself, though definitely aimed at practising philosophers - I'd have liked a guide to the questionnaire explaining what the questions mean!)
There's a very handy table listing the highest correlations from the findings (what beliefs are correlated strongly with others). And like economists, they are prone to using zombies quite a lot to make, em, 'philosophical' points.
Have a look at the ranked correlations with some of the more unusual questions. They do quite accurately describe some professors I knew.
ReplyDeleteHere's to philosophers. A possible solution for unemployment? With so little work around...