What Philosophers Believe

A survey of contemporary philosophers’ beliefs was conducted at the world’s top 99 university (analytical) philosophy departments; most are scientists who like Hume, Aristotle and Kant. “Free will gets a thumbs-up: only 12% of philosophers think that people’s lives are predestined. But God gets the thumbs-down: nearly three-quarters accept or lean towards atheism. This is only to be expected. Even in America, which is unusually religious for a rich country, the top echelons of those who think for a living tend to be unbelievers.”