4.6 Metaphysics

Twelve scatterplots showing which percentage of the articles in each journal in each year are in the category metaphysics. A brief summary of the data follows. In an average year in Mind, 8.0% of the articles are in the category metaphysics. Metaphysics is most prevalent in Mind in 1993 when it accounts for 23.0% of the articles in the journal. And it is least prevalent in 1936 when it accounts for 1.9% of the articles in the journal. In an average year in Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 6.5% of the articles are in the category metaphysics. Metaphysics is most prevalent in Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society in 1888 when it accounts for 14.0% of the articles in the journal. And it is least prevalent in 1943 when it accounts for 1.9% of the articles in the journal. In an average year in Ethics, 1.8% of the articles are in the category metaphysics. Metaphysics is most prevalent in Ethics in 1986 when it accounts for 4.4% of the articles in the journal. And it is least prevalent in 1960 when it accounts for 0.8% of the articles in the journal. In an average year in Philosophical Review, 7.1% of the articles are in the category metaphysics. Metaphysics is most prevalent in Philosophical Review in 1983 when it accounts for 20.1% of the articles in the journal. And it is least prevalent in 1920 when it accounts for 1.0% of the articles in the journal. In an average year in Analysis, 11.6% of the articles are in the category metaphysics. Metaphysics is most prevalent in Analysis in 2005 when it accounts for 25.3% of the articles in the journal. And it is least prevalent in 1937 when it accounts for 1.2% of the articles in the journal. In an average year in Philosophy and Public Affairs, 2.0% of the articles are in the category metaphysics. Metaphysics is most prevalent in Philosophy and Public Affairs in 1996 when it accounts for 5.8% of the articles in the journal. And it is least prevalent in 2009 when it accounts for 0.4% of the articles in the journal. In an average year in Journal of Philosophy, 7.6% of the articles are in the category metaphysics. Metaphysics is most prevalent in Journal of Philosophy in 2006 when it accounts for 22.9% of the articles in the journal. And it is least prevalent in 1921 when it accounts for 2.7% of the articles in the journal. In an average year in Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 7.5% of the articles are in the category metaphysics. Metaphysics is most prevalent in Philosophy and Phenomenological Research in 2001 when it accounts for 17.8% of the articles in the journal. And it is least prevalent in 1945 when it accounts for 1.7% of the articles in the journal. In an average year in Philosophy of Science, 6.8% of the articles are in the category metaphysics. Metaphysics is most prevalent in Philosophy of Science in 1987 when it accounts for 11.6% of the articles in the journal. And it is least prevalent in 1951 when it accounts for 2.2% of the articles in the journal. In an average year in Noûs, 11.8% of the articles are in the category metaphysics. Metaphysics is most prevalent in Noûs in 2006 when it accounts for 20.6% of the articles in the journal. And it is least prevalent in 1980 when it accounts for 2.8% of the articles in the journal. In an average year in The Philosophical Quarterly, 9.2% of the articles are in the category metaphysics. Metaphysics is most prevalent in The Philosophical Quarterly in 2001 when it accounts for 20.0% of the articles in the journal. And it is least prevalent in 1950 when it accounts for 1.3% of the articles in the journal. In an average year in British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 7.7% of the articles are in the category metaphysics. Metaphysics is most prevalent in British Journal for the Philosophy of Science in 1979 when it accounts for 15.0% of the articles in the journal. And it is least prevalent in 1974 when it accounts for 1.4% of the articles in the journal.

Figure 4.14: Proportion of each journal’s yearly publications in Metaphysics

The short version is that metaphysics is at worst flat in every journal, and rising rapidly in Analysis, Philosophical Quarterly and Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. That’s fine, but shouldn’t we see positivism showing up somewhere that put downward pressure on metaphysics at least somewhere? If that happens, it isn’t visible in the journal-level data. What happens at the topic-level?

8 scatterplots showing which percentage of the articles in all journals in each year from 1900 onwards are in the each of the topics category metaphysics. A brief summary of the data follows. In an average year, 1.1% of the articles are in the causationtopic. Causation is most prevalent in 1998 when it accounts for 2.4% of the articles in all journals. In an average year, 1.0% of the articles are in the classical space and timetopic. Classical space and time is most prevalent in 1901 when it accounts for 3.1% of the articles in all journals. In an average year, 1.1% of the articles are in the composition and constitutiontopic. Composition and constitution is most prevalent in 2010 when it accounts for 4.3% of the articles in all journals. In an average year, 0.9% of the articles are in the modalitytopic. Modality is most prevalent in 2012 when it accounts for 3.3% of the articles in all journals. In an average year, 0.2% of the articles are in the origin essentialismtopic. Origin essentialism is most prevalent in 1997 when it accounts for 0.7% of the articles in all journals. In an average year, 0.7% of the articles are in the personal identitytopic. Personal identity is most prevalent in 1988 when it accounts for 2.0% of the articles in all journals. In an average year, 1.4% of the articles are in the temporal paradoxestopic. Temporal paradoxes is most prevalent in 1932 when it accounts for 3.9% of the articles in all journals. In an average year, 0.9% of the articles are in the timetopic. Time is most prevalent in 1963 when it accounts for 1.7% of the articles in all journals.

Figure 4.15: Topics in Metaphysics

So there are two big topics—modality, and composition and constitution-that only take off after positivism goes away. The same is probably true of causation as well, but it’s much smaller. I was surprised that causation was so much smaller than the other very modern categories; maybe that’s in part because some of the causation work ended up getting classified as philosophy of science.

But we still haven’t answered the question about where positivism shows up. I thought that the graph here would be U-shaped, with lots of metaphysics on either side of a positivism-driven dip in the middle. We can recreate that gap if we declare that all the work in idealism is really metaphysics.

A scatterplot showing the proportion of articles that are in either idealism or metaphysics. It starts around 10%, rises to over 30% in the early 20th century, then falls very linearly back to around 10% by 1940. It is then fairly stable, with perhaps a small upwards trend over the last 50 years that isn't obviously significant.

Figure 4.16: Proportion of each year’s articles that are in idealism or metaphysics.

That’s more like what I expected, though the postpositivism rise is much smaller than the prepositivism fall. It obviously looks different if using counts rather than proportions.

The same graph as the previous one, but showing the number of articles, not the proportion of articles, in Idealism or Metaphysics. It is a fairly linear trajectory upwards, getting to around 50 papers/year by the end of the study.

Figure 4.17: Weighted number of each year’s articles that are in idealism or metaphysics.

And now we’re back to a steady rise, with no obvious place to locate the rise of positivism.

I think the big story here is that positivism has much less impact on the journals thanoneyou might think from the standard story about the history of twentieth century philosophy. If positivists are given credit for killing idealism, then positivism has an enormous influence. But I’m not sure what the case is for that. It’s not like Moore was a card-carrying positivist, and he surely had something to do with the downfall of idealism.

Anyway, let’s keep track of this when looking at subsequent topics, because it would be very surprising to see no impact from positivism on the literature.