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Topic · Philosophy

Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics

Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics is a research topic within Philosophy. Science Explorer counts 19k research works in it since 1950. 30.6% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores various aspects of epistemology, including the nature of knowledge, belief, justification, and epistemic intuitions. It delves into topics such as testimony, skepticism, truth, assertion, perception, and expertise in philosophical studies.

  • Knowledge
  • Belief
  • Justification
  • Epistemic Intuitions
  • Testimony
  • Skepticism
  • Truth
  • Assertion
  • Perception
  • Expertise
Research works
19k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
5.9k
per year above
Top-10% rate
30.6%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+16%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics research?

By volume, the United States and the United Kingdom publish the most (983 and 414 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 983 works
  2. 2 United Kingdom 414 works
  3. 3 Germany 212 works
  4. 4 Italy 117 works
  5. 5 Canada 111 works
  6. 6 China 94 works
  7. 7 Netherlands 92 works
  8. 8 Spain 83 works
  9. 9 Australia 78 works
  10. 10 Sweden 57 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 43.9%United Kingdom: 18.5%Germany: 9.4%Italy: 5.2%6 others listed: 23.0%44%largest
United States983 · 43.9%United Kingdom414 · 18.5%Germany212 · 9.4%Italy117 · 5.2%6 others listed515 · 23.0%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics research?

By volume in 2022–2025, University of Oxford publishes the most Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics research, followed by University of Glasgow and University of California, Irvine.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 42 works
  2. 2 University of GlasgowUnited Kingdom 38 works
  3. 3 University of California, IrvineUnited States 25 works
  4. 4 University of EdinburghUnited Kingdom 25 works
  5. 5 University of TorontoCanada 24 works
  6. 6 Princeton UniversityUnited States 23 works
  7. 7 University of LeedsUnited Kingdom 20 works
  8. 8 University of JohannesburgSouth Africa 19 works
  9. 9 University of ViennaAustria 19 works
  10. 10 University of St AndrewsUnited Kingdom 18 works

Where is Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics research done?

The largest centres of Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics research in 2022–2025 are London (United Kingdom), Oxford (United Kingdom), New York (United States) and Toronto (Canada). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Irvine, Princeton and Glasgow.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 London United Kingdom 53 works
  2. 2 Oxford United Kingdom 49 works
  3. 3 New York United States 47 works
  4. 4 Toronto Canada 40 works
  5. 5 Glasgow United Kingdom 39 works
  6. 6 Paris France 32 works
  7. 7 Vienna Austria 30 works
  8. 8 Los Angeles United States 30 works
  9. 9 Beijing China 28 works
  10. 10 Amsterdam Netherlands 28 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. IrvineUS · 25.4 works13×
  2. PrincetonUS · 23.9 works13×
  3. GlasgowGB · 39.1 works12×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics than the world average.

See Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics on the map

Where is the best place to study Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics?

Among universities, judged by research, University of Johannesburg, University of Zurich and University of Helsinki score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%60%mean 45.61%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →University of Johannesburg: 19, 51.5%University of Zurich: 16, 43.4%University of Helsinki: 17, 55.8%University of California, Irvine: 25, 51.5%University of Vienna: 19, 37.9%University of Oxford: 42, 39.4%University of Glasgow: 38, 34.0%Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam: 17, 49.5%University of Edinburgh: 25, 43.8%Princeton University: 22, 49.3%University of HelsinkiUniversity of Johann…University of Califo…University of Zurich
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 University of JohannesburgSouth Africa 77.451.5%10.4×19 +324.4%
2 University of ZurichSwitzerland 73.643.4%10.4×16 +328.4%
3 University of HelsinkiFinland 72.955.8%10.2×17 +102.4%
4 University of California, IrvineUnited States 72.151.5%14.9×25 +94.9%
5 University of ViennaAustria 71.737.9%13.5×19 +290.0%
6 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 71.139.4%11.4×42 +8.2%
7 University of GlasgowUnited Kingdom 70.334.0%21.8×38 +82.7%
8 Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamNetherlands 66.349.5%14.7×17 +32.8%
9 University of EdinburghUnited Kingdom 66.143.8%11.2×25 +11.8%
10 Princeton UniversityUnited States 64.249.3%17.8×22 -15.7%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 16% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2024. The fastest-growing topics are Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.