PREFACE

	In the Fall of 1991 students enrolled in Introduction to Philosophy 
classes at Mount San Antonio College conducted interviews with some 
of the most prominent philosophers in California. Ten questions were 
asked of each philosopher, including queries about the existence of 
God, life after death, and the interface between human and artificial 
intelligence.
            The interviews ranged from personal one on one 
conversations, to telephone interviews, to mailed written responses. 
There were originally over fifty interviews that were transcribed. 
>From these the editors selected between twenty and thirty of the most 
representative and insightful responses.  Moreover, it was not 
required that each question be answered; thus, some philosophers 
chose to respond to only a few of the posed questions.
            The overall result is a fascinating study of the rarefied 
world of professional philosophy which  provides a glimpse into how 
philosophers deal with questions that have held a perennial interest 
to humankind, regardless of time and place. What is perhaps most 
revealing in this study is how often philosophers from different 
research backgrounds agree, especially when dealing with questions 
concerning the existence of a Supreme Being or the possibility of 
life after death. Although the philosophers represented in this book 
reflect a wide variety of interests (a significant number, for 
instance, were chairpersons of their respective departments), it 
should be noted that this selection is a small one and not 
necessarily indicative of the majority of professional philosophers 
in California.