Source
Michael Prinzing and Michael Vazquez (2025), “Studying Philosophy Does Make People Better Thinkers”, Journal of the American Philosophical Association 11(4), LIT-155, read in full with its Appendix in NOTE-167.
What was actually shown
Selection (§5.1, Table A1). In a logistic model of majoring in philosophy, SAT Verbal has OR 1.57 per SD (p < .001), SAT Math OR 0.99 (p = .872), freshman Habits of Mind OR 1.34 and Pluralistic Orientation OR 1.13 (p = .008). The old fact that philosophy majors top the GRE and LSAT is therefore uninformative by itself.
Adjusted differences (§5.2, Table A2). Mixed-effects models with institution random intercepts, adjusting for SAT V and M (tests) or for the freshman value of the scale (self-reports), philosophy against pooled non-philosophy majors:
| outcome | difference | SMD |
|---|---|---|
| GRE Verbal | +33.25 [23.86, 42.64] | 0.48 |
| GRE Quantitative | −3.91 [−18.51, 10.7], p = .619 | — |
| LSAT | +2.12 [1.46, 2.78] | 0.35 |
| Habits of Mind | +0.21 [0.16, 0.25] | .24 |
| Pluralistic Orientation | +0.19 [0.15, 0.24] | .21 |
Robustness. IPTW with a broader propensity model gives GRE Verbal +30.61, LSAT +2.30, GRE Quantitative −9.99 (p = .228), and self-report effects of 0.29 and 0.28 SD (Table A3). Selection into taking the GRE or LSAT shows no SAT × philosophy interaction (§5.3).
What could have come out otherwise. The verbal and logical advantage could have vanished after adjustment, as pure self-selection predicts. It shrank but survived. The quantitative advantage could have survived too; there was none to begin with.
What this does not say
- That studying philosophy causes the gain. Adjusting for a baseline removes confounders that act through baseline level. Students who choose philosophy may grow faster verbally, read more, or prepare harder for law school (they are 3.5 times as likely to sit the LSAT). No sensitivity analysis is reported. The paper’s own wording (“does make”, “the strongest evidence to date”) outruns its design.
- That the scores are reliable. SAT, GRE and LSAT scores are all student-reported on the surveys. The SAT has no logic section, so the LSAT adjustment is incomplete by the authors’ own account (§6).
- That philosophy beats every other major. The abstract’s “outperform all other majors” is a ranking of point estimates. LSAT intervals overlap Pharmacy, Economics and Aerospace Engineering, and Habits of Mind intervals overlap two others; only the pooled comparison is tested. On Pluralistic Orientation philosophy ranks sixth of 62.
- That the dispositions are intellectual virtues. Habits of Mind items (“Ask questions in class”, “Support your opinions with a logical argument”) partly describe what seminars require, and the authors concede the measures miss virtue in the philosophers’ sense (§6).
- That one cohort shows both. Test results are from 1994–2004 graduates and self-reports from 2010–2019 graduates.
Connections
- NOTE-167 found no other work in the record on the effects of studying philosophy or on intellectual virtue. The record holds no THEORY this bears on.