Lots of people think philosophy is an "armchair" discipline in which empirical evidence is largely irrelevant. But, humorously, this idea is contradicted by the empirical data. Looking at records from prestigous, generalist philosophy journals, I found something striking.

This IHE article discusses my recent work with @mvazquez.bsky.social about how students' politics change during college. Simply put, independently of political *beliefs* students seem to adopt an "educated liberal" *identity.*

Intuitively, it seems like bringing people together to discuss complex ethical and political issues should help them to be more intellectually humble about those issues—at least if the conversations are rigorous yet respectful. But, empirically, doesn't seem to work that way.

Does going to college make people more liberal? Probably yes, but it’s complicated… For decades, US adults with degrees have held more left-leaning views on social issues, but not on economic ones. And, until the 2010s, grads did not *identify* as more liberal than non-grads.

Is virtue good for you? Or is it just good for others or society at large? Theories as old as Plato make opposing claims. My coauthors and I tested their predictions in two intensive, longitudinal studies (N = 43,164 obs. from 1,218 participants), focusing on 3 seemingly unpleasant virtues.

I've seen many criticisms of "silicon samples," but always thought it was a bogeyman—like, nobody actually thinks AI participants are a good idea. But now Qualtrics offers "synthetic samples," so at least some people must think this is a reasonable approach. What are the arguments in its favor?

I had a great chat about how studying philosophy can make people better thinkers with @mvazquez.bsky.social, @markalfano.bsky.social, Deborah Mower, and Heather Battaly. Thanks to @apaphilosophy.bsky.social for hosting and making the recording available! www.apaonline.org/mpage/benefi...

Turns out studying philosophy is actually valuable. Philosophy majors don’t just argue well, they actually become better thinkers and do better on tests. Data from 600k students shows they outscore every other major on reasoning, curiosity and open-mindedness.

Join us for an APA Live event: The Benefits of Studying Philosophy Wednesday, August 27, 2025 6 p.m Eastern / 3 p.m. Pacific Register here: tinyurl.com/4773k45a

A popular and very old argument for the value of philosophy claims that studying philosophy cultivates important intellectual abilities and dispositions. But empirical evidence for that claim has been hard to come by. Until now! 1/4