karaddd48

Do you think it is a good or wise field to go into?

Options of the human thought are my baby. I have a curiosity fetish beyond unreasonable doubt.

thedoverdemon

I have come to the conclusion that a double major with philosophy as one of the majors is better than a philosophy major alone. I am a philosophy major myself, but I think perhaps due to a misunderstanding of what philosophy is, few people think highly of philosophy. So if you are concerned with employment at all, then a philosophy major alone may be a bit of a setback. But if you double major with another major in a more recognized discipline (such as math or physics), then you can also give potential employers a kind of guarantee that you are not merely in some easy, wishy-washy discipline.

4321234

you pretty much just examine what other philosophers say about issues and the subject of the course, what their arguments are, their objections, and other philosophers arguing against them. sometimes i feel like i'm writing a book report. is this right? am i getting the right experience of studying philosophy? please tell me there's more to it than this. i've taken 1 intro course, 1 higher level course, and the highest level course, and they all still somewhat feel the same to me.

karaddd48

Well, as long as you get to QUESTION what philosophers believe, I don't see much of a problem with it.

karaddd48

Thanks. That sounds like reasonable advice.

karaddd48

Why are you majoring in Philosophy?

By the way, speaking of "wishy-washy" machine, have you been watching Joy Junction by any chance? YouTube - Dirty Pictures - Creepy Christian Show

4321234

well, i think philosophers are interesting people.

karaddd48

What would you rather be doing in Philosophy?

StitchInTime

New York Times: In a New Generation of College Students, Many Opt for the Life Examined

BIGTWIX

I don't even think it is the right question to be asking.

I think nearly all philosophy majors know that the job outlook isnt awesome. There are many other majors to do if you want to get a job. Philosophy is really all about the intellectual aspect of the major. Nobody goes into philosophy for what they can do with it, jobwise.

The real questions to ask is: Who will I become?, What will I learn? How will I think?...if i become a philosophy major. You also must ask if the intellectual gain is worth the poor job outlook for you.

karaddd48

I have already asked those questions. That's what brought up my desire in Philosophy in the first place, duh. If I just wanted an ordinary and more conventional job, do you really think I would be looking into this field at all?

All these things are already known. Dead horse-ville. But thanks, though.

I ask because my parents want to know what I could possibly do with a major in this field. I am not quite sure what to tell them.

BIGTWIX

Well in your case, I would first ask my parents what I would do as another major.

Will econ or business make me get a job on wall street? hell no it wont.
Will an english major allow me to teach english? Not without teaching credentials or the ability to teach.
Will being an anthropology major make me an anthropologist or an archaeologist? Nope.
Will being a political science major get me a good govt. job? Nope. Probably some crappy, barely 30k adviser or beaurocratic desk job.
Will being a spanish, french, chinese, arabic...etc major mean I can speak X language fluently? Will it guarantee me a job? Nope.
Does chemistry make me a chemist?

The list goes on really. I think the reason why people always ask about philosophy majors and jobs is because there is no specific job generally associated with being a philosophy major. When people hear it they think of Philosophers, unpaid people who think about things.

The problem with that kind of error filled thinking is that such thoughts cause people to neglect what being a philosophy major hopefully produces.

Philosophy is perhaps the quintessential humanities major. Not only does it touch on nearly every subject imagineable, but the major itself is generally the best way to train somebody to think critically.

Not only is philosophical literature some of the most advanced, verbally speaking, writing and argumentation in the english language (and others too). Perhaps the largest goal of philosophy as an academic subject is to teach you to think critically, effectively, and without error. Many of such classes focus on argumentation and persuasion.

I read an interesting bit the other day about the GRE. Philosophy majors on average score the highest on both the Verbal Comprehension and Analyitical writing sections. English comes in second. The reason why is simple really. Although English majors contain difficult readings and writings similar to those that a philosophy major would study, the focus of English is most often on meaning, whereas in Philosophy it is often on argumentation, persuasion and error. So in the two cases, the reason for reading is different (a big example would be comparing philosophical argumentation to abstract poetry).

If you major in philosophy, the one true advantage of it over other majors is that it best develops critical thinking. And that is perhaps the best asset for not only jobs, but life itself.

I myself am personally against plain business majors simply because I would much rather be a liberal arts major where I am taught to think clearly and effectively, than be a business major where I am taught to do strictly business.

I myself am quite intellectual tho, and I think that gaining knowledge and feeling like I can speak intelligently about subjects is much more important than wealth or learning how to do business.

karaddd48

Wow, that is EXTREMELY helpful. Well, I am about to pass English 1302, so yeah, all of the next classes are open for me to pick an choose because that is the main prerequisite (I probably mispelled that) for the other English classes at my college.

I still think it would important because perhaps that class would lead me to understand what jobs would be good to go with that major. Professors always seem to ask who is majoring in their particular field, and then they mention now and then what jobs are good for that field, so I am hoping I could listen in on that.

I am interested in the human perspective, and persuasion does help more on certain pieces of writing, especially standardized testing, so yes, it would probably be helpful, too, there. I would like to have the mindset that enables me to think critically, or perhaps the best I can.

im_blue

Apply to law school. A philosophy major is great preparation for the analytical, writing, and critical thinking skills necessary for law school.

pharmakeus01

haha
I'm philosophy minor, and I don't recommend wannabe philosophers/professors to major in philosophy in the undergraduate level.
Study something else, and study philosophy in the graduate school.