<p>Will enhancing my philosophical reasoning; by enrolling in philosophical lecture sessions increase my coding ceiling and/or programming potential?? Do critical thought processes heighten computational aptitude?</p>
<p>Honestly, I don’t believe it will. Computer science is about logical and technical problem solving (with some degree of structured creativity).</p>
<p>Philosophy is more like rationalizing a point of view, and although they might seem similar on paper, they really have nothing to do with each other (i.e skills are basically nontransferable).</p>
<p>Just my opinion though, don’t let it influence you if you really love Philosophy.</p>
<p>A million years ago (OK more like 35) I worked in computers with a guy with a masters in Philosophy - he felt it was a good fit (logic and logical thinking is very important in computers).</p>
<p>Modern computer science was born straight out of developments in philosophy, specifically philosophy of language and logic (see physicist Lawrence Krauss’s interview with the Atlantic last yearhttp://<a href=“Has Physics Made Philosophy and Religion Obsolete? - The Atlantic”>www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/04/has-physics-made-philosophy-and-religion-obsolete/256203/</a>). There’s even a new Oxford program in Philosophy and Computer Science headed by philosopher Peter Millican to further develop this integration.</p>
<p>Philosophy is more like rationalizing a point of view, and although they might seem similar on paper, they really have nothing to do with each other (i.e skills are basically nontransferable).</p>
<p>This isn’t true. It depends on the framework of the philosophy department, but philosophy is a field based on rational and logical thought processes. It’s the basis of mathematics and the scientific method in general. Philosophy is not about rationalizing a point view; it’s really more about coming to a point of view based on logical thought. Logic is an entire subfield of philosophy. And at many colleges, the logic class satisfies the quantitative reasoning requirement. In fact, my university offers an MA in the Philosophical Foundations of Physics.</p>
<p>With that said, I think some philosophy classes will certainly help you think more logically and may help you think more like a programming. Classes you might enjoy may be Intro to Logic/Critical Thinking, Theory of Knowledge, Philosophy of Language, Empiricism, maybe a Philosophy of Science class if one exists.</p>
<p>Cs grew out of math, not philosophy.</p>
<p>But to answer the op, they go together to an extent.</p>
<p>CS grew out of advances in formal logic and philosophical semantics by Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell, not “math.”</p>
<p>OP I think you’d definitely find this interesting [Carnegie</a> Mellon Department Of Philosophy: Undergraduate Degrees](<a href=“http://www.hss.cmu.edu/philosophy/undergraduate-bs.php]Carnegie”>http://www.hss.cmu.edu/philosophy/undergraduate-bs.php) it seems pretty relevant to your question. Personally, melding philosophy and computer science seems like an awesome blend of academia and marketability.</p>
<p>You got a source for that? Because Babbage, Lovelace, Backus, Boole, Church, Cook, Dijkstra, Frege, Godel, Hopper, Minsky, Von Neumann, and Turing were all either mathematicians or physicists.</p>
<p>I already cited it–it’s in the Atlantic article. See also [PhiloComp:</a> Philosophy and Computing](<a href=“http://www.philocomp.net/]PhiloComp:”>http://www.philocomp.net/) for more info. A lot of pioneers in computer science (like Godel) were philosophers/mathematicians who specialized in mathematical logic, which is a field that can either be seen as a subset of philosophical logic or mathematical theory.</p>
<p>I read that article but I must have missed the part you’re talking about.</p>
<p>Look again, it’s right there. If it’s Krauss that’s bothering you, just read the interviewer’s questions.</p>
<p>If you are looking for something to complement CS that isn’t logic/math based, I would suggest art. In CS you typically use the left side of your brain for problem solving. The right side, is the side that is more creative and intuitive. If you can find your creative side, you will learn to integrate creativity with problem solving. People who can do this make excellent programmers (Just look up Steve Wozniak).</p>