Category: Education
Showing All
Should I Major in Philosophy?
Posted on:November 24, 2011
Short answer: No!
Long answer: Maybe…
The supposed merits of a philosophy degree are well-documented on the internet, but there is not much out there exploring the downside. I happen to have a philosophy degree, and spent two years in graduate school, and am offering my personal opinion and advice to counter what I perceive to be misleading claims regarding the merits of a philosophy degree.
Yes, a philosophy degree will train you to think critically, but so will many other degrees. The difference is that philosophy will train you to think critically about things that don’t really matter, whereas other degrees have practical import that will make you valuable in the job market. A philosophy degree will not train you to do a job in any specific field, but then again, neither will any other degree. On-the-job training is where a person actually learns how to do a job in the real world. However, certain degrees will enable you to get a worthwhile job in a specific field, whereas a philosophy degree will not. They provide you with a foundation for training, something that can be built upon. Philosophy does not.
A philosophy degree can be a springboard into graduate school, but if you are thinking about going this route you need to be very careful. If you intend to go to law school, for example, a philosophy degree would be a good choice. But what if you wind up not going to law school for some reason? You will be stuck with a near-worthless degree. I knew a guy who majored in philosophy and was accepted into medical school, but he is the exception. I knew another guy who went to medical school, dropped-out, and wound-up selling cars.
A philosophy degree is the obvious choice if you want to attend graduate school in philosophy, but here you need to be very, very careful. Perhaps the only job a Ph.D. in philosophy will qualify you for is philosophy professor. Openings for philosophy professors are few and far between. They don’t pay very well at first, and you will most likely have to relocate to another state. Tenure can be difficult to achieve, and you will likely spend many years moving from university to university, state to state, until you wind up in a tenured position in a place you probably never wanted to live.
So what are some good degrees to get? Computer science or engineering are good, but you might want to consider a more versatile degree in mathematics (you can supplement that with a minor). A biology degree can be good, but you might want to take a more specialized approach: nursing, pre-med, or medical laboratory technology. Business or accounting are also good choices. But whatever you decide, choose very carefully, as you will be stuck with the implications of your choice for a very long time.
Categorized as: Education
No Comments
PhinisheD
Posted on:July 27, 2008
As of May 2008 I am no longer a graudate student at OU.
