Why Philosophy?
“Let me put it this way: Have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates?… Morons!”
-Vizzini, The Princess Bride
You’re likely not interested in a philosophy degree for an immediate job opening seeking people with a philosophy degree. So why do people with a philosophy degree laude the many benefits of the degree?
There seems to have been a recent shift on the perceived value of a philosophy degree. Where it was often the butt of jokes about degrees that aren’t worth their time or cost, a surprising number of very successful people who studied philosophy have recently been singing the praises of the benefits of a philosophy degree. For example, recent articles have expressed that people and companies from a wide range of industries highly value a background in philosophy: from business, to the high tech industry, entrepreneurship, and many advanced degrees. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill collected a sample of recent articles describing these benefits and the rising perceived value of a philosophy degree here.
Practical Benefits
Some of the general benefits to studying philosophy include the following:
- You get an excellent education in reading and writing.
- You learn to think and work through complex problems.
- You learn to appreciate intellectual, moral, and cultural foundations of civilization.
- You learn to appreciate good reasoning, and identify faulty reasoning.
You may have noticed that these are some of the bedrock skills for a successful career in any field…
More specifically, a philosophy degree builds up your skill and experience in these areas (and more):
- Construct coherent arguments in support of your views.
- Present accurately and fairly views that differ from your own.
- Rigorously evaluate ideas and arguments.
- Outline philosophical issues in a range of intellectual domains.
- Recount and analyze fundamental questions and propositions concerning reality, knowledge, and value.
- Compare basic philosophical trends and key ideas across history.
- Explain important ideas and works of prominent philosophers.
You can probably see that a philosophy degree gives you good breadth and depth in academic work. This is also evident in the wide-ranging areas that graduates with a philosophy degree pursue: from law, to medicine, business, science, social science, humanities, and more. In other words, studying philosophy gives you a great background, or great groundwork, for many different avenues.
