"You Want to Major in What?"

A Guide for Prospective Philosophy Majors...and their Parents

So you've taken a couple of philosophy courses and you've enjoyed them. You'd like to take some more...lots more! But do you dare? Is this the kind of thing people major in? But then what? Drive a cab for the rest of your life and philosophize to your customers?

In choosing a major, people often think in terms of what prospects there are for a career. Unless you go on to get a Ph.D. in philosophy and become a college professor, a philosophy major will not train you to move into a specific job after graduation. Then what does it do? It cultivates in you the basic skills that will be crucial to any career that you enter--skills like the ability to read and comprehend difficult material, to research and organize, to think critically--to be able to both analyze and synthesize ideas, to write well and articulate your ideas orally. Since recent evidence indicates that people generally change jobs and even fields several times during the course of their working life, it behooves you to acquire the kind of universal and portable skills that are a part of philosophical training. And if work is just a means to life, philosophy often can give you something to live for.

Students who intend to go to professional school after college--business school, law school, medical school--find that philosophy is a surprisingly successful preparation: On the standardized test for law school (LSAT) philosophy majors ranked third highest in performance (mathematics majors are first, economics majors are second). On the standardized test for graduate business programs (GMAT) philosophy majors rank second highest (behind mathematics majors). Philosophy majors rank first on the standardized verbal test for graduate school generally (GRE/Verbal). The Association of American Medical Colleges reported that nationally half of all philosophy majors who applied to medical schools were accepted, the highest success percentage of all undergraduate majors. The medical admissions director at UCLA said: "as long as candidates completed their basic courses...there may be a bias in favor of non-science majors who apply for admission."

But what kinds of things do philosophy majors end up doing? A 1998 survey of alumni of Virginia Tech who had majored in philosophy as their only major or as their primary major (of a double or triple major) produced 38 responses. Among the information gathered was current employment. The range of answers is impressive:

Education:

2 High School teachers: Spanish and English, 1 5th grade teacher, 1 Instructor of Vocational Training at a Community College, 2 Philosophy professors, 1 Computer Science professor, 2 graduate students.

Business:

1 Director of Human Resources at a University, 1 Securities Analyst, 1 Real Estate, 1 Marketing Director, 1 Owner of a construction firm, 1 Accountant, 1 Assistant Controller for a bank, 1 Production-Inventory Management, 1 Executive Personnel trainer, 1 Manager of a corporate information center, 1 Municipal Finance Director.

Service:

1 Waiter, 1 Electrician, 1 Appliance salesperson, 1 Homemaker.

Other Professions:

3 Software designers, 1 Computer consultant, 3 Ministers, 2 Nurses, 2 Lawyers, 1 Paralegal, 1 Architect, 1 Family Therapist, 1 Editor.

In the survey these alumni were asked to respond to a number of statements indicating the strength of their agreement or disagreement with the statements. In response to the statement "Knowledge and skills acquired as a philosophy major have proved useful in my career," 26 strongly agreed, 11 agreed, and 1 strongly disagreed. In response to the statement "My undergraduate education in Philosophy has made a genuine contribution to the quality of my life," 25 strongly agreed, 11 agreed, and 2 disagreed.

What follows are some of the comments our alumni made about the value of their philosophy major to their work and lives:

From an executive trainer: "Hardly a day goes by that I don’t relate a story about [my philosophy classes] and how they helped me in my current endeavors."

From an electro-technician: "As much as I hated logic and Boolean algebra in philosophy, I found that my ability to work on electric circuits was enhanced by the concepts I had learned."

From a business analyst: "Prior to studying philosophy I was of the opinion that I already thought clearly and critically. Philosophy cured me of that conceit."

"Philosophy courses have enabled me to critically engage any text and efficiently get to the main and important points."

"Reading Kant & Lucretius and trying to understand things is part of what makes life worth living."

From an LPN: "The education received as part of the curriculum gave me a wonderful base upon which to expand. Comprehension, viewpoints have been expanded."

From a banker: "The philosophy curriculum made a greater contribution than any other to my analytical and rational thought processes and in the ability to analyze and present arguments in writing."

From a software developer: "Consistently heightened my critical thinking skills and allows me to be able to make connections that others tend to miss."

"The study of philosophy has been instrumental to me both personally and professionally. The critical skills learned in my coursework affected every aspect of my life."

From an executive trainer: "My philosophical training has helped me to keep my eye on what the true issue is while other issues might serve to cloud my judgment."

From an electro-technician: "Words can...hardly express what I got out of philosophy. Things like backbone, insight, confidence, and an avid desire to read all the books I could get my hands on, reverence for life on this earth, ability to analyze problems from different angles, the knack for troubleshooting circuits down to the bad chip. It’s like nothing specific I can point to, but it’s my whole approach to life, the thirst for knowledge, and the search for the meaning to existence."

"The study of philosophy improved my ability to think and communicate, but (in part) handicapped me in the business world by (in part) rendering me incapable of valuing money above the interests of my fellow man."

"I feel my current position as an Applications Analyst is a good match for the knowledge and skills acquired as a philosophy major."

From a lawyer: "I believe philosophy enhanced my ability to understand arguments."

From a lawyer: "Logic and critical thinking skills have been of great use."

From a municipal finance director: "Set the tone for my career, and as far as life goes, this was the foundation--Too important for words to describe."

From a family therapist: "Studying philosophy gave me...courage....Studying philosophy required incredible exertion, the risking of vulnerability, and the consequent confidence in retrospect....I'm a better thinker, partner, mother and human being for having risked thinking and discussing Kant, Hegel, Camus, and Aristotle. It's given my life a depth and brilliance (in terms of appreciation) that I cherish. I am much more prepared to accept that uncertainty, complexity and vulnerability are gifts."

From the owner of a construction company: "There is no specific market for philosophy majors based on my experience. Philosophy is for the individual who has a love for knowledge and an intellectual curiosity. With those qualities and other technical or advanced degrees and initiative, the philosophy student may experience the best of all education. They can create their own market."

From a homemaker: "I use my philosophy major every day of my life. It has helped me weigh all sides of an issue before making a decision and has helped me see fallacies in arguments, etc., and to be more objective in just about everything!"

From an architect: "Although my career in architecture depends to a large extent on 'visual thinking', philosophy has no doubt enhanced my critical abilities in related tasks--programming, scheduling, conflict resolution, code analysis, project coordination..."

From a community college technology instructor: "Even though I do not work in my major, it assisted me, trained me, to listen, learn, evaluate, and respond accordingly....Plato's parable of the cave has had a most dramatic impact on my life, how I view the world, and my day-to-day activities."

From a business analyst: "My philosophy courses did more to prepare me for my career as a business analyst than my graduate engineer classes did. I am a much better writer than most of my peers because of the work I did in philosophy. In addition, I am able to quickly become proficient in new business areas in large part because of the practice and experience I gained plowing through densely written, information-packed prose. I also think I am better able to communicate with people of different cultural backgrounds."

From a high school Spanish teacher: "Philosophical studies have been one of the major factors in my development--not just in my career and education but in my overall development as a person."

From a minister: "Philosophy has helped tremendously--reading difficult texts, seeing patterns of thought, over-all comprehension, all the writing I had to do."

"I owe the majority of my academic interests to philosophy. Philosophy has allowed me to make more meaning in my life."

From a nurse: "Even in my career as a nurse I am able to use skills I learned in philosophy to think through problems and develop plans for solution....I would not have changed my philosophy education for anything--even though I had to continue my educational process to obtain what the world would call ‘marketable skills’."

"I feel that philosophy did nothing whatsoever to prepare me for a career or gainful employment."

From an architect: "On a personal note my wife wants it to be known that critical insight is not always appreciated or helpful--I'm beginning to agree."

Since the requirements for a philosophy major only take up ten semester courses, about half of our majors opt for a double major with some other discipline. (Some have even done triple majors.) If you are interested in doing graduate work in philosophy, you can talk to your own advisor or any regular member of the philosophy department. We all do advising.

Of course a philosophy major is not for everyone. But it clearly has been the right thing for some people. And we hope you will be one of them!

For further information about a philosophy major, contact the undergraduate advisor, William FitzPatrick (william.fitzpatrick@rochester.edu) and visit our department home page at: http://www.rochester.edu/College/PHL/ .