Taking philosophy courses can improve your undergraduate experience immediately, and also lead to intangible benefits that will enrich and enhance your future experience, whatever field you enter after graduation.
Why should I take philosophy courses?
G. W. F. Hegel
Many people are interested in picking up the intellectual skills philosophy has to offer. Philosophy courses offer you the potential of learning how to become more creative, and to think more carefully: to understand texts or chains of reasoning without getting bamboozled; to assemble the data for yourself and draw your own conclusions about what they show. Philosophy courses strive to improve your writing and make you come across as more polished and more authoritative.
Quantitative benefits of studying philosophy
- On the General Management Admissions Test (GMAT), over the 2005-2009 period, philosophy majors scored a 578. This performance is significantly exceeded only by majors in physics (603), math (595), and engineering (589), and effectively ties majors in computer science (579). The performance of philosophy majors exceeds that of majors in economics (572), and the performance of aggregated majors in the sciences (559), the social sciences (554), the humanities (538), and management (510).
- On the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT), in 2014, majors in ‘philosophy/theology’ scored a 159. This performance is exceeded only by majors in ‘physics/math’ (160), and ties the performance of majors in economics; it exceeds the performance of majors in engineering (156.2), computer science (154), political science (153.1), and all other fields of science, social science, humanities, and management. This performance reflects a long-standing pattern of law-school admission rates by major.
- On the Graduate Record Exam (GRE), over the 2013-16 period, philosophy majors scored on average 160 in verbal (the highest of any major), 4.3 analytical writing, 154 in quantitative.
- The performance on the verbal and analytical portions are the highest across all fields; only English Literature comes close.
- The quantitative performance is exceeded by majors in most fields in the physical sciences (namely chemistry, math, and physics) and all fields of engineering.
- While detailed data on philosophy and the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) is unavailable, it seems that humanities majors in general tend to do well.
- Finally, mid-career salary data suggests that philosophy majors are in demand in today’s economic environment: by this measure, the performance of majors in philosophy is exceeded only by that of majors in fields that are either highly technical (engineering: chemical, computer, electrical, aerospace, CS, industrial, mechanical, civil, construction, management information systems; physical science: physics, math) or money-focused (economics, finance); as well as by physicians’ assistants.
Qualitative benefits of studying philosophy
Ludwig Wittgenstein
In less pragmatic terms, taking philosophy courses can be exciting and lead to a more fulfilling life experience over the long term:
- Many people simply enjoy philosophical questions: they enjoy thinking about ‘deep’ questions, and take pleasure in getting better at it. In that case, ‘gather ye rosebuds while ye may’, so to speak.
- Other people like taking classes where they are not told what to think. Philosophy courses offer extensive latitude for working out personal views.
- Other people want to overcome a difficult challenge, to explore new intellectual territory and see whether they can make their way in it. Philosophy courses are unlike courses taught in high school.
- Other people want to explore the fundamental assumptions behind their fields of concentration about how to seek knowledge, or about what the world is like.
- Other people want to explore the boundaries of knowledge: the issues their fields of concentration set aside as currently intractable.
- Other people are interested in joining a cultural conversation. A lot of our modern ideas about ourselves and others have come out of philosophy: taking philosophy courses may help you to pull the curtain back and reach a more enlightened perspective on what might otherwise seem obvious.
- Other people enjoy reading the works of the great minds of the past. A great deal of joy and stimulation can be found in wrestling with a very smart philosopher from the past and trying to get into their head. Many of our courses offer instruction in ‘great texts’.
Why should I concentrate in philosophy?
Charles Darwin
Our department offers concentrations at three levels of intensity: minor, major, and specialist programs.
Both specialist and major programs provide excellent preparation for MA and PhD programs in philosophy.
A PhD in philosophy is for one who wishes to become a professor in a philosophy department at a university: to write philosophy articles of the sort students read in our courses, and to teach philosophy courses at the undergraduate and perhaps also graduate level.
An MA in philosophy can serve many purposes: it can be a bridge to a PhD program; the intensive focus and heightened intellectual atmosphere can be valuable in its own right, and can also distinguish one from the field in applications for jobs or positions in professional schools.
Our department offers annual workshops to explain graduate study in philosophy and the applications process, and also intensive personal assistance to students assembling application files.
Further information on graduate study in philosophy is available from the Philosophical Gourmet Report.