Why a Philosophy Degree?

Here is why I got a bachelor's degree in philosophy...

I'll start with defining it...

(But, there in lies a problem... Like defining music, everyone seems to have a different idea of what it is, what makes a person someone who does it, and whether or not its worth the time or energy.)

 Here's my go at it...

 Philosophy is generally spoken and recognized in commercial use, where a company describes their philosophy as something like, 'giving high quality products for an affordable price', or 'making sure to produce materials that are recyclable and good for the environment'. That's to name a few. It's the why! But, it quite literally stands for the love of wisdom. It's the combination of two Greek words.

 To me, philosophy is the intent and act of thinking about knowledge, existence, one's own reality and purpose-though, it is so much more than this. It is generally broken up into a variety of branches; Metaphysics, Ethics, Epistemology, Aestheticism, Logic, and Theology. Sometimes other ideas will be included, but these are the overall arching themes explored by philosophers which are then diving deeper in the form of sub categories. To be a philosopher is to do philosophy- at least that's how it was for thousands of years.  Now, in the western world, to be recognized with a label as such by professional educators and employers, you must do more than read books and have late night talks about the cosmos and the deep meanings of life. You have to have a college degree, which is not how it should be, at least to me. But, this isn't an essay about labels.

 What you can learn...

• Critical thinking skills
• History of philosophy and philosophers
• Refined logical decision-making
• Clear writing
• How to form well made arguments
• Questioning assumptions otherwise overlooked
• A better understanding of complex written work
• Better ability to understand and solve problems
• Pickup new concepts with more ease
• Detach oneself from opinion and look upon strong values in an objective sense
• Question values
• Separate essential info
• Logical reasoning
• Analysis and abstract conceptualization
• Creative thinking
• Mental dexterity
• Research skills
• Change ones own behavior and thought process.

 At the end of this college degree, you will hopefully have a better understanding of existence, knowledge, values, reason, the mind and language. You will explore the big questions of life! Studying philosophy goes beyond the classroom and any jobs you may work.

 Generally the life of a philosophy major involves the student becoming a professor and/or it's applied to a second major. Additionally, philosophy majors often end up working in ethics or politics. Their minor is applied to their major or to general life skills. Those I met who switched their major after taking an intro to philosophy course chose to do so due to difficulty or being overly offended by class discussions questioning one's own foundational beliefs regarding the nature of reality or religions.

 You do not go into this degree with the expectation of receiving a job when you reach the end simply for having the degree. Most students who pursue this field directly and not with the intention of applying it to another degree area for a specific career field are acting so in a way for the love of knowledge.

My introduction/ 1st semester of college, getting out of high school...

 In elementary school, I began asking the big questions as children often do. I was asking about God, purpose, meaning, value, ethics, and alternative universe theories. I continued to stay up late throughout middle school discussing these topics with family and some close friends. I also was a fan of the Harry Potter and the Philosophers stone as a child, so that probably had some influence in my future.

 In high school, I had an available time space. This was the first time philosophy was being offered. The description seemed appealing, so I took the class. It sparked my interest and was different from most other classes. I remember learning about Plato's Allegory of the cave and acting it out in class as a sort of play. We discussed love and expression in relationships, how to live a good life, thinking critically, and doing things socially different- to push ones boundaries for an interesting life. Examples of this would be laying on the ground in a public space and cloud watching, also hugging a random stranger (with permission of course)- the sort of social experiments you may see on YouTube. This class was the spark of my college education. It also changed my view on the education system, since it was the first class to discuss information that would actually apply to living a good life.

  How my first course went...

• I grew up bouncing ideas around of what I wanted to do for a career, but I never wanted to stick with one. I started as a computer science major. After my first semester, I found I absolutely hated it. While I was learning the basics, my coding teachers were disinterested and I was learning more code through YouTube than in class. The only associate's degree that stood out to me was philosophy. I met with the only professor teaching it and found her and the topic much more inspiring than what I just experienced. So, I switched majors. My first course was much more than I expected and I learned a lot more than what intro to cs was teaching. It explored many areas and tested my mind. I fell in love with it.
• There are a few things that truly affected me in that course. 1. Not everything is as it seems and our senses are often flawed (Take your own thoughts and beliefs with a grain of salt). 2. Success starts with "get your shit together", and then getting your shit together. 3. Philosophy opens you up to much more than you think it would. While many answers to your questions are presented, it's ultimately up to you to decide where to go from there. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.

Continuing philosophy for a Bachelors degree...

 The majority of my course work consisted of lectures, long essays, short format prompt responses, and class discussions (the most engaging). While I was not a writer in high school, enhancing my skills through papers exploring deeply thought out ideas and thinking in different ways about issues in all different areas of life greatly increased my love of writing.

• Something to note, is that when we write essays in college, we write philosophy essays differently from our general course topic papers. While both require many revisions, the essays of this often are heavily critiqued. So, this means we have to be very thoughtful in regards to the details and structure of how we convey information and our opinions. If you make a mistake in your writing, it can make the entirety of your paper incoherent or confuse the reader as they too are paying attention to the logic of your writing.

Best and worse courses...

• One of the most interesting and applicable philosophical topics is Logic. While it was by no means courses I favored, it focused on looking at arguments and statements in a more structural way. As a matter of fact, I found these courses very difficult compared to my others due to it being a sort of mini language using t-charts, graphs and representing problems with letters. Ultimately, much of the focus is solving word problems to see if they were valid or sound arguments and how to form well thought out arguments yourself.
• While I did not intend on this, nor concentrate in the area, the majority of my philosophy courses seemed to revolve around ethics. My classmates and I would discuss hypothetical dilemmas and major issues of the world, using different philosophies like utilitarian and relativism. Some of the issues we'd discuss are political, social, biological, rights, justice and care.
• By far, existentialism was one of my favorite courses. In this we discussed nihilism, determinism, and solipsism. We also explored views and reflections on life, death and purpose.

 Even after graduating in this field, I find it somewhat difficult to write how I feel about philosophy. For myself, this area is a life long process, and while tacky a 'lifestyle', studying it has changed my views on many issues in many areas of life. If I could go back in time, I would still major in philosophy as it helped me look upon my life differently and narrow down values earlier in life.

P.S. If you feel like your more knowledgeable than when you started, but like you still know relatively little, then you're on the right track... according to someone.