https://philosophy.cas2.lehigh.

edu/content/why-study-philosophy
Why Study Philosophy?

It is not enough to have a good mind. The main thing is to use it well. - Rene
Descartes

Heres what some of our students have said about why they study philosophy:
Its important to learn about genetics, but it is more important to learn to think.
Philosophy makes me think!
Philosophy courses give you more than just knowledge of the world; they give you
a deep understanding of how the world works, even how it should work.
Majoring in philosophy makes me a better thinker and a more well-rounded
person.
My philosophy senior thesis was not only the best part of my Lehigh experience,
but it has helped me tremendously throughout law school and my life.
Studying philosophy, I learned to analyze closely and critically, to question
thoroughly, and to write and think rigorously. My philosophy skills has made me
more valuable to prospective employers and graduate schools.

Top Five Reasons to Study Philosophy

1. Fascinating subject matter
2. Wide variety of interesting classes taught by outstanding professors
3. Skill development
4. Great preparation for any career or graduate study
5. Personal development

1. Fascinating subject matter

Philosophy seeks not simply knowledge, but deep understanding and wisdom.

Philosophy is an activity people undertake when they seek to understand

themselves, the world they live in, and the relations to the world and each other.
Those who study philosophy are engaged in asking, answering, evaluating, and
reasoning about some of lifes most basic, meaningful, and difficult questions, such
as:
What is it to be a human?
What is the human mind?
Are we responsible for what we do, or are we just helpless victims of our genes,
environment, and upbringing?
Is there a God?
What is the best sort of life to live?
What is happiness? Can we hope to attain it? Is it what matters most in life? Can
bad people be truly happy?
How should we balance our own desires, needs, and rights against those of others
individuals? against those of future generations? animals?
What kind of person is it good to be?
What sorts of political institutions are best?
What do we know and how do we know it?
What is truth? Is anything true? How can we tell?
What is art? What is beauty? Does art have to be beautiful to be good?
Can we justify our judgments about the merits of a film, a book, a painting, a
poem?
What is it for one thing to cause another thing to happen?
Is there a scientific method?
How do words come to have meaning?
Do mathematical objects exist?
What is time? Is time really real?
In studying philosophy, youll have a chance to grapple with these questions
yourself and to think about what otherssome of the greatest philosophers of the
past and present, as well as your fellow studentsthink about them.

2. A wide variety of interesting courses taught by outstanding professors.

There are philosophy courses that address moral issues, others that focus on the
nature of science and technology, many that explore some of the most important
philosophical works written across the history of Western civilization and others that
introduce great thinkers of Eastern philosophy, courses for those who are interested
in mathematics and logic or politics and societies or religion or knowledge or the
human mind or the nature of reality.

Some of the courses are broad survey courses, others are in-depth studies of
particular issues, texts, or philosophers. Most philosophy classes above the 0-level
are small and involve lots of discussion and writing.

Philosophy professors are dedicated teachers who are experts in their fields and
who are genuinely interested in helping students to develop their understanding
and skills. Our professors have won teaching awards and consistently earn high
ratings on student evaluations.

3. Skill development
Far from being an abstract and useless field, philosophy is among the most practical
courses of study. Taking philosophy courses imparts skills that will be useful not only
in any career but also in your personal life. The study of philosophy will enable you
to think carefully, critically, and with clarity, take a logical approach to addressing
challenging questions and examining hard issues, reason well and evaluate the
reasoning of others, discuss sensibly, and write effectively.

In philosophy courses you can expect to

enhance your problem-solving capacities, your ability to organize ideas and issues,
and your ability to distinguish what is essential from what is not;
become better able to look at things from a variety of perspectives, to understand
different viewpoints, and to discover common ground among them;
learn how to critically examine your own views as well as those of others;
develop your ability to understand and explain difficult material;
learn how to distinguish good reasoning from attempts to manipulate opinions, to
construct sound complex arguments, and to evaluate others reasoning;
develop good interpretive, comparative, argumentative, analytical, and descriptive
writing skills that will allow you to communicate your ideas in a clear and powerful
way.

Philosophy develops intellectual abilities important for life as a whole, beyond the
knowledge and skills required for any particular professionIt enhances analytical,
critical, and interpretive capacities that are applicable to any subject matter and in
any human context
- The American Philosophical Association

4. Great preparation for any career or graduate study

Most students of philosophy dont go on to become philosophy professors. But they

do go on to get good jobs in a wide range of fields, including law, medicine,
business, education, journalism, public policy, government, religion, communication
fields, public relations, retail management, social service, and many more.

Heading for a career in the business world? The skills you can develop though the
study of philosophy are just those that employers are looking for. And philosophy
majors earn high mid-career salaries. Dont take our word for here; check out these
news stories:

Salary increase by major, Wall Street Journal

http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-Degrees_that_Pay_you_Back-
sort.html

Philosophy is back in business, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, 1/12/10

http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/jan2010/ca20100110_896657.htm

I think, therefore I earn, The Guardian 11/19/07

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2007/nov/20/choosingadegree.highereducation

Study of philosophy makes gains despite economy, Philadelphia Inquirer 10/1511

A story featuring former Lehigh philosophy major, Shannon Maloney, 12.
http://articles.philly.com/2011-10-15/news/30283702_1_philosophy-number-of-four-
year-graduates-college-students

Planning to go to graduate school, law school, or medical school? Then you should
know that
Philosophy majors score higher on GREs (verbal and analytical) than any other
major
http://pleasandexcuses.com/2012/09/06/philosophy-major/

Only physics and math majors score higher on the LSATs than philosophy majors.
And match the skill set the ABA recommends as preparation for studying law to the
philosophy skill set.
hyperlink LSAT to
http://legalblogwatch.typepad.com/legal_blog_watch/2009/09/choice-of-college-
major-sways-lsat-score.html
http://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_education/resources/pre_law.html

50% of philosophy majors who apply to medical school are accepted

http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-Degrees_that_Pay_you_Back-
sort.html

Of course, some philosophy students go on to become philosophy professors.

According the Wall Street Journal, being a philosopher is among the best jobs in the
United States.
http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/st_BESTJOBS0104_20110105.html

What can you with a degree in philosophy? Ask these former philosophy majors:
Robert Greenhill, President of Morgan Stanley
Dan Brownstein, Founder and Manager of a Hedge-fund
George Soros, Investor)
Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com
Stephen Breyer and David Souter, Supreme Court Justices
Richard Riordan Mayor of Los Angeles
William Bennett, US Secretary of Education
Paul Martin, Jr., Prime Minister of Canada
Stone Phillips, Network Television Journalist
Studs Terkel, Pulitzer-Prize Winning Author
Alex Trebek, Host of an Iconic Game Show
Larry Sanger, Co-founder of Wikipedia
Ricky Gervais, Comedian/Actor/Producer
Ethan Coen, Academy-Award Winning Filmmaker
Jack Keane, Four-star General in the US Army
Steve Martin, Comedian/Actor
P.C. Chang and Charles Malik, Co-authors of the UNs Universal Declaration of
Human Rights
Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI
Claude Levi-Straus, Seminal Anthropologist

Source: http://philosophy.as.uky.edu/where-can-philosophy-take-me

5. Personal development
Careers and jobs are only one part of the rest of your life. The study of philosophy
not only affects how you think but also your development as a person. The study of
philosophy can be truly enriching an highly gratifying, and it is excellent preparation
for lifelong learning and en enhanced intellectual, political, and social existence. It
can help you to live better by helping you to understand yourself as a thinking,
acting being. Socrates famously said that the unexamined life is not worth living;
and philosophy is the tool he recommended for examining both ones own life and
the various possibilities open to you throughout your life. What beliefs are
important to you now and how reasonable are they? What principles guide you in
deciding what to do and do they stand up to scrutiny? Which paths will provide a
more fulfulling life for you and which popular paths will eventually leave you feeling
hollow? Both the content and the skills you gain from the study of philosophy will
enable you to think better about wuch things and so to make good choices.

Philosophys critical skills also provide the best defense against popular foolishness
and falsehoods, allows you to see through cultural and intellectual fads, protects
you from the empty posturing of politicians and the inane prattling of media pundits
and commentators, defends you from the slippery claims of advertisers and
salespeople, and enables you to see right through silly opinions and everyday
nonsense.

Who should study philosophy?

You should!