<p>I'm interested in majoring in philosophy at University, but have not felt comfortable with any philosophy departments I've researched thus far. </p>
<p>Many philosophy departments emphasize the usefulness of the analytical skills of philosophy in other disciplines like law and business. ... But I'm searching for a philosophy department which is genuinely guiding its students to the Truth. I don't want to be studying with students who aren't actually passionate about philosophy (which is the pursuit of and love for wisdom), but are studying the subject just for the analytical skills. If so, why not practice MENSA puzzles everyday? </p>
<p>Yeah, if you find philosophy interesting, indulge in it during your weekend visits to Barnes and Noble. You’ve got four years here; try to learn something useful.</p>
<p>^^It’s harder to learn those subjects on your own. Space115, I can understand where you’re coming from, but do you honestly think you’ll become a more enlightened individual by studying philosophy in college?</p>
<p>Life is long; you’ll meet new people, experience new things, undergo changes…you can philosophize all you want by reflecting on your life as you age…maybe read some books to give you a new perspective.</p>
<p>How can you expect four years of academic work to give answers to questions that can take a lifetime to answer?</p>
<p>The discipline of philosophy fosters critical thinking and analysis, which happen to be useful in law. However most law students weren’t philosophy majors. There is nothing wrong with a department emphasizing the usefulness of these skills, if they didnt then there would be even fewer philosophy majors as getting into grad schools and securing employment is increasingly difficult these days.</p>
<p>Any philosophy department that is “guiding its students towards the truth” is selling you something. That being said, I believe in the discipline of philosophy and am a philosophy major myself. I think it is often misunderstood and fascinating subject. As a philosophy student (at least at a respectable program) you will not search for some ultimate truth, answer all the unanswerable questions, or reflect on your own “personal philosophy”. </p>
<p>Space115, if you provide region(s) in which you are interested attending college I would be glad to suggest some programs.</p>
<p>Mostly when they say philosophy is good for law and for honing critical thinking skills, it is true, but it is mostly ad garbage. Philosophy profs are people with PhDs, and only a few of them might have law degrees as well (very rarely). In general philosophy professors do not care at all about how philosophy hones analysis skills, though they probably appreciate the added benefit. But philosophy profs study philosophy because they love it, so don’t think that advertising a department to future law applicants means that they are not serious about philosophy.</p>
<p>@oneguy21,
I think you are misinformed about philosophy. Philosophy really isn’t concerned with questions that can take a lifetime to answer. </p>
<p>@bos4079,
cheers to everything you just wrote.</p>
<p>@space115,
When you say philosophy, what do you have in mind?</p>
<p>if you want to study ultimate truth, i can also say that nothing you learn in math is false. math is the useful version of philosophy that doesn’t lead to unemployment and self-hatred.</p>
<p>“By that argument, though, one could also buy a chemistry of physics book and learn those subjects on his own time.”
Uh, yeah, no. Most humanities and social sciences subjects can be learned on one’s own with the resources of libraries, the internet, etc. But anything else requires hands-on experience and is much harder to comprehend without the help of an instructor/other students.</p>
<p>If you plan on pursuing it as a step towards professional school like Law… By all means do it. If you are planning on being a professional philosopher and go on to grad school. By all means do it. If you are content that any entry level job you take will not have a set application, but you will have a 4 year degree in something, again, by all means do it.</p>
<p>Do you have an idea of what you want to do? Done any volunteer work you have liked? Maybe you should wait a bit before going into debt over college otherwise…</p>
<p>As other posters said… Math is going to be quite similar to logic in philosophy, and you are studying something “real”, as well as practical. though IMHO, significantly more difficult concepts at the undergraduate level than philosophy.</p>
<p>Remember, 4 year universities have liberal arts requirements… Meaning probably 60-70% of all courses will be liberal arts/electives, and only maybe 30-40% will be stuff in your major, so if you choose wisely you can surely explore philosophy and still get a slightly more “practical” degree.</p>
<p>Your post seems to me that you don’t really know what goes on in university philosophy class.</p>
<p>They are only emphasizing the usefulness of it so the school won’t get rid of the department by lack of people signing up.</p>
<p>I love philosophy myself, but there is a big difference in taking a few classes to get some basis and reading on your own, vs being a philosophy scholar.</p>
<p>Like oneguy21 said, it’s tougher to learn the subject on your own.</p>
<p>LastThreeYears: Too bad - electrical engineering doesn’t involve metaphysics and morality. I’m looking for serious replies, not mocking replies.</p>
<p>bos4079: I’m thinking of California or somewhere in the Northeast. </p>
<p>grapico: I actually wanted to be a psychologist, but I just think that philosophy serves as a basis (long explanation). </p>
<p>I’m actually not from the States, and I’m taking my A-levels this year.</p>
<p>"if you want to study ultimate truth, i can also say that nothing you learn in math is false. math is the useful version of philosophy that doesn’t lead to unemployment and self-hatred. " </p>
<p>The idea that nothing you learn in math is false is actually hotly contested these days. They definitely teach you in school that math is true, but that is because most profs and teachers take the truth of mathematics for granted and are ignorant of problems that arise when you say mathematical statements such as ‘1+1=2’ is true.</p>
<p>You’re really concerned with finding “truth”?</p>
<p>I think you’ll have trouble because you’ll find that most philosophers aren’t interested in really answering questions at all. Which I don’t mean as a slight. I mean it as a general personality characteristic of successful philosophers. Judging success as impact on the field of philosophy.</p>
<p>Oneguy21, if you are implying that philosophy is useless, then you are clearly mistaken. By what standards do you consider it useless? Based on how well it does to find jobs? Such a onesided way of thinking imo.</p>
<p>As for your “Go to barnes and nobles on the weekend to educate yourself with philosophy,” I would say most of the philosophy majors I know already do that, but that is not enough. That is not the same of having an expert philosophy professor guiding you word for word so you can understand it more in depth. Also consider that weekends at barnes and nobles will not be enough to cover all the information that you would get if you were taking a philosophy class. Philosophy can be much more complicating than you think, because from what I read, your view of philosophy is the same as the general population’s view of philosophy, which can be very misleading.</p>
<p>Space115, what exactly do you mean by truth? I’ll just assume you mean you’re philosophy of life or something along those lines. Everyone has their own opinions about those, but if you think philosophy will directly give you the answer then you are mistaken. Although philosophy can assist you in shaping your own “truth”, but so can other things such as your enviroment/experiences/etc. Which area of philosophy are you interested in? You should look into the philosophy classes that these colleges offer, because I can assure you they have tons. If you think none of these classes are interesting because it does not relate to you finding the “truth” then maybe philosophy isn’t for you.</p>
<p>And you will probably be in a class with people who are most likely interested in philosophy, assuming that you are not going to a community college xD. Philosophy does improve your critical thinking skills and analytical abilities, but it is not limited to those. People say this because philosophy majors are often proven to score the highest on LSAT for law school.</p>