<p>Bigtrees–you’ll be relieved to know that my H majored in philosophy, then went to Med School. Whew! Dodged that liberal arts bullet.</p>
<p>Then, twenty years later, he quit medicine to be a HS bio teacher. Dang. must have been that old lib arts mantra of uselessness sucking him down.</p>
<p>Somehow, we’ve survived it all. 
I think he got more out of the phil than any of the bio, med, or ed classes.</p>
<p>
Absolutely.</p>
<p>And by the way, Philosophy majors are consistently among the highest LSAT scorers.</p>
<p>foto2gem -</p>
<p>I didn’t do so at Princeton – alas – but I majored in Economics and minored in Philosophy. Surely something similar would be an option for your son?</p>
<p>In the light of full disclosure, I should add that my husband always says that every Philosophy grad school curriculum should include required courses in plumbing and car repair.</p>
<p>DD is planning to major in Philosophy…and I’m thrilled! :)</p>
<p>I majored in English and Philosophy and am … an academic. Tada! Have been happily teaching same for thirty years. I love going to work, still.</p>
<p>Kids who major in Philosophy are really drawn to that subject (like DS#1). It comes in second on the list of how various majors do on LSATs. Two people I know who majored in Philosophy at a little Ohio LAC went on to Harvard medical school. I would absolutely let him pursue his passion.</p>
<p>D is a sophomore, double-majoring in Philosophy and Math at a top school. Interesting combination with Logic being one of the bridge courses between the two disciplines. She totally loves it! Can’t wait to see what she does with it.</p>
<p>How common is it to link philosophy and linguistics in the same program, as MIT does? How does that arrangement work, compared with separate departments, or, for example, having linguistics in an anthropology department?</p>
<p>It is quite common. There are many types of philosophy, particularly recent and contemporary philosophy. Language based theories have been a strong component of Anglo-American philosophy (a strength of Princeton’s) in contrast to continental philosophy which has a different bent.</p>
<p>Oooooooooh, Collegemom08, my son is intending to enter as a math major next year and is intrigued by the possibility of a minor in philosophy (an idea planted by the presentation at Accepted Students’ Day recently). Can’t wait to hear more about how it works out for your D.</p>
<p>In terms of the practicality question…seems to me that a degree in philosophy might be just as useful as a degree in mathematics for preparing one to be a critical thinker.</p>
<p>As a former philosophy major and now physician, I can say that I never regreted my choice of majors. The only thing I would be cautious about is any desire to go for a PhD in Philosophy with the intent of teaching at a university as the job prospects are terrible. The following link is useful: [The</a> Philosophical Gourmet Report 2009 : Welcome](<a href=“http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/]The”>http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/)</p>