Thinking about math

College Majors Math/Computer Science Majors
1

<p>I'm a high school senior, planning to enter college as a philosophy major.</p>

<p>I also find mathematics to be a fascinating topic, and the thought has come to mind about studying math alongside philosophy.</p>

<p>However, I'm not especially great at math, but when I know what I'm doing I'm very good. It just depends on how the class is going and not all of my teachers have been great.</p>

<p>But still, I really want to give math a chance, maybe even major in it if I get far enough along. Philosophy and math sounds like a very good and well-rounded mix.</p>

<p>Should I try it? I'm honestly not sure if my math problems at school are my inability or confusing teaching. I just know I'm very good at it when I know what I'm doing, and I would love it if I had it in me to major in math, because regardless of the rage it induces it really is fascinating once I know what's going on. </p>

<p>I'm taking trig this year, so I'm figuring on moving along to calculus once college starts and seeing what happens.</p>

2

<p>Having an interest is most important. Studying can be difficult, but it’s impossible, if you’re not motivated to learn. Mathematics and philosophy is a suitable combination, given that mathematics comes very close to philosophy in e.g. logic, mathematics is just more exact and practical and (only) makes claims that are verifiable, but there are very philosophical questions in mathematics, and there’s also philosophy of mathematics which may be interesting as a metaphysical “problem domain”.</p>

3

<p>Several concepts in philosophy overlap with mathematics (e.g. logic) as well as computer science (computing). You could try an introductory logic in the philosophy department (I took it) and see if you want to pursue the philosophy of mathematics (was going to take this class, but it got canceled…). If you go more into, you might even want to look into computer science theory.</p>

4

<p>For reference from my college:
[UC</a> Berkeley - Department of Philosophy](<a href=“UC Berkeley - Department of Philosophy”>UC Berkeley - Department of Philosophy)
[UC</a> Berkeley - Department of Philosophy](<a href=“UC Berkeley - Department of Philosophy”>UC Berkeley - Department of Philosophy)
[UC</a> Berkeley - Department of Philosophy](<a href=“UC Berkeley - Department of Philosophy”>UC Berkeley - Department of Philosophy)
[UC</a> Berkeley - Department of Philosophy](<a href=“UC Berkeley - Department of Philosophy”>UC Berkeley - Department of Philosophy)</p>