What can I do with a philosophy major?

Question: What can I do with a philosophy major!?

So my interest is philosophy, but I can't really think of a job for it other than being a professor!. Is there at least something this major would help with!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

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i was not an undergraduate philosophy major (im studying it at the graduate level, though)!. a friend of mine recently told me that she enjoyed her philosophy class and almost minored in it, but didnt because it didnt seem practical!. so i began to research what philosophy students do besides grad school!. and theres two things i can say for undergraduate philosophy majors!.

1!. philosophy majors consistently hold among the highest (and in some years the highest) test scores on the gre (for grad school), the lsat (for law school), and gmat (for business school)!. in fact, recently (not sure what year) philosophy majors scored third highest on the lsat (after math and econ majors), second highest on on the gmat (second to math again), first on the gre verbal section, and if i recall correctly, were the 4th most selected major to medical schools!. this assumes you are in a good program and are learning lots!.

i think the idea is that philosophy, more than anything else, focuses sheerly on your critical thinking skills!. that is, philosophy is basically about how you think about things!. which leads me to the second and more important (to me) reason to study philosophy!.

2!. philosophy teaches you to think deeply about important issues!. philosophy is generally a second-order discipline, meaning it doesnt study a specific field of knowledge, but instead studies the study of that field!. philosophy of science studies how and why scientists do science!. philosophy of math studies what mathematicians are doing!. these philosophical disciplines are concerned with the significance and reasoning behind methodological principles!. on the other hand, metaphysical philosophy concerns itself with reality and existence!. these things are have huge implications about life!. i realized, after studying philosophy, that most people dont really think deeply about life!. they just live it from one moment to the next and hope they are happy!. i find engaging in the deeper questions makes life so much more interesting and worthwhile!.

strangely, i find most people do hold philosophical worldviews although they dont think about it!. you can see patterns of postmodern relativism (a huge philosophy) here on answers, even though many of the people who think in postmodern ways dont know what that is!. for me, i would rather know why i think a certain way or view the world a certain way!.

anyway, heres an example of something ive found interesting that is a contrast between philosophers and other discplines:

mathematicians might work with numbers, whereas philosophers of math might ask what numbers really are (do they exist as abstract entities!?, or are they just concepts!?, are they fictions!?, etc)!. if numbers really exist as abstract entities, then theres a whole non-physical world that exists (contrary to naturalistic descriptions of the universe)!. it brings up the question, what other kinds of things exist outside space and time!? if they dont exist, what are they!? if they are only concepts, that would mean that they dont exist at all apart from the persons who think of them!. which is really weird since that implies that numbers people havent thought of dont exist yet!. or are they just fictions, useful for understanding the world!? thats weird too, cause it means propositions like 2+2=4 wouldnt be strictly true, but just a useful fiction!.

theres all sorts of implications about the existence of mathematical objects; some even indirectly relate to the issue of the existence of god!. which seems terribly important when thinking about how to live life!.

if you dont get excited about these kinds of things, then philosophy might not be the thing for you!. but if you like questioning why things are the way they are, then philosophy might be a great choice!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Perhaps if you double major in Philosophy and another subject!. In my experience, the degree you have doesn't matter anyway!. Most employers just want to know that you have a college education!.

As far as what it helps with, I believe it helps teach you how to think for yourself!. By the time most kids attend college, they've only been told what to think, not how to think!. Philosophy forces you to come up with your own conclusions!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

honestly, you can sit at Starbucks with all the other philosophy majors, women's studies majors and liberal arts majors who try to convince each other of their individual importance while attempting to write the next great American novel while relying on Word's spelling and grammar checking to convert nonesensical ramblings into something that someone out there might be fooled into reading some dayWww@QuestionHome@Com

Pretty much anything any other Liberal Arts degree can do!. It's very very flexible!. However you may have to brush up on some basics if you want to go in a drastically different direction!. Try a law firm or political/legal stuff!. All kinds of social work!. Then of course teaching at high school and if you're hardcore enough, university level!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I'm in the exact same boat as you my friend!. I love philosophy, but don't see many options with it as you said!. I think I'm going to major in psychology and minor in philosophy just to play it safe!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

In my opinion, a philosophy major has a stronger basis to start from to find his vocation in life, and to continue learning, developing and contribute!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Don't sell short the ability to think and analyze!. Colleges are not trade schools and there's always a market for people who can think!. It used to be called liberal arts!. Stick with it!. You'll do just fine!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

You can sit there and philosophize about all the other more useful subjects you could have majored in!. Then philosophize about why you chose such a silly major!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

write a philosphical book!. i think philosophy is a great major!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Not really!.!.!. it's not really a marketable skill!. Though taking it as a minor can be good if you're doing other things such as psychology or such!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

i can only think of a teacher like you said!.
but i took philosophy last year (as a high school class) and i loved it!
try google =]Www@QuestionHome@Com

That depends entirely on what marketable skills you had prior to going to college!.Www@QuestionHome@Com