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Anyone major in philosophy in school?

No sir. I did take two years of Philosophy in 12th and 13th grade though. And I am currently considering to take it as a minor. I think it will be easier than...well...something else.

Originally posted by Gomez
Anyone major in philosophy in school? No, just love reading the materials.

Not to be rude to anyone who is a philosophy major, but what can one do with such a degree?

Originally posted by Spearhead
Not to be rude to anyone who is a philosophy major, but what can one do with such a degree?

Probably be more open minded, better trained in thinking and also better articulated than most others. The world's open for good people..now the 2 billion psychology majors, that's what I'm worrying about.

Originally posted by Spearhead
Not to be rude to anyone who is a philosophy major, but what can one do with such a degree?

Unfortunately the world has changed and we no longer really support our philosophers so they can go around in togas and stand on street corners debate life, death and everything in between. However a philosophy degree can be useful -

1. Obviously if one continues on to greater education in the field the option is there to teach philosophy in school or university/collage.
2. Publishing as an author - both in books and philosophy journals.
3. Religious work - many clergy have some background in philosophical teachings, and many theological teachers will have at least some knowledge of it. Philosophy graduates can find careers here that value such teachings.

Those are the main ones that use pure philosophy, after that it is more contributing to other areas.

1. Media, journalism and the like
2. Political and political consulting.
3. Archival work
4. Public relations, P.R. consultancy
5. Motivational speaking apparently.
6. Art
7. Remarkable also how many mid management to upper management types have an arts degree, or a double degree of philosophy and business.

So it isn't a dead end degree - one needs to think outside the box and see that it can be of benefit to many career paths.

I'm a stand-up philosopher.

Nope, unfortunately I don't. But I had to take few years of Classical Philosophy, if that counts.

not a major, but im doing it at college at the moment, and i intend to carry it on as a degree at uni next year

<--- philosophy colonel

I'm a Philosophy Major.

Unless you're gonna be a teacher, then its a pretty useless major.

Originally posted by Frigid Soul
Unless you're gonna be a teacher, then its a pretty useless major.

Not necessarily, as I pointed out above.

Philosophy is way overrated. Most philosophers talk rubbish, they really do.

I'm NOT an expert, I admit that, but I've read quite a few works of philosophers, and well, they all suck. Not even one has succeeded in answering the three "great" questions.

Philosophy can be fun, sometimes interesting, but it shouldn't be taken very seriously.

I have had an introduction in philosophy as everyone at my uni. Plus since I major in political science, we tend to get a lot of philo (altho mostly related to government and such) as well, mainly old philosophers like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Thomas of Aquino, Machiavelli (altho not sure if you could call him philo) Hobbes, Locke, Marx and many others

Originally posted by Kid Kurdy
Philosophy is way overrated. Most philosophers talk rubbish, they really do.

I'm NOT an expert, I admit that, but I've read quite a few works of philosophers, and well, they all suck. Not even one has succeeded in answering the three "great" questions.

Philosophy can be fun, sometimes interesting, but it shouldn't be taken very seriously.

That is your opinion - and it is a classic error to assume that philosophy only exists to answer "the three great questions" - many philosopher would even debate what they were.

Originally posted by Kid Kurdy
Philosophy is way overrated. Most philosophers talk rubbish, they really do.

I'm NOT an expert, I admit that, but I've read quite a few works of philosophers, and well, they all suck. Not even one has succeeded in answering the three "great" questions.

Philosophy can be fun, sometimes interesting, but it shouldn't be taken very seriously. The philosophers that you studied, or most likely and more likely the works of a few philosophers you studied, was probably the extreme end of philosophy that delves into questions that hold no relevance to living one's life. These areas do not make up the whole of philosophical thought.

Philosophy, in my experience, mainly studies the rationale of man. This is an immensely broad endeavor. It should be taken very seriously. All men should be students of philosophy, as a proper study of the subject should lead to a more thoughtful and less impulsive manner of decision making. Philosophy delves into the deeper motivation and rationale of the individual than any other educational pursuit. If one studies philosophy one will be better equipped to introspectively assess oneself and ones own behaviors, both overt and covert behaviors (covert behavior being unobservable behavior that is not accessible to the outside world, e.g. thinking), as well as better assessing others and understanding the world from their perspective as well as ones own.

Originally posted by Kid Kurdy
Philosophy is way overrated. Most philosophers talk rubbish, they really do.

I'm NOT an expert, I admit that, but I've read quite a few works of philosophers, and well, they all suck. Not even one has succeeded in answering the three "great" questions.

Philosophy can be fun, sometimes interesting, but it shouldn't be taken very seriously.
Philosophy is a type of inquiry, is about asking questions, questions which - as we all know - may never actually get final answers.
Asking such questions is not designed to destroy truth or belief, but instead to ensure that belief are genuinely reasonable.
The point is to aid the constructive aspect of philosophy, developing an accurate and productive picture of reality. Much of the history of philosophy involves trying to develop systems of understanding which can withstand the hard questions of critical philosophy.
In the end, the hope of philosophy is to understand, understand ourselves, understand our world, understand our values and the entirety of existence around us.

People who have cut their teeth on philosophical problems of rationality, knowledge, perception, free will and other minds are well placed to think better about problems of evidence, decision making, responsibility and ethics that life throws up.

Philosophy, in one way or another, ends up touching upon nearly every aspect of human life. Even today, researchers in philosophy study the human mind, language, art/aesthetics, biology, physics, mathematics, economics, politics, law, history, psychology, the physical and social sciences in general, logic, artificial intelligence, ethics, politics, and religion.

Originally posted by Storm
Philosophy is a type of inquiry, is about asking questions, questions which - as we all know - may never actually get final answers.
Asking such questions is not designed to destroy truth or belief, but instead to ensure that belief are genuinely reasonable.
The point is to aid the constructive aspect of philosophy, developing an accurate and productive picture of reality.
And that's where I disagree. Look at all the philosophers, in all honesty, what is the result of their writings ? Nothing, or not much.

Interesting debating material between intellectuals, sure, no problem, but other than that, what was the result of 25 centuries of philosophy => a bunch of mostly unreadable books in which the philosophers copy from each other, or simply contradict each other.

And we are supposed to learn or respect these peoples opinions ? Forget it. Because when it all comes down to it, every single philosophical theory is only one man's opinion.

Originally posted by Kid Kurdy
And that's where I disagree. Look at all the philosophers, in all honesty, what is the result of their writings ? Nothing, or not much.

Interesting debating material between intellectuals, sure, no problem, but other than that, what was the result of 25 centuries of philosophy => a bunch of mostly unreadable books in which the philosophers copy from each other, or simply contradict each other.

And we are supposed to learn or respect these peoples opinions ? Forget it. Because when it all comes down to it, every single philosophical theory is only one man's opinion.

...that can actually move millions....Marx, Smith, Locke, Plato...all those very, very, very much influenced the way the world went and they still do.

Marx... don't get me started.

I admit you could see his writings as some kind of philosophy, but it was much more a political, economical and sociological statement than a true philosophical one (rather thin line, I know, but still political and sociological and economical).

Originally posted by Kid Kurdy
Marx... don't get me started.

I admit you could see his writings as some kind of philosophy, but it was much more a political, economical and sociological statement than a true philosophical one (rather thin line, I know, but still political and sociological and economical).

Which is philosophical...look, if you think all philosophy is shit and children's play and Hanukkah then fine..but it is undeniable that it has an incredible impact on the world we live in...

Originally posted by Gomez
Anyone major in philosophy in school?
er, the classes are only about like arguing point in society they don't and really can't teach you about the big stuff, its debated and you can pass with an essay on it, but its always an open floor