philosophy major

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Skepticism About Philosophy’s Capacity To Improve Thinking

Philosophy departments often include in their pitch to undergraduates the claim that studying philosophy can improve one’s thinking skills. But does it? (more…)

How To Structure A Philosophy Major

What should the curriculum of a philosophy major look like?

Specific answers will vary across different types of schools, but perhaps at some level they will have enough in common such that it would be useful to discuss the question in general. (more…)

How We Created A Philosophy Major (guest post by Matthew Brown)

The following is a guest post * by Matthew J. Brown, associate professor of philosophy and history of ideas at the University of Texas, Dallas, about how, in an era in which it seems that a different philosophy department is under threat of closure each week, he and his colleagues were actually able to create a philosophy major at their university. Excellent news! (m..

Is Philosophy Really The 89th Most Popular Major? Update: No

A site called Match College lists philosophy as the 89th most popular major. It comes in just after “Baking and Pastry” and “Respiratory Therapy,” which is perfect, because if true I will need to take some deep breaths and console myself with a piece of cake. (more…)

Net Return On Philosophy Major Is Comparable To That Of Engineering Major

A new study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), “The Costs and Net Returns to College Major,” finds that offering a philosophy major may be as good an investment of educational dollars as offering engineering and health majors. (more…)

Rider University Avoids Eliminating Philosophy Major

At the end of October it was reported that Rider University would be slashing 20 jobs and 13 majors—including philosophy. However, now that the university and the school’s chapter of the AAUP (American Association of University Professors) have come to a new agreement, these cuts will be avoided entirely. A statement from Rider University’s communications office, ..

Update on Changes to US Census Question

You may recall that this past December, Kathleen Wallace (Hofstra) brought to our attention that the U.S. Census Bureau was considering eliminating from its main survey the question asking for respondents’ field of undergraduate study. In light of many comments sent to the Bureau about this proposal, it has been rejected; the question will be retained. From the Fede..

For the Money

Graduates with philosophy degrees have “higher earnings potential than many other arts and humanities-related fields,” said TheRichest. Payscale reports midcareer median salaries are $84,000 for your modern day Kant or Descartes. Why? Well, let’s be logical. Which is exactly what philosophy programs require of students … logic. Thinking is hard, it requires analysis..

Financial Return on Humanities Degrees

Jeffrey Dorfman, an economics professor at the University of Georgia, has analyzed the value of undergraduate degrees in a variety of fields and reports some of the results in a column at Forbes. Conventional wisdom may hold that philosophy and other humanities fields are “destined to produce underemployed graduates, struggling to pay off their student loans, and pe..

Philosophy Majors and the GRE 2011-2014

ETS has released data showing how well people perform on the GRE, sorted by intended area of graduate study. Once again, prospective philosophy graduate students do very well, earning the highest mean scores of students heading to any arts and humanities discipline in all three categories of the exam: verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and analytical writing…

What Do Philosophy Majors Do? LinkedIn’s Answer

LinkedIn, a service I am familiar with largely through doing battle with its hydra-like emailing, has a feature called “Field of Study Explorer.” Its aim is to provide information to would be college students about the kinds of jobs and employers different majors end up with. Of course, what the service really tells you is what kinds of jobs and employers that diffe..

Robert Parris Moses Interview (Famous Philosophy Majors)

Robert Parris Moses “became one of the most influential leaders of the black civil rights movement in the 1960s and afterwards. Martin Luther King called his grassroot organizing an inspiration.” He went to Stuyvesant High School, majored in philosophy at Hamilton College, and earned a master’s degree in philosophy from Harvard. Recently, Paul Jay at The Real News c..

Philosophy Majors & IQ

If you were to rank undergraduate majors by average IQ, where would philosophy majors be on that list? Here is one such list, with IQ and SAT scores. I have no clue as to its methodology, but it has philosophy majors near the top. If accurate, it may cut against some claims often made about the benefits of majoring in philosophy.