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Q
What do the following people have in common?
Steve
Allen (writer & comedian), Woody
Allen (director & comedian), William
Bennett (former Drug czar & NEH leader, BOOK OF VIRTUES),
Mary Higgins Clark (mystery writer),
William Jefferson Clinton
(President), Gene Siskel (movie
reviewer, SISKEL & EBERT AT THE MOVIES), Philip
K. Dick (science fiction writer), David
Duchovny (actor on X-FILES), John
Elway (quarterback, Denver Broncos), Ivan
Frolov (editor of PRAVDA), Rebecca
Goldstein (novelist & MacArthur prize recipient), Don
Harron (Canadian comedian, author of ANNE OF GREEN GABLES
libretto), Harrison Ford (actor), Christy
Haubegger (editor of LATINA), Vaclav
Havel (former President of Czeckoslovakia), Peter
Hoeg (author of SMILLA'S SENSE OF SNOW), Mark
Hulbert (financial columnist for FORBES magazine), Carl
Icahn (business person & corporate raider, bought TWA), Martin
Luther King, Jr. (civil rights leader), Bruce
Lee (martial arts & actor), Michael
Lerner (editor of TIKKUN), Peter
Lynch (director), Steve Martin
(comedian & actor), Kate Millett
(author of SEXUAL POLITICS), Bob Moses
(civil rights activist), Robert Motherwell
(painter), Iris Murdoch (novelist), Robert
Musil (Austrian novelist), Freeman
Patterson (photographer, author of THE ART OF SEEING), Neil
Peart (drummer for rock group, RUSH), Chaim
Potok (novelist), Pope John Paul II
(vicar of Christ), Patricia Rozema
(film-maker, I'VE HEARD THE MERMAIDS SINGING), Mick
Schmidt (former Philadelphia Philly), John
Silber (former president of Boston University), Susan
Sontag (essayist), George Soros
(money manager, Soros Foundation), Dave Thomas
(SCTV), Alex Trebeck (JEOPARDY), David
Foster Wallace (novelist & MacArthur prize recipient), Robert
Weaver (doyen of Canadian literature, head of CBC's
ANTHOLOGY), Moses Znaimer, (Owner of
CITY-TV and MUCH-MUSIC, Toronto) [list courtesy of http://www.belmont.edu/Humanities/Philosophy/info/CanDo.html]
A
They all majored in philosophy.
Socrates
said that the unexamined life is not worth
living. As human beings we are all forced to philosophize,
and an undergraduate philosophy degree helps one to do this well. Philosophers
lead a more perceptive, richer, and nuanced life.
Philosophers have honed the ability to analyze,
rationally evaluate, and synthesize
ideas and arguments. Philosophers know the foundational
ideas of Western Civilization. Study of philosophy requires
no other justification. This being said, the study of philosophy has
been an integral part of the success of the business titans,
politicians, entertainers, and writers cited above.
Graduates from our program have found their philosophical training to be
absolutely invaluable in excelling in a whole spectrum of jobs, from
painting to computer science. Indeed, a strong
case can be made that philosophy is the best major for preparing
students for job excellence in the information age. Consider
the following statistics (taken from USA Today and the University of
Texas at El Paso web site).
* Over the past ten years philosophy majors as a group have had a higher
mean score on the Graduate Record Examination Verbal Section than
students in any other major.
* Only philosophy majors were 5% or more above the mean on all four of
these tests:
LSAT (Law)
GMAT (Graduate Management)
GRE Verbal
GRE Quantitative
* Less than 15% of CEOs in the United States have undergraduate degrees
in business fields.
* Of people in business management making above the median income,
people with undergraduate degrees in the liberal arts make more money
than people with undergraduate degrees in business.
Studying philosophy either as a primary focus or as a second major
provides training for a variety of career choices including:
* Law: bar association staff, criminal justice coordination, law
practice, legal aid, legal research, paralegal assistance.
* Computer Programming: ontological engineering, web design, expert
systems development, database storage and retrieval, artificial
intelligence.
* Medicine: administrative staff, consulting, hospital administration,
medical practice, nursing, bioethics.
* Government: federal, state, and local agency supervision, diplomacy,
human services, intelligence, policy analysis, speech-writing.
* Environmental Ethics: environmental resource management, recycling,
animal rights, bioethics.
* Business: advertising, consulting, engineering, hotel management,
insurance, investment banking, marketing, publishing, real estate,
technical writing.
* Journalism: editing, free-lance writing, literary criticism.
* Academia: teaching, writing, administration.
In addition, some of our students continue the study of philosophy at
the graduate level, gaining master's degrees from LSU and other
institutions. Our students that go on to doctoral studies have gained
admission into top ranked PhD programs.
The American Philosophy Association's "Brief Guide for
Undergraduates" contains an explanation of why undergraduate study
of philosophy provides students with so many lasting skills necessary to
human flourishing. This subsection of the Brief Guide, titled "The
Uses of Philosophy" is worth quoting at length.
[Note: the following is excerpted from the http://www.apa.udel.edu/apa/publications/texts/briefgd.html.]
Much of what is learned in philosophy can be applied in virtually any
endeavor. This is both because philosophy touches on so many subjects
and, especially, because many of its methods are usable in any field.
General Uses of
Philosophy
* General Problem Solving. The study
of philosophy enhances, in a way no other activity does, one's
problem-solving capacities. It helps one to analyze concepts,
definitions, arguments and problems. It contributes to one's capacity to
organize ideas and issues, to deal with questions of value, and to
extract what is essential from masses of information. It helps one both
to distinguish fine differences between views and to discover common
ground between opposing positions. And it helps one to synthesize a
variety of views or perspectives into a unified whole.
* Communication Skills. Philosophy
also contributes uniquely to the development of expressive and
communicative powers. It provides some of the basic tools of
self-expression—for instance, skills in presenting ideas through
well-constructed, systematic arguments—that other fields either do not
use, or use less extensively. It helps one to express what is
distinctive of one's view; enhances one's ability to explain difficult
material; and helps one to eliminate ambiguities and vagueness from
one's writing and speech.
* Persuasive Powers. Philosophy
provides training in the construction of clear formulations, good
arguments, and apt examples. It thereby helps one develop the ability to
be convincing. One learns to build and defend one's own views, to
appreciate competing positions, and to indicate forcefully why one
considers one's own views preferable to alternatives. These capacities
can be developed not only through reading and writing in philosophy, but
also through the philosophical dialogue, in and outside the classroom,
that is so much a part of a thoroughgoing philosophical education.
* Writing Skills. Writing is taught
intensively in many philosophy courses, and many regularly assigned
philosophical texts are unexcelled as literary essays. Philosophy
teaches interpretive writing through its examination of challenging
texts, comparative writing through emphasis on fairness to alternative
positions, argumentative writing through developing students' ability to
establish their own views, and descriptive writing through detailed
portrayal of concrete examples: the anchors to which generalizations
must be tied. Striker and technique, then, are emphasized in
philosophical writing. Originality is also encouraged, and students are
generally urged to use their imagination and develop their own ideas.
The Uses of
Philosophy in Educational Pursuits
The general uses of philosophy just described are obviously of great
academic value. It should be clear that the study of philosophy has
intrinsic rewards as an unlimited quest for understanding of important,
challenging problems. But philosophy has further uses in deepening an
education, both in college and in the many activities, professional and
personal, that follow graduation.
* Understanding Other Disciplines.
Philosophy is indispensable for this. Many important questions about a
discipline, such as the nature of its concepts and its relation to other
disciplines, do not belong to that discipline, are not usually pursued
in it, and are philosophical in nature. Philosophy of science, for
instance, is needed to supplement the understanding of the natural and
social sciences which one derives from scientific work itself.
Philosophy of literature and philosophy of history are of similar value
in understanding the humanities, and philosophy of art is important in
understanding the arts. Philosophy is, moreover, essential in assessing
the various standards of evidence used by other disciplines. Since all
fields of knowledge employ reasoning and must set standards of evidence,
logic and epistemology have a general bearing on all these fields.
* Development of Sound Methods of Research and
Analysis. Still another value of philosophy in education is
its contribution to one's capacity to frame hypotheses, do research, and
put problems into manageable form. Philosophical thinking strongly
emphasizes clear formulation of ideas and problems, selection of
relevant data, and objective methods for assessing ideas and proposals.
It also emphasizes development of a sense of the new directions
suggested by the hypotheses and questions one encounters in doing
research. Philosophers regularly build on both the successes and
failures of their predecessors. A person with philosophical training can
readily learn to do the same in any field.
AREAS OF
PHILOSOPHY
[http://www.apa.udel.edu/apa/publications/texts/briefgd.html]
Traditional
Subfields of Philosophy
The broadest subfields of philosophy are most commonly taken to be
logic, ethics, metaphysics, epistemology and the history of philosophy.
Here is a brief sketch of each.
* Logic is concerned to provide
sound methods for distinguishing good from bad reasoning. It helps us
assess how well our premises support our conclusions, to see what we are
committed to accepting when we take a view, and to avoid adopting
beliefs for which we lack adequate reasons. Logic also helps us to find
arguments where we might otherwise simply see a set of loosely related
statements, to discover assumptions we did not know we were making, and
to formulate the minimum claims we must establish if we are to prove (or
inductively support) our point.
* Ethics takes up the meanings of
our moral concepts—such as right action, obligation and justice—and
formulates principles to guide moral decisions, whether in private or
public life. What are our moral obligations to others? How can moral
disagreements be rationally settled? What rights must a just society
accord its citizens? What constitutes a valid excuse for wrong-doing?
* Metaphysics seeks basic criteria
for determining what sorts of things are real. Are there mental,
physical, and abstract things (such as numbers), for instance, or is
there just the physical and the spiritual, or merely matter and energy?
Are persons highly complex physical systems, or do they have properties
not reducible to anything physical?
* Epistemology concerns the nature and scope of knowledge. What does it
mean to know (the truth), and what is the nature of truth? What sorts of
things can be known, and can we be justified in our beliefs about what
goes beyond the evidence of our senses, such as the inner lives of
others or events of the distant past? Is there knowledge beyond the
reach of science? What are the limits of self-knowledge?
* The History of Philosophy studies
both major philosophers and entire periods in the development of
philosophy such as the Ancient, Medieval, Modern, Nineteenth Century,
and Twentieth Century periods. It seeks to understand great figures,
their influence on others, and their importance for contemporary issues.
The history of philosophy in a single nation is often separately
studied, as in the case of American Philosophy. So are major movements
within a nation, such as British Empiricism and German Idealism, as well
as international movements with a substantial history, such as
existentialism and phenomenology. The history of philosophy not only
provides insight into the other subfields of philosophy; it also reveals
many of the foundations of Western Civilization.
Special Fields of Philosophy
Many branches of philosophy have grown from the traditional core areas.
What follows is a sketch of some of the major ones.
* Philosophy of Mind. This subfield
has emerged from metaphysical concerns with the mind and mental
phenomena. The philosophy of mind addresses not only the possible
relations of the mental to the physical (for instance, to brain
processes), but the many concepts having an essential mental element:
belief, desire, emotion, feeling, sensation, passion, will, personality,
and others. A number of major questions in the philosophy of mind
cluster in the area of action theory: What differentiates actions, such
as raising an arm, from mere body movements, such as the rising of an
arm? Must mental elements, for example intentions and beliefs, enter
into adequate explanations of our actions, or can actions be explained
by appeal to ordinary physical events? And what is required for our
actions to be free?
* Philosophy of Religion. Another
traditional concern of metaphysics is to understand the concept of God,
including special attributes such as being all-knowing, being
all-powerful, and being wholly good. Both metaphysics and epistemology
have sought to assess the various grounds people have offered to justify
believing in God. The philosophy of religion treats these topics and
many related subjects, such as the relation between faith and reason,
the nature of religious language, the relation of religion and morality,
and the question of how a God who is wholly good could allow the
existence of evil.
* Philosophy of Science. This is
probably the largest subfield generated by epistemology. Philosophy of
science is usually divided into philosophy of the natural sciences and
philosophy of the social sciences. It has recently been divided further,
into philosophy of physics, biology, psychology, economics, and other
sciences. Philosophy of science clarifies both the quest for scientific
knowledge and the results yielded by that quest. It does this by
exploring the logic of scientific evidence; the nature of scientific
laws, explanations, and theories; and the possible connections among the
various branches of science. How, for instance, is psychology related to
brain biology, and biology to chemistry? And how are the social sciences
related to the natural sciences.
* Subfields of Ethics. From ethics,
too, have come major subfields. Political
Philosophy concerns the justification—and limits—of
governmental control of individuals; the meaning of equality before the
law; the basis of economic freedom; and many other problems concerning
government. It also examines the nature and possible arguments for
various competing forms of political organization, such as laissez-faire
capitalism, welfare democracy (capitalistic and socialistic), anarchism,
communism, and fascism. Social Philosophy,
often taught in combination with political philosophy (which it
overlaps), treats moral problems with large-scale social dimensions.
Among these are the basis of compulsory education, the possible grounds
for preferential treatment of minorities, the justice of taxation, and
the appropriate limits, if any, on free expression in the arts. The Philosophy
of Law explores such topics as what law is, what kinds of
laws there are, how law is or should be related to morality, and what
sorts of principles should govern punishment and criminal justice in
general. Medical Ethics addresses many problems arising in medical
practice and medical science. Among these are standards applying to
physician-patient relationships; moral questions raised by special
procedures, such as abortion and ceasing of life-support for terminal
patients; and ethical standards for medical research, for instance
genetic engineering and experimentation using human subjects. Business
Ethics addresses such questions as how moral obligations may
conflict with the profit motive and how these conflicts may be resolved.
Other topics often pursued are the nature and scope of the social
responsibilities of corporations, their rights in a free society, and
their relations to other institutions.
* Philosophy of Art (Aesthetics).
This is one of the oldest subfields. It concerns the nature of art,
including both the performing arts and painting, sculpture, and
literature. Major questions in aesthetics include how artistic creations
are to be interpreted and evaluated, and how the arts are related to one
another, to natural beauty, and to morality, religion, science, and
other important elements of human life.
* Philosophy of Language. This field
has close ties to both epistemology and metaphysics. It treats a broad
spectrum of questions about language: the nature of meaning, the
relations between words and things, the various theories of language
learning, and the distinction between literal and figurative uses of
language. Since language is crucial in nearly all human activity, the
philosophy of language can enhance our understanding both of other
academic fields and of much of what we ordinarily do.
Other Subfields. There are many
other subfields of philosophy, and it is in the nature of philosophy as
critical inquiry to develop new subfields when new directions in the
quest for knowledge, or in any other area of human activity, raise new
intellectual problems. Among the subfields not yet mentioned, but often
taught at least as part of other courses, are Inductive
Logic, Philosophy of Logic, Philosophy of History, Philosophy of
Mathematics, Philosophy of Medicine, Philosophy of Education, Philosophy
of Feminism, Philosophy of Linguistics, Philosophy of Criticism,
Philosophy of Culture, and Philosophy
of Film.
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