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Why Philosophy is a genuinely AWESOME degree

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Original post by !!mentor!!
For example students in a Philosophy exam were also asked to use all their philosophical knowledge to prove why a chair, placed at the front of the room, didn’t exist. While many scribbled down different theories one student simply wrote ‘What chair?’

In another Philosophy exam, a student was said to receive top marks when answering the one word question ‘Why?’ with ‘Why not?

In another exam students are reported to have been asked ‘What is courage?’ One is said to have returned a blank page saying ‘This is.’


Sounds like a bunch of urban myths to me.
Original post by Plagioclase
Sounds like a bunch of urban myths to me.


I'll tell u a bigger urban myth

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Original post by CheeseIsVeg
I'll tell u a bigger urban myth

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When I win the hunger games through peaceful protest and AMAing I'll have the last laugh.
Original post by Plagioclase
When I win the hunger games through peaceful protest and AMAing I'll have the last laugh.


:colonhash:
Over my de-briefed body :u:

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Original post by JRKinder
I agree that Philosophy is interesting and I love to discuss it myself with friends, but it will never be as useful as a good Maths or Engineering degree. It teaches you to write and analyse well, but so do many other degrees that actually teach job-specific knowledge as well.


I wouldn't claim it's superior to a maths degree per se, although it would probably make you the superior communicator of the two. In terms of analytic skill (prized by businesses, and vital for a career in, say, management consultancy), philosophy is second to none. No Law essay, for example, will be as complex as to require formal Logic to arrive at a reasoned conclusion. In philosophy it is very rare that you can just 'give your opinion' without considerable reason to back it up (like you can in English or Geography - not to day these aren't also subjects of huge interest and importance). Maths and Engineering are excellent degrees also, but if you're determined, philosophy offers just as superb employment prospects (and, if I may say so, much more interesting material)

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Philosophy is at the heart of many great disciplines, like mathematics and economics. If I never studied mathematics I probably would have studied philosophy.
Original post by Electrospective
Hey! Which books would you recommend? (I'm about to start reading Hume's An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding)

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How long have you been doing philosophy for?

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Original post by SunnysideSea
How long have you been doing philosophy for?

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I haven't done philosophy. I just find it interesting. :tongue:
Original post by Paraphilos
Philosophy is at the heart of many great disciplines, like mathematics and economics. If I never studied mathematics I probably would have studied philosophy.


Hey you still can! Even philosophy as a hobby can blow people's minds at dinner parties when you break out Zeno's paradoxes :biggrin:- and, as I'm sure you know, mathematicians often make great philosophers.

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Get paid and get laid the philosophy of the finchmeister
In my first year we did a philosophy module! I found indoctrination so interesting! It was fun.
It does sound fascinating, granted, but it doesn't really increase your employability does it? You said that you can still do Investment Banking and Law but what benefit would you really get as an Investment Banker with a Philo degree instead of just an Investment Banker (plus the added costs)

I love History, and continue my interest in studying history despite doing a STEM degree, however while Philosophy is interesting, but I disagree with you about employability. What do you do as a straight Philosophy graduate?
Original post by That Bearded Man
It does sound fascinating, granted, but it doesn't really increase your employability does it? You said that you can still do Investment Banking and Law but what benefit would you really get as an Investment Banker with a Philo degree instead of just an Investment Banker (plus the added costs)

I love History, and continue my interest in studying history despite doing a STEM degree, however while Philosophy is interesting, but I disagree with you about employability. What do you do as a straight Philosophy graduate?

Investment banking (though I'm only a layman on this) actually involves surprisingly little raw maths - and the large firms enjoy the range of skills brought by all disciplines - Philosophy, as I say, combines the logic and analytic skill of science with the communication and argumentation of humanities, like History, and is therefore one of the best degrees to go for. As for investment banking, take a read of this from targetjobs:

'A number of investment banks and investment management businesses don’t just accept candidates without a finance degree they actively encourage them to apply. A common theme is not wanting to recruit an entire intake of economics-graduate clones.

Gemma Adams, vice-president of recruitment at Mitsubishi UJF Securities international, explains: ‘We don’t want a class that is a complete carbon copy of one another, so I don’t want 20 students who have all achieved a first at a red-brick university in economics. That just isn’t how we work here. We want a really diverse class, we want people that have opinions, are happy to argue a point, to put their hand up in a meeting, challenge our CEO.’

The Citi recruitment team is keen to state that graduates can ‘apply to any business area from any degree discipline’ and that the bank needs ‘a diverse range of people from different backgrounds’. Jane Clark, head of campus recruitment at Barclays, agrees on the need for diversity, adding ‘We focus on educating people so they understand that they don’t necessarily need to have a financial degree background.’

Edinburgh-based investment management firm Baillie Gifford is well known for taking a long view of the financial markets, and as such is particularly keen to recruit arts and humanities graduates for their broader approach towards culture and society. HR manager Richard Barry comments: ‘The firm looks for graduates who can think freely and in a structured way, and who can follow up their interests with considered, well-formulated arguments. Any degree background that develops the ability to do this is an advantage.’

Fellow investment management firm M&G Investments said it 'positively encourages candidates from all backgrounds to apply, as they bring a different way of thinking to the typical economics or finance graduates'. The organisation adds that it wouldn’t expect candidates to have relevant internships and those who haven't gained experience in the industry would not be at a disadvantage during the recruitment process.'

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Original post by Electrospective
I haven't done philosophy. I just find it interesting. :tongue:


Well if you haven't already, Plato's Republic was the first book that made me think 'wow!' about Philosophy, and it has the benefit of being mainly quite lucid language too.

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Original post by noticemesenpai
In my first year we did a philosophy module! I found indoctrination so interesting! It was fun.


May I ask what course you were doing? I've heard Philosophy can be great in combination with lots of subjects too
Original post by SunnysideSea
May I ask what course you were doing? I've heard Philosophy can be great in combination with lots of subjects too


Education! We were also taught about levelling in society! That was very interesting too!
Original post by Electrospective
Hey! Which books would you recommend? (I'm about to start reading Hume's An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding)

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What area in philosophy are you most interested in or would like to explore for the first time?
I study Philosophy at uni and find it the most difficult thing on earth. I study it alongside English Lit. Even Philo is my better subject it's incredibly difficult and so many people underestimate it but ignorance is bliss and it's not my place to educate narrow-mindedness.

So I let others do the work like OP. Great post!
Original post by The Empire Odyssey
What area in philosophy are you most interested in or would like to explore for the first time?


Yes, I would like to explore for the first time. I'd like some books to just get me a good starting place.

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