1
   

What is majoring in philosophy like?

 
 
Reply Fri 18 Jan, 2008 10:21 pm
What do people who major in philosophy, at the university, do? Lots of writing?
  • Topic Stats
  • Top Replies
  • Link to this Topic
Type: Discussion • Score: 1 • Views: 1,700 • Replies: 26
No top replies

 
jespah
 
  1  
Reply Sat 19 Jan, 2008 10:21 am
Lots and lots of reading and writing.

But a lot of it is similar reading and writing, or at least it was for me. I found that I was reading the same Plato over and over again. And that was okay as I was getting differing interpretations, depending upon whether I was taking Ancient Phil; Moral Phil or Political Phil. But it also saved time to be reading The Apology more than once.
0 Replies
 
parados
 
  1  
Reply Sat 19 Jan, 2008 10:49 am
Re: What is majoring in philosophy like?
blindsided wrote:
What do people who major in philosophy, at the university, do? Lots of writing?


They ponder questions like the one you just asked.
0 Replies
 
blindsided
 
  1  
Reply Sun 20 Jan, 2008 09:15 pm
I see. I am majoring in it. Using it as a pre-law major.
0 Replies
 
farmerman
 
  1  
Reply Sun 20 Jan, 2008 09:32 pm
Thats great, because now you wont have to unlearn any bad habits like proper use of the English language. Lawyers are the worst writers around with the notable exception of philosophy majors.
0 Replies
 
blindsided
 
  1  
Reply Mon 21 Jan, 2008 01:56 am
Awesome!
0 Replies
 
dlowan
 
  1  
Reply Mon 21 Jan, 2008 02:23 am
blindsided wrote:
I see. I am majoring in it. Using it as a pre-law major.


I loved it!!!!!


We did lots and lots of things in the three years....certainly not just Plato! Reading ans talking and thinking and, yes, lots of writing. Formal logic is pretty damned cool, too....


There is quite a gamut of western philosophy to go through, just as a starter....and it is still a flourishing discipline.

It's a great general subject to assist with your mental discipline, ability to critique positions and question the most basic assumptions.
0 Replies
 
jespah
 
  1  
Reply Mon 21 Jan, 2008 09:31 am
I should mention that I went to Law School after I got my Philo degree.

I think it was a good foundation. There were plenty of Poli Sci majors in my Law School and I think they did not get fallacies and the like. You don't actually study that in Law School but it's damned helpful to be able to pull back from an argument or negotiation and understand all of the angles and why certain things don't work.
0 Replies
 
OmSigDAVID
 
  1  
Reply Mon 21 Jan, 2008 02:55 pm
Re: What is majoring in philosophy like?
blindsided wrote:
What do people who major in philosophy, at the university, do? Lots of writing?

I remember a lot of reading,
not a lot of writing, and plenty of argument in class.

A philosophy is a pattern of beliefs.
One pattern of beliefs can be compared and contrasted with another one.

It is an exploration of the reasoning process,
considering the ideas of philosophers;
an examination of logic.

I liked it.

I thought it wud be a good pre-law course of study.

David
0 Replies
 
farmerman
 
  1  
Reply Mon 21 Jan, 2008 03:02 pm
and spelling Laughing
0 Replies
 
roger
 
  1  
Reply Mon 21 Jan, 2008 03:20 pm
Like Andrew Jackson, I'm not sure I can respect a man who can only think of one way to spell a word.
0 Replies
 
farmerman
 
  1  
Reply Mon 21 Jan, 2008 04:23 pm
Theres more of them from Spelling lab. I wonder whether Mark Twain cribbed from Andy JAckson?
Quote:
"It is a damn poor mind indeed which can't think of at least two ways to spell any word."
- President Andrew Jackson

"I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way."
- Mark Twain

"...ours is a mongrel language which started with a child's vocabulary of three hundred words, and now consists of two hundred and twenty-five thousand; the whole lot, with the exception of the original and legitimate three hundred, borrowed, stolen, smouched from every unwatched language under the sun, the spelling of each individual word of the lot locating the sourceof the theft and preserving the memory of the revered crime."
- Mark Twain

"... the English alphabet is pure insanity...", "It can hardly spell any word in the language with any degree of certainty."
- Mark Twain

"But I appeal to you in behalf of the generations which are to follow you, ... age after age, cycle after cycle. I pray you, consider them and be generous. Lift this heavy burden (traditional spelling) from their backs. Do not send them toiling and moiling down the 20th century still bearing it, still oppressed by it ... I pray you, let the hieroglyphics (old spelling) go, and thus save millions of years of useless time and labor to fifty generations of posterity that are to follow you... This cost of time is much too expensive. It could be employed more usefully in other industries, and with better results."
- Mark Twain

"The English have no respect for their language, and will not teach their children to speak it. They spell it so abominably that no man can teach himself what it sounds like. It is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate or despise him. German and Spanish are accessible to foreigners: English is not accessible even to Englishmen."
- G.B. Shaw, Pygmalion, Preface

"Correct spelling, indeed, is one of the arts that are far more esteemed by school ma'ams than by practical men, neck-deep in the heat and agony of the world."
- Henry Louis Mencken

"A man occupied with public or other important business cannot, and need not, attend to spelling."
- Napoleon Buonaparte

"My spelling is Wobbly. It's good spelling but it Wobbles, and the letters get in the wrong places."
- A. A. Milne

"If the professors of English will complain to me that the students who come to the universities, after all those years of study, still cannot spell 'friend', I say to them that something's the matter with the way you spell 'friend'."
- Richard Feynman 1963
0 Replies
 
blindsided
 
  1  
Reply Mon 21 Jan, 2008 10:24 pm
Thanks for the input guys. Starting my philosophy courses tomorrow.
0 Replies
 
OGIONIK
 
  1  
Reply Tue 22 Jan, 2008 04:11 pm
i went from an art major philosophy minor to art minor philosophy major.

i dont know if philosophy is worth it though, i mean it breaks down to math and the self-realization that you control your own actions and actions have reactions. its just critical thinking yeah? anyways im not sure i should take it, waste of time ive read so many books i dont think it would be fun.


im not sure though. if im good at it maybe i should pursue a career or someshit.


reading is all im good at, i remember information exactly from textbooks from elementary school. i was talking to a psychologist and she said i was possibly hyperlexic or something. but someone told me once to ball up my innate skill as tightly as possible and forget about it, and work on stuff i suck at.

math i guess... meh fuckit i give up thinkin about collegge.
0 Replies
 
OmSigDAVID
 
  1  
Reply Tue 22 Jan, 2008 05:49 pm
OGIONIK wrote:
i went from an art major philosophy minor to art minor philosophy major.

i dont know if philosophy is worth it though, i mean it breaks down to math and the self-realization that you control your own actions and actions have reactions. its just critical thinking yeah? anyways im not sure i should take it, waste of time ive read so many books i dont think it would be fun.


im not sure though. if im good at it maybe i should pursue a career or someshit.


reading is all im good at, i remember information exactly from textbooks from elementary school. i was talking to a psychologist and she said i was possibly hyperlexic or something. but someone told me once to ball up my innate skill as tightly as possible and forget about it, and work on stuff i suck at.

math i guess... meh **** i give up thinkin about collegge.

Is it possible for u not to talk about excrement any more ?
If u don 't mind ?

Please ?
0 Replies
 
OGIONIK
 
  1  
Reply Fri 25 Jan, 2008 11:53 am
as soon as you learn how to spell i'll get right on it ;D
0 Replies
 
blindsided
 
  1  
Reply Sat 26 Jan, 2008 02:02 pm
All my philosophy teachers are cool. Bunch of old guys that like to tell stories.
0 Replies
 
OmSigDAVID
 
  1  
Reply Sat 26 Jan, 2008 02:46 pm
blindsided wrote:
All my philosophy teachers are cool. Bunch of old guys that like to tell stories.

Good luck with your philosophy courses.

I like Adam Smith, Ludwig von Mises and Hugh Hefner.
David
0 Replies
 
maporsche
 
  1  
Reply Tue 29 Jan, 2008 11:01 pm
OGIONIK wrote:
but someone told me once to ball up my innate skill as tightly as possible and forget about it, and work on stuff i suck at.



I've often wondered if it were better to be GREAT at few things or mediocre at many things.

I'm currently leaning towards being GREAT at few things.
0 Replies
 
blindsided
 
  1  
Reply Wed 30 Jan, 2008 11:29 pm
Everyone needs to be better at something that most people.
0 Replies
 
 

Related Topics

How can we be sure? - Discussion by Raishu-tensho
Proof of nonexistence of free will - Discussion by litewave
Destroy My Belief System, Please! - Discussion by Thomas
Star Wars in Philosophy. - Discussion by Logicus
Existence of Everything. - Discussion by Logicus
Is it better to be feared or loved? - Discussion by Black King
Paradigm shifts - Question by Cyracuz
 
  1. Forums
  2. » What is majoring in philosophy like?
Copyright © 2025 MadLab, LLC :: Terms of Service :: Privacy Policy :: Page generated in 0.03 seconds on 05/31/2025 at 08:36:12