Question I am about to start college and plan to do either an English honours course or a philosophy honours course for my graduation. But my parents are not quite supportive of this as they think that I am working myself into a dead end and these courses won't get me a job and are completely pointless. I am unwilling to do something more "career-oriented" as my interest lies in the aforementioned subjects. Am I being impractical by doing so as I don't have any long term goals? Will I repent my choice later?

Accepted:
May 24, 2008

Comments

There are a few similar questions already on this site, e.g., see Question 2110.

As Question 2110 makes clear, the value of studying philosophy extends far beyond "career-oriented" preparation.

Iwould also emphasize, however, that studying philosophy constitutes extremely strong preparation for many careers because itprovides you with superb opportunities for skill development, includinganalytical and creative thinking skills, analytical and creative oral and written communication skills, and, more generally, skills related to self-directed learning.

Theseare extremely valuable skills in business and in other professions, and, since you also enjoy studying philosophy for its own sake, it strikes methat you have a lot to gain by working in this field.

To be sure,every college course and each subject of study claims to contribute tocritical thinking and communication skills, and to some extent this istrue. Perhaps, therefore, it is mainly my own parochialism that leadsme to assert the following, although I do not think so: Workingintensively in philosophy is a particularly effective way of gainingthe skills I list and so studying philosophy may well be more usefulfor preparing for your future career than studying other subjects,including pre-professional or other"career-oriented" subjects.