Topics Philosophy

Question Hello there, I have a question concerning Maths. If I am not especially good at Mathematics in school, should I be interested in philosophy? I believe that Mathematics is quite related to philosophy. If persons good at Maths, they have a very strong logical mind. And philosophy requires logic in thoughts. Moreover, do the universities require to pass Mathematics exam if persons want to study philosophy? By nature, I am some kind of creative person. And a creativity, I believe, is more related to breaking rules. I try to say that it is opposite from logical things. The classmates say that I am some kind of philosopher and I love philosophizing although I can't always notice it. And it is interesting thing! To sum up, what is more important considering person who wants to study in philosophy? Its creativity or logical mind?

Accepted:
December 24, 2010

Comments

It has been noted--for example, by Thomas Nagel, in the preface to his collection of reviews, Other Minds--that many professional philosophers tend to have been interested in math or theoretical physics before turning to philosophy. However, I myself don't think that there is a necessary connection between one's ability in math and one's suitability for philosophy. There are certain areas of philosophy--such as the philosophy of mathematics, or logic, or philosophy of language--in which mathemetical/logical ability is necessary, but there are others, such as the history of philosophy, ethics, and even epistemology, in which they aren't so necessary. (For what it's worth, I myself wasn't especially good at math in school.) I don't, however, know of any philosophy programs that require one to pass mathematics exams.

Logic, by contrast, is important in philosophy, at least insofar as it forces a certain kind of rigor on one and leads one to be attentive to arguments, which are at the heart of philosophy. But one can easily learn the logic necessary to do work in non-technical areas of philosophy in a logic class.

In general, I am inclined to think that all sorts of minds can be suited to work in philosophy, and that there are opportunities for those who are more 'naturally' creative than 'logical' in philosophy. Indeed, to my mind, the inclination to think creatively, to think, as it were, 'outside the box', is very much of the essence of philosophy, in which good work often arises when one challenges assumptions.

Given that you are interested in philosophy, I recommend that you take some philosophy classes--if you haven't already done so--and see whether the kind of work required in such classes is congenial to you. One can only learn by doing!!