Considering a Major in Philosophy
Philosophy asks fundamental questions about anything and everything: for any X, there is the philosophy of X! We ask questions about the nature of reality, how we should live together, what makes actions right or wrong, whether value is objective, the nature of art, the nature of reason and reasoning, the relationship between language and thought, the nature of the mind and consciousness and many other things.
The philosophy major at Carleton aims to give students a firm grounding in a wide range of philosophical topics and traditions. It also aims to develop students’ abilities to identify and question assumptions, analyze and construct arguments, and to clearly express their ideas in writing and speech.
The major is designed to ensure students are exposed to the variety of traditions, methods, and topics that philosophers deal with while giving students wide latitude about how to navigate the major requirements. It does this by identifying seven categories that all students must take courses in, while not dictating which courses students must take within those categories.
What can you do with a philosophy major?
The answer is, “Pretty much anything.” Our students go on to all kinds of careers in areas including law, medicine, education and business. You might check out the following sites:
sites.google.com/site/whystudyphilosophy
dornsife.usc.edu/phil/undergraduate/
dailynous.com/value-of-philosophy/
Off-Campus Study
While the philosophy department does not run any off-campus study programs, philosophy majors routinely spend a term, or more, off-campus as part of Carleton and non-Carleton programs. Learn more about going off-campus as a philosophy major.
Double Majoring
We love double-majors and work with students to make sure they can complete requirements in both of their majors. The main thing to think about before declaring a double-major is whether you want to double-comps! (We say: go ahead!)
Going to Graduate School in Philosophy
The decision to go to graduate school for the Ph.D. in philosophy is a much more difficult one from the point of view of one’s future than is the decision to major in philosophy as an undergraduate at Carleton. This flows from the fact that an academic career is the only career for which the Ph.D. in philosophy is a direct preparation, together with the fact that the academic job market in philosophy has for at least the last 30 years been a buyer’s market. So you must proceed towards the Ph.D. with no guarantee that at the end you will have the sort of career that, in all likelihood, you envisaged when you started.
In light of this fact, you should not go to graduate school in philosophy unless you genuinely want to study philosophy for its own sake.
But, of course, you still need to think about what you’ll do with the rest of your life and recognize that an academic career is by no means guaranteed. Here are some things to consider:
- The academic job market in philosophy has not changed over the last several years: there are still many more applicants for academic jobs than there are jobs. There is, moreover, no reason to suppose that a dramatic lowering of the ratio of applicants to jobs is in prospect.
- People with graduate philosophical training who do not wind up academics do not typically wind up with unsatisfactory careers. There are many jobs (in government, in the foundation world, in publishing, for example) which people with graduate training in philosophy hold and for which that training is relevant preparation, even though you wouldn’t have said to someone, “If you want that kind of a job, you must get a Ph.D. in philosophy.”
If you decide to apply for admission to graduate departments in philosophy, there are many sources of information. First, it is crucial that you talk to faculty members in the department, and the more of them, the better. They can help you select programs to apply to, prepare your applications, and advise you on getting the best letters of recommendation.
The best source of information is Brian Leiter’s Philosophical Gourmet Report (a ranking of graduate programs in philosophy in the English-speaking world). While some philosophers have problems with this ranking of departments (or with rankings in general), it really is a useful guide to how most, though by no means all, of the English-speaking philosophy world thinks about various departments. You should also check out the American Philosophical Association’s Guide to Graduate Programs in Philosophy.
If you are planning to apply, you should take the GRE’s early in the Fall of your Senior year, perhaps even before the Carleton term begins. It’s a good idea to find out even before the end of your Junior year when the places you are anticipating applying to want you to take the GRE’s. (There is no GRE test specifically in philosophy.) If your overall academic record is suitably strong, you should definitely consider applying for Rhodes, Marshall, Mellon, or Fulbright awards.
Any member of the faculty will be happy to advise you; each will know different things about different graduate programs in different areas. Also please keep the Chair informed of your plans, so that we know exactly who is planning to apply where. This information can be very important for those who are writing recommendations.