We all know the stereotype about philosophy majors being stoners who just sit around making aimless “profound” comments about whatever their heart desires. For example – “If you’re waiting for the waiter, aren’t you the waiter?”, or “What does water taste like?”, and my personal favorite, “Shouldn’t the word ‘snow’ sound like the word ‘now’ but with an ‘s’?”. Yes, it is very important to realize that this stereotype is not the reality. As amusing as these questions are, I can’t say I’ve ever heard them uttered in a philosophy class.
As cheesy and cliché as it sounds, I feel more as though philosophy chose me, rather than the other way around. I began college 100% certain that I was going to major in English Literature. That being said, my freshman year, I took two philosophy classes just due to random interest. One was Medieval Philosophy with Professor Ryan. The other was Philosophy in Literature with Professor Vogt. Side note -I would absolutely recommend taking a class with either one of these professors. They’re not only truly passionate and knowledgeable about the specific subjects that they teach, but they similarly advocate so strongly for the pursuit of philosophical learning and inquiry. Both of these wonderful classes drew me in, ultimately leading me to find that philosophy is a subject that I find challenging in the most rewarding way.
I think that the transition from english lit to Philosophy was definitely easy to conceive, because the two types of studies bear a decent amount of similarity. For one, in both classes, you should expect to be doing a great deal of reading and writing papers. Forewarning – don’t pick either of these majors if you don’t enjoy writing papers and spending a lot of time reading. Though philosophy readings tend to more frequently be essays, as opposed to the novels and poetry that you would expect to read in a literature class. However, this is not always the case – I’ve read Sartre’s novels, Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets, Beckett’s plays, Rilke’s poems, and Nietzsche’s novels all in various philosophy classes.
Though there are definitely overlaps, the differences between the two disciplines begin to be more apparent when you start looking at the types of analysis in writing and discussions that occur based on readings. In a lit class, one can expect to be writing a fairly specific literary analysis paper. However, I find philosophy papers to be more involved in the sense that you are able to bring so many of your own thoughts and questions into the work. Philosophy papers often can be less reliant on analysis based on knowledge of literary devices, and other such constructs. One finds that they are able to inquire into a text with an argument developed from a wider and more personally involved scope when writing a philosophy paper. Similarly, in-class discussions often revolve around listening to the questions that each student has and further inquiring into topics originating from the reading.
The discipline of philosophy involves a number of vital skills to develop – including, but not limited to, critical thinking, persuasiveness, effective communication, analytic reading aptitudes, and the ability to look at an argument from multiple perspectives. These important facets of intelligence are vital for an endless variety of career options. Philosophy is the right major for you if you enjoy pondering complex questions about the world, and often, one’s own existence. The specific topics can vary so much between classes, as you may be learning and discussing anything from medical ethics to Shakespeare plays. Further, showing the importance of philosophic thinking and inquiry, because philosophy is all around us, whether you’re taking a class or not.
As a philosophy major, or someone in a philosophy class, you should expect to be confused often occasionally. However, don’t let that scare you away from the department. The philosophy department is filled with professors who are passionate about their material and are always open to clarify topics further. In my experience, all of the professors absolutely love to have students stop by during office hours to chat about classwork, paper topics, or just something interesting you may have thought of following a class. Our professors are wonderful and will do all that they can to explain the material; however, it is important to keep in mind that philosophy classes can involve a need to accept that certain inquiries remain uncertain. Discussion and complex analysis is key to being a philosophy major and doing well in a class. However, one must also accept that there are certain times where the class isn’t going to provide you with a definitive answer to a question that you may ask. So if you are someone who always needs be-all and end-all answers to everything, this may not be your best fit.