Philosophy
Photo: Rebecca Allen
Philosophy is concerned with large, difficult questions, many debated since ancient times, about what is and what must be and what ought to be. It addresses these questions through reasoned argument and the evidence of experience, without asking anyone to take anything on authority or on faith. Princeton's department, which has consistently been ranked one of the top few in the country, offers a diverse selection of courses from different branches of philosophy each semester, making it possible for the student to acquire both a grounding in the classics and an introduction to ongoing research. Special options in interdisciplinary areas add flexibility. A few of our students go on to graduate school; most go either to law school or directly to work in the private or public sector. Skills acquired by concentrating in philosophy—learning to think in an organized way about confusing and controversial questions, to treat one’s beliefs as serviceable as they are but capable of improvement; to react to criticism not with outrage but with a willingness to state the grounds for one's views and to listen to and learn from the views of others—are useful not only in a variety of careers, but in life.
What Students Say
• What is philosophy?
• What can you learn from it?
• What is it like being a philosophy major?
• What are common misconceptions about philosophy majors?
• What kind of internships and international experiences have majors had?
• How will philosophy majors save the world?
• Why would anyone want to date a philosophy major?
What is philosophy?
• What can you learn from it?
• What is it like being a philosophy major?
• What are common misconceptions about philosophy majors?
• What kind of internships and international experiences have majors had?
• How will philosophy majors save the world?
• Why would anyone want to date a philosophy major?
What is philosophy?
Philosophy is the attempt to describe the world, which philosophers do with argument. It consists of ideas about human nature and the nature of the world we live in. Philosophical arguments generally aim to be basic, pervasive, and, ultimately, persuasive. Philosophy is a very appealing study because it is an interdisciplinary practice; no topic of academia that sparks your interest can escape the bounds of philosophy.
Philosophy aims to provide a rationale and/or framework through which to think about and pursue a particular topic/question. It is not always about attempting to provide a coherent answer, but rather, to highlight the best ways to think about a problem constructively. People tend to pigeon-hole philosophy as moral philosophy or philosophy of mind (and their related sub-fields). However, one can philosophize about almost anything, and philosophy has been very successful in areas such as philosophy of science (Karl Popper), philosophy of politics (Locke, Rousseau), philosophy of economics (Adam Smith, an Oxford-trained philosopher), and logic. Especially interesting emerging fields of philosophical study include philosophy of computer science and artificial intelligence.
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What can you learn from it?One can learn many different things from various areas of philosophical study. For example, metaphysics deals in theories of reality, epistemology focuses on theories of knowledge, ethics attempts to make sense of our moral values, and political philosophy is the theory of our legal rights and government. These are only some of the many areas of philosophy, but they all require digesting the arguments of others, thinking about them deeply and comprehensively, and arguing one's own position convincingly. Philosophy, more than perhaps any other academic endeavor, can teach you how to think critically about the implications of being a human being in the world today. How do our actions and beliefs affect the world we live in? What are the implications of the decisions we collectively make day by day? If this question comes from an employer who is less interested in mind/body duality than TPS Reports, another answer is that philosophy teaches you to reason — to think.
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What is it like being philosophy major?
Although it is typically true that philosophy classes will assign papers in lieu of final examinations, and response papers in lieu of problem sets, the range and variety of subjects covered by philosophy is so broad as to allow some classes to be based entirely on problem sets, and others on in-class examinations. Princeton philosophy courses are often cross-listed with other departments (such as PHI/ELE, PHI/PHY, PHI/LIN, PHI/MAT, PHI/POL, PHI/PSY, and many others), making for a diverse set of classes from which to choose. In addition to the regular philosophy option, students can choose between three interdisciplinary tracks in the philosophy department: political philosophy, philosophy of science, or philosophy and linguistics.
The broad nature of philosophy not only makes interdisciplinary study in the major possible, but it also means that a student can pursue almost any certificate of his or her choice. Talk to certificate program administrators and philosophy professors to get an idea of how your course of study will work, but philosophy majors have historically had very little trouble with certificates in conjunction with their work in philosophy.
Junior year independent work consists of participation in a first semester junior seminar followed by a second semester junior paper. Your junior paper allows you great freedom to pursue an area of philosophy that has sparked your interest either directly through classes you have taken, or indirectly through papers you have read, late-night discussions with friends etc. A good junior paper will identify an interesting question, and show excellent understanding of the issues involved in addressing it, including a precise overview of other people's ideas in the area.
Senior year independent work involves a senior thesis that is at minimum 40 pages in length and an oral departmental examination that is 90 minutes on philosophical topics that include the topic of the individual's thesis. This is essentially an extended junior paper, with the caveat that the aim is not only to show an excellent grasp of a topic/question, but also to offer a possible development of current theories and ways to approach the hardest problems raised by these. A good senior thesis will show a grasp of all of the issues involved, and treat each of them coherently and cogently.
A common misconception is that a philosophy major limits one's career opportunities. This simply is not true. Philosophy teaches you how to think incredibly critically and diligently on a wide range of topics, producing a skill set that is valuable in any career.
Philosophers are often thought of as treating question with no relevance to the modern world, or the way that people currently live their lives. Modern philosophy deals with modern issues in ethics, epistemology, politics, science — questions that are fundamental to the way our world will develop over the next 10, 20, 50, 100, 1000 years. As an example, the most popular text-book for artificial intelligence classes contains an entire section on the ethics of development of super-human computers, and the mind-body problem. Also, make sure you read about personal identity before risking your life in a tele-transportation machine...
We have applied our abilities to think critically, analyze, and problem solve in internships for Palm Inc. (as a software quality assurance engineer), the German Parliament, the European Parliament, a high profile international law firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (Accounting & Auditing), a German research center for artificial intelligence, a US Congressman, Ecovillages in France and Italy, a development NGO in Rome, and more.
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Because philosophers have a better understanding of the nature of man and his place in the world, they have the ability to show others the errors in the ways of mankind today and the appropriate paths we must take to correct these errors.
Philosophy is a lens that teaches you a different and new approach to the world, one that will help you in anything you wish to pursue.
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Because philosophers consistently maintain a sense of humor and humility about the world and themselves.
Because we can break down MIMS' "This why I'm Hot" into necessary and sufficient conditions for hotness. [Being fly is both necessary and sufficient for hotness]