How hard is it to get a job with a B.A. in philosophy?

Seriously, I'm considering it.

well there are a lot of things to consider when looking for a job. Education, criminal history, and experience in the industry u want to get in are all very important. If u want to start off as a manager, u need a specific degree like management, and u will need many years of management experience. If u wana be a philosophy professor, study philosophy.

dsg,

Welcome dsg, in praise of idleness, seriously it can be a time of great fertility, and not the kind your girl friend should be worried about. At anyrate welcome to the forum dsg, we are happy you have joined us. boagie

im trying to create a new thread in one of the branches of philosophy forum, but it wont let me. it says you do not have permission to access this page

1. Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?
   
2. If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.
   

dsg,

Not to worry, Justin will flag you through I believe, in other words give you full access. I am unsure if there are limitations in this area for a newbie but your problem will be resolved shortly. PS: If not send private message to Justin.

I will have to update the welcome PM to leave a not about this.

After you've made either a post response to an existing thread or opened a thread in the Introduction Forum, as you have here, then your account is unlocked to start threads in other forums and is generally, automatic. This is subject to change and more than likely will in the future as the site evolves.

Needless to say, welcome to the forum.

I would think that unless you wanted to teach philosophy, a degree in philosophy wouldn't necessarily get you a job as a philosopher.. (is that an actual paying job?). The fact that you've obtained a degree does however mean something when it comes to hiring. Keep in mind that most people don't have jobs in the area of their degrees.

Maybe you could visualize yourself in the perfect job for you. Visualize what you think would be the perfect fit and most rewarding and best suit your desired lifestyle, and visualize in your mind where you'd like to see yourself in 1 year or 2 or 5 years. Then do it. Anything is possible so be creative.

Anyway, I'll quit rambling. Welcome to the Philosophy Forum and while you have a degree, I gotta believe that we learn more about philosophy then any college could teach through these experiences we have within the forums as we all share a common interest.

Enjoy the community!

Hey, welcome! What was your area of interest in philosophy as an undergrad?

First ask yourself what you want to do for a living and how to get there. One of my medical school classmates had a BA in philosophy, but also took the premed requirements, MCAT, etc.

In regards to "while you have a degree, I gotta believe that we learn more about philosophy then any college could teach through these experiences we have within the forums as we all share a common interest"

After browsing this forum I have determined that nothing in this forum is in any way similar to what is taught in the university regarding philosophy. The philosophy in these forums is philosophy for and by the masses, while academic philosophy is a totaly different phenomenon. While philosophy is speculation about the world, this is speculation about philosophy, and is mostly way off academic philosophy. Point me to a technical view in this forum and ill disagree. I say this not to sound pompous but to create controversy. :not-OK:

In regards "What was your area of interest in philosophy as an undergrad?" I like all areas of philosophy, though ethics is coolest.

You're absolutely right. This is not a professional forum. Only a few people here have formal educations in philosophy and as far as I know no one has graduate-level experience. VideCorSpoon has an understanding of logic that is way beyond what I'd expect an undergrad to attain; I'm not sure of his background.

But with that in mind, someone with formal training would be highly valued here. If we're going to invoke the names and writings of philosophers, we need someone here who can ground us a bit closer to the academics, though it may drive you nuts. It happens to me when medical topics come up, because the conversations happen at a lay level -- much different than my daily involvement.

It's not so difficult so long as you know your material cold. In medicine a HUGE part of our job is getting patients to understand what the hell is wrong with them, why it went wrong, and why I want to do this or that. This requires translating that material from an extremely high level of complexity to something that even an uneducated layperson can understand (and in some cases for me doing this in Spanish!)

A lot of time it requires leaving out important details that are not critical for getting the big picture. A lot of time it requires using concrete analogies.

But believe me that it's a MUCH more impressive statement for someone to translate something complicated into something accessible than it is for people to just name-drop philosophers and posture with their knowledge. There are a lot of dilettantes who throw up vocabulary, especially words that Kant invented (for his own lack of the ability to make concepts accessible), and it's not especially meaningful if an understanding isn't demonstrated.

After all, isn't one of the major self-criticisms of modern philosophy (especially from the likes of Wittgenstein) that so many discussions just boil down to empty terminology in the end?

VideCorSpoon I should say does a masterful job at this with logic, which is an area that is NOT intuitive for people. We sorely need that kind of stabilizing influence in other areas, and ethics is a big one. So I hope you'll participate -- your impact will be felt quickly.

So I guess I won't be getting a B.A. in philosophy. I think I'm finding cognitive science interesting but I change my mind like every week.:rolleyes:

Stop thinking about your degree for a second. What do you want to be when you grow up? I know that you're young, the world is your oyster, etc, but college WILL end some day and you need a skill set and a career that builds on itself.

I graduated from college in 1996, when the internet boom was at its peak and the country was as prosperous as it had been in a long time. And the sort of 'wayward' classmates of mine somehow found jobs in technology and the internet everywhere, and were making $75,000 their first year out of college.

But I just don't think in the current climate there is opportunity like that. You need to plan ahead. So do it, even at peril of changing your mind, and THEN see which fields of study will both help you achieve your goals and get an education that interests you.

Yes well I don't really think I'd care to make 75 grand a year. Can you believe the average in Canada is 60?! Seems a little high.

Also, I don't honestly have a clue what I want to be, I just want to travel, make a difference in the world, more of a societal rather than social (if you know what I mean), research, write and be successful (dream job right there)....

You're right, its all the trades now, not likely to get a job right away in the business world. But then I'd rather do research than sit at a desk or being an engineer based on technology, and discoveries already obtained.

That will change when 1) you have children and 2) you realize that unless you can save money for retirement very early on you're going to run out of money very quickly when you retire.

So you can either find a career that facilitates this for you, or you can find a way to fit these experiences into college. But you can't feed yourself and a family from ideals. I've found a way to do that with medicine in my subspecialty, and I've taken every opportunity to travel abroad for study or work -- I've been to 6 continents. You can do that in a lot of fields.

I suppose at one point money will be important, but I doubt I will want to retire permanently. Writing would be a bonus if I made money at it after I retired but this si a long ways away for me. Even if it feels like tomorrow when I reach that far, as a subtlety there's potential stretched very far.

6 Continents?!! Where specifically if I might ask. I've always wanted to walk the Great Wall of China, see Rome, but rather, I'd like to see the natural landmarks that I lack insight to being in an urban sprawling area. (thats Toronto for you).

The nice thing about living in Seattle, Washington for the miniscule time that I did, this goes back a ways; is how Mt. Rainier (16,000 give or take feet tall) stands out in the horizon. Everyday walking to school you'd see that glimpse of nature. And every evening the outlines of the mountain on a clear night would go pink due to the sunset. Awesome sight.

http://www.kevinfreitas.net/img/20070131-mt-rainier.jpg

Great thread! nice posts, welcome!

I'm halfway through a philosophy degree, although i'm doing a double Arts Major, one in Philosophy and the other in Psychology. That way i can mess around in philosophy and still hope of getting a job when i get out the other end. In fact i plan on doing the 4th year, honours in Psychology, then the necessary two years internship required and BOOM i'm a registered Psychologist with an actual job and (gasp!) i did a philosophy major!

If it helps, my lawyer parents have told me in the past that there are law firms that simply won't employ you if you didn't do philosophy at university, since that's a good indication that you are interested in the world, in finer arguments, and you know how to present a position.

You find ethics interesting? I kind of avoid ethics when i can, i just haven't liked it much when i did a little... my favourites have been Phil of Mind, Phil of Modern Physics (well it will be a favourite, i'm sure, i start next week), Descartes and Continental Philosophy.

Holiday: I reccommend doing a double major Psych/Phil if that interests you, i find psychology and philosophy complement eachother constantly. I have subjects liek 'Philosophy of Psychoanalysis' and 'Philosophy of Mind', which are both very helpful for understanding the mind above and beyond psychology. In fact in my Phil of Mind class i often heard students saying that you really need to be doing both Psychology and Philosophy to help understand many problems of mind and consciousness.

In Africa I've spent 5 weeks in Ghana, 2 months in Senegal, and 2 months in The Gambia. I've also set foot in a few villages in Burkina Faso. These were three separate medical trips.

In South America I've spent 5 weeks in Peru -- 4 weeks working at a clinic in the Amazon and a week in the Andes (did the Inca Trail to Macchu Picchu).

In Europe I've been to Spain, France, Belgium, Iceland, Norway, and Russia.

In Asia I've only been to Japan, accompanying my wife to a meeting for a week in Kyoto.

In "Oceania" I've spent 5 months in New Zealand studying abroad in college.

And in North America I've been all over the US, to Canada, Mexico, Antigua, and The Bahamas. I've been to Hawaii 5 times and I worked for a month in Juneau Alaska in a native health clinic.

So a lot of work and study-related travel. Oh, Mt. Rainier IS beautiful, you're lucky! Only 14,000 feet tall, though -- the tallest American mountain outside Alaska is Mt. Whitney in California at ~ 14,400 feet.

Your life is a dream life in my opinion. You get to help people, went to Harvard!, and travel the world. Though I don't think I'd enjoy working in a clinic. But still, if you can find a trip to Seattle, lol, I advise the time on hiking up half the mountain. Also, I`ve wanted to go to Banff in Canada.

For my one and only vacation, went to Mt. Tremblent, in Quebec. A small village is surrounded by small mountains that are used as ski hills. Deciduous trees would make fall look wonderful, I went in the summer.
Best sight is on the gondola, no light pollution, darkest place I`ve been in my life. Up high like 150 feet the village had old fashioned lights multi colour, and everywhere else was pitch black. Awesome, and it was like floating in mid air, because there was no depictions of anything around you, or the ground.

Amazon sounds cool. And isn`t Russia in Asia.