Why Study Philosophy?

Graduate/Professional School

Science

The Business World

  • See "Unlocking the Power: Why You Should Consider Hiring Philosophy Graduates," in Rolling Stone, January 31, 2024: "A philosophy graduate can help you unleash your true potential as a business leader --and help you take your business to new heights."
  • See "Why 'Worthless' Humanities Degrees May Set You Up for Life," in BBC News, April 1, 2019: LinkedIn's research on the most sought-after job skills by employers for 2019 found that the three most-wanted "soft skills" were creativity, persuasion and collaboration, while one of the five top "hard skills" was people management.
  • See "How Philosophy Can Make You A Better Manager," in Forbes, July 31, 2015: The Logic of Aristotle, Gödel's Incompleteness Theorems, Wittgenstein On Communication, Rawls' Veil Of Ignorance, all of these can make you a better manager.
  • See "That 'Useless' Liberal Arts Degree Has Become Tech's Hottest Ticket," in Forbes, July 29, 2015: '"Studying philosophy taught me two things," says Butterfield, sitting in his office in San Francisco's South of Market district, a neighborhood almost entirely dedicated to the cult of coding. "I learned how to write really clearly. I learned how to follow an argument all the way down, which is invaluable in running meetings."'
  • See "The Unexpected Way Philosophy Majors Are Changing The World Of Business," in The Huffington Post, March 2014: "In fact, many leaders of the tech world... say that studying philosophy was the secret to their success as digital entrepreneurs."
  • See "Be Employable, Study Philosophy," in Salon, July 2013: "Because it delivers real skills, philosophy doesn't go out of fashion the way the vague, trendy subjects do."
  • See “Philosophy is Back in Business,” in Bloomberg Businessweek, January 2010: “Forget economics. Philosophy offers a deeper, broader way of thinking to help guide companies through times made tougher by overspecialized experts.”
  • See "Study of Philosophy Makes Gains Despite Economy," in The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 15, 2011: "some students are turning to an ancient study that they say prepares them not for a job, but for the multiple jobs they expect to hold during their lifetimes."
  • See "Business Educators Struggle to Put Students to Work", in The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 21, 2011: "On average nationally, business students enter the work force with higher starting salaries than those of humanities and social-science majors. By midcareer, however, some of those liberal-arts majors, including in political science and philosophy, have closed the gap."
  • See “The Management Myth,” in The Atlantic Monthly, June 2006. A founder of a consulting firm writes: “If you want to succeed in business, don’t get an M.B.A. Study philosophy instead.”
  • See “I Think, Therefore I Earn,” in The Guardian, Nov 20, 2007, on why philosophy graduates are all the rage with employers.

In General

The Most Important Reason

Philosophy is FUN. The entire discipline is devoted to exploring answers to some of life's biggest questions. Is there a God? What is a person? What is acting justly? Of what can we be certain?