Philosophy Is A Great Major, New Website Promises

One of the most derided and mocked undergraduate majors, frequently called useless, pretentious, counterproductive, ridiculous and self-indulgent, now has a strong defender in its corner. Philosophy, a new website argues, is in fact a practical and worthwhile course of study.

Created by Jack Weinstein, a professor of philosophy at the University of North Dakota, the site, "Philosophy is a Great Major" contends, well, that philosophy is a great major.

"Philosophy is a great degree to help you get your first job," the front page says. "It’s a fabulous degree to help you get your second, fifth, and eighth."

It argues that philosophy provides skills that are applicable across a wide range of careers. And since people are likely to change careers, possibly many times, in their lives, it makes sense to pick a major that doesn't box you into a single occupation.

To back up these claims, the site links to articles demonstrating the relative economic advantage philosophy majors can boast. One article from the National Association of College Employers, for instance, projects that in 2016, people with philosophy majors out-earned those with any other humanities degree.

But Weinstein also holds that there are strong, non-economic reasons for immersing yourself in the work of ancient, modern and contemporary philosophers.

"Studying philosophy should be about civic engagement, cultivating our humanity, and learning for [its] own sake," he writes.

The website also has one section advising prospective students about which courses they should take and another that collects stories from successful people with philosophy degrees.

Why create such a website?

Weinstein notes two key reasons for his project: his students' need to justify their major to their parents, and his own need to defend the importance of philosophy to his administrators.

"The issue wasn’t that it was hard to present a justification," he writes. "It was that no one was willing to listen. The parents and administrators (and, in fact, some of [my] own students) were simply prejudiced against philosophy. As with all prejudiced people, their beliefs were wrong."

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Photo credit: Fredrik Rubensson