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Why You Should Major in Philosophy

The Most Important Reason

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

However, here are some other reasons.

Graduate/Professional School

Philosophy majors outperform all other majors except Math/Physics, and perform equally well as Economics majors, on the LSAT. See here.

Philosophy majors outperform all business and accounting majors on the GMAT.
Philosophy majors outperform all other majors on the GRE Verbal. See here.

Philosophy majors outperform all other majors on the GRE Analytic. See here.

Philosophy majors outperform all other humanities majors on the GRE Quantitative. See here.

Philosophy majors have the third highest acceptance rate to medical school.

The Business World

See “Philosophy is Back in Business,” in Bloomsberg 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."

Mid-career salaries for philosophy majors are the highest in the humanities and higher than those of accounting, business management, and marketing majors http://www.payscale.com/2008-best-colleges/degrees.asp

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.

See “To Beat the Market Hire a Philosopher,” in the New York Times, January 10, 1999, discussing how well philosophers do on the job market.

See "Philosophers Find the Degree Pays Off in Life and Work", in the New York Times, December 26, 1997, discussing how well philosophers do on the job market.

See “How to Get to the Top: Study Philosophy,” by Thomas Hurka (Toronto: Harcourt Brace, 1994). Hurka writes: “Once hired, philosophy majors advance more rapidly than their colleagues who possess only business degrees.”

In General

See "In a New Generation of College Students, Many Opt for the Life Examined," in the New York Times, April 6, 2008, discussing the increasing interest in majoring in philosophy.