Philosopy strengthens the mind… or weakens it. It is hard for me to say which happens when, but it seems to me that unless one is taught thoroughly erroneus theories as if they were absolute truth, then one is more or less safe, provided one remains critical. As I said, philosophy strengthens the mind, it is the foundation of science, it helps the whole person grow and in that sense, it can’t be bad for faith. What can be bad for one’s faith is some applications of certain philosophical doctrines as stated in that article on Catholic Encyclopedia.
My law faculty teaches some philosophy, as well as a bit of logics, some core theoretical aspects of jurisprudence, as non-electives and the history of political and social doctrines, as well as some extended philosophical subjects as electives. Sometimes when I see modern lawyers, I wish they had more philosophy in them. Sometimes, however, I wish they dabbled less with that, from what the outcome looks like, but most of the time, I’d rather they did more of it.
Certain topics are very hard to grasp with no previous grasp of philosophy. It is hard to maintain any kind of intelligent discourse without foundation in philosophy. Not impossible but hard. There are many, many educated people who, “don’t get it.” You talk to them, they don’t know what it is about. They can’t tell reality from concept. They don’t understand what problem one can have with an, “it exists for me,” perspective. Cicero said not knowing history was always being a boy. A similar thing can be said about philosophy in the context of science (including humanities). Those who don’t have at least some grounding, lack a basic, core foundation, which impedes their understanding of the more advanced concepts or the world around them.
On the other hand, one does not need to be an expert in each individual doctrine in order to be an intelligent, learnt individual doing his job well, especially if it is a practical job. At any rate, can’t go wrong with the basics or the core aspects, unless you have a bad teacher.
Most of us who went for ecclesial degrees were required to get philosophy degrees first. The Pontifical schools of theology wouldn’t touch you without a philosophy degree.
