The life of a philosopher

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I have been thinking about pursuing Philosophy at the university level. It seems that the general perception of philosophy is that it is a leisure activity. I for one, have been thinking that, perhaps, a life of philosophy is not suited for generating income. I see philosophy as something of a vocation, that is dedicated to pure intellectuality and which is not necessarily bent on generating material and economic benefits. In the past, of course, there were schools and philosophy students, intellectuals and the like, were well cared for by patrons and their masters or teachers. Today, the situation is different.

I want to know anyone’s thoughts on the matter. Should philosophy be sought after for its own sake, and is it truly possible to make a profession and an income out of the field?

As an aside, I have been thinking about ideas to collaborate with other philosophers on writing articles and blog entries on their website. If interested, please send me a personal message.

I appreciate all the help.
 
There exist religious communities (e.g. Dominicans) which devote themselves to study, and part of this includes philosophy. You might look into that.

You can generate steady income by teaching philosophy at the college or university level, all the while studying it and perhaps writing on the side.

Another idea is to ask a faithful lay Catholic who has devoted their life to philosophy. One that comes to mind is Edward Feser (who took Route B above).
 
Philosophy as a profession doesn’t extend much beyond writing and teaching. Most who get a B.A. in philosophy go on to other fields, with law being the most common, I believe.
 
I took my BA in philosophy. I’m contemplating law school or graduate school. In fact, I just got a call for a job today! But that’s just me bragging.

Philosophy isn’t about job training. Not many (if any) of the humanities are like that. Many of the sciences aren’t about job training either. (Pure physics is as theoretical as philosophy is, for example) I can’t take my degree and go work in the epistemology factory, or the semiotics mine. The biggest and most important thing that an education in philosophy teaches is how to think. More accurately, how to think a certain way. Philosophy is about learning to critically analyze, to follow argumentation, to root out assumptions, to think in (sometimes very) abstract terms, and to be able to manipulate logical systems - such as thinking about the way things COULD be, or POSSIBLY be.

Economically, a degree in philosophy opens you up to pretty much anything in an office-type setting, teaching (K-12), law, computer science (with a focus in logic) and graduate school in philosophy. Philosophy also branches - philosophy of science and philosophy of math is a huge field in academics. I mean, you only get out of any degree what you can leverage with it. My friend got her BA in philosophy and works for 90K a year in IT. And there are jobs in philosophy outside of teaching at a university. Medical companies generally need an ethics officer. (Often it’s a team) Bioethics is huge these days and I can only see the importance of that field growing as we approach the singularity. cheeky

I mean, in the end, my advice for everyone in University is to study what you love because those are the classes you’ll actually attend. I COULD have studied engineering and gotten a job at Apple (but only after 5 years in low-paying firms) like my pal did. But I’d have hated every minute of it. I found a passion for philosophy, and that mattered more than the pay of a field I would’ve hated.
 
steph_86 said:
I have been thinking about pursuing Philosophy at the university level. It seems that the general perception of philosophy is that it is a leisure activity. I for one, have been thinking that, perhaps, a life of philosophy is not suited for generating income. I see philosophy as something of a vocation, that is dedicated to pure intellectuality and which is not necessarily bent on generating material and economic benefits. In the past, of course, there were schools and philosophy students, intellectuals and the like, were well cared for by patrons and their masters or teachers. Today, the situation is different.

I want to know anyone’s thoughts on the matter. Should philosophy be sought after for its own sake, and is it truly possible to make a profession and an income out of the field?

As an aside, I have been thinking about ideas to collaborate with other philosophers on writing articles and blog entries on their website. If interested, please send me a personal message.

I appreciate all the help.
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You can study and follow it on this forum - surely.

God Bless
paduard
 
My BA is in Philosophy. If you are going to study it for a career - AWESOME! We need solid philosophers. But be ready to get your doctorate or you won’t get a good job at a university. Please PLEASE teach at a Catholic University and help bring about the needed change in philosophy departments.

You can make a living wage but try www.salary.com to see what to expect. Maybe contact some of your fav. philosophy professors at universities (University of St. Thomas in St Paul Minnesota where I went has a great phil program. They could tell ya.)

Everyone should study philosophy as a basis for LIFE!

More power to you.

Matt
 
steph_86 said:
I have been thinking about pursuing Philosophy at the university level. It seems that the general perception of philosophy is that it is a leisure activity. I for one, have been thinking that, perhaps, a life of philosophy is not suited for generating income. I see philosophy as something of a vocation, that is dedicated to pure intellectuality and which is not necessarily bent on generating material and economic benefits. In the past, of course, there were schools and philosophy students, intellectuals and the like, were well cared for by patrons and their masters or teachers. Today, the situation is different.

I want to know anyone’s thoughts on the matter. Should philosophy be sought after for its own sake, and is it truly possible to make a profession and an income out of the field?

As an aside, I have been thinking about ideas to collaborate with other philosophers on writing articles and blog entries on their website. If interested, please send me a personal message.

I appreciate all the help.
Click to expand...
I believe a good Philosophy background is very beneficial in any field requiring mental acumen. Philosophy itself will limit itself to teaching which is also very good. But it is good preparation for many fields such as psychology, sciences, invention, politics, even mathematics. Many of the great mathematicians were philosophers in their own right. It is also good in law. It trains one t o think logically, and clearly, it can make one prolific, in many fields.
 
Because you love wisdom, you can and should pursue philosophy all your life long, and don’t have to get a degree to do that.

But the job opportunities are few, and you have to be politically correct in most colleges to get one, which is a sad reality for Catholic philosophers.

If you have another interest that is satisfying and job oriented, you might pursue that and keep on as a philosopher in your own right. I got my degrees in English but managed to plow a good deal of philosophy into my English classes. Indeed, most college English 101 texts have a chapter on critical thinking skills (Induction and deduction).

If you are a good enough writer and thinker, there are Catholic journals in need of your future articles that you will likely write when you have matured as a writer and thinker. You can’t make a living in that respect, but you can get a great deal of personal satisfaction knowing that your thoughts are probably reaching more appreciative people than they would ever reach in a classroom.
 
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