Yeah that's what I think I'll do... everyone seems to agree on that one.

Thanks.

I'm kind of in the same boat but instead of Writing I'm going into religious studies.  Does anyone know what kind of job opportunities there would be for me?  Or is there really the only opition of teaching religious studies/philosophy.

Fuck.... that dissapoints me a little. I was told similar by others but I kinda hoped it wasn't true lol. So you're basically telling me tho, to go and get a degree in buisness? I mean, I love Philosophy, but I don't wanna teach. And I love writing, but I would be just fine with only an occasional publish.  As far as the buisness spectrum goes... I don't know what I would do with that. I do wanna eventually open a Kung Fu school, so I guess that applies in a way.

Look, a business degree is generic, boring, and useful.

If you go into almost any job interview with your MBA, you're going to stand a decent chance of getting the job, whether it's running a kung fu school, a restaurant, or a kindergarten.

On the other hand, like I said, I own a restaurant, and I have degrees in music.  Nothing is a guarantee of anything, but if you're playing the percentages, and don't know specifically what you want to do, a business degree is a pretty good idea.

You can also go a lot of directions with a science degree if you're planning on going to grad school.  Math, physics, biology, psychology... all of those degrees can lead you into a wide variety of masters degrees, but don't plan on getting anything really good out of undergraduate studies...

As a matter of fact, just plan on getting a masters.  Everybody has a bachelors degree these days.

Well, I currently have my honours degree in philosophy and have just got a scholarship to do an MA, although I haven't really decided my thesis topic yet. In the meantime I work as a research assistant to a PhD candidate in philosophy, basically I am an extra brain for him to bounce ideas off of, and do a lot of the boring readings. I also tutor students in philosophy. In the summer I work as a visual artist in a hospital setting, drawing, visiting and painting for patients in the hospice (that's where people go who a terminally ill). I sometimes am a guest lecturer for a theology class on the relationship between theology and philosophy. All of these I get paid to do, so it certainly is not out of the realm of possibilities to do something constructive with your degree other than teach. Usually when I am confronted with the question like "what can you do with a degree in philosophy?" I reply "Anything I want to..." really you are being trained to think creatively about difficult questions, so the world is completely open to you to do anything you want to do. If you're good at philosophy you can probably come up with some way to make money at doing it.

Of course you can write papers and present them at conferences, most of the time your expenses are covered by the school who is holding the conference, provided your paper gets accepted.

In truth, I have seen a lot of people with degrees do a lot of other things with philosophy degrees; a lot of them sit on ethics boards in ethics centers for schools, hospitals or businesses. A lot of them go on to practice law; some become public intellectuals (as was already mentioned), teachers, and activists.

Right now I'm going for a degree is programing then while I work get things in philosophy, theology, psychology, sociology, plus a few courses in other things.

What they might call that degree I don't know. Really I don't care what they call it, but I'm taking the courses I want to get the information I want.

sorry double posted.

ahhaha seriously??

As a philosophy student I deny the thought that by reading philosophy books anyone can acquire the methods and capabilities a philosopher has. I recon there are unique intellectuals who would immediately grasp the finesse of philosophical thought, still doubt some such person would understand the plethora of philosophic disciplines.

And for getting a job in philosophy; the fact is that most of the fields in philosophy are neccessary connected with some other field of science. Yet as the epitome of philosophy there is that level of conceptual reasoning that can be done without bothering with other fields of science, but is scarce to be found as a paying job.

There are philosophers working as politicians, as policy makers within governmental and nongovermental organisations, ethical commission of laboratories or hospitals, as humanitarian officers with the UN, high-school teachers, coaches giving philosophical training, social work, as movie directors, in-house philosopher at a museum, et cetera. 

LOL! It's hard to deny the things you say, ones you're down to your chin in philosophy there is no way back, you'll become an unwanted visitor in that mind riddling thing called existence.

I however disagree about meeting women, my department has a equal amount of women as men, and most of them are quite a pleasure to see. Only the great problem about philosophy is that you notice you start equating anything you walk into through the looking glass of a philospher, even your own bloody relationship.

Luckily I live with a girl that just denies the fact that coherent argumentation has any value in adressing relational problems. 

Why did he thought it was useless? It strikes me as a contradiction that philosophy as being an extension of basic academic skills could be considered useless.

In what way is philosophy valued and teached in the US, 'cause I have the feeling (also due to some of my american teachers) that philosophy is not as much valued as an independent scientific discipline as here in the Netherlands.

Although I agree that philosophy will always find itself in an intellectual niché.

Lol!
Your anthropology on Philosophers is the best thing ever!

i'm finishing up my B.A. in philosophy this semester, and i'm going into creative writing for my graduate work. 

philosophy programs are highly competitive.  i'm an honor student, i always make the dean's list, but was unable to get into any Ph.D or M.A. programs in philosophy.  i plan on getting my M.A. in english, establishing myself academically, then applying to an M.A. or Ph.D philosophy program.  i ultimately want to teach philosophy and write poetry and short fiction in my leisure time.  

but yeah, as many have already said in this thread, philosophy and creative writing are two very narrow, impractical fields.  don't go into philosophy if you don't plan on teaching, although you could use a B.A. in philosophy as a springboard for graduate work in another field (as i'm doing).  a B.A. in philosophy consistently holds the most weight if you're planning on continuing graduate work in  an intellectual field (i.e. not business).  creative writing is perhaps even less practical, but you do have a few options there - make a living from publishing your work (if you're good enough), or teach creative writing at a university, or both.   

Ahhh... Bruce Lee practiced Wing Chun Kung Fu at one point, and eventually moved on to developing his own system/philosophy in Martial Arts better known as Jeet Kune Do [which he later abandonned]. Anyway, I practice 7 Star Praying Mantis Kung Fu and my stuff really isn't related to his. Close tho:]

Its stupid, in my opinion.  But you know what they say:  Philosophical debates are so heated because so little is at stake. 

Ok... I'm having trouble grasping the "so little is at stake" thing......

and it's buggin' me cuz I feel retarded. I can usually get that stuff pretty easily.

oh and the quote you have below that.... I'm trying to understand that one too lol

Oh gotcha. I like that Chomsky quote. I'm gonna walk up to people and say that to them. See what they say lol. 

And yeah, to be honest it would drive me crazy if I didn't at least try to answer some of the questions I have. I can't ignore Philosophy. It's just not possible..... I'm sure what you know what I mean.

And btw guys/girls, I've succesfully converted an Agnostic and a HEAVY Theist to Atheism through pure logic.  And I have another heavy thiest reconsidering seriously. Not to mention the amount of people my new Athiests are going to educate.  Knowledge is contagious. Don't be afraid to spread it:]

I'm about to finish up my B.A. in philosophy. I've only got a year left. I have to say that it's been extremely rewarding, and well worth the time. When I graduate, I intend to try to find a job as a technical writer in (hopefully) computers, and head on to law school after a year or two.

 Philosophy is an excellent preparation for law school. I'm starting to study for the LSAT, and I can already see that studying philosophy has given me a substantial edge. The other night I didn't miss a single Logic Reasoning practice question. The skills they require are exactly those honed by examining philosophical argumentation.

I have a Ph.D. in English, but I always knew I wanted to teach, so once I decided Biology wasn't for me, I always had an answer for the scoffers.

I have worked as a technical writer and the money is excellent.  But it's an office job without the rewards of teaching and there's a glass ceiling that you can't pass unless you go into management.  If you're serious about tech writing, be sure to go through a certification program somewhere along the way--there is actual institutional knowledge and theory that will help.  But the employment market for tech writers is desperate, so if you have some good samples to show you can get work anywhere.

You don't need a Ph.D. unless you plan to teach at a university, and the job market is tight, unless you're willing to move to where the job is (and it's usually not someplace fun).  But I never let that stop me when people told me that, and it worked out fine for me.

Also we do advise students who want to be lawyers to major in philosophy (or polisci, but not pre-law).  So even if you don't want to actually be a lawyer, you can give that answer to people who harass you. 

I can see how philosophy would take over your brain and invade everyday life so that you are always thinking of it in relation to everything. I am only sophmore status as far as philosophy is concerned - would be a junior, but changed my major. Already I can see (I think because I get so into it and have taken more than the required lower level) that now everything I assess, I must assess it from every possible viewpoint out there. So, it just leaves me more confused than before when I always knew what I thought about things. But I think that's because I am in the stage where I am learning to question things. I'm hoping that after my degree I will actually have the full set of skills required to actually formulate my own viewpoints with more solid grounding.

oh yea, I was gonna say that I used to be really into math and it did the same thing for me. EVERYTHING - any conversation or whatever - I began to think of in mathematical terms. So, math takes over your brain too, but things are much simpler and straighforward that way. Math really helps straighten things in your head.

Crap! I think I wanna go back into math or physics. Help! Anyone here that's done a double major with philosophy? If so, did it add to or take away from your philosophy education?

ps. I don't know why this post looks weird.