Is It a Bad Idea to Study Philosophy in College?

Last updated on: May 24, 2011 at 4:31 pm by Owen Strachan

Is It a Bad Idea to Study Philosophy in College? 2011-05-24T16:31:37-06:00 Owen Strachan

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Here’s an interesting report from the Washington Post that examines median salaries for college graduates of various majors. The study, conducted by researchers at Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, offers the following data:

According to the study, the median annual earnings for someone with a bachelor’s degree in engineering was $75,000. The median wage was $47,000 in the humanities, $44,000 in the arts and $42,000 in education or in psychology.

The individual major with the highest median earnings was petroleum engineering, at $120,000, followed by pharmaceutical sciences at $105,000, and math and computer sciences at $98,000.

The lowest earnings median was for those majoring in counseling or psychology, at $29,000, and early childhood education, at $36,000. Workers with a bachelor’s degree in English language and literature, the most popular major within the humanities, have median earnings of $48,000.

This data led one professor (a poet!) to conclude that the humanities do not make cents (excuse me–sense):

“Education is so off-the-charts expensive now,” said poet and Florida International University professor Campbell McGrath. who noted that his son is considering an anthropology degree. “You are making a really weird decision if you decide to send your kids off to study philosophy. It would be a better world if we all studied the humanities. But it’s not a good dollars-and-cents decision.”

The article is worth considering in full.

This makes me think on a number of levels. I went to a liberal arts college and studied history, a humanities discipline. The study applies to me and many of my peers. It strikes me that it could be a bad decision to study the liberal arts. If you must take on a great deal of debt to do so, you might want to go elsewhere. Too many college students make decisions about college based on emotional, not practical, criteria. This is bolstered by a boosterist self-esteem culture that celebrates dreaming and denigrates rationality. Those who need a slogan, in other words, to back up a perhaps irrational decision can find one. “You only live once,” “live in the moment,” “don’t let the dream die,” and so on, all maxims that would make excellent classic rock song titles (which should be a major source of concern). The problem with following such slogans when it comes to four-year collegiate decisions is that you can wake up the morning after with a blistering headache and a $100,000 tuition bill.

That may not be a huge problem if you’re planning on working as a chemical engineer for the rest of your life. But many who would make such an ill-advised gamble won’t be making six figures within two years–or perhaps ever. Debt is a far-off, weightless proposition when young, and a cold, hard, steely reality when old. The descriptor often attached to it is “crippling,” and it is so for a reason.

How does this relate to the topic at hand? Parents and students need to be a bit more practical about the decision to go to college. Does this mean, though, that one should not study philosophy? I say no. The traditional liberal arts curriculum is a sensational way to learn. It exposes the mind to all sorts of important ideas that one would not otherwise encounter. But perhaps one should not study such a course at the most expensive school possible. Perhaps one should take out less debt and earn a slightly less prestigious degree in order to be able to live and move and have one’s being in the future.

The problem, it seems to me, is not studying philosophy. That’s a great major. The problem comes when one studies philosophy and goes $95,000 into debt to do so. That is a very tricky matter, because only the creme de la creme will earn enough in a reasonable amount of time to pay back such a sum.

In a period that still experiences the effects of a recession, Christians are reminded of just how practical such a course is–and how biblical. We sometimes read Scripture to enfranchise our ambitions, inflate our hopes. But the Bible is on-the-ground practical. There is a time to roll the dice, so to speak. There are risks worth taking. But we do well to remember Proverbs 22:7: “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.” We have been freed from slavery to sin by the cross-work of Jesus Christ. We should be very wary of other masters who would rule us, promising perfect fulfillment, the achievement of all our dreams, and a degree that will open every door.

college

debt

center on education and the workforce

engineering

georgetown university

Previous Post

May 23, 2011

The Man Who Stole Hitler's Pistol

Next Post

May 25, 2011 Seinfeldisms: If You Can't Call Someone Fat, Why Can You Call Them Short?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category "heaven is a world of love" 9Marks abortion academics Adam Sandler adoption adultery adulthood aesthetics aging ajith fernando al mohler alice walker America american education american shaolin apologetics architecture atheism atonement august rush barack obama baseball basketball batman beauty berry mauve or muted wine Bible biblemesh biblical studies biblical theology biblical womanhood billy wolfe blogging bob kauflin body book culture book reviews boston celtics boston college bowdoin college bowling alone boyce college boyhood Brooke Fraser Bruce Ware bullies bullying business business ethics C.S. Lewis calling calvinism canada Capitol Hill Baptist Church carl henry carl trueman carolyn mahaney cbmw celebrity Chicago child's play children Christ Christ and culture Christian education christian hedonism christian ministry Christian vocation christian womanhood christianity and culture church government church history church internships church life church matters blog church membership church planting cities CJ Mahaney colin adams college college admissions college life college ministry collin hansen complementarianism conferences congregational worship conservative thought consumerism conversion council on biblical manhood & womanhood council on biblical manhood and womanhood covenant life church creativity credo magazine credobaptism cross movement crossway books crucifixion culinary culture cultural engagement cultural theology culture culture shift d. a. carson dads daily mail dan barry dancing with the stars daniel dennett darrell bock dating David Barash davy rothbart death death of God debt desiring God developmental league devotional thoughts dick morris dining disability discipleship doug sweeney douglas groothius economics economy education egalitarianism eliot spitzer ella rose strachan enlightenment entrepreneurs entrepreneurship environmentalism Eric Metaxas ethics evangelical theological society evangelicalism evangelism extended adolescence extreme home makeover family fatherhood feminism fiction film flame food foodstuffs football four gospels frank miller friendship gay gay Christianity gender roles genderblog george marsden girltalk gk chesterton God gospel gospel of John gospel risk gq greek mythology guillermo del toro happiness harold ockenga Harvard health heaven height hell henry center herb london higher education hillsdale hip hop historical theology history holidays holiness Holy Spirit home-school homemaking homes homosexuality hope human dignity human flourishing human life image of God imagination intellectual Christianity intellectual life iron man Islam J.I. Packer james mcavoy James Q. Wilson jeremy lin Jesus Christ jim hamilton joe namath John Calvin John McCain john owen john piper john rockefeller jonathan edwards journalism justice justin taylor kairos journal keira knightlet la times leadership lesbian life of the mind Lifeway links literature Lord's prayer louie giglio love male sex drive mall manhood manners Mark Dever Mark Driscoll marriage mars hill martial virtue martin luther masculinity materialism matthew hall maureen dowd memoirs of an ordinary pastor mentoring military millennials ministry missional missions monergism moral argument morality motherhood music national review nba new atheism new england New Testament new york new york times new yorker newsweek nietzsche northeast notre dame npr obedience oprah oprah's big give orphan care overheated prose award owen wilson pain parenting Park Community Church pastor-theologian pastoral ministry pastors persecution philosophes philosophy political philosophy politics poverty prayer preaching presidency presidential race pro-life professors proverbs psychology public school public square public theology publications quebec quilting race racism radical womanhood rap music rc sproul rebecca walker Reformation 21 relevant magazine religious liberty resources revelation revival richard dawkins richistan risky gospel robbie george robert putnam ron chernow Russ Moore salvation salvo magazine sam harris same-sex attraction sanctification scholarship science scripture secularism seminaries seminary life sex sex drive sexual ethics sexuality sexualized culture shooting sacred evangelical cows shootings simple church singleness social justice social media social networking Southern Baptists southern seminary sovereign grace Spanglish spirituality sports sports illustrated sports injuries stanford steve mccoy suburbia suffering superhero t. suzanne ellder Tea Leoni technology television the darjeeling unlimited the gospel coalition the southern baptist theological seminary the wackness theological journalism theology theology of work thinking Thom Rainer tim challies tim keller time magazine titan Together for the Gospel tom carson tom wolfe tragedy transgender travel trinity trinity evangelical divinity school truth twitter ty pennington unashamed workman Uncategorized violence virtue vocation voddie baucham war wayne gretzky wayne grudem weddings wikipedia will smith williams winnie hu womanhood work world magazine worship writing youth sports

Select a Month August 2021 July 2021 May 2021 March 2021 December 2020 October 2020 June 2020 February 2020 January 2020 October 2019 August 2019 June 2019 May 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 October 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 November 2017 October 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In the Parable of the Sower, what does the seed represent?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Judgment The Word of God The Law Money