Why does philosophy education make people uncomfortable?
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I have two degrees in philosophy. I quit my PhD with an MA after I realized academic life wasn't for me.
When people find this out about me... they rarely react positivity anymore. Most are confused, some look upset, others get defensive or crack cliche jokes about how I got a job with a useless degree like that or if I work at McDonalds.
It seems to have gotten way worse the past few years. In my late 20s/early 30s people seemed to react a lot more positively to this fact about my life? People would ask me about it and why I did it and what I studied specifically. I really liked those conversations.
I feel naive as to why philosophy is so controversial for the average person, anymore than English or History is? I really enjoyed my studies and still do them as a hobby now.
BUT HOW DO JOB WIF HUMAMBNETEES DUGREE?
That's basically why.
I think it's cool as hell. We all need to read philosophy. I really wish I'd had the bandwidth to do something similar along with my own chosen path. Mad respect.
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I have two degrees in philosophy. I quit my PhD with an MA after I realized academic life wasn't for me.
When people find this out about me... they rarely react positivity anymore. Most are confused, some look upset, others get defensive or crack cliche jokes about how I got a job with a useless degree like that or if I work at McDonalds.
It seems to have gotten way worse the past few years. In my late 20s/early 30s people seemed to react a lot more positively to this fact about my life? People would ask me about it and why I did it and what I studied specifically. I really liked those conversations.
I feel naive as to why philosophy is so controversial for the average person, anymore than English or History is? I really enjoyed my studies and still do them as a hobby now.
Just imagining the wasted time and brain power makes me uncomfortable
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Anti intellectualism.
wrote last edited by [email protected]I just want to consume media and buy things that don't have any extension to the raw experience of what it actually is to be human. I want to be a product, not a real human. And I'll pay taxes for people to kill other people to ensure I have the freedom to do so. /S
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I have two degrees in philosophy. I quit my PhD with an MA after I realized academic life wasn't for me.
When people find this out about me... they rarely react positivity anymore. Most are confused, some look upset, others get defensive or crack cliche jokes about how I got a job with a useless degree like that or if I work at McDonalds.
It seems to have gotten way worse the past few years. In my late 20s/early 30s people seemed to react a lot more positively to this fact about my life? People would ask me about it and why I did it and what I studied specifically. I really liked those conversations.
I feel naive as to why philosophy is so controversial for the average person, anymore than English or History is? I really enjoyed my studies and still do them as a hobby now.
wrote last edited by [email protected]I personally think anybody here saying your negative response is because people hate thinkers or anti intellectualism or whatever is totally missing the point. Those things are certainly true. But probably not why you get weird looks.
Probably it's a combination of 2 things:
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In 2025 philosophy, English, history, poetry, etc are to greater or lesser extents "hobby degrees". People enjoy the topics generally but don't see a way to repay loans using that degree, because if you're not going to go teach it or write the next book, there's no money in it. These are things we do with our free time for the love of it.
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By extension of 1, if you CAN have one of these degrees you either a) have a boatload of money, b) you must be naive of the fact (according to people you are talking to) that your job prospects are very limited, or c) you have extreme aptitude to be part of the small group that can make it, but everybody will still limp you into b.
I have a friend who majored in music in college, but not to teach: it was specifically to play timpani. He also was perplexed at the negative reactions he would get. Unfortunately right before he graduated someone told him that there are only like 10 professional concert timpanist positions in the country that provide a salary you can live from, and the rest just moonlight and have other jobs. After 1 year if hunting a good position he sold his drums and got a job in marketing selling windows and siding.
Of course the world would be less vibrant without professionals in these areas, but there are a lot more philosophy majors working in, say, marketing than there are Humes, Kants, Socrateses, Hegels, and so on.
Basically it doesn't look practical so it seems like either a bad financial choice or that you're a spoiled rich kid unless you mention "double major" type stuff.
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I have two degrees in philosophy. I quit my PhD with an MA after I realized academic life wasn't for me.
When people find this out about me... they rarely react positivity anymore. Most are confused, some look upset, others get defensive or crack cliche jokes about how I got a job with a useless degree like that or if I work at McDonalds.
It seems to have gotten way worse the past few years. In my late 20s/early 30s people seemed to react a lot more positively to this fact about my life? People would ask me about it and why I did it and what I studied specifically. I really liked those conversations.
I feel naive as to why philosophy is so controversial for the average person, anymore than English or History is? I really enjoyed my studies and still do them as a hobby now.
So, where do you work?
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I have two degrees in philosophy. I quit my PhD with an MA after I realized academic life wasn't for me.
When people find this out about me... they rarely react positivity anymore. Most are confused, some look upset, others get defensive or crack cliche jokes about how I got a job with a useless degree like that or if I work at McDonalds.
It seems to have gotten way worse the past few years. In my late 20s/early 30s people seemed to react a lot more positively to this fact about my life? People would ask me about it and why I did it and what I studied specifically. I really liked those conversations.
I feel naive as to why philosophy is so controversial for the average person, anymore than English or History is? I really enjoyed my studies and still do them as a hobby now.
wrote last edited by [email protected]If you never had a crisis when studying philosophy during which you were wondering wether it is worth studying at all, did you even really study it in depth?
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I think Western capitalist culture has slowly eroded the value of thinking in favor of doing and, through gradual financial coercion via the International Monetary Fund, this has slowly become the global dominant worldview.
In other words, you were born a few centuries too late for philosophy to be valued. Even in the past it was often met with scrutiny (though often commanded respect).
Nowadays thinkers are expected to ascend corporate ladders and embed themselves within instituions with the ultimate goal of extracting excess capital beyond ones needs from said institutions. That is what the current global value system supports.
I have college age kids and there’s been a lot of talk among their peers about whether college is still worth it, but expected financial return is their only criteria
They’ve definitely bought into the stereotype that most people don’t need a college education and maybe that’s true from a simple comparison of job tasks. However I try to point out that it’s been a lot of years since a high school education became expected and society has gotten much more complicated. Wider knowledge base and ability to think critically are vital in modern society. It’s about time we raised the base education from 12 years to 14
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where i am, the united states, serious analysis of philosophy and ethics doesn't enter your curriculum until you are in college and studying either at a liberal arts school where even the engineers have to study the humanities, or you are majoring in one of the liberal arts. so i'm a little jealous of your outlook right now
that's where our status comes from teaching history majors math: it's their first time learning it many times even though many places algebra was covered in middle school. our primary educations don't start until adulthood here and we're constantly behind, and those critical thinking courses are elective with it being totally fine to drop out of highschool up to 6 years before you ever would have been expected to be exposed to it.
and as long as that's possible in one county, it's possible in any country. our oppressors want us stupid, so talk to a kid today about identifying how someone else is justifying what right and wrong is today!
are you still alive, Nazi?
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you don't have to teach a particular set of ethics. you teach a framework of analysis and then analyze some systems. you're still mixing morality with ethics, which is fair, they're related. basically i'm advocating to teach kids to question every authority with a critical lens. but this hasn't anything to do with religion, norms, or adopting a pre-existing system, but about teaching how to analyze systems
are you still alive, Nazi?
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yeah which is why i advocate everyone should study it at least a little. just leaving it to go without discussion or serious analysis just leads to anti-intellectualism and eventually fascism, but centralizing it just gives fascists a focus point to concentrate on getting into power. it's a tough balance to strike. but the basics to me is, as someone who studied ethics, we need to be having conversations about ethics all the time because if we don't, then moral relativists will justify genocide, rape, and whatever horrible shit they as individuals find acceptable.
we both agree that more left and more everyone is better, but i think we need to get everyone actively involved rather that passively involved
are you still alive, Nazi?
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i interpret that to mean ethics committees that provide oversight to other aspects of an organization should study ethics. i'd argue that's a good place to start, but a better direction to go is to include conversations about ethics and their analysis in all curricula. there's a huge difference between morality and ethics. morarlity is a moment to moment decision making process. ethics describes a critical systems analysis field directed at defining and building a more ideal society
are you still alive, Nazi?
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i interpret that to mean ethics committees that provide oversight to other aspects of an organization should study ethics. i'd argue that's a good place to start, but a better direction to go is to include conversations about ethics and their analysis in all curricula. there's a huge difference between morality and ethics. morarlity is a moment to moment decision making process. ethics describes a critical systems analysis field directed at defining and building a more ideal society
Aww— leaky Nazi cunt has a cry cry
Kill yourself
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yeah which is why i advocate everyone should study it at least a little. just leaving it to go without discussion or serious analysis just leads to anti-intellectualism and eventually fascism, but centralizing it just gives fascists a focus point to concentrate on getting into power. it's a tough balance to strike. but the basics to me is, as someone who studied ethics, we need to be having conversations about ethics all the time because if we don't, then moral relativists will justify genocide, rape, and whatever horrible shit they as individuals find acceptable.
we both agree that more left and more everyone is better, but i think we need to get everyone actively involved rather that passively involved
Aww— leaky Nazi cunt has a cry cry
Kill yourself
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you don't have to teach a particular set of ethics. you teach a framework of analysis and then analyze some systems. you're still mixing morality with ethics, which is fair, they're related. basically i'm advocating to teach kids to question every authority with a critical lens. but this hasn't anything to do with religion, norms, or adopting a pre-existing system, but about teaching how to analyze systems
Aww— leaky Nazi cunt has a cry cry
Kill yourself
