What Can I Do With a Philosophy Degree?
Philosophy hones your ability to reason and argue, refines your ability to analyze
complex concepts and situations, and offers you skills and resources for articulating
your ideas with maximal clarity and precision. In short, philosophy develops skills
vital for any career or employer; philosophy is to the mind what a gym is to the body.
Need evidence?
Thinking about law school? Philosophy majors historically score highest on the LSAT (Law School Admissions Test). Source
Thinking about graduate school or medical school? Philosophy majors score highest on two of the three sections of the GRE (Graduate Record Examination), and only lag behind mathematics-based disciplines on
the Quantitative section. Source
In fact, philosophy majors score second highest, behind mathematics, on the GMAT, a test used for admission to Business graduate programs. Source
Mid-career, a philosophy major out-earns students who majored in accounting, business
management, and marketing! Please note that most philosophy majors who earn a B.A. do not pursue and earn a PhD, so we are talking about people who took their analytical skills,
honed by studying in philosophy, and put them to work in diverse fields. Source
Need more proof? Read on!
Forbes Magazine: "Why Your Board Needs A Chief Philosophy Officer" (03/09/18)
"A Wall Street Giant Makes a $75 Million Bet on Academic Philosophy" (New York Times, 01/16/18)
"Six Myths About Choosing a College Major" (New York Times, 11/03/17)
CNBC: "Tech has a big talent gap, and companies are hiring philosophy majors" (11/16/17)
"Value of Philosophy" (Daily Nous Website)
"Best Careers for Philosophy Majors" (Bestcolleges.com)
"Good News Liberal Arts Majors" (Wall Street Journal, 9/11/16)
"A Harvard Medical School professor makes the case for the liberal arts and philosophy" (Washington Post, 12/24/15)
"Be employable, study philosophy" (Salon, 7/1/13)
"On the Benefits of a Philosophy Major"(Please and Excuses (blog), 9/6/2012)
So, what can you do with a philosophy degree? As it turns out, anything you want! Here are what a few philosophy majors are doing:
President of Morgan Stanley (Robert Greenhill)
Founder and Manager of a Hedge-fund (Don Brownstein)
Investor (George Soros)
CEO of Overstock.com (Patrick Byrne)
Supreme Court Justice (Stephen Breyer AND David Souter)
Mayor of Los Angeles (Richard Riordan)
US Secretary of Education (William Bennett)
Prime Minister of Canada (Paul Martin, Jr.)
Network Television Journalist (Stone Phillips)
Pulitzer-Prize Winning Author (Studs Terkel)
Host of an Iconic Game Show (Alex Trebek)
Co-founder of Wikipedia (Larry Sanger)
Comedian/Actor/Producer (Ricky Gervais)
Academy-Award Winning Filmmaker (Ethan Coen)
Four-star General in the US Army (Jack Keane)
Fighter in the French Resistance in WWII (Stephane Hessel)
Co-author of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights (P.C. Chang and Charles Malik)
Martyr to German Opposition to Nazism in WWII (Sophie Scholl)
Pope (John Paul II and Benedict XVI)
Influential Anthropologist (Claude Levi-Strauss)
