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Come on, everybody! Let's study philosophy!

By Ann Althouse

It's the big thing on campus these days. Supposedly.

... Ms. Onejeme, now a senior applying to law school, ended up changing her major to philosophy, which she thinks has armed her with the skills to be successful. ?My mother was like, what are you going to do with that?? said Ms. Onejeme, 22. ?She wanted me to be a pharmacy major, but I persuaded her with my argumentative skills.?

Key words: "law school."

Once scoffed at as a luxury major, philosophy is being embraced at Rutgers and other universities by a new generation of college students who are drawing modern-day lessons from the age-old discipline as they try to make sense of their world, from the morality of the war in Iraq to the latest political scandal.

And applying to law school.

The economic downturn has done little, if anything, to dampen this enthusiasm among students, who say that what they learn in class can translate into practical skills and careers.

Law.

... Barry Loewer, the department chairman, said that Rutgers started building its philosophy program in the late 1980s, when the field was branching into new research areas like cognitive science and becoming more interdisciplinary. He said that many students have double-majored in philosophy and, say, psychology or economics, in recent years, and go on to become doctors, lawyers, writers, investment bankers and even commodities traders.

As the approach has changed, philosophy has attracted students with little interest in contemplating the classical texts, or what is known as armchair philosophy. Some, like Ms. Onejeme, the pre-med-student-turned-philosopher, who is double majoring in political science, see it as a pre-law track because it emphasizes the verbal and logic skills prized by law schools ? something the Rutgers department encourages by pointing out that their majors score high on the LSAT.

"Contemplating the classical texts... armchair philosophy"... Get away, you low-energy losers!

That is, I think that's what the philosophy professors have figured out it's in their interest to say. Rebranding philosophy as the antechamber to high-paying, prestigious careers is the way to create demand for the career the philosophy professors want for themselves ? contemplating the classical texts, doing armchair philosophy.

Full post as published by Althouse on April 06, 2008 (boomark / email).