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or students majoring in any other field, we strongly recommend a double major in philosophy. Philosophy is one of the most useful majors offered at Brockport. In addition to learning what some of the best minds in human history had to say about a wide range of important issues, our philosophy majors not only acquire but learn to integrate three skills, especially, in order to solve problems and meet challenges:

 • Deep Reading
 • Rigorous Thinking
 • Clear and Precise Writing

By helping students to acquire these skills and to learn how to integrate and use them, the study of philosophy comes closest to fulfilling the function of a liberal arts education. The liberal arts—from the latin artes liberales—are literally the arts (i.e., skills) of the free person, one free to choose his or her profession. The liberal arts are skills that apply to all professions. By learning to read deeply, to think rigorously, to write with clarity and precision, and to bring all of these skills to bear upon a wide variety of issues, our philosophy majors are well prepared to apply these skills in any profession they choose, as the evidence below reveals.

For more information, click on the following links or just scroll down:

     φComparing Philosophy Majors to Other Majors
     φPhilosophy Major Requirements
     φ Articles about Majoring in Philosophy

 

 

ne way to evaluate a major is by comparing how students with the major compare to students with other majors in terms of scores earned on standard post-graduate exams such as the GMAT (the exam for business school), the LSAT (the law school exam), and the GRE (the exam for graduate school). Below are the comparisons. (Each chart links to the relevant literature.)

 

Philosophy Majors and Business School:


 

On the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) from 2006 to 20011, the average of mean scores for philosophy majors was higher than that of any business major. See chart above.

In fact, for every year from 2006 to 2011, philosophy majors had a higher mean score than that of any social science major (psychology, sociology, anthropology, etc.), any humanities major (English, journalism, art history), and the majority of natural science majors (e.g., chemistry and the biological sciences).

 

Philosophy Majors and Law School:

The two charts below are indicative of a well-known trend: Of all undergraduate majors, philosophy majors at least tie for the second highest average scores on the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), just behind physics majors.


 

 

 

Philosophy Majors and Graduate School:

On the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), for the academic year 2011-2012, students intending to study philosophy in graduate school:

      •  had the highest average verbal score,
      •  had the highest average analytic writing score, and
      •  had a higher average quantitative score than that of all students intending to study either humanities or education, life sciences (except the biological sciences—the scores were tied), or the social sciences, except economics.



 

 

 

You now see why a major in philosophy can be the perfect complement to any other field of study. If you are interested in philosophy or what a philosophy major can do for you, come on by. The Department of Philosophy is located on the first floor of Hartwell Hall. (One floor up from the ground floor.) Or contact Dr. Gordon Barnes at gbarnes@brockport.edu.

 

 

A philosophy major/double-major requires only 10 courses (30 credit hours):


     1. Six Required Courses

Course Title Cr. Hours
PHL 101 Introduction to Philosophy 3
PHL 102 Introduction to Ethics 3
PHL 205 Modern Logic 3
PHL 304 Ancient Philosophy 3
PHL 305 History of Modern Philosophy 3
PHL 396 Seminar on Philosophical Problems 3
  OR  
PHL 491 Seminar on Individual Philosophers 3

     2. Four Elective Courses

Four PHL courses, at least two of which must be upper-division courses. 12

Total: 30

 

 

If you are considering a major or double-major in philosophy, we think you will find the following articles interesting:

φ Salon, "Be Employable, Study Philosophy"
 
φ The Atlantic, "Is Philosophy the Most Practical Major?"
 
φ  Businessweek, "Philosophy is Back in Business"
 
φ U.S. News and World Report, "Learn Philosophy"
 
φ The Guardian, "I think, therefore I earn"
 
φ New York Times, "Philosophers Find the Degree Pays Off in Life And in Work"