So you're looking over your course list, trying to find a class that satisfies that extra credit or fills in an extra hour of time or two, and you're thinking about that dance appreciation class that your friend recommended. Could be worthwhile right? In the words of our president; WRONG.
If there's a philosophy class on that list, you should have selected it right off the bat. No it's not an easy A, no it's not a hippie new age crapshoot, no it's probably not going to count for more than anything but elective, but it will impact you more than 99% of your other classes.
As a political science major, a philosophy class seemed like a no-brainer, especially a logic class as I prepare for law school, but entering my first philosophy class I had no idea that it would be the most important class I'd ever take.
I was looking at 3-4 hours of homework a night, an extensive amount of reading, and daily headaches as I was forced to contemplate an age old question: what is the right thing to do?
My mind had been blown open to a whole new world of thought. I was forced to ponder deep questions by myself and with my classmates. What is the proper conception of the good life? Who should decide who we tax how much? How do we know what is right?
The brain is like a muscle, it must be exercised regularly to grow and be healthy, or else it will atrophy. A philosophy class is like Crossfit for your brain.
I walked out of my class with my brain feeling like it had gone through boot camp; exhausted but feeling better than ever. Not everyone can handle the mental beating that is philosophy, but it's damned worth it.
Many conceptions of a philosophy class include yuppie bs of a bunch of pot-smoking students sitting in a circle contemplating the existence of a god. They don't include in that conception the economics, the politics, or the history. Don't rob yourself of an opportunity to open your mind to new thoughts just because of a stigma. Kant says we are beings of reason, and reason is how we are human.
There is a painful lack of thought in our current society. We're happy to be told what to think by anyone with enough money and social media followers. Our leaders spend an abysmal amount of time pondering their actions, or the actions of others, in attempt to decipher the proper course of action. We, as a society, do the same. We have allowed our minds to atrophy, and it's going to take a lot to get them back into a shape where we are ready to progress again. Which is why something even as fundamental as a college philosophy class is vital.
So, from the advice of someone who's taken the philosophy classes but isn't majoring in it; take the damn class. Even if it's just an intro class and you don't move onto the hard stuff like ethics and logic, you will walk out of that class feeling like you've allowed yourself to be exposed to the world of metaphysics, epistemology, and politics and there is no reality where that isn't a good thing.
It's not easy. It won't be an easy A and there will be times you just want to drop. But stick with it. It will transform your life and how you think about every little thing around you. That's hard shit, let me tell you. But no matter what your major, nursing, political science, education, or math, philosophy will benefit you and your career more deeply than you may think before you take the class.
My professor used to say; "if philosophy was easy it would be rocket science - because anyone can handle black and white thinking. It takes a real mind to find the grey areas."
