A philosophy degree is useful

AvePreliminary Note The framework defines useful as what a perfectly rational person would recognize as useful. This allows us to avoid epistemological issues about what qualifies as useful and not useful. I also did this to prevent anybody from accepting the debate and arguing that the resolution cannot stand because usefulness is subjective. If Con had scruples about this definition, then he should have posted a comment asking me questions, or sent a PM. If you do not agree with the framework of a debate, then do not accept it. Con has no right to accept a debate and then dispute the framework of it. That’s standard DDO conduct.Philosophy major and salary It seems that popular consensus has ruled philosophy as a useless major. This is not surprising, considering the media’s constant bashing of it. Anyone would be hard-pressed to find an article about the most useless majors without philosophy on it [1].The median starting salary for a philosophy major isn’t nearly as bad as it’s made out to be. It’s 39,800 dollars [2]. The median starting salary for all majors is 44,928 dollars[3]. Put in that context, reports of how low the starting salary is are greatly exaggerated. Sure, it’s slightly below average, but this is mitigated by the mid-career salary.The mid-career salary is better than most careers that are thought of as practical. The mid-career salary of the average philosophy major is 72, 600 dollars [4]. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average cost of living a year is 20 thousand.[5] The average wage in the United States is 42 thousand dollars.[6] This entails that, as a mid-career philosophy major, you will make thirty thousand more dollars than the average wage, and have plenty of money to take care of yourself. You will make more money than biologists, nurses, zoologists, business majors, psychologists, criminal justice majors, and plenty of other majors.[7] You will make more mid-career than somebody with a Bachelors in Business Administration, yet philosophy is called a useless and impractical major, while BBA and MBA are frequently cited as one of the best degrees to get. [8]Philosophy major and life skills Philosophy majors score higher on the Graduate Record Examinations. This is the test you take before you apply to graduate school. University-Michigan Flint notes the following facts about philosophy majors scores on this test: 1: Philosophy students score higher than every other major in the Humanities and Arts, higher than every major in the Social Science, higher than every major in the Life Sciences, higher than every major in Education, higher than every major in Business, and higher than every major listed under "Other Fields." In fact, Philosophy students score higher than four out of the six majors listed in Physical Sciences, and five out of the seven listed in Engineering. 2: Students declaring an intention to go to graduate school in Philosophy have a higher mean score on the Verbal section of the GRE than any other major in any of the fields listed (mean score: 589) 3: Students declaring an intention to go to graduate school in Philosophy get the third highest mean scores of any major on the Analytical section of the GRE (mean: 625) 4: Compare the GRE mean scores with other popular pre-Law majors: Philosophy (overall mean: 1807), Political Science (overall mean: 1641), Communications (overall mean: 1505), Public Administration (overall mean: 1450). Now, which looks to you to be the best training for pre-Law? None of these majors did better than Philosophy students on any of the three sections of the GRE. [9] This proves that a philosophy major will make you better at speaking and verbal skills, as well as analytic abilities. That's a useful skill for any job you have in life, no matter what it may be. Here's a quote from a man who works for Carnegie Mellon University directing career development: "When we talk with employers who come and recruit at the university, every year the No. 1 skill they look for is communication, verbal and written. That continues to be the No. 1 [attribute] in addition to problem-solving, team work, the ability to think creatively, applying technology and interpersonal skills." [10] No doubt, a philosophy major helps you with those things. Philosophy major and employment Some people say that a philosophy major will make it hard to find a job. However, I quote New Mexico State University to the contrary: "For millennia students of philosophy have been lampooned for having their “heads in the clouds. Empirical research suggests otherwise: philosophy majors do very well in the corporate world. In general, philosophy majors tend to have little trouble finding jobs, with a 98.9% employment rate." [11] Philosophy major and the quest for knowledge One of the most obvious benefits to getting a philosophy major is the amount of knowledge you’ll receive from it. Philosophy is reasoning about the nature of reality in the broadest sense possible. Philosophy entails the philosophy of physics, the philosophy of history, the philosophy of philosophy, the philosophy of religion, the philosophy of mind, the philosophy of ethics, the philosophy of art, the philosophy of language, etc. One can read about these things without a philosophy major, but the easiest and best way to obtain knowledge of these fields is a philosophy major. Philosophy permeates our everyday life, so a philosophy major should be useful. it. A basic statement such as "If it is raining, you should bring an umbrella. It is raining, therefore you should bring an umbrella" is philosophy! When we reason about ethics, we are using philosophy. How were my actions right or wrong? What is the appropriate punishment in this given situation? Is abortion right or wrong? Ethical questions entail the use of philosophy. Politics also entails philosophy. We debate the role of government in our society every day. Should it be small, large, intrusive, non-intrusive? This is basic political philosophy. We also use reasoning in our everyday lives. We debate sports teams, issues, disagreements between people, etc. ConclusionDecent starting salary, higher mid-career salary than a Business Administration major, gaining important analytic, language, and reasoning skills, 98.9% unemployment rate, and learning about the nature of reality. What’s not useful about that? Vale References[1] I did a google search for ‘’top 10 useless majors’’. The top results included philosophy majors.[2] http://philosophy.unc.edu...[3] http://www.naceweb.org...[4] http://www.payscale.com...[5] ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/ce/standard/2008/age.txt[6] http://en.wikipedia.org...[7] Consult reference four.[8] http://businessmajors.about.com...[9] http://www.umflint.edu...[10] http://www.post-gazette.com...[11] http://www.nmsu.edu...