Philosophy Should Be Included in a University Student's Coursework

1042 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Importance of critical thinking and creative thinking

When a student goes through the state of California’s University system, the student is encouraged to take many different courses of broadly ranged material including courses dealing with philosophy. Some individuals argue that studying and reading philosophy is a waste of a student’s time and has little value to the student and his/her education. Though this argument shows valid concerns for a university student’s education, it is more beneficial for a student to take courses dealing with philosophy because these courses teach students how to think logically and critically. Without the study of philosophical thinking and lack of philosophy courses taken throughout a student’s educational journey, university students would not be given the necessary critical thinking skills they need to be successful in their society.

The first question you may find yourself asking is, what is philosophical thinking? According to Dr. David J. Yount, a professor at Mesa Community College with a PhD in philosophy, philosophical thinking is more than pondering unanswerable questions, it is a means of logistical and critical thinking. It is a process of questioning one’s own opinion and other possible opinions to “discover and hopefully articulate good reasons for [one’s] opinion.” (Yount) Also through philosophical thinking and processes such as the processes practiced by Buddhist monks, one learns to detach themselves from their opinion and observe opposing opinions through an unbiased perspective, giving the thinker well-rounded education on the topic at hand. Thus, in order for an individual to be able to develop a reasonable educated opinion, the individual must begin with a process of philosophical thinking.

Though the study of philosophy a...

... middle of paper ...

...n from darkness and ignorance our society has taken does not lie. University students should take philosophy courses and think philosophically so they can continue to better their own lives and further enlighten our society.

Works Cited

• Yount, David. "The Importance of Philosophy or “Why Should I Take Philosophy?”." (2001): n. pag. Web. 29 Jun 2011. .

• Plato. “The Simile of the Cave.” Republic. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1974. 240-48. Print

• Elements of the Socratic Method: l. Systematic questioning.

Overholser, James C. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practive, Training, Vol 30(1), Spr 1993, 67-74.

• Newton, Isaac. “In [experimental] philosophy particular propositions are inferred from the phenomena and afterwards rendered general by induction”: “Principia”, Book 3, General Scholium, 1792. 392. Print.

Show More
Related

  • Article Analysis: The Educated Student: Global Citizen or Global Consumer by Benjamin Barber

    1368 Words  | 3 Pages

    Knowledgeable, educated, and wise have become descriptive characteristics that have become seemingly interchangeable in today’s society. However, what does it mean to be educated, wise or knowledgeable? In the article “The Educated Student: Global Citizen or Global Consumer” by Benjamin Barber, he says “…young people were exposed more and more to tutors other than teachers in their classrooms or even those who were in their churches, their synagogues-and today their mosques as well.” (417). It is suggested that the places where these characteristics are obtained have changed with industrialization and capitalism. “The Student and the University (from the Closing of the American Mind)” by Allen Bloom directly postulates from the vantage point of a college while referring to an entering student “In looking at him we are forced to reflect on what he should learn if he is to be called educated.” (422). The main reason students continue their education falls under the assumption that will be considered educated at the completion of their studies. But, what does it mean to be educated? Deborah Tannen proposes in “The Roots of Debate in Education and the Hope of Dialogue” that students since the middle ages have gone to places of higher education to learn how to argue or, more formally, debate (538). Where does the ability to argue fall into education? With little support for the education system currently in place, Barber, Bloom, and Tannen discuss in their respective articles the existing problems, their origins, and what they entail.

    Read More

  • Stagnancy And Happiness In Aldous Huxley's Brave New World

    777 Words  | 2 Pages

    In short, what's gained from studying philosophy is not so much the material as the method: developing an ability to discuss and to understand things to a greater degree and in a greater context.

    Read More

  • Colleges Are Moving Away From Liberal Arts

    666 Words  | 2 Pages

    Imagine a cardiovascular surgeon about to crack the sternum of a dying patient; tension is high while the clock of life ticks desperately slower and softer for the poor soul on the cold steel table that saw death the hour before. Is it logical that at that moment the purveyor of life is contemplating whether his freshmen philosophy class back at SMU has thoroughly prepared him for what he is about to do? Not likely. In higher learning institutions, liberal art classes like philosophy are not meant to be directly applied to one’s life or career; however, they are structured and devised to be a strong base that the individual can expand upon through scientific learning and experience. This is precisely the reason colleges and universities require and place much emphasis on these classes; nevertheless, there has been a shift away from the liberal arts towards the direction of highly specialized areas of science and business because of their growing integration in everyday life. Although people need a limited number of liberal arts classes to attain a basic understanding of ourselves and our evolution, state universities are aptly moving towards technical education, because, in this fast paced world, many people don’t have the time or money to spend studying the humanities alone.

    Read More

  • Menand's Three Theories Of College

    1089 Words  | 3 Pages

    During my first few days of sophomore year at Stuyvesant High School, I saw how the ways of thinking were diverse in each of my classes. In my European Literature class, where, in our first reading assignment, we questioned the purpose of education itself. I always went with the flow in my learning, and never stopped to say to myself, “Why am I doing this to myself?”. However, once I read Live and Learn by Louis Menand, I started to think about Menand’s three theories of college and juxtapose each of them to my experience so far in high school. In the end, I concluded that many of my classes followed the main points of Theory 2, which was the theory that I mostly agreed with when I read the article for the first time.

    Read More

  • Three Reasons College Still Matters By Andrew Delbanco

    821 Words  | 2 Pages

    In recent years, many have debated whether or not a college education is a necessary requirement to succeed in the field of a persons’ choice and become an outstanding person in society. On one hand, some say college is very important because one must contribute to society. The essay Three Reasons College Still Matters by Andrew Delbanco shows three main reasons that students should receive their bachelor’s degree. On the other hand, many question the point of wasting millions of dollars on four years or maybe more to fight for highly competitive jobs that one might not get. Louis Menand wrote an article based on education titled Re-Imagining Liberal Education. This article challenges the main thought many americans have after receiving a secondary education. Louis Menand better illustrates the reasons why a student should rethink receiving a post secondary education better than Andrew Delbanco’s three reasons to continue a person’s education.

    Read More

  • Are Too Many People Going To College Analysis

    1360 Words  | 3 Pages

    “A high school graduate who has acquired Hirsch’s core knowledge will know, for example, that John Stuart Mill was an important 19th-century English Philosopher who was associated with something called Utilitarianism and wrote a famous book called On Liberty. But learning philosophy in college, which is and essential component of a liberal education, means that the student has to be able to read and understand the actual text of On Liberty”. (Murray

    Read More

  • College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be by Andrew Delbanco

    1393 Words  | 3 Pages

    The right and privilege to higher education in today’s society teeters like the scales of justice. In reading Andrew Delbanco’s, “College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be, it is apparent that Delbanco believes that the main role of college is to accommodate that needs of all students in providing opportunities to discover individual passions and dreams while furthering and enhancing the economic strength of the nation. Additionally, Delbanco also views college as more than just a time to prepare for a job in the future but a way in which students and young adults can prepare for their future lives so they are meaningful and purposeful. Even more important is the role that college will play in helping and guiding students to learn how to accept alternate point of views and the importance that differing views play in a democratic society. With that said, the issue is not the importance that higher education plays in society, but exactly who should pay the costly price tag of higher education is a raging debate in all social classes, cultures, socioeconomic groups and races.

    Read More

  • What is the Purpose of College?

    1352 Words  | 3 Pages

    A college education gives a person the opportunity to be successful in life, either financially or morally dependent on the goals that they set for their life. They will choose a college that offer programs for the major of their choice, where they will specialize and receive a degree. The decision to pursue a higher education will give the opportunity to earn a better income over someone who does not have a degree. College is more of life preparation course that will help make sure a successful career. If a person pursues a career in engineering, physics or mathematics their curriculum would include more liberal art preparation courses, in order for them to earn their degree, so someone pursuing a degree in these types of careers are attending college for job preparation. On December 10, 2009 at Hamilton University in Clinton, New York, college professors debated current college curriculum (Liew). They talked about how their college could make a leap from being good to being great. At the 22nd American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges conference held in Long Beach California on November 14, 1996 the topic of changing curriculum was discussed (“Mich”). The University of Louisiana, Lafayette, is eliminating its philosophy major, while Michigan State University is doing away with American studies and classics, after years of decline in enrollments in those majors (Zernike). The purpose of a college education is to meet the student's liberal art’s needs so that they can compete and understand the connection between a degree and a job that will enable them to compete with other world economies, give them a well-rounded education that will enable them to earn a higher income, and retain a lifetime full of knowledge.

    Read More

  • Ethics: The Fundamental Glue of Society

    1014 Words  | 3 Pages

    Once again, the author defines critical thinking as “...evaluation. Critical thinking, therefore, may be defined as the process by which we test claims and arguments and determine which have merit and which do not. In other words, critical thinking is a search for answers, a quest. (19)”. The author defines critical thinking as proposing questions and seeking answers, also inspecting arguments and claims that are tied to the issue. Applied to the school curriculum, the course would entail critical thinking and evaluation of judgements and perceptions of acceptable values and conduct towards others. Employing critical thinking and analysis into the class curriculum, students then also grow to become more mature in their decisions as critical thinkers. Various traits of critical thinkers are listed by Ruggiero, where he states that experienced thinkers are honest with themselves and their own limited knowledge, see problems and issues as intellectual challenges, remain patient yet curious, draw conclusions from logic rather than personal emotion, open-minded, and think before acting (21-22). These listed traits are all extremely beneficial to the development of the student’s personalized conscience and would only broaden their internal horizons for understanding their moral

    Read More

  • Higher Education

    1011 Words  | 3 Pages

    Higher education is optional, but to enter a respectable career, one must continue their education in order to achieve his financial and/or personal goals. Teenagers who attend college use their extended schooling to further obtain knowledge. The primary objective of higher education is to enhance one’s abilities for his future. A student can learn from school in numerous ways, but liberal education is not a way to attract students into further and higher education. However, students can learn a lot more through experiences that have affected their personal lives. I agree with author Mike Rose’s theory that education needs are reached to obtain a higher academic level by teaching students information that can be related to their personal experiences and mentality.

    Read More

  • William Irvine's A Guide To The Good Life

    2074 Words  | 5 Pages

    Everything that we do in life, it is all based around our goal that we want ourselves to attain. Every path you take and every choice you make all results in you trying to get closer to your goal. The goal of which will bring you to having a good life. Additionally, having a philosophy makes it easier to make decisions regarding yourself. You already know what goal you have in mind to achieve. Thus you choose the path that can make you reach that goal. To choose without having a philosophy makes it even harder since you would be even more indecisive. Irvine agrees with this notion;

    Read More

  • Ronald Barnett's The Idea Of Higher Education

    664 Words  | 2 Pages

    Higher education, to me, is meant for learning about what life truly entails. It is to teach the student, not to find every answer in life, but to create more questions that will eventually need to be answered. Ronald Barnett wrote The Idea of Higher Education, in which Barnett wrote about how higher education, “is not complete unless the student realizes that, no matter how much effort is put in, or how much library research, there are no final answers”. Ronald Barnett’s intended meaning in his selection is to explain that higher education is not supposed to be just like secondary education. Higher education is supposed to destroy the student’s “taken-for-granted world” in which they had been raised and taught to know. First world students have been raised in a place where education is offered to almost everyone, where most people live with roofs over their heads, and have food in their bellies every night. Higher education reveals life and its hardships, and how it affects us and the people we are surrounded by. It shows the truth about the world, and uncovers the information that

    Read More

  • What is Philosophy?

    396 Words  | 1 Pages

    I believe that Philosophy is the study of different ways of thinking. In philosophy, you should question everything and never take anything for face value. There are always two sides to every coin as there are different ways of looking at things, is what philosophy teaches us. In philosophy, you must throw off all the limitations you have set on yourself when dealing with how you view things and how things seem to be.

    Read More

  • The Theoretical Framework Of Social Cognitive Career Theory

    1871 Words  | 4 Pages

    The current consensus in higher education is that critical thinking is important in order for students to think independently, but the question of who is responsible for teaching critical thinking is not so clear. Critical thinking skills are not generally the province of any one department on campus, but are purported to be taught across the curriculum at most universities. Traditional academic governance allows individual teaching faculty to determine the content of their syllabi, and whether or not they include critical thinking skills as an explicit or implicit part of the

    Read More

  • Ever Changing Society

    1015 Words  | 3 Pages

    The job of a philosopher is to look at life in a way that most people don’t. They take all things into considerat...

    Read More

More about Philosophy Should Be Included in a University Student's Coursework

Open Document