Philosophy
Written by Careers Service Intern Hayley Shean
Have you ever been lost in the controversial questions
of existence: Do humans have free will?
Does life exist after death? What is knowledge? Has
intrigue fuelled you to explore the fundamentals of
such questions? If so, then Philosophy
may be an interesting and thoroughly enjoyable field
for you to both study and work in.
The University of Wollongong boasts a range of subjects
including studies of ethics, logic, feminism, aesthetics,
political philosophy, philosophy of law, philosophy
of language, epistemology and metaphysics. Perhaps these
subjects sound very interesting, but how can studies
of philosophy help with a career? An often overlooked
advantage is that the skills learnt from studying philosophy
can be flexibly applied to almost every workplace setting.
Possible skills learnt include excellent written and
oral communication skills, independent analytical thinking,
excellent argument and debating skills, excellent research
skills, leadership skills, organisational skills, ability
to generate innovative ideas, to solve problems and
construct hypothetical ones, to make explicit hidden
assumptions and to adapt with ease to change.
Philosophy graduates can work almost anywhere when
they attach additional qualifications to their degree,
specific to the area in which they wish to work. Such
fields of employment include; Social and Community Service,
Education, Government, Research, Ethics and Writing/Publishing.
Each of these diverse areas value employees with the
skills listed above and the flexibility and capacity
that philosophy students have for growth and change
in industry functions. Employees include: mental health
organisations, local churches/synagogues, colleges,
universities, education programs, insurance companies,
museums, libraries and government organisations of both
local and federal government. Research organisations
hire people with knowledge of ethics as do some environmental
organisations. Newspaper, advertisement and publishing
companies also take on those with interests and qualifications
in philosophy.
To study philosophy at most universities, you can,
as an undergraduate undertake a philosophy major (known
as a Bachelor of Arts- Philosophy), or a philosophy
minor. A third option is to integrate philosophy subjects
into another Arts degree. To obtain a philosophy major
at UOW, you need to study 52 credit points of philosophy
subjects with at least 24 of these studied at 300 level.
The philosophy minor is achieved when at least 28 credit
points of philosophy subjects from the ‘major’
list of subjects are completed with no more than 2 subjects
studied at 100 level. Politics subjects; POL211, POL314,
and POL324 can be included in the philosophy major.
As noted, the career opportunities for those individuals
interested in philosophy are broad when linked with
qualifications specific to particular areas of employment.
Philosophy graduates enjoy a sense of independence with
being able: to interpret information critically and
analytically, to have knowledge of ethics and language
formation, and to have excellent skills in writing,
debating and logical argumentation. For general and
specific information pertaining to philosophy studies,
forward any questions to the general arts enquiry desk
(19.1050), or phone (4221 3328). Further, the philosophy
homepage can be accessed from the University of Wollongong’s
homepage, for further information.
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