Philosophy Now Forum

hi,

i am still in high school and i want to study philosophy in university, but my dad says he won't pay for it unless i at least combine it with something "useful", i am thinking a double major in philosophy and computer science

my parents are republicans hope you won't hold it against me

Hello Kayla

Philosophy and computer science sounds like a perfectly good combination. If you decide to work in philosophy after your course, the computer science will be very useful in studying the philosophy of mind. (Some philosophers think that the mind and computers don't have much to do with each other, but it is still useful to know the computer science so as to be able to reach, or challenge, conclusions like that.)

There is also nothing wrong with mixing philosophy with something else. Oxford, where many of our most important philosophers studied, insists that people mix it with something else (such as classics, or politics and economics).

They are quite different subjects, and attract persons who think rather differently.
Have you done any CS? I don't mean IT. I mean hardware systems and computer programming?
IT - spreadsheets, database, wordprocessing and other applications are not like CS at all. It's like the difference between driving a car and designing and building one.
I ask this because the type of thinking skills that make a good CS are quite different from Philosophy.
If your main interest is philosophy, and you want to add a more pragmatic vocational subject then have you considered law?

well for law id still have to get my undergraduate degree and it wont get paid for if its just philosophy

i aced the programming class but its easy to ace high school classes

i am the it girl at home my parents and brothers are totally helpless when it comes to setting up a simple network

well i cant really hold it against my youngest brother he is 4 but my twin and my older brother cant figure it out but its not that complex

I agree with Richard. Having studied logic as part of a philosophy, this proved a great advantage when I did computer programming.

Maths is probably a more useful way of learning logic for a computer programmer though.

Logic is a small part of philosophy though, and the logic used by computers is more like maths than philosophy.

cognitive science might be the thing

it combines lots of computer science stuff with lots of philosophy and psychology stuff

dont have to worry bout for a couple more years

True, but given that question is about what to combine with philosophy that's not very helpful. I'm simply pointing out that, in my experience, there are certain parts of philosophy (logic, philosophy of mind) that are complementary to computer science. I'm not saying that computer science is the most complementary subject nor I am saying that other suggestions like law and politics are inappropriate. I think it depends which area of philosophy you're most interested in. For those interested in 'fluffy' philosophy (e.g. moral and political philosophy, aesthetics), I would suggest combining this with a social sciences or humanities subject (all of which will be classified as 'useless' by Kayla's father - with the possible exception of law and economics). For those interested in 'trouser' philosophy (e.g. metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science), I would suggest combining this with a natural science (all of which will be classified as useful by Kayla's father).

Interestingly, many of the people we now regard as great twentieth-century philosophers were originally trained in other disciplines, e.g. Wittgenstein (engineering), Russell (mathematics), Frege (mathematics), Carnap (physics), Goodman (art dealing!).

instead of just looking into another dimension of education you should just dive into philosophy as much as you can and see where it leads you. Computer Science is an option, but I feel the best way to discover your route is by getting involved and learning on your own (so you can have something useful to tell your pops!)