Stephanie’s just been accepted to Concordia’s suddenly popular philosophy program; Josh wants to know why she or anyone would want to study philosophy today. Listen in as they grapple with the answers..
Hey, wass’ up?
A lot, actually. I just got accepted to Concordia’s philosophy
program! So I’m really buzzed — I can’t wait to go
back to school.
Did you say philosophy? You’ve
got to be kidding!
I’m not kidding. Thanks for the support.
Sorry, but I mean, why the hell would you want
to study philosophy? Can there be anything more impractical?
I want to learn things, Josh. I want to learn . . . the questions!
My whole life, everyone’s been giving me answers: Study something
practical so you can get a job and make a living. Be a good person
and go to church, so you can go to heaven. The most important thing
in life is health. Democracy is good. Consumerism is bad. All these
answers — I want to know the questions!
Sounds like Jeopardy . . . “And the question is, to
learn the meaning of life. . . .”
Yeah, well, I want to think about the big things in life, learn about
the big thinkers through time — Aristotle, Hobbes, Nietzsche,
Sartre. . . . As Socrates said, “The only good is knowledge and
the only evil is ignorance.”
You know what another big thinker, Karl Marx,
said? “Philosophy is to the real world as masturbation is to
sex.”
Really? Well, another big thinker, Woody Allen, said:
“Don’t knock masturbation — it’s sex with
someone I love.”
Well, Woody Allen is old news, and, it seems
to me, so is philosophy.
Think again, genius. I went down to Concordia’s philosophy department
last week and talked to a few students and professors, and you may
be surprised to learn that the number of students in philosophy has
jumped by more than 50 per cent in the past three years.¹
Well . . . isn’t university enrolment up everywhere at Concordia?
True, but nowhere near the 50 per cent hike in philosophy. It’s
more like a 20 per cent increase for all Concordia since 2001.
All right, you’re going to tell me anyway,
so I might as well ask. Why?
Stephanie’s friends: Concordia philosophy professor Matthias Fritsch; graduate student Cecilie Cave; undergraduate student Stefano Mingarelli; and Andrew Wayne, outgoing philosophy department chair. Photo by Andrew Dobrowolskyj
Well, there are a few answers. I spent some time
with Andrew Wayne, who was chair of the department for the last three
years, and he says one answer may not be very exotic: new professors
and new courses.² He thinks that because the newer profs have
expertise in different fields, the department can offer courses with
a more modern appeal to young people — like me — such
as Existentialism or Rationalism. Here, I have a copy of the course
guide in my bag . . . check out some of these awesome classes: Mind
and Action; Applied Ethics: Moral Sensitivity and Human Well Being;
and Modern to Postmodern: Philosophical Thought and Cultural Critique.
I’m not sure how “awesome”
those sound to me.
Well, they sound awesome to me, and to others too, obviously. I spoke
to one of the newer profs, Matthias Fritsch. He explained that when
Dr. Wayne began as chair in 2001, he shifted some of the courses the
department offered more to what students were demanding. But he also
said that there’s a balance between students’ interests
and where the department’s faculty think philosophy should go.
I know that all Arts and Science undergrads,
including those of us in journalism, have to take four general ed
courses.³ I seem to remember two philosophy courses are offered,
Modern to Postmodern and Applied Ethics.
Dr. Wayne believes those general education courses expose students
to philosophy and make a good first impression.
You mean there’s even hope for a Neanderthal
like me?
Maybe not you, but I’m sure there are at least a few of your
classmates who’ve passed from the stone age into the age of
reason, and who may be turned on by these classes.
So you’re saying that it’s a Concordia
thing, that the different courses and newer profs are the reason.
Not completely. Dr. Wayne told me philosophy enrolment across Canada
has jumped.
Really? I don’t get it, Steph. Where do
you or all the others think you’re gonna go with this degree?
It’s hardly a practical education, like engineering, computers,
business — even journalism. Like in Lost in Translation.
Remember what Bill Murray says when Scarlett Johannson tells him that
she’s a philosophy grad? “There’s a good buck in
that racket.” I mean, it’s not as if Monster.com
has many listings for philosophers.
Well, Josh, philosophy may be more practical than you think. When
I was at the department I met a few students who’re in the program
now. One was Stefano Mingarelli, who was president of the philosophy
students’ association last year, so he knows a thing or two
about the subject. He told me philosophy students learn to listen,
read and write better, to think critically and logically, to lay things
out coherently, to discuss problems — all very practical skills.
He said, “I’m not the same person I was three years ago.”
So he can now think about life, the universe
and everything. Like Bill Murray said, I’m sure there’s
a good buck in that racket.
Actually, Stefano says that for many students, philosophy is a great
way to prepare for a law degree or even an MBA. Both Dr. Wayne and
Dr. Fritsch told me that many companies now focus on on-the-job training,
so they’re looking out for grads who can think clearly, have
discipline, know about ethics and logic — in other words, philosophy
students.
Aha! So it’s all about money and careers!
Slow down, dude. There’s something else, a very key point. I
told you that I want to know the questions — that’s what
philosophy isall about. Look at this brochure Dr. Wayne gave me. It
says, “Philosophy is critical and creative thinking about fundamental
questions, such as: What is a worthwhile life? Is there a sense to
the universe? What can be known? What moral obligations do people
have to one another? What makes society just?” C’mon,
don’t you ever have those questions?
Not really. I want to be a journalist, so I’m
interested in the facts: the who, what, when, where and how. Not so
much the why. It’s not that I don’t care about it, but
for me, it’s the effect that counts. Todd Bertuzzi caused a
media frenzy because he knocked out Steve Morris — if Morris
had jumped up and skated away, no one would have noticed or cared.
It’s only because of the final result that everyone freaked
out.
Well, I want to know the why, and so do lots of others. Stefano
said he was interested in philosophy because he wanted to have a broader
understanding of our world. He gave me a great quote by Wilfrid Sellars,
which I wrote down: “The aim of philosophy is to understand
how things in the broadest possible sense of the term hang together
in the broadest possible sense of the term.” That’s what
I’m looking for: how things hang together.
Well, for me, it’s all too intellectual,
academic; it doesn’t relate to my life.
I don’t agree at all! It’s like what Matthias Fritsch
told me. When he looks around Montreal, he sees a fast-paced, multicultural
city, where young people are feeling more pressure to enter the global
economy and “succeed.” Around us there’s war, terrorism,
environmental destruction, overpopulation, starvation. We hear arguments
about globalization, capitalism, democracy, freedom. As he put it,
“University students are looking to find a place in a world
bombarded with ideas.” And Stefano said, “Maybe students
are at a point where we want to understand how we got into this mess.”
I guess I feel that pressure, too.
I met another person, a grad student named Cecilie Cave, who has a
degree in philosophy from University of Windsor. She thinks the growth
in popularity of philosophy is a response to our society’s continuous
demands on us to make a career, a family, to have, as she said, “success
as a human being.” She feels that learning philosophy is a wonderful
way to deal with all that. I like the way she put it: “Every
question in philosophy has something to do with coming to know yourself.”
OK. So what’s the final answer? Why philosophy?
Is it Concordia’s courses? The jobs? The big questions? The
pressures of life?
It’s all of the above. There is no definitive answer —
we are, after all, talking about philosophy.
So what’s the point of all this discussion?
The point is the discussion. Wittgenstein said, “A
philosopher who is not taking part in discussions is like a boxer
who never goes into the ring.”
That I
can relate to.
I knew you could. As Cecilie put it, “Philosophy invites people
to dialogue — it lives for that.”
So I’ve been involved in a philosophical
discussion?
I believe, dude, you have.
¹The number of students enrolled in Concordia philosophy courses
rose from 167 in 2000-02 to 261 in 2003-04, a 56 per cent increase.
²Four tenure-track faculty have been hired since 2002: Justin
Smith, Matthias Fritsch, Pablo Gilabert and Sandra Lapointe. Andrew
Wayne has left to become chair of the University of Guelph’s
philosophy department, leaving Concordia’s philosophy department
with nine full-time faculty.
³The general education requirement began in 2002; honours students
require only two general education courses.
Your thoughts? Contact Howard Bokser, Howard.Bokser@concordia.ca.
For more information on Concordia’s Department of Philosophy,
visit artsandscience.concordia.ca.
