Philosophy majors ponder
life
By Patricia Nikolaros
Staff
Writer
Out of the 30,899 Purdue undergraduates that were
counted in the last fall semester, only 17 of them were philosophy majors.
While that is the official University number, Rod
Bertolet, professor and head of the philosophy department, said, "The
University does not count double majors, people seeking dual degrees
and if students began in a different school. So, the official number
we count is 36 (philosophy majors)."
Either way that number is a lot less than, for
example, the 2,468 undergraduate management majors at Purdue.
Bertolet said he thinks there are two basic reasons
for these statistics.
"The first reason is philosophy courses are rarely
offered in high school, and for that reason and other reasons, students
are not familiar with philosophy. Since people shy away from the unfamiliar,
they are less likely to take our courses," said Bertolet.
The second reason, Bertolet said, is that students
usually take philosophy courses to satisfy core requirements. However,
they take them late in their careers and by then, it is too late for
them to pick up a philosophy major.
"We all have stories about students who tell us,
'Gee, this course was really interesting and I wish I'd taken it sooner.'
We do teach over 3,000 students a year, and it is frustrating to keep
hearing that."
Chris Woodby, a senior in the School of Liberal
Arts, said, "I got interested in philosophy in an introduction to political
science class. I was exposed to the writings of Marx, (and) this interest
was further fueled by the desire to understand what I should be responsible
for in this life."
Woodby said there are so few students in philosophy
because the courses are rigorous and present an atmosphere in which
one can question the definitions of life.
Bertolet said that after students graduate with
a degree in philosophy, they usually go to graduate school.
Bertolet also said the job market for the Ph.D.s
is tight, so not many people take that route.
Recent graduates are working for the government,
for private companies or are in law or medical school.
When it comes to the actual philosophy program
at Purdue, Bertolet said, "We offer the courses for a major comparable
to those at any other Big Ten University, for instance, and beyond the
introductory level, they are taught by faculty with national and international
reputations."
Woodby said, "My experience has been that the Purdue
philosophy program is strong at making one look at a variety of the
different approaches that deal with topics pertaining to philosophy."
As for the instructor-to-student interaction in
the philosophy courses, Woodby said he has never had any problems with
finding the opportunity to discuss class or his own philosophical interest
with any of the professors.
Bertolet said, "I often say that it is one of the
virtues of our major that since class size in our upper division is
so small, we can offer the same type of classroom experience they could
have at a small liberal arts college, while they have all the resources
of a major research university at their disposal."
It would be good for the philosophy department
to have more students, and it would be good for the students as well
, Bertolet said.
"The material is quite interesting to many, though
not all, students, and we help them to be articulate, think critically
and sharpen their logical and analytical skills. Many disciplines do
that in different ways, but it is our special focus," said Bertolet.
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