Skills you can acquire studying philosophy, Can such skills meet the job market? One good reason why you should take your study of philosophy seriously is that, through the study of philosophy, you will imbibe certain basic skills and these skills and abilities that are learned or acquired are transferable, not just to other academic disciplines, but also to other endeavors.
The reason for this is majorly because of the breadth of philosophy, it has a bearing on just about every subject or profession, that is, it touches on so many other subjects. Another reason for this is that, the philosophical methods can be applied to other areas of intellectual accomplishment.
The 7 Skills You Can Acquire Studying Philosophy
Recent studies have also shown that student with strong backgrounds in the liberal arts e.g., Arts, English, Foreign languages, History and so on in general, and philosophy in particular, do so much better than one might expect in the job market. Here are some the skills you can acquire studying philosophy;
1. Communication Skills
Communication skills is one the popular skills you can acquire studying philosophy. The study of philosophy bestows on one the ability to express one clearly and to formulate and respond to arguments both in speech and writing. It does this by improving one’s capability to present ideas in a well- constructed and systematized manner.
This helps one to differentiate seemingly same views from one another, and also to make salient what is a relevant and set aside minor issue. Communication skill further enables one to summarize the content of a message clearly, succinctly and objectively. It helps one to differentiate fact from value, sentiments, from good reasoning and also to be able to explain ideas and principles to others.
2. Information Management Skills
Philosophy provides one with general problem solving competence, such as concepts analysis, definitions, arguments and problems. It helps one to organize ideas, issues and points and to be able to bring out the thrust of an issue from myriad of information. By so doing, you are able to make good distinctions and even know how to find common ground between opposing positions.
Information management skills you can acquire studying philosophy involve the ability to sort data, to compile and rank information, to gather and evaluate information and to use this information to solve problem.
3. Design and Planning Skills
This skill has to do with to decipher when and in what respect one’s own view is not correct and thus in need of modification, and also what must be revised, what to jettison and those to be retained. It is also the ability to look at a problem from different angles and identify alternative courses of action.
4. Research and Investigation Skills
This gives one the ability to develop sound methods of research and analysis. With the help of this skill, you will equally be able to synthesize different views into a more comprehensive, coherent and logical position. It also has to do with seeking out information to identify problems and needs.
5. Management and Administration Skills
This is the ability to analyze tasks and set priorities or scale of preference, to identify resource materials useful in the solution of a problem.
6. Critical Thinking Skills
The adequate study of philosophy will enhance your analytical, critical, and interpretive abilities. This skill has to do with being able to identify key issues in decision making or problem solving. It helps in understanding a general principle that links related problems together, sometimes not just problems, but points, data or just to identify the parameters of a problem.
A student major in philosophy would be able to present carefully thought-out arguments, appropriate examples and clear formulations. This type of skill gives one’s arguments great persuasive power.
Much more than any other majors, the study of philosophy incite students to aspire to develop their own views on the courses, the questions and problems they study rather than just to absorb uncritically literatures presented on the subject.
Thus, this type of independence of mind and analytical spirit is invaluable and a long-lasting intellectual trait that can serve one very well in a variety of endeavors.
7. Argument Skills
The Latin word ‘arguere’ from which the term ‘argue’ is derived means to make clear. Argument is therefore not synonymous with quarrel or play on words as it is usually misconstrue, it is however to elucidate or clarify.
The argument skill is important in the sense that the give and take in philosophical discussion, which is part of any good programme of study in philosophy, helps in improving one’s ability to think on one’s feet and to address a wide variety of distinct concerns and questions.
Further, because the act of writing is taught in philosophy, with great emphasis on clarity and rigor of argument with apt use of illustration and also sensitivity to the strengths and weaknesses of the views one is examining (and ones view as well), the skill therefore, helps one to use argumentation techniques to persuade others, so as to reason from premise to conclusion.
It equally aids in assessing the implication or consequences of a position which has been taken. The reason for this is because, often times, we take positions without considering the implication either to ourselves or to the society at large or even to the unborn generation.
