Where to start............

Funsterdelux

Hello all

I have been thinking of doing a philosophy course for a couple of years now, but I'm not sure of my options,
My backround is in engineering/construction, ordinary degree, working at the moment.

Its something that I do most of the time, just thinking and wondering, and was thinking of a change from the norm.

So I would be really happy if anyone had any info, or would like to share their experiences.

Funsterdelux

DadaKopf

A friend of mine did electrical engineering in UCD. Worked for a while but something was gnawing at him. He bit the bullet and enrolled for his second degree at UCD in Arts - philosophy and english. He went on to do a Masters and is now working in Brown University doing a PhD.

If you feel you really want to do it, there's nothing stopping you. You can study it anywhere, but I don't know a better qualified, more diverse departent where you'll learn so much as UCD (if you're prepared to put the work in). For continental philosophy, it's one of the best in Europe.

Funsterdelux

Thanks, I could do with some more info/advice from others

Jackie laughlin

Funsterdelux,
I'm an engineering and a philosophy graduate. You need just one piece of advice: go to a university or a college accredited by a university. Why? Well, there are a lot of bogus philosophy courses out there. Moreover, you may want to continue your study and there's no way into post grad save through an accredited degree.

Incidentally, science and engineering are much less demanding than philosophy.

Playboy

Jackie laughlin wrote:

Incidentally, science and engineering are much less demanding than philosophy.

I would love for you to repeat that on the Skeptics forum .. I can see pH having a fit already

Jackie laughlin

Playboy,
It would be my pleasure. Which thread would you suggest?

Science, maths, engineering! Dead easy!

Playboy

Perfect! You post it and I will promise to join in

Son Goku

Funsterdelux wrote:

Hello all

I have been thinking of doing a philosophy course for a couple of years now, but I'm not sure of my options,
My backround is in engineering/construction, ordinary degree, working at the moment.

Its something that I do most of the time, just thinking and wondering, and was thinking of a change from the norm.

So I would be really happy if anyone had any info, or would like to share their experiences.

Funsterdelux

Weird, I know a load of people who were previously engineers, but switched to philosophy.
Based on those people, I think you might find Kant interesting or J. M. E. McTaggart. I'd agree with the others that you should go for a degree, if you can. It worked for the people I know and they're really enjoying themselves now.

Dadakopf is probably right about UCD. I hear that the other Universities focus on epistemology too much.

renedescartes

Hi Funsterdelux,
Of course I agree with the comments so far and eng. and Phil. is not exclusive to each other. I can also see where you are comming from. It seems to be sort of fashionable nowadays to say "I'am doing Philosophy". It all hinges on "why" you want ot do it. To answer this I would suggest you get yourself down to the nearest book shop and buy yourself:
ReneDescartes
Meditations and Other Metaphysical writings
by our own Desmond M. Clarke
Published by penguin Classics
I think this will give you a good insight into the complicated, convoluted and mystifying world that is Philosophy ........where there are no answers.

I feel you will be hooked or perhaps take up running or some such outlet.

Hope this is of help to you.

Rene

Ghost Rider

Curiosity is the most important thing. I would recommend the study of philosophy to anyone with a sense of curiosity who is not afraid of the feeling one philosopher described as looking "into the abyss". That is, to say I would recommend it to anyone not afraid of confronting large questions to which there may not be easy answers, if any.

One important thing to bear in mind is that there is a big difference between the use of the term "philosophy" in connection with academia (as in "I'm studying philosophy") and the term "philosophy" as used to describe a personal belief (as in "My philosophy is: live and let live").

Nowadays, the term "philosophy" used in the academic sense refers to the business of engaging with very specific problems, usually through written texts but sometimes through spoken dialogue too. The legacy of the great philosophers, however, has always been a written one - for obvious reasons.

So what are the problems of philosophy? Well, that is a huge question. It depends what era you're looking at.

If you look at the history of philosophy, you find that problems get rephrased from one era to another. As a result, philosophy at one age can look like an entirely different set of questions from philosophy at another age. For example, there have been those who think it is primarily an investigation into language, or how we speak; there have been those who think it is primarily an investigation into psychology, or how we think; there are even those who think philosophy is less to do with truth than with persuasion i.e. using words and arguments to influence other people.

Yet despite these shifts in the nature of philosophy, it is possible to trace a history of philosophical thought; that's because philosophers usually come up with new ways of asking questions precisely by reading and re-reading the work of their predecessors. So by looking at the ways in which philosophical texts have been interpreted, a reasonable idea of the history of philosophy emerges.

To conclude, a good way of getting into philosophy as an academic subject is to take a course on the history of philosophy.

Hope that helps.

Funsterdelux wrote:

Hello all

I have been thinking of doing a philosophy course for a couple of years now, but I'm not sure of my options,
My backround is in engineering/construction, ordinary degree, working at the moment.

Its something that I do most of the time, just thinking and wondering, and was thinking of a change from the norm.

So I would be really happy if anyone had any info, or would like to share their experiences.

Funsterdelux

Funsterdelux

Thanks guys for your comments, taken on board,

Funster