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Philosophy

BehindTheScenes

Hi all, I was considering pursuing a degree in philosophy. What are the three best courses in the country and why? Sorry for being so picky about replies, I am trying to get a sense of each course.

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smashey

Moved to philosophy as you may get more informed responses here.

griffdaddy

BehindTheScenes wrote:

Hi all, I was considering pursuing a degree in philosophy. What are the three best courses in the country and why? Sorry for being so picky about replies, I am trying to get a sense of each course.

Well I can't speak for the other two 'potential best courses' but I've just finished second year philosophy in UCD and find it incredibly well taught, well organised and presented by a department that's never shown anything but great dedication to the material and the students. The department has a LOT of high profile lecturers, for instance, Dermot Moran is one of, if not the top philosopher on Phenomenology (a branch of philosophy) in the world, Fr. Brendan Purcell is on the news and Prime Time a lot of the time and knows so much about everything to do with philosophy that sometimes I think he's making stuff up til i check it out later for an essay! Brian Eliot (aesthetics, existentialism), Tim Mooney (phenomenology, social philosophy) Fran O'Rourke (Ancient philosophy) Gerard Casey (Logic, Philosophy of Music) Jim O'Shea (Hume and Kant). All great lecturers. Don't know much myself about the new head of the department but i hear he's a brilliant lecturer and a great laugh. Put it this way, I've never had a lecture in Philosophy in UCD that I didn't really enjoy and find interesting, and I'm a cynical cúnt, so they must be doing something right! If you've any other questions just ask!

BehindTheScenes

Hey griffdaddy, I didn't realise that U.C.D. had such an excellent calibre of staff. I will definetly take a look in to it. I take it by the 'other two' you are referring to T.C.D. and N.U.I. Maynooth. Would you have any opinions on the other two universities within the subject area of philosophy?

Thanks.

griffdaddy

I'm not sure of specifics, but i know from reputation that Trinity has a very good department as well. Don't know anything about Maynooth. If you head to the respective college forums you'll find out more.

griffdaddy

also forgot to say, that if you do it in UCD or Maynooth you do it through arts, and if you don't like it (which many don't) you can do your other subjects instead. In Trinity you're pretty much locked into it.

StormWarrior

As I am finding in my second year of a philosophy degree, you must think about your career afterwards. I'm finding that a degree in philosophy may not be very helpful.

Akrasia

StormWarrior wrote:

As I am finding in my second year of a philosophy degree, you must think about your career afterwards. I'm finding that a degree in philosophy may not be very helpful.

Nope, it's about as useful as an underwater hair dryer. You're probably gonna need to do a masters in something useful to get any career prospects at all

DadaKopf

Philosophy is useful in ways not directly related to training in a particular profession. Although, the sector I went into means I use what I learned all the time. Still did a Masters, though.

I would say, because of the heads in the department, UCD is easily the best for philosophy. Trinity gets the kudos because it's Trinity, but it's not such a well-rounded department, concerned as it is with British philosophy rather than presenting the sheer range that UCD offers.

Maynooth is excellent for anthropology - mainly because it's the only department of its type in Ireland!

BehindTheScenes

Hey, just wanted to say thanks to everyone for their advice. Was looking around at a few courses and I think I will apply to U.C.D. I heard that U.C.D. offer a course for arts in the evening. Was looking around and I was only able to find very little about it. Does anyone have any info about it? Thanks BTS.

FionnMatthew

If you are the type of person who survives well in a philosophical environment, then you might consider a career in the academy. If that were the career you were to fix upon, then philosophy would be significantly more useful than an underwater hairdryer.

As well as this, if you consider yourself of good candidature for a career in the arts (theatre, film, writing, etc.), philosophy is indispensable. There is a certain intellectual awareness required of someone who works within the arts that simply isn't bequeathed by any amount of technical training (which is also required, mind). Philosophy is the golden path to that awareness.

Similarly, a philosophy degree won't be a handicap if you're looking for a career in the civil service, or if you'd like to continue into education in law.

Of course, if you wanted to go into a particular profession, such as medicine then philosophy will not be the most direct or useful route to it.

It's only if you had in mind a more mediocre, generic career in mind, such as 40 years in a nameless office, that philosophy won't be particularly useful, and you'll find yourself in an interview trying to explain the value of philosophy to ignorant cretins, who have missed out on 99% of the benefits of having a human mind.

But in that case, maybe, if after three years doing a philosophy degree that's all you've been able to imagine yourself working at, you deserve that kind of career, and, yes, perhaps, then, philosophy will have been a waste of your time.