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Many Answers to the ‘Dreaded Question’
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idan Penn ’17’s excellent article in the Fall 2015 issue really hit home. When I was an undergraduate philosophy major at Bowdoin and a philosophy graduate student at Bryn Mawr, people would ask me that dreaded question all the time, “What are you going to do with philosophy?” I would reply, “I’m only in it for the money.” That shut them up! Later, when I was teaching philosophy at Villanova (where it was required), my students would ask, “What can we do with philosophy?” My replies then were more serious. I asked for shows-of-hands for various professions. I told the future lawyers that philosophy is the best possible pre-law training, because it teaches how to recognize and critically dissect arguments. I told the future engineers that philosophy helps them to think systematically and coherently. I had easy and fairly obvious answers connecting philosophy to any profession we named. Philosophy is practical because it shows us how to live, succeed, and keep our consciences clear. Eric Luft ’74
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egarding Aidan Penn’s article, “A Philosophy Major? What are you going to do with that?,” some things apparently never change. Back in the antediluvian period, we got the same question as history majors. In my case, I considered law school, but ultimately earned an MBA and went into banking. I think the question most often asked of me was, “Where did you go to school?” Coming from the Midwest (Minnesota), the response, “Bowdoin College,” was frequently met there with silence and a blank stare, followed by a comment like, “Well, isn’t that nice.” (Translation: “What a shame he couldn’t get into a school here at home.”) These days, that may not be as big an issue, thanks to advances in communications, and The Sopranos. In any event, my sincere thanks to Aidan and the contributing alumni for an interesting article. Lewis F. Knudsen Jr. ’63
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enjoyed the recent Bowdoin Magazine, especially “A Philosophy Major” and the “Hootenanny.” Now, as I sit looking out at Atlanta’s Stone Mountain, and listening to Pete Seeger on my Bowdoin recording, I look forward to the next edition. Charlie Freeman ’50
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BOWDOIN | WINTER 2016
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just wanted to add my two cents regarding Aidan Penn’s column regarding philosophy majors in the [fall 2015] issue of Bowdoin Magazine. As a former owner of a software company and now a partner/principal at Ernst & Young who employs many up-and-coming software architects, I prefer to hire philosophy majors. Why? Because business-centric software development technologies, particularly the advanced ones like SAP, Pega, IBM, SFC, and others, have advanced to the point where they value logical thinking far more than they require pure technical competency. We can teach anyone the ins and outs of software development; that’s easy. What we can’t teach is that which philosophy majors learn during their four years in college: how to think logically. This oft-maligned major is a boon in my world, and I hope more people realize this. If anyone with a Bowdoin philosophy major wants to talk about job opportunities, please send them my way. Bill Dow ’90
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was heartened by reading “What are you going to do with that?” (Bowdoin, fall 2015). If more students were required to study philosophy, we might have a larger segment of the electorate who are not taken in by the lies and disrespect for facts in the output of candidates for public office. Education prepares one not only for jobs, but for life; and the study of the humanities and the thinkers of the past is an essential part of that preparation. Without it, the future citizen must reinvent the wheel and start life centuries behind where she or he could be. Thank you for those interviews. Janet Holmes Carper Sister to three Bowdoin alumni and daughter of Bowdoin faculty member Cecil T. Holmes
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