And then there were three

“Just what can you do with a degree in philosophy?”

It’s a question Dennis Plaisted often hears from both students and their parents.

His answer: A lot.

“A philosophy degree teaches you to ask questions,” says Plaisted, associate head of the Department of Philosophy and Religion at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

“Why do we do it that way? What arguments can you make to say that we should do it this way?

“That’s the kind of thing philosophy definitely gets you in the habit of doing, and that makes it more likely that you might see something new, see something different that other people didn’t see.”

To diversify the palette of philosophical possibilities for students—and their parents—Plaisted and Talia Welsh, UC Foundation professor in the department, helped develop two new bachelor’s degree programs, one that blends philosophy with law and another with medicine.

“We thought there was a lot of need for those kinds of courses to be taught, just for them to become civic-minded people aware of things in the world,” Welsh says.

Medical ethics became a news topic in the recent past with COVID vaccine development and differing views on how extensively vaccination should be required, she says.

“How do you deal with a skeptical populace that doesn’t just accept the authority of medical-care practitioners?” she asks. “That’s really not a biology question or it’s not a science question, per se. There’s this ethical question: ‘Can I just not get vaccinated if I don’t want to?’”

The same is true of law, says Plaisted, who earned a law degree from the University of Southern California but has never practiced as an attorney.

“What we’ve done is to try to just take our existing curriculum and make it a little bit more focused on courses that would be relevant to somebody that wanted to study law or practice law,” he says.

“Lawyers make arguments and respond to arguments. That’s a big part of what they do, and philosophy is all about that, too. Making arguments for all these big questions and criticizing other people’s arguments, so it’s perfect preparation for that.”

Today, when Plaisted is intrigued by details of a particular court case making news, he applies his knowledge of philosophy and law.

“They’ll make an argument and I’ll think, ‘Oh, that’s not right. That’s not how to interpret the constitution or there’s a gap in that reasoning.’

“I do that with the class. We look at actual reasoning from the courts and say, ‘Does this sound like a good argument to you?’ We talk about that in the class. It’s definitely something we do quite often.”

Philosophy addresses similar questions from a medical point of view, Welsh says.

“We know that med schools really like students with a diverse background. A lot of studies have shown that philosophy allows doctors to connect better with their patients, to respond to some of these kinds of challenges.”

Welsh says she served on an ethics committee for a company that treats clients with developmental disabilities that require long-term care. Ethical questions were common, she says.

“We had one where the family wanted the client to be able to eat what he wanted, but what he wanted was very unhealthy for him,” she recalls. “I remember there was a question that we talked a lot about: Can you restrict somebody’s bacon consumption? It seems like a weird question, but it actually was a real question for this person.”

Whether it’s a medical decision, a legal decision, or one that involves both, majoring in philosophy can equip graduates to better identify all the considerations involved.

“I think you need people who are able to think outside the box sometimes,” Plaisted says. “A lot of employers hire people that have degrees in philosophy, not just in law and medicine, but business and government jobs. They find that they’re usually maybe a little more creative in thinking of new solutions or seeing potential problems.”