{"id":81885,"date":"2017-11-30T13:51:53","date_gmt":"2017-11-30T12:51:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=81885"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:54","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:54","slug":"food-for-thought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2017\/11\/30\/food-for-thought\/","title":{"rendered":"Food for thought"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLevien Willemse<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

\u201cStudents from other faculties, who study philosophy as a minor, often write better theses than full-time philosophy students,\u201d one of my lecturers recently stated during a thesis supervision seminar. Although I\u2019m a full-time philosophy student, I did not consider this an affront, but it did get me to think about being a philosophy student.<\/p>\n

The first thought that crossed my mind was that, whatever else I may or may not have learned, I have learned \u2013 partially because of my lecturers\u2019 idiosyncrasies \u2013 that considering things from different angles is kind of fun. And the second thought that crossed my mind was that no one really knows what exactly philosophy is, even after many years\u2019 worth of discussions in pubs and on campuses. But in a way, that\u2019s exactly what makes it so refreshing \u2013 you\u2019re doing something without having a clear idea what it will bring you.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not the only person to wonder what exactly philosophy students learn. \u201cOh, you\u2019re a philosophy student\u2026 So what is it you actually do<\/em>?\u201d is a question I\u2019m always asked at parties and birthday get-togethers. It often makes me feel uneasy, and often gets me into awkward situations, because obviously I try to provide a serious answer. After all, these are the moments at which I should be able to explain in just a few sentences why I study philosophy and why I\u2019m proud of doing so.<\/p>\n

Until now I\u2019ve never really managed to come up with a good answer. Because whenever I meet someone at a pub or at a party with whom I used to attend secondary school, i.e., a person I have not talked to for four years and who has never met a philosophy student before, I will remain some sort of alien in his eyes. So now I tend to provide answers such as, \u201cPhilosophy means considering a lot of things from different angles. Care for another beer?\u201d<\/p>\n

Business Administration and Economics students probably have an easier time of explaining what it is they do, because these degrees seem a little less abstract. At any rate, I\u2019ve decided I\u2019m no longer going to try and explain what philosophy is. In my opinion, philosophy cannot be summarised in a few sentences \u2013 but even when I provide that<\/em> answer to the questions I\u2019m asked at birthday get-togethers, people look at me funny.<\/p>\n

There is only one question I dislike more than the question as to what philosophy actually is, which is: what can you do with a degree in philosophy once you have graduated? Be that as it may, you are free to continue asking both questions. That will give us an opportunity to consider them from all angles together. Because that is what philosophers do, right?<\/p>\n

read more from Marnix 't Hart<\/h2>