Zhraath Posted February 24, 2006 Report Share Posted February 24, 2006 Does anyone here have any advice as to what school has a good (by good I mean rational.. Maybe with an Objectivist Professor or two) masters level Philosophy program? Marcus Lange Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dianahsieh Posted February 24, 2006 Report Share Posted February 24, 2006 Does anyone here have any advice as to what school has a good (by good I mean rational.. Maybe with an Objectivist Professor or two) masters level Philosophy program? No such program exists. For any serious Objectivist, graduate school in philosophy will necessarily be a long march through a great deal of stinky muck, albeit with perhaps an occasional bit of fresh air and solid ground. The problem isn't merely the content of the ideas taught, but also the painfully unreadable contemporary readings, the all-pervasive rationalism, the hit-or-miss courses rather than an integrated curriculum, jaded and bored professors, and more. I would only recommend graduate school to someone with a burning passion for the subject who wishes to teach in academia, since otherwise it's just too awful. (And for that, you need a Ph.D. An MA in philosophy is worthless -- unless you just need make up for a deficient undergraduate education in philosophy in order to get into a Ph.D program.) As for Objectivist professors: Tara Smith is an ethicist at UT Austin. Allan Gotthelf is an Aristotelian at U Pitt. Both of those are excellent programs by conventional standards -- meaning that you'd have a good chance of finding a tenure-track job thereafter. But if you aren't interested in specializing ethics or Aristotle, those schools might not be your best bet. I've found that working in the history of philosophy is generally much more pleasant than in contemporary philosophy -- and more important. Hume and Locke are legitimately part of the philosophic canon. Nagel and Chalmers will be forgotten soon enough. For the nuts and bolts of philosophy departments, you should look at the Philosophical Gourmet Report: http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/ Also, I would strongly recommend taking OAC classes before and/or during graduate school in philosophy, since you certainly won't learn anything about Objectivism in graduate school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zhraath Posted February 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2006 (edited) Thank you for your advice. I really do enjoy Philosophy, but not much of what they teach at school. The reason I am considering getting an M.A. is because I think it would help me perform better in law school. I guess I will have to think this over. Thanks again. Marcus Lange Edited February 24, 2006 by Zhraath Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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