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| Paige Brewer |
On March 25th, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) visited the McConnell Center. During his public lecture, he venerated S.T.E.M. degrees (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) while off-handedly dismissing Social Sciences and Humanities, Philosophy in particular. Even more disappointing, some audience members even applauded. I completely disagree with his statement, and the following is my response to Senator Rubio.
During my senior year of high school, I had several conversations with my parents about what subjects I would choose to study in college. “What about Philosophy?” I proposed during one of these conversations. Despite my limited knowledge of the field, I frequently heard names like Aristotle, Plato, Descartes and Nietzsche dropped in my favorite History and English classes. The way my professors and textbooks referred to them, they sounded like societal demigods. These great men provoked and defined entire schools of thought, historical eras and societal movements. I knew their thoughts and theories must have been important and worth studying since they had such huge impacts on so many areas.
If this were the case, why did my parents reject my proposition with disdain and disapproval? “What are you going to do with a major in Philosophy?” My dad scoffed. “There aren’t many professional philosophers out there.”
I have encountered many who maintain the same attitude: philosophers are generally useless in society. The field is neither substantive nor challenging, and those who pursue it in higher education hardly learn anything worthwhile and are doomed to unemployment, poverty and suffering upon entering the “real world.”
“Poor philosophy student,” I assume people are thinking whenever I disclose my intended area of study. “One day she will realize she has nothing to contribute to society and will starve in a cardboard box under the second street bridge carrying around a copy of the Republic, and a sign reading, ‘Will philosophize for food,’ while slowly going mad since all she knows how to do is think.” (“Only a philosophy major could write a sentence that long,” says my roommate.) This is a depressing reality for the philosophically minded such as myself, and until this point, I have tried studying less “useless” fields to keep up with my peers obtaining “practical” degrees.
However, further contemplation has helped me realize that Philosophy is not only useful in society—perhaps one of the most useful areas of study—but is a fundamental building block of our world and sense of self. To understand philosophy is to understand the thoughts that shaped the society we live in today and to challenge it. Learning to think for oneself, innovatively, creatively and sophisticatedly by studying how great minds have thought in the past is the best way to prepare for the future. An understanding of philosophy equips one with the critical thinking skills and ideas that will lead to great societal changes and personal fulfillment.
In his work Confessions, Leo Tolstoy, the influential writer and philosopher, describes the pain and emotional anguish that accompanies the recognition that his life and world around him did not fulfill him and the fear that it never will again. He discusses how he realized that he had been living his life in pursuit of perfecting himself in the eyes of other people, by society’s standards and expectations, not those of himself.
Senator Rubio’s statement that S.T.E.M. degrees are more useful than social sciences and humanities degrees is exactly what Tolstoy was talking about when he referred to living by society’s standards. Yes, those going into S.T.E.M. programs may come out of college with more “practical” degrees by societal standards, but those studying Philosophy are more willing to open their minds and critically challenge society’s standards altogether. For me, the latter sounds much more appealing and useful in the grand scheme of things.
One of Tolstoy’s primary and most painful realizations was that his society was flawed and he did not find the truth he was searching for by adhering to its expectations for him. This awareness is why philosophers are so important and useful in society. In order for society to change for the better, someone needs to point out where the changes need to be made.
“It is now some years since I detected how many were the false beliefs that I had from my earlier youth admitted as true, and how doubtful was everything I had since constructed on this basis; and from that time I was convinced that I must once for all seriously undertake ridding myself of all the opinions which I had formerly accepted, and commence to build anew from the foundation” – Rene Descartes
Paige Brewer, of Wilder, Ky., is a sophomore McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville. She is studying political science and philosophy.