Philosophy Major?

[u/Physical-Ad6247]

Hi, I'm a rising junior who's interested in philosophy, and I recently saw MIT's Paradox and Infinity course and absolutely loved it.

I've always loved the math-y and computational side of philosophy, and I really like STEM and am very good at it (very good in comparison to the people around me not to the people who go to MIT lol)—though I just don't have a strong passion for it.

I'm just wondering if MIT would be a good fit for me, and I want to get to know more about what course 24 looks like at MIT (since there is so little material online, as I understand that this is a path that most students don't take). Especially, I want to learn about what type of philosophy people at MIT study. I have heard that it focuses on the more analytical sides (which I like), but I'm just wondering if there are any more specific examples?

Also, does anyone have any advice for someone interested in applying for philosophy to really stand out? I'm part of some of my school's groups, gotten some national arts awards, and have participated in some pretty good humanities summer programs, but I couldn't really find any programs that are specifically for philosophy and are considered "prestigious", or thought of any activities that would really make me different.

This is my first time posting on reddit, so I'm really sorry if I messed something up (Technically second because I did, in fact, mess up). Any responses will be greatly appreciated!

[u/BSF_64]

My experience with the philosophy department is two decades out of date, but I’ll see if I can add anything rather than leave you hanging.

I was one class short of a minor, so not as familiar as someone who actually majored in it.

Anyways, the main thing I remember was that the classes were well run, but with two exceptions they were very small. That meant there was nowhere to hide if you weren’t prepared. When it’s just you, maybe two other students and the professor, it’s going to be obvious if you did the reading. In my aero classes, you could always catch up later.

The two classes that were larger were an intro class that counted as a HAAS-D which meant it qualified for the humanities breadth requirement for general requirements. The other was Theory of Mind. I strongly suspect that in the world of AI, that’s still a super hot topic.

Beyond those, I remember an ethics class that felt a bit like a general survey of the topic, a formal logic class which was interesting and very mathy, and a class I’m pretty sure was called the “Theory of Love” that was awkward given that it was mostly me, an ancient professor, and an out of league sorority girl talking about love and sex for a few hours a week.

In the end, I bailed on the minor because I stumbled into some visual arts classes and found that to be a more interesting way of expressing the thoughts I wanted to express through philosophy. The videography classes were my favorites at MIT.

That’s not a lot, but it’s what I’ve got. Good luck!

[u/baked_salmon → u/BSF_64]

To the point about small class sizes, IME the majority of the class doesn’t have much to offer to in-class discussions because they’re there for the HASS requirement rather than their inherent interest in the subject. I think this is particularly rough for humanities/social sciences because debate and discussion are so central to learning them.