03/13/2025
A philosophy degree equips students with versatile and transferable communication skills, applicable across various careers.
What can you do with a philosophy degree? With skills like critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, and ethical reasoning, philosophy graduates have many career options. These are valuable takeaways that philosophy graduates may apply and present into their own positions in the professional world.
Types of Philosophy Degrees
Philosophy degrees are typically offered at undergraduate and graduate school levels, with a Ph.D. as the highest academic degree in the field.
Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy
A bachelor’s degree in philosophy typically takes 3-4 years to complete and may provide a foundation in fundamental areas, such as ethics, logic, metaphysics, epistemology, and the history of philosophy.
Philosophy majors may develop essential skills in critical thinking, reasoning, and creative problem solving, and they often have the option to specialize in specific areas. This undergraduate degree prepares graduates for a range of careers in fields such as law, education, writing, and policy analysis.
Master's Degree in Philosophy
A master’s degree program may introduce philosophy students to more complex theories and concentrations. Graduate degree programs typically require 1-2 years of study after completing an undergraduate degree. It may allow students to study more specific philosophical topics, with a focus on specialized areas like ethics, political theory, or philosophy of science.
The program may require students to complete a thesis or independent research project, and it could help philosophy majors to refine research skills and philosophical argumentation. Master's graduates may find career opportunities in various fields, like academia, research, or other professional fields.
Doctorate Degree in Philosophy
A doctorate program may focus on original research and the presentation of findings that is specific to the philosophy major's area of focus. As the most advanced level of study, doctorate programs typically take 4-7 years to complete. Ph.D. students typically engage in original research within a specialized area of philosophy, finishing the program with a dissertation that may make a contribution to the field.
The program typically involves exams, seminars, and the development of expertise in philosophy teaches a particular philosophical issue. A Ph.D. in philosophy may be for those pursuing academic careers as professors or researchers, but it may also be of interest for those interested in public policy, consulting, and more.
Advanced Education and Specializations for Philosophy Majors
Those who have earned their bachelor’s degree in philosophy may be unsure what to do next with advanced degrees, and further schooling may be required for specific career paths which may require additional testing such as the GRE, GMAT, LSAT and more.
Philosophy graduates who wish to pursue careers in law, academia, or business may choose to obtain additional credentials such as a J.D., Ph.D., or MBA, depending on their professional aspirations.
Philosophy majors can also specialize in different areas of studying philosophy or different branches of philosophy. A few include:
- Ethics: May focus on questions of morality and ethical decision-making. Some possible subfields may include bioethics, business ethics or environmental ethics.
- Logic: May focus on reasoning, argumentation, and specialize on formal logic, philosophical logic or mathematical logic.
- Metaphysics: May explore the nature of reality and existence, or the universe as a whole. Possible topics could include the study of time and space and the nature of objects.
- Religion: May examine religious concepts like the existence of God and the nature of faith or evil. May compare different types of religious traditions.
- Feminism: May focus on feminist perspectives such as gender, justice, power and critiquing the male-dominated history of philosophy.
- History: May explore the nature of history, historical knowledge and how historical events are interpreted. Some topics may include historical narratives and the relationship between the past and present.
- Language: May focus on how language can relate to reality, meaning, reference and understanding. Topics may include semantics, syntax and pragmatics.
- Political philosophy: May look into the nature of justice, authority and power. Some topics may include democracy, freedom, human rights and social contract.
Skills for Philosophy Majors
Through an undergraduate program, philosophy students learn to develop the ability to think critically, analyze complex information, evaluate arguments, and construct logical arguments. Students may also gain tools for using ethical considerations and decision-making, helping them to think clearly about moral problems logically.
Philosophy programs typically require students to develop fundamental skills that will help them make sense of complex ideas and build on their core coursework and the professional world where the skills are applied.
Philosophy students in undergraduate and graduate programs may develop multiple perspectives that can help to build a solid foundation for a wide range of career options.
Careers You Can Pursue With a Philosophy Degree
While a philosophy degree might not directly train philosophy majors for a specific job like other degrees, it may provide transferable skills like writing, reasoning and analysis that are applicable to many industries.
Philosophy graduates may find opportunities in various fields, including law, education, business, religion, social work, medicine, writing, and academia, among others.
Job Outlook for Philosophy Graduates
The job outlook for philosophy majors varies depending on which industry is pursued. Philosophy majors may find additional areas of study useful. Pursue a career that aligns with your goals and interests. When paired with other majors, philosophy is a useful basis to complement roles such as educators, pastors, managers, software developers, writers, lawyers and much more.
Each suggested role has a different projected job growth over the next decade. For example, software developers may see an 18% projected growth in the next decade whereas lawyers are anticipated to see a 5% projected growth in the next decade.
Next Steps for Philosophy Majors
So what can you do with a philosophy degree? Philosophy is generally a broad and versatile field that has diverse perspectives and may provide a foundation for useful skills in critical thinking, logic, ethics and problem solving.
Philosophy fosters a deeper understanding of life and the universe. There are many career options for philosophy majors and philosophy graduates. Consider your interests in philosophy careers, and how philosophy may fit into your career goals.
Interested in learning more? Read our blog to explore the differences, "Philosophy Vs Psychology Degree."