The core mission of a university is to prepare students for their futures, whether professionally, personally, or civically. It’s designed to teach us how to write, how to think, and how to make decisions.
One way to achieve this is by having a core curriculum. This means having a set of requirements that every student, irrespective of their major, must take to graduate. Specifically, it is important that philosophy be a core constituent. At Georgetown University, philosophy is a large part of the core curriculum. After examining the core curriculum of other universities in the United States, the absence of philosophy in the core curriculum, not to mention the absence of a core curriculum at all, was surprising to me. I want to explain why all universities should all have a core curriculum that includes philosophy.
One reason is the growing political and social divisions within American society that are making it harder to have rational, reasoned debates across political lines. There is growing intolerance rather than a willingness to engage, debate, reflect, and even change one’s mind. Part of that is extremism, and part of that may be social media, which more often favors combat rather than discussion. I believe that this extremism and demonization in politics can be addressed, at least in part, by a core curriculum that includes philosophy,
In ancient Greece, philosophy meant the love of wisdom. In broader terms, philosophy is the “study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence”, according to Oxford Languages. In universities, philosophy introduces students to a whole new set of questions, such as what political system works best, whether God exists, or what the source of morality is.
While these questions seem bundled up in the ancient humanities and don’t seem to help students on a quest for a high-paying job, they actually do. Unfortunately, philosophy is viewed by many as useless, impractical, least helpful for finding a job or building a career. As said eloquently by Chris O’Brien, “many are the parents who likely despaired upon learning that their favored progeny had opted for a major in philosophy, surely the most useless and impractical of all liberal arts majors in the modern world.”
But this is an underestimation of the utility of philosophy in our daily and our professional lives. Exploring philosophy and the many issues and questions that surround it challenges students to reflect upon their own beliefs and explore different perspectives. In trying to understand and make sense of the world around us, we exercise our rational faculties and develop our critical thinking skills. When we enter into the professional world, we are expected to be able to make assessments about different choices, to be capable of making high-stakes decisions, and to be open and accommodating to other perspectives. Philosophy helps students develop these skills more than any other discipline at universities.
Universities and educational institutions are perhaps most importantly tasked with developing civically-minded students who become active citizens. Teaching students to look at and analyze information and ideas critically is crucial for this task. If students are taught the philosophical methods of analysis, including the Socratic method of questioning your beliefs through reasoned interpersonal dialogue, they are able to more fully participate in politics without falling into the trap of ideological squabbles and demonizations.
If universities have one mission, it’s to install critical thinking into the competencies of their students. At Georgetown, I am just completing my first philosophy course, Political and Social Thought, taught by Professor Richard Boyd. Already, the class has fundamentally shifted how I think about the state, culture, and freedom. But crucially, I have used my critical thinking skills to analyze the different ideas and texts presented to me in class.
As I join the professional world, I believe that the core curriculum–especially philosophy, but also economics, government, and history–will make me a well-rounded thinker and individual. Without these courses and the knowledge they give me, I would not develop the same level of critical thinking and skills while at university, and I wouldn’t have the same sense of direction as I do now in the first year of my university career.
Many universities too often present their mission statement as purely professional in nature. They argue that a degree is meant to show companies that graduates possess the skills and knowledge associated with a university. Universities thus prefer creating a curriculum that is efficient in helping the student graduate rather than prioritizing knowledge and development. However, this is a false dichotomy: the most crucial way in which a university can prepare its students for their professional future is to have a core curriculum which teaches them the skills of critical thinking, writing, and decision-making before anything else. If universities continue down this path, it could spell further decline of the integrity of our democracy.
