[00:00.00]NARRATOR: Listen to a conversation between a student and her philosophy professor.
[00:05.72]FEMALE STUDENT: Professor Miller?
[00:07.39]MALE PROFESSOR: Hi, Laura. Everything alright?
[00:09.74]FEMALE STUDENT: Yeah. I just... wanted to let you know... after this semester I... I’ve decided to change my major.
[00:20.78]MALE PROFESSOR: Really? Why? I, I thought you loved philosophy.
[00:24.71]FEMALE STUDENT: I do, but ... I don’t know. I have to be practical. [00:29.66]It’s great to take all these philosophy classes, but I mean... I need to start thinking about finding a job after I graduate.
[00:37.15]MALE PROFESSOR: Because, uh let’s see... people with a degree in philosophy don’t have anything to offer employers. Right?
[00:44.19]FEMALE STUDENT: Well... kind of. Lots of my friends are business majors. I need to study something that’ll actually prepare me for a career.
[00:52.42]MALE PROFESSOR: If I had a dollar for every time I heard that. [00:55.42]OK. Studying something like business is great preparation, of course. [01:00.58]Especially for people who already know their career goals. [01:03.68]But for those who don’t, well... what’s yours, what’re your goals?
[01:09.00]FEMALE STUDENT: I have no idea.
[01:12.33]MALE PROFESSOR: So, for you... perhaps it’s not the best option.
[01:17.25]FEMALE STUDENT: That’s a good point.
[01:18.83]MALE PROFESSOR: With a major in philosophy... besides the possibility of grad school—which I think would be wonderful for you—you know lots of things that are valuable in any career.
[01:29.23]FEMALE STUDENT: Like what? How Johnson tried to refute Berkeley’s empiricism?
[01:34.28]MALE PROFESSOR: Well... what did Johnson do?
[01:36.77]FEMALE STUDENT: Well, you know... what Berkeley said was that we can’t really know any objects, we can just perceive them. [01:44.09]It’s all about our senses perceiving things. [01:47.02]Berkeley basically made the point that it doesn’t really make sense to believe in actual, physical matter... [01:52.94]What Johnson did was, Johnson was trying to disprove that, so he kicked a big stone. He said that refuted Berkeley.
[01:59.81]MALE PROFESSOR: Uh-huh. So, what do you think of that?
[02:03.20]FEMALE STUDENT: Well, not that I’m convinced by Berkeley either, but I really don’t think Johnson refuted anything. [02:09.47]And I think Berkeley would just say that Johnson still doesn’t know anything apart from what he senses. [02:15.11]Seeing the stone, feeling his foot hurting after he kicked it—it’s all still just based on his perceptions. [02:21.56]Johnson can’t argue that he knows anything other than what his senses have told him.
[02:26.58]MALE PROFESSOR: You know what you just did?
[02:28.69]FEMALE STUDENT: Told you something that’s not relevant anywhere but a philosophy class?
[02:32.46]MALE PROFESSOR: No. You demonstrated well-developed analytical skills. [02:36.69]Philosophy majors can critique other people’s reasoning, make a convincing argument, summarize... and communicate very effectively. [02:44.94]These things are important in any career. And in life!
[02:48.52]FEMALE STUDENT: OK, but... still! You don’t see any of that in job descriptions!
[02:54.20]MALE PROFESSOR: Really? Oh, I think you do. I’ve seen so many articles lately, by heads of companies in all kinds of fields, complaining that it’s hard to find employees who can do that. [03:04.55]Ask at the career services office—they’ll tell you the same thing.
[03:08.37]FEMALE STUDENT: Well, I guess career services would know.
[03:11.52]MALE PROFESSOR: Also, why don’t you think about... You know, our department always has information about summer internships. [03:18.93]That’d give you some concrete experience to put on your résumé.
[03:22.33]FEMALE STUDENT: That’s an idea.
[03:23.47]MALE PROFESSOR: An internship could help you get your foot in the door.
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