Useful Philosophy Links

Useful Philosophy Resources

Thinking about picking up a major or minor in Philosophy? Good Idea:

• Editorial Note: I recall well that even if you are attracted to philosophy for the sorts of timeless intellectual reasons that Bertrand Russell pointed to a century ago, a philosophy major (or even minor) can be difficult to sell to practical minded parents. This is true even in the best of economic times, and especially if those parents are helping foot the college bill and don't see any worth or potential usefulness in philosophy. Some of the links here explain philosophy and its virtues in a way that can help speak to those types of common parental concerns. - DRK

• A short article in The Denver Post arguing that philosophy prepares you for a variety of different career paths.

• A short article in The Atlantic arguing that philosophy might be, surprisingly, the most practical major.

• Want a successful career in technology? Study philosophy, recommends google's Damon Horowitz.

• Best Undergrad College Degrees By Salary Not too shabby.

• Philosophy and Standardized Test: get a boost on your GRE, GMAT or LSAT.

• Philosophy is Back in Business, an article singing the praises of a philosophy degree published in Business Week, of all places.

• An article in Harper's, written by the founder of a consulting firm, arguing that if you want to succeed (even in business), don't get an M.B.A., rather study philosophy.

• Get information on Purdue's course requirements for a major or minor degree in philosophy here.

• Get information on the undergraduate run Philosophy Society of Purdue here and here.

Stuff for Philosophy Graduate Students, Current and Prospective

• Philosophy Compass: This is an excellent resource for getting up to speed on topics and trends in different areas of philosophy. The articles aim to provide state of the art overviews of particular areas, identify open questions, and suggest topics for further research.

• An essay on significance and irrelevance that every graduate student should read.

• A couple more useful essays, providing advice on publishing and guidelines for refereeing papers respectively.

• A useful resource for putting together and teaching an Introduction to Philosophy course.

• Not unrelated to the previous link, Jonathan Bennett has an excellent collection of early modern texts that in the public domain.

• The Philosopher's Lexicon

• Helpful diagram of what you're getting yourself into.

• Steve Pyke's series of photographs of famous philosophers entitled 'De-mystifying the Modern Magicians'. Each portrait has a pithy summary of the philosopher's conception of what philosophy is all about - my favorite of which is Phillipa Foot's: "You ask a philosopher a question and after he or she has talked for a bit, you don't understand your question any more."

Reading and Writing Philosophy

• Writing a Philosophy Paper, A good essay by Peter Horban

• From Jim Pryor's website:

Guidelines on Writing a Philosophy Paper

Guidelines on Reading Philosophy

• A link to The Purdue Online Writing Lab with information about the writing tutors and locations

General Philosophy

• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

• Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

• Episteme Links

• Phil Papers

• Philosopy TV (youtube videos of philosophers debating different topic)