As a college student, this is your chance:
to create questions, beginning the search for answers
that will inevitably lead to heightened levels 
of self actualization and fulfillment.
This question and answer journey, this time in your life,
is absolutely an intellectual pursuit, 
and the results you create could
lead to some of the most important and
influential themes of your life.
Philosophy courses can help you, 
in the search for answers,
to questions that might first appear to be simple, 
but are actually vastly complex.
Who are you?
What do you want do with your life?
In a philosophy classroom, you will learn
what the greatest minds throughout human history have thought about these deep and important issues.
You'll be encouraged to discuss difficult questions,
and to truly think for yourself,
as you develop and explore your own answers.
The University of Oklahoma's Philosophy Department
offers a wide variety of courses 
with exceptional professors.
You can learn about what makes you who you are, in "Self and Identity," with me, Professor Demarest, or
in "Philosophy of Race," with Professor Irvin, or in "Feminist Philosophy," with Professor Olberding.
You can discover how to do good in the world 
and how to build a good life for yourself,
in "Human Destiny," with Professor Judisch, or in "Philosophy of Religion," with Professor Zagzebski,
or in "Ethics," with Professor Miller.
If you're interested in figuring out what leads 
to deep and lasting happiness,
our very own Professor Snow is the director of OU's Institute for Human Flourishing.
You can learn how to think carefully and critically
in "Logic," with Professor Montminy, 
or "Critical Reasoning with Professor Cook,
Or, in "Justice in Society," with Professor Irvin.
Philosophy also gives you the opportunity 
to reflect on other disciplines.
"Environmental Ethics," with Professor Trachtenberg, "Philosophical Issues in Physics and Cosmology," with Professor Hawthorne,
"Business Ethics," with Professor Ellis, and in "Philosophy of Biology," with Professor Riggs.
You can discover your place in the history of thought.
In "Ancient Philosophy," with Professor Benson, 
"Modern Philosophy," with Professor Priselac
or, in Asian philosophy with professor Olberding, or in "The History of Ethics," with Professor Sankowski.
Philosophy can help you with the big questions, 
but what about the practical questions?
Well, philosophy majors outscore all other majors on the LSAT, and outscore most other majors on the GMAT.
Philosophy majors also have a better chance of getting admitted to medical school.
Philosophy majors have surprisingly high salaries, and are unmatched in salary growth after graduating.
Philosophy majors have the skills 
that are most valued by employers.
They can think clearly and critically about difficult issues.
They can focus on the essential features of a problem, without being distracted by irrelevant details.
They can communicate clearly, 
both in their writing and speaking,
and they're good at noticing connections 
between different areas to find novel solutions to difficult problems.
OU Philosophy graduates have gone on to law school, medical school, and graduate school.
Many have gone to work in education and health care.
One OU philosophy major now runs her own newspaper!
Some famous philosophy majors include novelists, such as Iris Murdoch and David Foster Wallace,
comedians, such as Ricky Gervais,
activists, such as Angela Davis, 
religious leaders, such as Pope John Paul II,
and venture capitalists and
entrepreneurs, such as Peter Thiel.
I chose to study philosophy at the
University of Oklahoma because I believe
it's so critical to evaluate the way we
think about the world.
Philosophy is something that never ends. 
We continue to develop our ideas,
and to develop discussions, and have disagreements, and to really build on the way we think about the world.
I am a student activist on campus at the university, and philosophy has greatly influenced my work.
It's really got me to continue going, and to really think critically about what's going on in the world,
and how we can effect change according to 
the work that philosophy is doing.
I decided to become a philosophy major because
there were a lot of different things that I was interested in when I was coming into college,
but then, one thing I noticed about doing all these fields and thinking about them,
was that I wanted to be able
 to really think about these issues,
be able to form arguments and decide what I really thought about them in a deep and more thoughtful way.
And,  philosophy gave you the sort of tools
to think about things deeply, 
to think about things rigorously,
to really improve my critical thinking skills, to use logic,
draw upon different traditions, 
and lots of really influential thinkers
from different areas around the world, 
and lots of different periods of world history.
And, I knew I wanted to get the sort of skills, 
so that I could write and argue effectively
in lots of different contexts and 
in different settings and jobs.
And, the philosophy major gave me 
the ability to do those things.
I find that philosophy, out of all the forms of inquiry 
that are available to humans
is that one prime form of inquiry 
that seeks to answer everything in the most unique way.
So that really appealed to me.
I think no matter where I choose to go in life,
the philosophy skills that I've learned here 
will really help me because
philosophy really teaches you how to think critically,
and that's an important skill set to know 
for any subject that you choose to pursue in life.
I chose philosophy because I wanted to be a lawyer.
I found that philosophy would teach me how to argue,
it would teach me how to question, and
that's exactly what you need to go into the field of law.
I was able to learn how to structure an argument and how to analyze other people's arguments,
learning what the structure of an argument is,
learning how to see it from every angle possible,
learning what a valid argument is, 
learning what a sound argument is, and 
learning the difference.
That has been a big part, and it's kind of 
trickled down to all my other coursework.
because I'm not just doing that for symbolic logic.
I do that for my history of ancient philosophy course, 
I do that for my research thesis I'm doing.
In everything, you have to analyze arguments.
You have to look at what they're saying, and you have to extract the most important part of what they're saying,
because that's what's going to help you, 
and that is what I've learned through philosophy.
