Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Scary Gary]

Since teaching in Korea seems like the logical choice for anyone who majored in philosophy back home, I just wanted to ask: Did anyone take it?
Continental or Analytic? What subarea were you into?

Thanks...just curious.

[numazawa]

Um... is that "logical" as in "default"?

Well, as it happens, yes, Philosophy was half of my double major. The principal focus was ontology and formal logic.

Fortunately, the other half of the major was nihilism and casual absurdity.

[Gorgias]

I did.

Continental.

Frankly, living way out here now, I feel that a lot of that philosophy is irrelevant. This is not 399 BC, and this isn't Greece, it's not even 1900, and this isn't Germany. That old-Western philosophy is like using an egg-beater to iron a shirt with. These days I like the city planner and computer philosophers: David Kolb of "Socrates in the Labyrinth" (check this oddity out: http://culturemachine.tees.ac.uk/Cmach/Backissues/j002/Articles/art_kolb/Introduction_143.html ) mentions: Sanford Kwinter (hard to follow up on), but Remm Koolhaas (architect) is interesting and easy to study. And Alan Sokal's "Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity" ( http://www.physics.nyu.edu/faculty/sokal/transgress_v2/transgress_v2_singlefile.html ) is funny, and makes some sense.

It's old and German, but I'll tell you, Clausewitz's "On War," has been very useful for planning strategy in the elementary ESL classroom. This was my moto for some time:

[panthermodern]

Philosophy major ... Yes.

Continental. (European)
19th century.

plus a "minor" in world. (Chinese)

Joint double major (honours) with History.
(World)

I make more money then a classmate (undergrad) of mine who ended up getting a Phd. at Oxford (Physics) with a lot less debt.

Life is what you make it ...

In the big picture education truly means nothing.

Say my Dad always said...

"It is smarter to be lucky then lucky to be smart"

[Scary Gary]

I tend to agree with Gorgias.

My undergrad minor in phil. was done through a primarily continental department, so when I eventually went back and spent a term upgrading to a double major [Political science and phil.] in an analytic department at another uni I was in way over my head in a very short time. Possible worlds? Quantification? Supervenience? Let's just say I maximally exploited my prof's office hours.

Continental departments seem far less relevant than analytic, especially if you plan on/would like to work in philosophy in North America.

Most of my classmates in the analytic department looked at me kind of awkwardly every time I dared bring up hegel or Nietzsche in a class discussion. I eventually converted though, and with the exception of the guy in my avatar most of my 'continental' books now occupy a very dusty space on my bottom shelf.

Korea [yes, the default choice] has been good to me however, and I'm going back to do my MA in January. Are any of you considering philosophy for for grad studies?

It's nice to talk with you.

[bobbyhanlon]

you know the sokal thing was a joke, right?

[Naruto]

I double minored in Philosophy more specifically Philosophy of Religion and Philosophy of Science.

[Scary Gary]

Actually....I don't know about the Sokal thing.

[Hollywoodaction]

[brachy]

I went to my brothers wedding in July, met a really nice girl there, started chatting to her, asked her what she was studying in University, and she said "Philosophy".... my response was "Why?"

[Hans Blix]

i majored in philosophy (mostly analytic) and pure maths. i'm now teaching english in korea.

[Kuros]

I studied philosophy, but I'm a little puzzled at all the different schools people are talking about. My undergrad was just reading a series of great books starting at Homer and ending at Heidegger, so it was not especially in-depth except for papers. However, everyone took the same classes so it was really enjoyable to always have something to talk about with everyone.

I kind of miss studying all that.

[bobbyhanlon]

[drgoo]

Philisophy degree in '91. I still can't tell you why.

[JacktheCat]

In the words of one philosophy major, Bruce Lee:

"Why did I major in philosphy? So I can think deep thoughts about being unemployed."