[caption id=”attachment_86801″ align=”aligncenter” width=”3000″] AP Photo/Molly Riley
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Philosophy majors and professors are tired of Marco Rubio picking on them.
Rubio’s stump speech on higher education reform has been singling them out specifically as an example of a major that doesn’t pay off. In at least four different speeches this year, Rubio has advised students against taking out expensive loans to major in “Greek philosophy,” implying that students should choose a major that will be more likely to lead them to employment.
Rubio supports “Know Before You Go” legislation, saying schools should have to warn student borrowers what their graduates earn.
He advocated for this type of legislation recently when he spoke to a crowd at the Iowa State Fair.
“So you can decide whether it’s worth borrowing $50,000 to major in Greek philosophy,” Rubio said. “Because after all, the market for Greek philosophers has been very tight for 2,000 years.”
Understandably, philosophy majors and professors are not happy that Rubio has continued to bash their field.
Inside Higher Ed asked Amy E. Ferrer, executive director of the American Philosophical Association, what she made of the comments.
“Rubio’s refrain about the value of philosophy is unfortunate – and misinformed,” Ferrer responded via email. “Philosophy teaches many of the skills most valued in today’s economy: critical thinking, analysis, effective written and verbal communication, problem solving, and more.”
Ferrer also said philosophy majors consistently outperform nearly all other majors on graduate entrance exams such as the GRE and the LSAT, and cited evidence indicating that philosophy and other humanities majors are increasingly successful and sought after in the business and technology sectors.
“Examples of philosophy majors’ success in the business world include Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, Flickr co-founder Stewart Butterfield and Carly Fiorina, former Hewlett-Packard CEO and one of Rubio’s rivals for the Republican presidential nomination,” she added.
h/t Inside Higher Ed
