Psychology and Philosophy majors: what is are the differences?

[Guest Katia]

My dd has developed an interest in both psychology and philosophy, but as a mom, I'm having trouble understanding the difference in these subjects when applied to a university major.

 

So, what are some career options with both? Are these arts degrees or science degrees?

 

Any help would be appreciated! TIA

[Lori D.]

PSYCHOLOGY

 

Definition (quote from Wikipedia):

"Psychology is an academic and applied discipline involving the scientific study of mental processes and behavior. Psychologists study such phenomena as perception, cognition, emotion, personality, behavior, and interpersonal relationships. Psychology also refers to the application of such knowledge to various spheres of human activity, including issues related to everyday life (e.g. family, education, and employment) and the treatment of mental health problems. Psychologists attempt to understand the role of these functions in individual and social behavior, while also exploring the underlying physiological and neurological processes. Psychology includes many sub-fields of study and application concerned with such areas as human development, sports, health, industry, media, and law.

 

 

Jobs for a Psychologist:

 

Medical

(working with people in a medical facility to help physically rehabilitate patients with injuries, strokes, or chronic problems)

 

Counseling

(working with people in a mental health setting to deal with loss, grief, emotional stress, relational issues, etc.)

 

Social

(big picture thinking/understanding of dynamics of individuals/groups/societies/trends; often employed as a consultant in the fields of business, education, politics, etc.)

 

Research

(conduct research at centers, universities, corporations, governments, etc., to look for patterns of behavior in specific areas)

 

 

Explanation of what a psychologist does, and specific types of jobs as a psychologist:

http://www.careeroverview.com/psychology-careers.html

 

 

 

 

PHILOSOPHY:

 

Definition (quote from Wikipedia):

"Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, truth, beauty, justice, validity, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing these questions (such as mysticism or mythology) by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on reasoned argument. The word philosophy is of Ancient Greek origin: φιλοσοφία (philosophía), meaning "love of knowledge," "love of wisdom."

 

 

Types of jobs for a philosopher:

 

- Academia

(college professor/lecturer of philosophy at a secular university or of philosophy/theology at a religious college)

 

- Think Tank

(often a temporary position, often funded by grant money; research/discuss/write/publish/ on ethics, practices in various fields such as medicine, business, education, politics, sociology, etc.)

 

- Large Corporation

(similar to a think tank position, but funded and working within a large corporation, such as bioethics for a hospital; economics for a business corporation; etc.)

[Jane in NC]

My dd has developed an interest in both psychology and philosophy, but as a mom, I'm having trouble understanding the difference in these subjects when applied to a university major.

 

So, what are some career options with both? Are these arts degrees or science degrees?

 

Any help would be appreciated! TIA

 

Oh boy. Psychology is a common major, but, as I understand it, one really needs either a master's degree (with clinical license) or PhD to practice. Psychology is the study of how the mind works and why we behave as we do. It seems more specific to me than philosophy which concerns itself with broad questions of what is knowledge (epistomology), ethics, political philosophy, aesthetics, etc.

 

The subjects are really quite different.

 

Philosophy is more of an art, whereas psychology is considered a social science. Some aspects of psychology (neural science) are more hard core science than others (say, substance abuse).

 

One of the regular contributors to this board has a PhD in psychology. Perhaps she will weigh in.

 

Jane

[Bev in B'ville]

Oh boy. Psychology is a common major, but, as I understand it, one really needs either a master's degree (with clinical license) or PhD to practice. Psychology is the study of how the mind works and why we behave as we do. It seems more specific to me than philosophy which concerns itself with broad questions of what is knowledge (epistomology), ethics, political philosophy, aesthetics, etc.

 

The subjects are really quite different.

 

Philosophy is more of an art, whereas psychology is considered a social science. Some aspects of psychology (neural science) are more hard core science than others (say, substance abuse).

 

One of the regular contributors to this board has a PhD in psychology. Perhaps she will weigh in.

 

Jane

 

The standard joke is the psychology field is a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and two bucks will get you a cup of coffee (or the degree could help you get a job at the coffee shop).

 

Someone interested in either of the fields above should be prepared to get, at the very least, a master's degree. However, I would have them strongly consider a Ph.D. program instead of a terminal master's degree program. When I was in graduate school, the state university I attended did not have a Ph.D. program in my specialty (which I wll discuss more in a moment). I received a M.A. degree, but then applied to Ph.D. programs. Once there, I was told I had to repeat all of my statistics courses because, well, they were picky about their stats classes and considered them one of the best in the country.

 

Psychology is not just one field. I dread telling people I'm a psychologist because their first thing they say to me after my revelation is something along the lines of "Oh my, I shouldnt have told you XYZ, because you've probably been analyzing everything I say....." Psychology has many, varied disciplines. Clinical psychology (think "couch" here) and even within clinical there's family/adolescents/marriage/children/etc. Within those I just mentioned there are different philosphies (e.g. Freudian, Jungian, Behavioral, Cognitive, Cognitive/Behavioral, Humanistic, etc. etc.) There are also lesser known fields such as Industrial/Organizational, Human Engineering, Social, Forensic, etc. Just to give you an example, my field is Industrial/Organizational Psychology and within that my specialty is teams (work teams) and job satisfaction/organizational commitment, especially as it relates to the spouse's contribution.

 

If your dd is truly interested in this field as a career, have her take a general psychology class (or get her a general psychology textbook) that she can read through and see if one of the fields mentioned in the textbook strikes a cord with her. Also, she should consider what she wants to do with her degree (teach at a university, research, see patients - privately or in a hospital setting, work for the FBI, etc.) I would also have her take a statistics class. Not many people know this, but psychology is heavily grounded in statistics. In my time as a graduate student, I had 10 graduate level statistics classes. By the time I was teaching undergraduates I thought means/standard deviations/correlations/chi-squares/regressions were the easiest things I had ever seen (sort of like teaching 1 + 1 after you've taken calculus).

 

I don't know how old your dd is, but once in a university/college setting, she should narrow her choice down and take classes that align with that choice (e.g. If she chooses Industrial/Organizational she would probably want to take several business/management courses, too). She won't be able to major in a specialty at the undergraduate level, but those other classes will help her with getting into a graduate program. When looking at graudate programs, she should only look at psychology programs that have her desired specialty and, preferrably, the higher ranked programs (top ten).

 

HTH. Please feel free to PM me with any other questions you may have.

[anissarobert]

Let's start with this, I love Philosophy!

 

I have a degree in philosophy. (Double major with Political Science)

 

All that being said, it is not a field for someone who wants to make a great deal of money. Getting a B.A. in Philosopy is a great stepping stone to law school or graduate school, and depending on the school, it is a good way to learn how to think, but it is not a money making proposition. With my degree, I was qualified to work in retail management after college. (I had planned to attend law school, but I got married and had a baby instead.)

 

It is a great prep. for teaching great books as a homeschool mom though! If my dd wanted to study phil., I would have her minor in it.

 

HTH:)

[Lori D.]

Similar for DH. He majored in creative writing/poetry and minored in philosophy. He still dabbles in poetry writing occasionally, and enjoys the philosophy by going through his old Logic textbook with the boys, and discussing worldview issues when/wherever, but -- what puts food on the table is his career with the local fire dept. : )

[8filltheheart]

Definitely significant differences. I loved all of my psy classes, but I hated my philosophy ones. ;)

 

Both are limited w/o graduate work. I double majored in education and focused on early childhood psy so that my psy degree actually could lead to a job w/o grad school. Even with that, I had to take several grad level courses to fulfill my early childhood requirements.

 

I would recommend your dd spend a significant amount of time researching career paths prior to selecting her major.

[iluvmy4blessings]

My dd has developed an interest in both psychology and philosophy, but as a mom, I'm having trouble understanding the difference in these subjects when applied to a university major.

 

So, what are some career options with both? Are these arts degrees or science degrees?

 

Any help would be appreciated! TIA

 

They are two totally different subjects. Philosophy has more to do with world religions and the great thinkers...what is the meaning of life? etc....Psychology has to do with counseling (and other things of course like psychological testing/evalulation/experimental/cognitive etc). To be honest with you, I have no idea what someone would do with a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy except use it a springboard to go on to graduate school....perhaps law school or anything else I suppose. The only way you could probably make a living in that field would be to get a Doctorate in it, and then teach it in college. Forgive me if there is another way to make money in that field, but I don't know it!! It sure is interesting though!

 

Psychology is something you have to go beyond undergraduate....I earned my BA in Psychology. It did zero for me career wise. You have to continue on and get your masters in counseling or your doctorate in psychology. Again, it is a great springboard into other fields though. I went on to get my masters in education. Basically degrees like that can be a stepping stone to something else. For example, if you know you are going to law school then you can get a variety of undergrad degrees such as philosophy, history, psychology, etc. It is just a stepping stone to other things.