Anthropology/Philosophy major?

Question

Hi, I'm starting college this fall and so far have left my major as "undecided." I think it'd be really cool to study anthropology and philosophy, with perhaps a minor in French. What kind of jobs can I get with this? I may also be interested in forensic anthropology, would this be a step in the right direction?

Answer 1

I started out as an Anthrpology major, but I eventually switched to philosophy. For the most part, the two subjects are academically completely irrelevant and unrelated to each other. Before you begin, it seems like they might go hand in hand, or at least complement each other - but, sadly, they do not (at least at the major U.S. Universities).

In America, at a major institution, I can tell you that philosophy is all about argumentation, logic, and examination of arguments, theses, and discovery. A philosophy major takes symbolic logic and critical thinking, reads quite a lot, writes logically, clear and concisely, and develops views and objections to deep arguments in a logical manner.

Anthropology, on the other hand, is empirical, and requires more natural science training. While many arguments take place on the anthropology front, their arguments are evidential and historic/genetic/biological and cultural based, and usually feature abductive and inductive inference, unlike philosophy, which is largely deductive (like mathematics).

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In any case, both subjects are great: combining the two is a bit difficult, as they are now some-what dissimilar for better or worse. It is great, though, to see someone heading in the Humanities, no matter the disciplne, which I think is a wonderful baseline for anything. Goodluck!

Answer 2

Yes especially if you're interested in forensic anthropology. You could easily get a job with the corner or police or FBI with a degree in forensic anthro.  Well for my interest in Anthro. which is Egyptology I was told French was the language to know because a lot of information on Anthro. was written in French and isn't translated. But I don't know if that is the same for those thinking of going into forensics. (Philosophy is good to study it keeps you sane!)