u/Inevitable-Wind-1925

I have a bachelor's degree in anthropology and sociology and since graduating from undergrad I have been working on a personal research project (for about 6 years now...goodness gracious) alongside work and life. The scope is super broad, and it's been a lot of work, and my goal has been to write a book on my subject--this project most squarely fits within the field of philosophy. My project particularly overlaps with decision theory, value theory, morality, the free will determinism debate, and I am particularly interested in applied ethics. Anyway, I'm getting to this point where I want to translate my interest in this topic into my work, and three people who I have worked closely with and know of my project are wondering why I wouldn't go get my Ph.D. Looking into this a bit, Philosophy is really the most pertinent subject for the methods/approach I have been taking over the past six years, and in the past three I have been reading journal articles, dissertations, and books by philosophers (specialized and related to my project interests--my neighbor is a retired philosophy professor, so he recommended these sources). As I look into programs, I am very aware that I've never taken a philosophy class before. I've started watching Intro to Philosophy from the University of Edinburgh on YouTube and I'm realizing that I know a lot and I am missing some of the basics. I know that school would be super helpful for having access to resources, providing community, and improving my clarity of thought.

In many ways going back to school makes a lot of sense, and yet there is no Philosophy PhD program in my city, so I would need to relocate (with my partner--don't wan to leave him behind!). I'm trying to figure out what I should expose myself to, to determine which schools to apply to. The crazy part of my brain wonders if I should instead pursue a PhD in Sociology as there is a program in my city that looks great, and I know that jobs would be easier to find; however, sociology isn't so pertinent to my project interest.

Ultimately, what I would like to do, more than academia is consulting. Although, in the past few years, I have been teaching for work, and my coworkers tell me that I am a teacher, and have asked why I don't go back to school to do that, so I recognize that were I in a program, I might get really into teaching, but the aspect of philosophy that I think is most interesting is the way that it stands to influence how societies think of morality and ethics, and fundamentally shifting how we think about the world and how we treat one another.

I have been out of school for 8 years now, and I'm feeling a bit lost searching schools and evaluating different programs, particularly since it seems like different schools have very different programs and that a PhD in Philosophy stands to be quite different than PhDs in different disciplines. I suppose I am still getting my head around philosophy as a discipline, a PhD in Philosophy just feels super meta, but that is what my interest is, so....

I'd love to hear from people who pursued graduate education in philosophy. I'd be interested to hear more about how others think about choosing disciplines and programs and intentions and starting the grad school exploration process. I'd love any thoughts on any of the above, I'd love to hear them. Thank you!

I have a bachelor's degree in anthropology and sociology and since graduating from undergrad I have been working on a personal research project (for about 6 years now...goodness gracious) alongside work and life. The scope is super broad, and it's been a lot of work, and my goal has been to write a book on my subject--this project most squarely fits within the field of philosophy. Anyway, I'm getting to this point where I want to translate my interest in this topic into my work, and three people who I have worked closely with and know of my project are wondering why I wouldn't go get my Ph.D. Looking into this a bit, Philosophy is really the most pertinent subject for the methods/approach I have been taking over the past six years, and in the past three I have been reading journal articles and books by philosophers (the sort of stuff you read in a Ph.D. program, but specialized and related to my project interests--my neighbor is a retired philosophy professor, so he recommended these sources). Anyway, I haven't ever taken a philosophy class before, and I'm realizing that I am missing some of the basics, and I know that school would be super helpful for having access to resources, providing community, and improving my clarity of thought.

In many ways going back to school makes a lot of sense, and yet philosophy Ph.D. programs aren't in my city, so I would need to relocate. I'm trying to figure out what I should expose myself to, to determine if a philosophy Ph.D. is most pertinent, or if I could get away with a sociology Ph.D., as jobs would likely be easier to find (although, it wouldn't be so directly pertinent to my project interest) and there is a sociology Ph.D. program in my city that looks great.

I have been out of school for 8 years now, and I'm feeling a bit lost searching schools and evaluating different programs, particularly since it seems like different schools have very different programs and that a Ph.D. in philosophy stands to be quite different than a Ph.D. in sociology or anthropology (as these disciplines would focus on social science research) which I am familiar with, or biology/chemistry for example which involve lab time and research in a different way (which I more often see discussed in grad school subs).

Ultimately, what I would like to do, more than academia is consulting. Although, in the past few years, I have been teaching for work, and my coworkers tell me that I am a teacher, and have asked why I don't go back to school to do that, so I recognize that were I in a program, I might get really into teaching, but the aspect of philosophy that I think is most interesting is the way that it stands to influence how societies think of morality and ethics, and fundamentally shifting how we think about the world and how we treat one another.

I'd love to hear from people who pursued graduate education in philosophy. I'd be interested to hear more about how others think about choosing disciplines and programs and intentions and starting the grad school exploration process. I'd love any thoughts on any of the above, thank you!

I’m new to Reddit, so I don’t understand all of the lingo, or how it works, but sometimes I will see posts on other subreddits that would be pertinent for my new subreddit. What are the pros and cons or dos and don’t of crossposting to my new subreddit?

The subreddit in question is r/AskRespect. There are AITAH and AIO posts in particular that are about respect that I imagine would be pertinent for my subreddit. Not just crossposting but adding a particular question related to how folks view respect playing a role in the situation for the people involved. Any thoughts would be appreciated! Thank you!

What are your coolest/most unusual finds this month?

There is so much out there, do you ever just focus on one thing that is small and pervasive, so that you don't immediately fill up your bag? I usually use bread bags for pick up and when I just focus on cigarette butts, the bag never really gets full, but there are so many!

This subreddit is for asking questions about respect, disrespect, lack of respect, or self-respect and receiving support or hearing different perspectives on situations that confuse you or asking conceptual questions about how respect works.

The goal of this community is to get better at navigating social interactions and problems which relate to respect, to get better at thinking in terms of respect, and get better at asking good questions to repair when disrespect occurs.

I imagine that it may at times be a bit as similar to AITAH and AIO but instead of Yes and No responses, the focus is on how behaviors can be interpreted differently and brainstorming how to address different situations. The goal is to think in terms of respect and practice perspective taking and building social skills.

TLDR: I am inclined to not vote for Tina Kotek in the Democratic Primary for Oregon Governor. I have created a Rank Choice Vote survey with five candidates running against Kotek who seem to have the most press, interviews, videos, website to see who emerges as the strongest candidate to inform my vote. I hope that others might participate in that Rank Choice Vote ( https://www.rcv123.org/ballot/gQWHGRXgC3XmmmV6Qr9WjhQ8 ) and share their thoughts on Kotek and the other candidates below. Thank you!

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Today when I opened up my voter's pamphlet I was frustrated to see that Kotek was the only candidate listed for Oregon Governor (in the Democratic Party Candidate Primary) in the Voter's Pamphlet. Growing up my mother always said that if a candidate isn't in the Voter's Pamphlet that they aren't a serious candidate, and yet, the world is upside down right now and funds are buying elections, so I was curious who the other candidates are. What I found is that the candidates running against Kotek do not have financial backing and Weigler, in particular, addressed this point directly in an interview: https://multdems.org/2026-election-prof/miranda-weigler/ .

As I looked into the candidates several of them made similar points and mentioned that they are running because of Kotek's actions and tenure over the last few years. I am particularly frustrated by her attempt to kill Preschool for All. Her contestants know it is a long shot and they are running on the basis that they want someone else as Governor. I'm also alarmed by Fora's commentary ( https://katu.com/news/know-your-candidates/2026-forest-fora-alexander-oregon-governor-democrat ) that she spoke to folks with higher profiles than her and "nobody really wanted to take the risk [of running for Governor] because our current administration is led by someone who is a bit notorious for holding grudges." It seems that many candidates are most interested in someone other than Kotek being in office, even if it isn't them, and yet with so many contestants the vote stands to be spread out, perhaps making it less likely that someone other than Kotek wins the race.

This is the primary, so whether or not Kotek wins the race, there will be a democrat in the upcoming November election. So,

Do you think the office is more or less likely to go red if Kotek is elected the Democratic Party Candidate?

What do you think of the candidates running against Kotek?