u/Ok-Addendum9287

Up until the last few months or so, my plan was to go to law school and practice law. I took the LSATs a few years ago and scored a 172 and graduated cum laude from a top 20 university in the US with a degree in philosophy, and feel pretty confident I have the intellectual capacity and interest to make a good lawyer.

However, I've had some ethical concerns about practicing law that have always made me a bit hesitant to go into the field. These concerns were magnified when I got hired as a legal assistant at a personal injury law firm this spring. I ended up quitting about a week ago because I just felt too much discomfort with what we were doing. I'm hesitant to share more details of the specific issues because the law firm I worked with had a pretty niche specialization, but suffice it to say, I was pretty concerned with the kind of work we were being asked to do.

The main hurdle I'm having trouble overcoming is that I have a lot of difficulty making arguments that I don't wholeheartedly believe in (and I have an insanely high standard for what constitutes wholeheartedly believing something). I had this same issue when writing papers in my undergrad. Internally, I get this deep sense of guilt as if I've just told a lie. I guess another way to put it is that I come up with an argument, but then identify counterarguments/caveats that could be made to the argument, and feel guilty if I don't mention those as well. I also have similar feelings of guilt arise when I think about say, asking for an arbitrary amount of money in civil case that may or may not turn out to be fair as well as prosecuting possibly innocent clients or defending who are likely guilty.

From a strictly rational point of view, I understand that these types of uncertainty are a natural part of a legal system because you don't have an infinite amount of time and money to devote to a particular case. However, as mentioned in the title, I have dealt with moderate to severe OCD since high school and I'm worried that with how easy it is for me to start feeling guilty over these things, I would have a law career filled with intense anxiety.

If anyone has experience dealing with similar issues as a lawyer, even on a less extreme level, I would appreciate any advice you can offer. Is this something that might improve with time? Or would it be better to choose a career with less uncertainty?

Hi all, I graduated about a year ago from the University of Notre Dame about 2 years ago with a degree in philosophy, and I am planning to apply for a PhD program this coming application cycle. I'm aware of the general advice at present against pursuing a PhD, but I've been unable to shake the desire after working for a year as a high school teacher, and a year as a paralegal in a law firm (Law and secondary school teaching were my alternative routes).

I have an interest in the historical relationship between religion and political/legal philosophy, particularly in the Late Medieval to Early Modern period. This is what I would tentatively plan to write my dissertation on. I also have interests in Ancient political philosophy and ethics, as well as the works of Kierkegaard and Kant.

As far as schools go, I'm looking for a place with strong emphasis on history of philosophy, philosophy of religion, and political philosophy. I've been perusing the Philosophy Gourmet Report and the faculty lists in potential departments, and have yet to find a school that feels like a strong fit. The added difficulty is that I'm now openly gay, and I want to avoid a department where this might not be completely welcoming. Unfortunately, I've been discovering that many of the faculty members who concentrate in philosophy of religion at the universities I've looked at so far seem to have somewhat conservative worldviews, and I'm quite hesitant to put myself in that position after my undergraduate experiences.

I appreciate any advice people here are able to offer!