"The hardest part of my job is the creativity aspect. Yet I like my work
because it is creative, challenging, interesting and never the same. My passion
and excitement for my work comes from never knowing what will happen next.
There's continual development of new ideas from other professors and students."
These are the words of John Tietz. He is chair of the philosophy department
at a university. He says he wouldn't encourage just anyone to get into this
field.
"It takes a certain mindset and a great deal of perseverance," he says.
"People entering a career as a teacher of philosophy and who do it well are
often unusual, highly creative people. They can be offbeat with an artistic
sort of creativity. The work is unpredictable in nature with no set patterns."
He warns, though, that the job can be isolating. "Academic work is often
insulated from the real world. But a good rich family life helps to keep you
grounded. Those professors without family may find their lives more difficult."
It can also be frustrating work. "One of the most exciting, weird, [and]
frightening things in this profession is the unsureness of everything. It
can easily become self-deceptive as one can work a whole year on a project
and then have it fall flat."
Tietz says the most frightening part was getting a job. It can be tough
to learn to stand in front of a huge class and teach them what you know. "Facing
a class for the first time can be intimidating, but after the first two years
one becomes used to it."
Mui (May) H. Sim works in the department of philosophy at Oklahoma State
University. She says her career in philosophy has changed her life entirely
-- for the better. "It's a great life and I often marvel at my great fortune."
Sim says the social importance of what she does inspires her. "By influencing
my students, helping them be critical about the things that they hear, see,
believe, tolerate, and their lives in general -- what their goals are and
what they deem happiness is.
"Some of the myths about my profession," Sim says, "are that it's all a
bunch of opinions and that there's no truth or falsehood, or answers about
right and wrong. People love it anyway because people get stuck in this field.
They find that nothing else measures up to the activities we do here in terms
of satisfaction or worth."
She says her job is very fulfilling. "My career is satisfying and challenging.
I am always learning not only intellectually but also practically -- how to
deal with others on committees, with students," she says.
"This is hardly a sheltered life. The same challenges and problems that
people face in the real world are issues for us, too."
Sim says that philosophers must be diplomats without compromising their
ethics. They must care about students and colleagues, yet remain at a professional
distance. Strong communication skills and an ability to interact with others
are important.
"Someday, I will tell my grandchildren that it is because of philosophy
that they came into this world," says Sim. "My husband -- whom I met in grad
school -- is a philosopher too. I feel that I attain a certain kind of immortality
through my research publications."