mindcycle

I’m not quite sure where to date my decision to pursue an academic career — probably somewhere between winter 2006 when I started my bachelor’s and a year from now. The more time I spent in academic surroundings, the more I feel attracted to them, even home, if that’s possible.

The big issue for me then was — and still is — to choose between philosophy and the empirical sciences (especially neuroscience and psychology). There are plenty of reasons, I think, to make either decision. But why not go a third way? Why not combine the two? I would consider this ideal as neither philosophy nor neuroscience or psychology alone can answer the really interesting questions.

With a BSc. in Cognitive Science with a clear focus in Philosophy and an MSc. in Neuroscience I’m already sort of a hybrid. I realize this has advantages. For instance, my background enables me to see how (or at least that) researchers from different disciplines talk past each other. The downside is that I’m not a thoroughbred member of either community.

My decision is pending. Could one or the other provide a better prospect for my future? Well, the received view certainly is to better stay away from philosophy and go into science, go where the money is. But how about science? A friend just posted this link on facebook. Jonathan Katz describes a scientific career as exactly the nightmare scientist warn me about when I tell them about possibly going into philosophy.

What had I best do? Avoiding either path, and switching to engineering does not sound like a convincing alternative … maybe just carry on and hope Fortuna to be propitious?

But from this point of view, should I even bother making a choice between philosophy and neuroscience? Why would it be such a big deal to be a hybrid? As long as I’m doing research, it’ll be just fine as there are experts in either area I can collaborate with — and thanks to my hybrid-being I actually see their points.

The job market raises difficulties. Who is looking for someone with neither full competence in neuroscience nor philosophy? The only viable solution, it seems, is to pick one or the other for my PhD and subsequent academic future while leaving the rest for leisure time.

But can this be true? And does it bring me any closer to solving the really interesting questions? I doubt it. And in the end, would a clear cut decision make the perspective for an academic career so much better?