Philosophy might be profitably divided up into the following three subcategories: (1) metaphysics, the study of the basic nature of reality including ourselves and God, (2) epistemology, the study of the nature of knowledge and the components of knowledge, e.g., truth, and (3) axiology, the study of value, be that value moral, political, or artistic. Along the way, of course, philosophers deal with a wide array of topics such as, what is the relationship between our bodies and our consciousness? Naturally, philosophers regularly uncover questions which lurk at the very foundations of our understanding of both ourselves and the universe in which we find ourselves.

The study of philosophy is of great value because, over the centuries, philosophers have developed analytic and verbal skills applicable to almost every imaginable problem, and as a result, are professionally involved with almost every area of human endeavor. This explains the title of a recent article by the American philosopher David A. Hoekema: "Why not study something practical, like philosophy?" (National Forum, 1987; APA Proceedings, 1985). Hoekma's information, compiled from 1981-82 U.S. statistics and confirmed by later data, attests to the advantages and "practicality" of the analytic and verbal skills developed by philosophy majors when it comes to new undertakings. In fact, philosophy majors outperform most, if not all, other disciplines in this regard. The evidence is based on the test performance by undergraduate majors in the following: the LSAT (Law School Admissions Test); the GMAT (Graduate Management Admissions Test); the GRE (Graduate Record Examination). On the LSAT and GMAT (which few students would think to prepare for by studying metaphysics and ethics) philosophy majors performed substantially better than majors in any other humanities field, better than all the social science majors except economics, better than all natural science majors except mathematics, and better than all business and applied fields, including engineering. Study something practical, study philosophy.