My comment at a recent thread includes a list of the necessary conditions, as I see it, to want to go for a humanities PhD. If you can optimize for those criteria, you are doing well.
I would suggest NOT optimizing for
“3) Young advisor” (Why care about his/her age?)
“4) Level of similarity between what you want to research, 5)Freedom to do what you want in terms of directing your research” (A PhD is only worthwhile if your adviser is wise and benevolent and you are fully prepared to be guided in your learning by him or her.)
“6) Comfortable physical environment” (You don’t want some concrete jungle nightmare, but most prestigious universities [the only worthwhile type] have a pretty good environment.)
“7) Good contacts” (You probably won’t get an academic job, but if all the conditions exist to get you an academic job, like a good adviser, prestigious university, etc., then good contacts will be follow naturally.)
or
“9)Nothing to do with academia” (Why are you bothering with a PhD?)
As to 3) : Philosophy PhDs can sometimes take a long time, compared to other disciplines—in part because unlike, say, chemistry, there’s no objective criterion to appeal to. I knew a philosophy PhD who spent >15 years in grad school, and part of that (several years lost each time) was because she had not one but two (old) advisers die on her.
6) There are huge differences among say Cornell, Harvard, Princeton, and Berkeley’s environments. All are good, but in meaningfully different directions
7) You cannot hope for contacts to fall into your lap. No matter where you go, it takes work to meet people and maintain relationships. And yet, these can be absolutely key in all sorts of endeavors, so taking steps to reduce the work needed can be very valuable.
My comment at a recent thread includes a list of the necessary conditions, as I see it, to want to go for a humanities PhD. If you can optimize for those criteria, you are doing well.
I would suggest NOT optimizing for
“3) Young advisor” (Why care about his/her age?)
“4) Level of similarity between what you want to research, 5)Freedom to do what you want in terms of directing your research” (A PhD is only worthwhile if your adviser is wise and benevolent and you are fully prepared to be guided in your learning by him or her.)
“6) Comfortable physical environment” (You don’t want some concrete jungle nightmare, but most prestigious universities [the only worthwhile type] have a pretty good environment.)
“7) Good contacts” (You probably won’t get an academic job, but if all the conditions exist to get you an academic job, like a good adviser, prestigious university, etc., then good contacts will be follow naturally.)
or
“9)Nothing to do with academia” (Why are you bothering with a PhD?)
As to 3) : Philosophy PhDs can sometimes take a long time, compared to other disciplines—in part because unlike, say, chemistry, there’s no objective criterion to appeal to. I knew a philosophy PhD who spent >15 years in grad school, and part of that (several years lost each time) was because she had not one but two (old) advisers die on her.
6) There are huge differences among say Cornell, Harvard, Princeton, and Berkeley’s environments. All are good, but in meaningfully different directions
7) You cannot hope for contacts to fall into your lap. No matter where you go, it takes work to meet people and maintain relationships. And yet, these can be absolutely key in all sorts of endeavors, so taking steps to reduce the work needed can be very valuable.
Can’t a person want to get a PhD and also want other things at the same time?
You can, but you can’t get a PhD while wanting other things. Or, at least, it often seems that way.