November 16 is World Philosophy Day, and while you might think Aristotle is only for law students, we’re here to tell you how philosophy can make you a better student and better at life in general.

Chances are, you’ve already come across some philosophy at uni. It might be disguised as the logical backbone of a scientific method or help provide ethical guidelines for psychology experiments. While it might be more obvious in courses like law, you can find philosophical concepts covered off in a whole range of subjects from teaching, medicine (and STEM subjects in general) to business and more.

But did you know you can actually harness philosophy to boost your uni results? Here’s how:

It’ll Help You Construct Logical Arguments

If there’s one thing philosophy will teach you, it’s logical structure. To be able to discuss heavy concepts, we need to make sure our audience is on the same page. A basis in philosophy will help you define your terms and line up a logical sequence of arguments.

For STEM-types, a foundation in philosophy will help you structure your arguments when you’re trying to prove something, disprove something or just take a guess at what might happen next while on pracs. You can’t go past the logical theory, amirite?

It’s Great For Essays

Learning how to structure an argument will help you get better marks on your essays and might even help you draft some pretty mean exam notes. Applying logical theory can also help you identify flaws in your arguments before submitting them in essay form. Spotting your own mistakes before your tutor does can save you a world of hurt come results time.

Philosophy’s most basic (and most complex) question is “why?” This is the question you need to ask over and over when developing an essay or putting together a methodology. Why am I choosing to do this thing this way instead of another way? Why am I arguing from a certain position? Why did that historical event happen? Asking ‘why’ help you arrive at better conclusions to questions posed in your assignments.

It’ll Help You Shape Your Ideas In The Real World

One area a lot of students struggle with is how to apply bland or formal theory to the real world. When law students talk about the floodgates principle, what they’re really doing is looking at what real world consequences there may be due to the basics of ‘cause and effect’.

This kind of reasoning applies to STEM (e.g. preventing/cleaning up chemical spills), psychology (e.g. criminology), and heaps of other areas. It’s also conveniently a great place to pick up an extra point or 5 on an assignment by showing you’ve though about the impact of the theory you’ve been absorbing all semester.

So why not get acquainted with the philosophical basics? We promise it’s not as boring as you think! If you want to dip your toe into the philosophical pool, why not start here?