I've just graduated with a B.A. in the humanities and hope to attend graduate school for philosophy in the near future. I didn't major in philosophy-even though I have taken many courses in the subject I know that it will be a challenge to get into a good Ph.D program. Would it best suit me to undergo a master's in philosophy first-assuming that I'm accepted to such a program- before undergoing a ph.d? I'm also interested in the subject of religion and am wondering whether a master's in religious studies- e.g. an MTS from Harvard- would hurt my chances at getting into a good philosophy Ph.D program? What do you think of undergoing a master's in religious studies in lieu of a master's in philosophy? Aside from religion my primary philosophical interests are in ethics, social philosophy (esp Marx),philosophy of science, Kant, the history of philosophy and feminist philosophy. Thank you for your time...

I would also suggest investigating the M.A. programs in philosophy that have a good track record of helping people get into top PhD programs. However, I'd also add that majoring in philosophy is not a requirement for admission to most PhD programs, and many strong graduate students in philosophy have majored in other fields. Whether you are competitive for the better PhD programs depends largely on your letters of recommendation, GRE scores, and, as already noted, your writing sample.

Which kinds of job would be the most interesting (and available) to a recent undergraduate philosophy graduate, whose main interest is in philosophy, and who intends to continue pursuing philosophy as a hobby, but who thinks graduate study in philosophy is not a realistic option (for example, jobs that would appeal to someone with a strong interest in philosophy of action, free will, moral psychology, meta-ethics, the nature and grounding of normativity, philosophy of language and philosophy of mind, esp. theories of intentionality, etc.)? Basically, jobs for someone who would like to do graduate study in philosophy, but knows they are not quite brilliant enough...

First, one does not have to be brilliant to go to, and be successful in, graduate school in philosophy. That aside, there are many interesting career paths for someone with your education. One avenue is to pursue federal jobs, by looking at www.usajobs.gov. You can do a search by major or keyword, and some interesting jobs pop up for philosophy, including overseas teaching jobs. Another teaching option is Teach for America (www.teachforamerica.org) . Quite a few philosophy majors wind up working in digital technology. Your interests overlap with work in cognitive science, and potentially computer science. At social networking startups, there is a lot of attention to questions about agency, the nature of communication through different media, and even matters of identity in the digital environment. Teaching and digital technology are two large areas to consider.