U.S. Army veteran touts the value and appeal of a philosophy degree

When he was a junior in high school in his native New Jersey, Evan Williams’ teacher assigned as light reading Kierkegaard, the Danish philosopher known as the “Father of Existentialism.”

“His writing blew my mind,” recalls Williams, who at the time was considering joining the military. College, for financial reasons, wasn’t really on the table. He admits that much of Kierkegaard’s writing was tough to understand, but it planted an early seed of interest in philosophy that grew into a love Williams could never shake.

Now, after spending six years in the U.S. Army as a licensed practical nurse (in the military it’s a “practical nursing specialist”), Williams is in his second semester as a junior transfer student at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, majoring in philosophy.

Military service to philosophy major

As a youth, Williams thought firefighting was a cool profession and always had his eyes on becoming a medic or nurse.

He went to basic training out of high school at Fort Sill in Lawton, Okla., then was stationed at a base in San Antonio where the Army’s medical command is headquartered. Williams earned his nursing school license in 2019 at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

Practical nursing specialists in the Army provide medical care to soldiers, their families, and civilians in combat, non-combat, and disaster situations.

Williams never saw combat, but in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, he served for three months near the Texas-Mexico border in intensive care and emergency units that were filled with patients on ventilators.

“That was a principal experience of my career,” he says. “I realized that death doesn’t discriminate based on character; the virtuous are taken with the fallen. It became abundantly clear that a ‘good life’ was one full of compassion and being ruthlessly hopeful — not naively hopeful, but ruthlessly hopeful.”

After the Army, Williams wanted to study philosophy, but Penn State’s World Campus, the online campus of Pennsylvania State University where he was enrolled, didn’t offer philosophy as a major. He took political science courses instead.

After considering several universities to transfer to, Williams chose USC Dornsife.

One of the questions on the student application caught his attention: “If you could have a fictional character as a roommate, who would it be?” Intrigued, he did more research on USC Dornsife and realized the school was for him.

“It seemed like a perfect place to study,” he says.

As for which roommate he would choose, Williams selected Paddington Bear.

“He has an unwaveringly optimistic and kind demeanor,” he explains. “Aldous Huxley famously said that he was embarrassed that the end of his lifelong inquiry culminated in a simple but profound prescription: to be more kind. Paddington as a roommate would be a constant reminder that the kindness I put forward is more meaningful than any material success I might garner.”

A formidable philosopher and “fine president”

Just a week after moving to California and starting his studies here, Williams was elected president of the USC Philosophy Club, which meets weekly to discuss seminal works.

“I figured if I was going to be going here, I should immerse myself in as much of the philosophy department as possible,” Williams says.

So far, he loves it.

Chad Beauchamp, vice president of the club, also interviewed to be president. He admits to being a bit chagrined when Williams got top position but says, “those feelings proved rather fleeting.”

Beauchamp, a double major in philosophy and history, recalls a long first club meeting in which, despite taking no notes, Williams was able to effortlessly repeat verbatim every discussion point.

“In that instant, I understood that I was not the better candidate who lost out to a lesser one,” says Beauchamp. “I was the lesser candidate bested by the better one.

“He’s a fine president and a formidable philosopher. Though he and I disagree on many subjects, Evan always defends his convictions with sincerity and fortitude.”

Rising philosophers take on heavy topics

About 35 students attend weekly Philosophy Club meetings. Williams hopes to attract more outside of the school by making the club an official student association.

Attendees at the club’s first meeting this semester discussed “Man’s Search for Meaning,” psychiatrist Viktor Frankl’s memoir that included descriptions of life in Nazi death camps.

Next up was Cicero, best known as a prominent statesman and orator in the late Roman republic who held that the laws of nature were more important than the laws of men and governments.

A recent meeting tackled works by Derrick Bell, whose “Racial Realism” maintains that racial equality for Black Americans is not a realistic goal.

A future in philosophy and law

Williams expects to graduate in spring 2026 and go to law school, and then apply to graduate school and earn a master’s and/or PhD in the philosophy of law.

“Legal philosophy,” he explains, “is interested in such questions as, ‘What is law?’ ‘How does it work?’ ‘What has it been historically?’ ‘How do we make it more effective?’”

After practicing law, Williams wants to go into academia.

“Specialties in terms of careers are great, of course, but somebody has to not be specialized,” Williams says. “We can’t have a society of essentially the most talented and equipped tradesmen. Somebody must be a mile wide and an inch deep, and I think philosophy offers this opportunity.

“If you’re already considering majoring in philosophy,” he adds, “that’s probably a good enough sign. You should just double down and commit to it.”

Williams recommends the major for its academic rigor and focus on critical thinking as well as lessons on using logic and reasoning to analyze questions big and small. Such skills, studies show, can lead to thriving careers in a variety of fields, including law, business, medicine and politics.

“If you’re the kind of person who has really strong intuitions and you hear people talk about college as a pathway to being a skilled professional, but you see life more broadly or you’re always asking yourselves the ‘Why?’ questions, a philosophy major may be just the thing for you,” Williams says. ”In fact, you may not be satisfied studying anything else.”