Prospect of a astrophysics and philosophy major?

I have been accepted to read astrophysics and philosophy as an undergraduate level. I am curious however, since I have profound interest in both compendium, are they both a common combination?|||They are not nearly as common a combination as they should be.





The more theoretical science gets, the more it benefits from the clarity of thought that philosophy offers, which is often lacking in the empiricism-heavy, conclusion-based realm of science. This manifests most obviously in fields that are more theoretical than astrophysics, but it could probably benefit there, as well.





It also depends what sort of philosophy you study. Something like analytical philosophy, with an emphasis on logic, would be beneficial in a general sense, but despite the fact that there will certainly be a lot of empirical number crunching in astrophysics, it doesn't necessarily have much correlation. Something like epistemology, however, might help you to evaluate data in a way which could actually help you see all that numerical data in a new light.





One way or another, these are both great interests, and as a philosophy major myself, I'd recommend getting as much of the astrophysics degree done as possible before committing to the philosophy degree, since this will give you a better opportunity to decide for yourself whether philosophy positively augments the scientific knowledge you've already got. Also, be warned that there is some extremely horrible philosophy out there with an anti-science bent (some of the French postmodernists, especially) which is quite popularized but truly misrepresents the synthesis of science and philosophy by trying to pose a conflict in meanings based on what often turn out to be the philosopher's misconceptions about science.





Science and philosophy are closely linked, and build off of each other quite nicely. It's unfortunate that most philosophers don't know much about science, and most scientists have an equally poor understanding of philosophy. Whether you decide to write, research, or simply maintain an interest in these two subjects, you could easily be an asset to both by fully embracing them.





Best of luck.|||not so common anymore. Science and philo are separating more and more. U can study both no problem, and even study the philosophy of science. But philo will not really help u much with the math that u will need.|||I know one guy who studied physics, then switched to philosophy and became a professor. I think he did it to have some ladies in the audience. Or may be he wasn't really good in physics.|||Don't decide to be another Stephen Hawking declaring God did not create the universe.