[ruytlm]

I got an undergraduate degree in philosophy more than 10 years ago, and I would say it was absolutely worthwhile, and that it has improved my life substantially.

Sure, I didn't get a job from a philosophy degree, but that's not really the point; it helped me better understand myself and the world around me, so that all my experiences have been richer.

That said, I'm similarly opposed to a 'who said what, and when' approach to philosophy; I don't care who said it, I care if it's an interesting or valuable idea.

I think the 'who said what' approach largely exists because when taught at the tertiary level, something is expected to be assessed, and it's kind of hard to objectively assess whether someone understands philosophy - far easier to test their recollection of who said what.

[beaconstudios]

I think it's also useful to know which philosophers addressed which subject. Knowing that Nietzsche wrote about existentialism and his projections on the secularisation of the West is important, and many people's entry to that are his quotes about the abyss and the death of God. If you're wanting to dive deeper into one of these topics, you would know to read his works or the works of philosophers who followed or preceded in his tradition.