It's meant to be 500 words, and convey a couple of things: (1) why I'm switching from philosophy to public administration, (2) why this particular program is right for me, (3) what my goals are going forward, (4) to provide a hint that the committee ought to look for a medical addendum that explains my medical problems. I'm hoping it conveys those things without being too bad, overall. Please, let me know what you think.
Although there are many vexing questions in philosophy, one of the core ones is of the nature of morality; "what is right to do?" I always thought that being a philosopher would involve tailing that question down to the bitter end. The fruit of that labor would be some sliver of knowledge about what humans should do. That was the value of philosophy: bringing that knowledge back to the rest of the world. Through your hard work, humanity would know something that they had not known before.
With time, I found this description to be misleading. While there are still moral truths to be found, there are fewer novel ones to bring back home. Sure, there are novel and contentious issues to be mined, such as genetic enhancement, but the vast majority are issues that most people agree on: that people should not starve, that murder ought not be permissible, etc. The misleading thing is that it is not a problem of knowledge; it is a problem of action. Despite overwhelming consensus, humanity struggles with turning the right idea into right action. I now realize that the most pressing problem of morality is not the former, but instead the latter. Having the right ideas will do us no good if we do not know the right ways to implement them. In this sense, public service work is a logical extension of philosophy-a sort of practical philosophy.
I chose this program because I think it will allow me to grow into the best sort of practical philosopher possible. Philosophy is a liberal arts discipline, and the quantitative rigor this program demands will help me grow as a thinker. But the qualitative skills I have sharpened along the way will also help me stand out as a multidimensional contributor, and help me craft better solutions to our problems.
This program is also a good fit because it allows me to focus on the area I care about the most. While I worry about the environment, human rights, etc. just as much as anyone else, the issue nearest my heart is disability policy. Although there is not explicitly a "disability policy" concentration, the MPP program would allow me to create my own. From looking at courses and the other concentrations, I believe I could put together such a concentration, for the suffering of the disabled has much in common with other forms of marginalization.
In pursuing the practical end of disability issues, I would work to champion sane policy and improve the organizations that implement it. My natural inclination is to address the issues relevant to my disease, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. But, as I said, these people suffer in familiar ways. In helping my fellow sufferers, I could help not just the disabled, but other marginalized groups as well. In my eyes, that would be the best possible version of philosophy. I would take my knowledge of what is right, and I would use it to do the right thing.
Andy, this is a very logical personal statement that clearly explains all of the concepts that you wish to bring forward. I think that at this point. you should pay attention to just strengthening it by creating a more logical flow of discussion and highlighting the most important personal reasons that you have for wishing to follow the path of a person with a Masters Degree in Public Administration. This can be done by creating a more connected relation between Philosophy and your Ehlers-Danlos syndrome condition.
If you can manage to bring up Ehlers-Danlos syndrome in the essay earlier, you will be able to create a more personal reason for the switch in your career path. Imply that it was your illness that led you to study Philosophy. That your condition made you seek answers to the way you and other sufferers are treated, and also made you question why things could not change for the better for you and others in the same boat.
Then switch up the conversation to introduce the fact that it was the question about making things better for the sufferers that helped you realize that you were going down the wrong career path. Explain the logic behind your interest in an MPA in relation to Philosophy at this point. You may find a need to bring up your final paragraph at least to the second or third part of the essay because of this adjustment in content, should you choose to follow it that is.
By creating that flow of discussion, you will also interest the reviewers to " look for a medical addendum that explains my medical problems", as you wish to hint to them. Allowing you to keep the currently second to the last paragraph intact as an effective conclusion to the personal statement.
