I had a duoble major in math and philosophy. Between the two, I actaully use my philosophy training more on a day to day basis than my math background.

In a nutshell, analytic philosophy is the study of formal debate and critical thinking.

I suppose when you ask how it's practical you mean how can you make money?

People with philosophy degrees have an advantage in law school ...I think philosophy majors tend to score highest on the LSAT, aside from physics majors. I've heard that lawyers themselves try to exclude philosophy majors from juries, since they have formal training and might sway the entire jury. The basic line of reasoning is the same (constructing persusive arguments, finding fallacies, ethical reasoning, appeal to emotion), so the transition is fairly natural.

Also, it's a good background from anyone going into sales (which is basically just an applied form argument). I had one philosophy instructor that sold cars in grad school and made a ton of money.

On a quality of life in general, the better you are at constructing persuasive arguments, the more you will get your way.

Personally, I think the practical aspects are less important than the long term benefits to society as a whole. In Greece, philosophy was the subject that mathematics, science, political science, astronomy, and theology was born. Although, in the U.S. philosophy is viewed with disdain. IMO, it's because the nation has Christian roots, and the Bible has a hostile attitude towards people who think about things too much.

Assuming you live in the U.S. who do you think the founders of the country based their ideas on? Jefferson didn't just pull them out of thin air... he were largely influenced by Plato, Hobbes (on property rights) etc. That's right, a bunch of navel gazers.

Note: this reply is an example of applied philosophy ...