I
believe the goal of teaching philosophy is to enable and assist the study of philosophy.
I find this goal worthwhile because I see the study of philosophy as a
three-fold good. First, studying philosophy is an instrumental good insofar as
it cultivates the skill of critical thinking. This skill contributes to the
future success of students in the professional world regardless of what career
they choose. In addition, critical
thinking serves as the foundation for students’ ability to make effective
contributions to the political community, which is vital to the success of any
democracy. Second, studying philosophy is an instrumental good because it
acquaints students with a multiplicity of viewpoints on issues of importance to
how we live our lives. Discovering these viewpoints, as well as the motivations
behind them, encourages students to expand their intellectual horizons and grow
as thinkers. Moreover, it helps them appreciate the diversity of human
experience, something which becomes increasingly necessary as we struggle to
live harmoniously with others in an increasingly multicultural society. Third,
studying philosophy is simply an intrinsic good. Acquainting students with
philosophy thus provides them with an opportunity to pursue something many of
them will find enjoyable and interesting in and of itself.
I find that students learn to study philosophy in
three main ways. First, they learn by watching experts do philosophy.
One way they do so is by reading the works of skilled philosophers past and present.
Unfortunately, students often find these works daunting. Many of them simply
stop reading early in the semester. To help alleviate their frustration, I
assign manageable readings and provide study guides consisting of questions
that direct their attention to important issues/passages. I also use my
lectures to furnish students with examples of how to approach the texts. In
addition, I see my lectures as providing students with another venue in which
they can watch an expert do philosophy. The temptation, of course, is for
students to treat my lectures as a surrogate for rather than a supplement to
the readings. To head off this temptation, I institute mechanisms that hold
them accountable for the readings. These mechanisms usually take the form of
reading quizzes, summaries, or critical response papers.
Watching another person do philosophy, however, is a
passive and hence superficial kind of learning. In depth learning requires
students to take an active role; it requires them to move from watching
philosophy to doing philosophy. One way I prompt students to take an
active role is by assigning response papers to the readings. I make the
response papers due before I lecture on the readings so that students
cannot simply regurgitate my views. They are forced to think carefully about
the material on their own, which is the first step of doing philosophy. I have
found that beginners in philosophy require some guidance in order to benefit
from these assignments. Thus I often provide questions and suggestions to direct
their thinking.
I believe the third main way students learn to study
philosophy is by teaching philosophy. I make this claim on the basis of
my experience that I frequently understand a philosophical point better once I
have tried to explain it to others. One way I provide an opportunity for
students to teach is by having them give presentations on their reflection
papers. Another way (which I learned while an associate instructor for Leah
Savion) is by having students explain a philosophical point to a friend outside
the class and then write up a report about the encounter. Because the friend
does not take the class, he or she is not familiar with the material and hence
cannot fill in the gaps in the student’s explanation. If the student is to
convey the point, he or she cannot just vaguely gesture in the right direction.
The student must truly understand the material.
I want to add that, in my introductory classes, I
devote a significant amount of energy to inspiring students to take the study
of philosophy seriously in the first place. I find that no matter how hard I
work to make the content of the course clear and no matter what assignments I
give, the bored student fails to learn much. I believe that at the college
level a good deal of the burden here falls to the student. Still, I cannot help
but feel at least partly responsible. One way I address this issue is by
structuring my syllabus around texts I find personally interesting. For
example, I included Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling and Hume’s Dialogues
Concerning Natural Religion in my introduction to philosophy course. I
discovered that my enthusiasm overflowed to my students to a significant degree.
In fact, when asked at the end of the semester, they said these texts were the
ones they found most stimulating.
