Back to Teaching Philosophy

After a six-month hiatus from teaching, I will be back teaching at Dowling College this fall.

I have at least one evening section of Western Philosophy; an introductory course covering from the Pre-Socratics all the way to Idealism and Empiricism. A second course may run if there are enough students. That's the killer course, I think, which starts later in the semester and goes for 3:45 each meeting. Which is way too long. I have to do cartwheels to keep the students interested.

Even though I took a break, I love to teach. I just hate the apathy of some students.

I don't take it personally. I get enough compliments from students. I just hate the lost opportunities the students have to make connections from philosophy to the rest of their lives, and to gain almost indescribable insights.

Philosophy is the most important subject you can study. I'll prove it.

What is a Ph.D. degree anyway? You know, as in Ph.D. in economics, chemistry, psychology, etc.? It is, a doctor of philosophy degree. In economics, or chemistry? Why?

Because the degree signifies not only that you know a lot of stuff. It also signifies that you have been to the boundaries of your field and seen all the things that you do not know the answers to. The same way Socrates, the model philosopher, did when he said he was only wise because he knew that he did not know. The university is built around the Socratic/Platonic model of knowledge and ignorance.

You're not "smart" (wise) if you don't know that you don't know. I hope to convince some students of that this fall, and help them see the "hidden blessings" of it, as Socrates notes in Plato's Apology. Wish me luck.