Philosophers in the Classroom

"Every philosopher who is a teacher (and even those who are not) ought to own or at least read a copy of this book. The joys and sorrows, obstacles and over-comings, as expressed in the 24 stories are, I wager, experiences that all teachers have had and will continue to experience. To hear such stories expressed by others is a breath of fresh air." —Jason Costanzo, Missouri Western State University, in Philosophy in Review

"This fabulous collection features two dozen thought-provoking, instructive, and inspiring essays about the vocation and aims of teaching philosophy, written by a diverse group of award-winning professors. Philosophy instructors do well to reflect often on their pedagogy; this volume provides access to the reflections of successful colleagues. Anyone who teaches philosophy will benefit from reading this marvelous book." Robert B. Talisse, W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy, Vanderbilt University

"You will meet in these essays smart, experienced, reflective, and funny teachers. You will encounter a variety of creative perspectives on what people do in the classroom, covering everything from the 60,000 feet view about what the goals of a teacher are, to the micro quotidian ideas about assignments. There are accounts of great successes (and many an assignment you will want to try out for yourself), and a few rueful tales of (spectacular!) failures and how they shaped the next day, or week, or course. . . . One wonderful and distinctive thing about the volume is the deep mark of the personal on most of these pieces. These teachers struggle and stumble! They are sometimes filled with anxiety! But the love of what they do, and the constant careful attention to what works and what does not work propels them, and us, forward." —Katheryn Doran, Hamilton College

Read James Rocha's essay Teaching Value Theory to the Disenfranchised from Philosophers in the Classroom on The Hackett Colloquium blog.

SKU
28057g

Essays on Teaching

Edited by Steven M. Cahn, Alexandra Bradner, and Andrew P. Mills

September 2018 - 280 pp.

Grouped product items
Format ISBN Price Qty
Cloth (no dust jacket) 978-1-62466-745-9
$69.00
Paper 978-1-62466-744-2
$25.00

An eBook edition is available for $19.95, click here for more information and purchasing options.

In these essays, 24 of our most celebrated professors of philosophy address the problem of how to teach philosophy today: how to make philosophy interesting and relevant; how to bring classic texts to life; how to serve all students; and how to align philosophy with more "practical" pursuits. Selected and introduced by three leaders in the world of philosophical education, the insights contained in this inspiring collection illuminate the challenges and possibilities of teaching the academy’s oldest discipline.
 

Read James Rocha's essay Teaching Value Theory to the Disenfranchised from Philosophers in the Classroom on The Hackett Colloquium blog.

 

Reviews:

"Every philosopher who is a teacher (and even those who are not) ought to own or at least read a copy of this book. The joys and sorrows, obstacles and over-comings, as expressed in the 24 stories are, I wager, experiences that all teachers have had and will continue to experience. To hear such stories expressed by others is a breath of fresh air."
     —Jason Costanzo, Missouri Western State University, in Philosophy in Review (read the full review here)

"As a teacher for over two decades, I found Philosophers in the Classroom utterly absorbing, enlivening the teaching of philosophy by the insightful, inspiring, and entirely feasible practices employed by these master teachers."
     —Sally Scholz, Villanova University

"This fabulous collection features two dozen thought-provoking, instructive, and inspiring essays about the vocation and aims of teaching philosophy, written by a diverse group of award-winning professors. Philosophy instructors do well to reflect often on their pedagogy; this volume provides access to the reflections of successful colleagues. Anyone who teaches philosophy will benefit from reading this marvelous book."
     —Robert B. Talisse, W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy, Vanderbilt University

"These varied essays insightfully portray the struggles and occasional triumphs of teaching philosophy, from the large lecture hall to the seminar room, and offer a wealth of strategies, techniques, and practices that promise to enhance philosophy teaching at all levels. By turns inspiring, humbling, depressing, instructive, engaging, insightful, honest, deeply personal, and moving, every philosophy teacher will find something of value here."
     —Harvey Siegel, University of Miami

"You will meet in these essays smart, experienced, reflective, and funny teachers. You will encounter a variety of creative perspectives on what people do in the classroom, covering everything from the 60,000 feet view about what the goals of a teacher are, to the micro quotidian ideas about assignments. There are accounts of great successes (and many an assignment you will want to try out for yourself), and a few rueful tales of (spectacular!) failures and how they shaped the next day, or week, or course.
     "One wonderful and distinctive thing about the volume is the deep mark of the personal on most of these pieces. These teachers struggle and stumble! They are sometimes filled with anxiety! But the love of what they do, and the constant careful attention to what works and what does not work propels them, and us, forward."
     —Katheryn Doran, Hamilton College

 
 
Contents:
 
Preface, by Steven M. Cahn
Introduction, by Alexandra Bradner and Andrew Mills
 

I. Teaching Philosophy: A Prologue

  • 1. “What is Philosophy? What is Education?,” by Seung-Kee Lee

  • 2. “Free to Think,” by Andrea Tschemplik

 

II. Teaching the Students

  • 3. “Competing Visions,” by Maureen Eckert

  • 4. “Learning to Teach,” by David Concepción

  • 5. “Meeting Students Where They Are,” Paul Hurley

  • 6. “Introducing Philosophy in a Large Classroom,” by Marie-Eve Morin

  • 7. “Teaching Value Theory to the Disenfranchised,” by James Rocha

  • 8. “Imagine Yourself in the Bird: Teaching Philosophy at the United States Military Academy,” by Courtney Morris

 

III. Teaching the Course

  • 9. “Critical Thinking and Empowerment,” by Mark Piper

  • 10. “Getting It Right: Forty Years of Intro to Philosophy,” by Stephen Daniel

  • 11. “On Teaching ‘Happiness and the Meaning of Life,” by Christine Vitrano

  • 12. “Learning not to Teach,” by Paul Woodruff

  • 13. “Moments of Grace,” by Anthony Weston

 

IV. Teaching Beyond the Course
 
  • 14. “Of Games and Confrontations,” by David C.K. Curry

  • 15. “Is the Unexamined Life Worth Living?,” by David Palmer

  • 16. “Teaching for Our Good,” by Bob Fischer

  • 17. “A Slow Apprenticeship with the Real,” by John Whitmire

  • 18. “Teaching Ethics, Happiness, & The Good Life: An Upbuilding Discourse in the Spirits of Søren Kierkegaard and John Dewey,” by Alex Stehn

 

V. Teaching the Teacher

  • 19. “Teaching Philosophy to First Generation Students,” by Bertha Manninen

  • 20. “Critical Thinking Can Save Your Life,” by Betsy Jelinek

  • 21. “This is Teaching,” by Jane Drexler
  • 22. “Teaching as a Humanism,” by Russell Marcus
  • 23. “When Our Students Die,” by Nick Smith
  • 24. “A Teaching Life,” by Martin Benjamin
 
 
About the Editors:
 
Steven M. Cahn, Graduate Center of the City University of New York; former Chair, American Philosophical Association Committee on the Teaching of Philosophy; former President, The John Dewey Foundation
 
Alexandra Bradner, Kenyon College; Chair, American Philosophical Association Committee on the Teaching of Philosophy; Executive Director, American Association of Philosophy Teachers
 
Andrew P. Mills, Otterbein University; President, American Association of Philosophy Teachers