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Teaching Philosophy - Volume 37, Number 1 - 2014

Jennifer Benson The Problem of Tokenizing Radical Philosophy - Advice for Junior Academics and Allies Teaching radical philosophy is tricky business, especially for junior academics. We are offered lower division introductory courses and service courses in applied philosophy, perhaps as adjunct or single-year contract employment. Our instructional objectives and teaching materials are often defined by others. We may only be able to include one or two readings in radical philosophy. Meanwhile, many students are defensive when our courses introduce criticism of the various forms of injustice generated by the social status quo. Offer students a single radical source in an otherwise conical reading list and one risks having the source dismissed as a tangent, bizarre and non-philosophical. In short, the readings are tokenized: instead of making the course more diverse and honoring the diversity in philosophy, the radical content is dismissed as strange and unimportant. Recognizing the material necessity of adjunct teaching and short contract teaching, and the importance of philosophy that aims at social justice, I offer best practices when one can only teach a few sources in radical philosophy.

Sam Hillier Teaching Practical Logic - A Unifying Approach I share my experiences teaching Practical Logic with a focus on good reasoning as eliminating alternative conclusions. This unites the various topics traditionally taught in such courses (deductive logic, inductive logic, causal reasoning, probability theory, fallacies, cognitive biases, the scientific method, and creativity) in a way that I have found to be extremely effective.

Clair Morrissey; Kelsey Palghat Engaging Reading This paper describes a novel approach to teaching introductory-level students how to engage with philosophical texts, developed in the context of a philosophy of art course. We aimed to enhance students’ motivation to read philosophy well by cultivating habits of active reading. To this end we created a structured set of three assignments: (1) instructor created digitally annotated reading assignments, (2) a student digital annotation assignment, and (3) required student participation in a collective GoogleDoc “repository of artworks, examples, ideas, and questions.” Student feedback suggests that this set of teaching tools enhanced their sense of agency in approaching philosophical texts.

Ryan Pollock Evaluating the State of Nature through Gameplay In this paper I present an in-class game designed to simulate the state of nature. I first explain the mechanics of the game, and how to administer it in the classroom. Then I address how the game can help introduce students to a number of important topics in political philosophy. In broad terms, the game serves to generate discussion regarding two main questions. (1) How does civil society come about? (2) Is the state of nature and the arrangement which arises from it fair? In so doing I suggest how the game can further student understanding of figures such as Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Hume, Rousseau, Marx, and Rawls.

Eugene Marshall How to Teach Modern Philosophy This essay presents the challenges facing those preparing to teach the history of modern philosophy and proposes some solutions. I first discuss the goals for such a course, as well as the particular methodological challenges of teaching a history of modern philosophy course. Next a standard set of thinkers, readings, and themes is presented, followed by some alternatives. I then argue that one ought to diversify one’s syllabus beyond the canoni­cal set of six or seven white men. As a first step toward that goal, I propose several ways to include women philosophers in the syllabus. I then lay out assignments and in-class activities that aid students toward the course goals. I conclude with a consideration of the challenges and rewards of teaching modern philosophy.

REVIEWS Adam Arola Ancient Epistemology, by Lloyd P. Gerson

Martin Benjamin Peter Singer and Christian Ethics: Beyond Polarization, by Charles C. Camosy

Tom Brislin Ethics and the Media: An Introduction, by Stephen A. J. Ward

Michael F. Goodman An Introduction to Logical Theory, by Alladin M. Yaqub

Eric Kraemer Philosophy of Science after Feminism, by Janet A. Kourany

Laura Landen Explaining Explanation: Updated and Expanded Second Edition, by David-Hillel Ruben

David Lovekin The Art of Humane Education, by Donald Phillip Verene

Justin Moss Moral Perception, by Robert Audi

Dale Murray The Philosophical Baby: What Children’s Minds Tell Us About Truth, Love, and the Meaning of Life, by Alison Gopnik

Richard Polt Plato’s Repubic: A Dialogue in 16 Chapters, by Alain Badiou, translated by Susan Spitzer

Carolyn Swanson Critical Thinking: An Introduction to Reasoning Well, by Jamie Carlin Watson and Robert Arp