In the Socratic Tradition

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ISBN: 9780847684786 | 0847684784
Cover: Hardcover
Copyright: 8/1/1997

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This practical guide for teaching philosophy brings together essays by two dozen distinguished philosophers committed to pedagogy. Addressing primarily practical issues, such as how to motivate students, construct particular courses, and give educational exams, the essays also touch on theoretical issues such as whether moral edification is a proper goal of teaching ethics.

Acknowledgments

xiii

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Introduction

Tziporah Kasachkoff

Part I. Teaching Introductory Philosophy

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1 Teaching Introductory Philosophy Cahn describes four curriculum-defined approaches to introductory philosophy: the topical approach, the great texts approach, the historical approach, and the secondary source approach. He examines the disadvantages of each and makes recommendations as to how best to construct an introduction to philosophy.

(4)

Steven M. Cahn

2 Introducing Philosophy Garver agrees with Cahn about the shortcomings of each of the four approaches to teaching introductory philosophy that Cahn discusses in chapter 1, but has doubts about Cahn's suggested correctives. Garver suggests abandoning all four of the traditional approaches that Cahn describes and recommends the use of biographies as working texts for introductory philosophy courses. Garver describes how he uses such texts and makes some bibliographical suggestions.

(14)

Newton Garver

3 Teaching Introductory Philosophy--A Restricted Topical Approach Responding to Cahn's and Garver's suggestions (chapters 1 and 2) about how best to construct an Introduction to Philosophy course, the authors argue for an introductory philosophy course that is structured around the analysis of a single philosophical topic.

(10)

V. Alan White

Jo A. Chern

Part II. Helping Our Students Improve

(26)

4 How to Improve Your Teaching Cahn focuses on three common mistakes to which instructors, and especially beginning teachers, are prone, and he makes practical suggestions for their remedy.

(6)

Steven M. Cahn

5 Reading and Interpretation: A Heuristic for Improving Students' Comprehension of Philosophy Texts Adler offers, as an aid to teaching classic works to introductory philosophy students, guidelines to help students learn to read a text so that they can grasp what the author is saying and come to see what makes the author's claims plausible.

(10)

Jonathan E. Adler

6 Improving Student Papers in `Introduction to Philosophy' Courses Eflin suggests an exercise she uses to help students write better philosophy papers despite large classes, which often make personal commentary on each student paper impossible. She describes the exercise, her grading criteria, her classroom procedure, the advantages afforded by the exercise, and some of the problems that can arise in connection with it.

(10)

Juli Eflin

Part III. Teaching Ethics; Teaching Applied Ethics

(50)

7 From the "Applied" to the Practical: Teaching Ethics for Use Callahan discusses the content, focus, and goals for professional ethics courses, offers strategies for successfully engaging students in professional ethics study, and stresses the desirability of establishing a particular emotional tone in the classroom. She suggests ways to structure class discussion.

(14)

Joan C. Callahan

8 Teaching Police Ethics as Professional Ethics Kleinig takes up the question of how, in teaching criminal-justice ethics, one might avoid the collapsing of criminal-justice ethics into ethics-in-general, and at the same time avoid separating the two. This leads him to discuss, among other things, the place of ethical theory in class discussions, the distinction between moral counsel and moral expertise, and the different ways of structuring a criminal-justice course for different levels of students.

(10)

John Kleinig

9 A Social Dilemma Game for an Ethics Class Missner suggests a game to bring home to students what is involved in the notion of self-interested action in the context of cooperative ventures. He explains how the game works in class, and the sorts of pedagogic benefits it provides for clarifying the quandaries involved in making the right decision in free-rider situations. He remarks on some of the difficulties and possible drawbacks of using the exercise.

(10)

Marshall Missner

10 Debate as a Tool in Teaching Business Ethics The title of this paper tells the story of this essay. The authors give a detailed account of how their students debate issues in business ethics and how the structure of the debate can serve to both clarify the issues and reveal the merits and disadvantages of various ethical positions concerning business. As Roper and Sommers describe it, the use of debate as an effective teaching tool in philosophy is not restricted to the teaching of professional ethics.

(16)

James E. Roper

Timothy W. Sommers

Part IV. Teaching Aesthetics

107

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11 The Case Method Approach to the Teaching of Aesthetics Moore describes his use of the "case method" in teaching aesthetics and argues for its effectiveness in engaging student interest in, and encouraging discussion of, aesthetics problems. He presents sample cases and suggests questions concerning each that help to focus discussion on aesthetics issues.

107

(14)

Ronald Moore

Part V. Teaching Philosophy of Religion

121

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12 Teaching Philosophy of Religion (either as a full course or as part of an `Introduction to Philosophy') Pojman suggests eight topics that, he claims, cover the domain of philosophy of religion. These topics may be covered either in a semester-long course, or as part of a general introductory philosophy course. Pojman discusses appropriate methodology and materials for teaching these topics, and provides detailed and annotated bibliographical suggestions.

121

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Louis P. Pojman

13 Three Courses in Philosophy of Religion Martin comments on three different courses in philosophy and religion: an introductory course designed to acquaint students with philosophical issues connected with the Judeo-Christian tradition; a graduate- level seminar on philosophical issues connected with Christianity; and a middle-level seminar on religious epistemology.

133

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Michael Martin

Part VI. Teaching Critical Thinking

145

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14 Using Pseudoscience in a Critical Thinking Class Moore suggests using egregious examples of pseudoscience to teach techniques of critical thinking. She explains the rationale for such a course, and supplies a summary of the course plan, a sample class exercise, and advice on resources.

145

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Kathleen Dean Moore

15 A Critical Thinking Portfolio Gracyk describes the "portfolio" that he requires of his students--a compilation of 12 distinct items drawn from the student's own everyday reading matter along with his or her reasoned assessment of each item. The portfolio helps students learn to apply critical thinking skills beyond the classroom.

153

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Theodore A. Gracyk

16 A Participatory Approach to Teaching Critical Reasoning Conces describes a "Letter-to-the-Editor" collaborative class assignment that he uses to intensify students' concern for the rigor of their reasoning and the honing of their writing skills. In the writing of the Letters, students read and comment on each other's work and, Conces argues, are encouraged to see their critical thinking skills as useful to the debate of issues of public importance.

161

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Rory J. Conces

Part VII. Teaching the History of Philosophy

169

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17 The Teaching of Philosophy--Historically McDermott argues not merely for the importance, but for the indispensability, of taking historical context into account when teaching philosophy (or any other subject, for that matter). McDermott offers the the reader a detailed illustration of the philosophical pedagogy for which he argues.

169

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John J. McDermott

18 A "Meeting-of-Minds" Discussion as a Final Exam History of Philosophy Gilbertson describes how he tries to engender student interest in, and appreciation of, particular philosophers of the past by constructing a novel type of final examination, preparation for which involves the students throughout the semester.

181

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Mark O. Gilbertson

Part VIII. Teaching Kant/Teaching Hegel/Teaching Nietzsche

187

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19 A User-Friendly Copernican Revolution Westphal describes how he brings home to students, via understandable analogies, Kant's view of how a priori synthetic propositions are possible, and what it means to say that the forms and categories are conditions of possible experience.

187

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Merold Westphal

20 Charting Kant Cadello suggests, as a visual aid for students, a chart that helps them grasp the outline of Kant's system as he presents it in the Critique and Prolegomenon. By use of examples, Cadello shows how to use the chart to clarify terminological distinctions made by Kant, and to identify different levels of analysis.

193

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James P. Cadello

21 On Teaching Hegel: Problems and Possibilities McCumber reviews some of the difficulties in teaching Hegel, and some of the reasons Hegel is profitably taught nonetheless. He offers suggestions as to how to present Hegel to students, and includes useful bibliographical references.

197

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John McCumber

22 Hegel and Family Values Westphal describes two "strategic" moves he uses in teaching Hegel's Philosophy of Right. He explains the way in which these moves illuminate Hegel's views, and the advantages of presenting Hegel's political philosophy in this way.

209

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Merold Westphal

23 Teaching Nietzsche Hogan recommends using the study of Nietzsche as an entree into various issues of interest to philosophy students. He describes the Nietzsche course he teaches, provides an outline of the course, and makes bibliographical suggestions.

215

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Richard Hogan

Part IX. Teaching Existentialism/Teaching Continental Philosophy

227

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24 Teaching Existentialism Kelly details four ways to approach the teaching of existentialism and suggests sources for these various approaches. He notes the difficulty of teaching existentialism in a way that truly conveys its spirit, and offers some suggestions regarding this.

227

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Eugene Kelly

25 Teaching Recent Continental Philosophy Daniel reports on a course that he has developed in current Continental Philosophy, and argues for including various writers often left out of such courses and for stressing certain particular themes. In addition, he provides bibliographical suggestions for both primary and secondary sources, and tells us how he structures the course within the framework of one semester.

237

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Stephen H. Daniel

Part X. Looking at What We Do in the Classroom

247

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26 Uncovering the "Hidden Curriculum": A Laboratory Course in Philosophy of Education Weston describes a Philosophy of Education course that he teaches for upper-level undergraduates. The chief aim of the course is to have students draw out and examine the presuppositions of specific forms of pedagogy as well as of education generally.

247

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Anthony Weston

27 A Seminar on Teaching Philosophy Benjamin details his seminar on how to teach students to become better teachers of philosophy. He includes his seminar syllabus and provides bibliographical information.

259

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Martin Benjamin

About the Contributors

269

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About the Editor

279

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In the Socratic Tradition

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