Teaching Philosophy by Steven M. Cahn

Author:Steven M. Cahn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (CAM)

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A second approach to introductory philosophy is to combine reading great works of the past with studying several contemporary texts. In this way, students are made aware of the importance of the history of philosophy but also realize that philosophical inquiry is ongoing. Perhaps the syllabus might include Plato’s Euthyphro, Apology, and Crito, Parts 1 and 2 of Hobbes’s Leviathan, and Hume’s An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, along with some contemporary books or articles that are among the instructor’s favorites.

A potential danger in this approach, however, is that, in jumping from one classic to another, a student hurdles centuries and may lose historical perspective. On the reading list, Hobbes may follow Plato, but in history two millennia intervened, and students unacquainted with any of what occurred in philosophical thought during that period are apt to have a distorted view of how the works of these authors relate. In addition, reading a small number of contemporary authors does not go far in offsetting the view that philosophy is primarily the history of philosophy.

An unusual variation of this approach is to read a single historical text, then analyze it using contemporary methods. Such a plan was presented many years ago by Fred Feldman, when, at a session of the Eastern Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, he defended his practice of requiring beginning students to read and critique only one book: Descartes’ Meditations. The commentator on Feldman’s talk was Alasdair MacIntyre, who unintentionally revealed the problem with Feldman’s approach by first praising the strategy of focusing on a single work but expressing dismay that Feldman had selected the wrong one. He had chosen Descartes’ Meditations rather than MacIntyre’s choice: Plato’s Republic.

The problem is that, had MacIntyre been a student in Feldman’s course, MacIntyre would have been unhappy spending fifteen weeks discussing a single book that he didn’t find especially illuminating, while Feldman would have had the same reaction had he been a student in MacIntyre’s course. Too much of a good thing can become boring, and offering introductory students an entire course on one book might even become excruciating. Just as various professors have different interests, so do students. The opportunity for all of them to respond positively to philosophy is increased by providing a variety of perspectives on the subject. A graduate seminar might appropriately focus on a single text, but an introductory course is intended to arouse the interest of as many as possible, and a narrow set of readings is unlikely to achieve that goal.

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