A good philosophy course should teach you to be honest, clear, and understanding.  

First, it should teach you to be honest. It should cultivate intellectual integrity by not only teaching you how to effectively evaluate ideas for their intellectual merits, but also inculcating in you a disposition to yield to whatever truths those ideas have to offer you. To this end, a good philosophy course should strive to instill in you an appreciation of that discomfort and uncertainty that allows one to honor the truth above one’s own ego.  

Second, a good philosophy course should teach you to be clear. It should teach you to organize your thoughts and to articulate them in a precise and easily understandable form. If honesty constrains you to yield to the merits of others’ ideas, clarity helps you to better wield the power of your own: it allows you to more effectively speak truth to power.

Third, a good philosophy course should teach you to be understanding. It should teach you to see the sense in views that seem insensible, not just for the sake of getting at the truth, but also for the sake of grasping the outlook of those who seem—at first—unlike you. Philosophy can’t force fellow-feeling, but it should motivate and enrich it.  

In my courses, I aim to help students develop these life-serving intellectual virtues. 

To foster understanding,

·  I use reading material from intellectual traditions outside of the conventional philosophical canon. In introductory courses in ethics and political philosophy, I teach lessons on (for instance) the Muslim philosopher al-Ghazālī, covenant themes in the Hebrew Bible, Aquinas, virtue ethics in Buddhism, perfectionist politics in Confucianism, and Ghandi’s response to British colonialism. My MA in Religious Studies has given me the academic preparation I need to competently teach this material. 

·  I frequently begin class by sharing an anecdote or relevant news item that I ask students to relate to the day’s reading assignment. This stimulates students to apply what we learn in class to understand the diversity of perspectives they confront in everyday life. 

·  I continually stress the importance of using philosophy as a tool to build up, rather than break down, unfamiliar or opposing views. I model charitable interpretation in my lectures, and demand it in student discussions and writing assignments.

To train students to be clear, I use small “building block” assignments that I can give students detailed feedback on. This enables students to gradually master the kind of exactness of argumentation that they are often initially unprepared to employ in longer projects. In particular:

·  I assign short papers that require students to give a clear exposition of a single point and a sharp, succinct response to it. I give students thorough comments and normally require them to incorporate revisions into a longer final project. 

·  I have students do argument mapping and others hands-on group activities in class. These activities encourage a higher level of rigor of thought in class time than is disposed to arise spontaneously in general discussion. As students work, I walk around and give them feedback in real time.  

·  I give less talkative students ample opportunity to practice articulating their thoughts by making use of online discussion boards and encouraging them to join me over coffee at office hours. 

Last, to encourage intellectual honesty,

·  I instill in students an appreciation of the existential import of the matters we discuss. Thus, for example, I don’t present the problem of evil simply as a tidy puzzle that challenges theistic belief. Instead, by focusing on relatable specific examples of suffering, I endeavor to get students to personally confront the seriousness of the problem. Similarly, when I discuss arguments for the existence of God, I emphasize the important role that belief in God plays in many persons’ moral and practical attitudes toward the world. By placing discussions about God in these practical contexts, I am better able to stimulate students to engage openly and earnestly with the issues.

·  I emphasize dialogical exchange. At at least two points in the semester, students are asked to respond to feedback I provide on their papers, and (when possible) I pair together students wishing to defend different views and require them to engage in back-and-forth dialogue, either in class or on online discussion forums. Students who are required to respond to challenges to their views in these ways are less apt to play fast and loose with their claims to truth. 

·  I make use of “getting clear on the concept” exercises. In these exercises, students are given a view discussed in our readings and a list of related claims, some of which strictly logically follow from the view and some of which are only commonly associated with the view. Students are asked to identify which claims belong to which category, and in working out the answers, they learn to check their assumptions and confront their stereotypes.

By using philosophy in the service of understanding, clear communication, and intellectual honesty, I aim to cultivate in students a particular kind of life-long habit of mind. I hope that students become not only sharper thinkers, but also more earnest, responsible, and conscientious ones.