An Examined Life

I enjoyed this closing essay in the recent Chronicle Review. The author, Scott Samuelson, has taught philosophy at a community college for several years. The community college students have taught him about a goal that trumps preparation for a professional career as an academic. It works here, too.

"I worry that philosophy—and the humanities more generally—is often taught to students as if the endgame were for them to become professionals in the discipline. We should be wary of what passes for philosophy but is really sophism. How are we going to mount a good defense of the humanities against crass economic logic when we teach our classes, particularly introductory classes, as if we were preparing students for academic jobs?

Sure, it’s important that we produce some well-trained scholars and thinkers. It’s even more crucial that we initiate students into strong forms of thinking, reading, and writing. But the reason we should support the humanities in a general education isn’t so students can produce slick essays; it’s so they can lead examined lives"