Sunday, November 11, 2007

Beginning Philosophy in the real world

So what is philosophy like outside of academia?
I've been out of school now for five plus months and I'm still trying to figure this out. I suppose it will always be a work in progress. Trying to live philosophically is never easy in the real world. What I've found, above all else, is that live beyond graduating college is less about choosing to sell out or live the "good life", and more about applying the patience and humility one can learn by studying philosophy in everyday events. In short, it's about looking outside the box and examining as many possibilities as possible.
It's about considering, and not necessarily adopting, the most far out ideas on the market. One thing I really regret about my four years at SLU is that a lot of my far left political philosophy was protected in the ivory tower. I never really applied any of those abstract and not so abstract ideas in my work. It was like I was trying to win a war with one almighty charge through the enemies front lines. I idealized and romanticized the Left without even really knowing what it was or is. I read and wrote about some really fascinating ideas but as you can see in many of my entries, eventually I begain to seek practice, for theories are insufficient without application.
What I really want to say is that as I've looked through some of my writings from my time at college I am at times downright disgusted at the dogmatic undertones of many of my presumptions. I talk the talk (about the value of self-critcism), yet fail to walk the walk when it comes to applying that same degree of self-criticsm and refusal to resort to metaphysical and rhetorical dogma when it comes to communicating my own ideas. I now want to be a high school teacher. I hope to some day teach philosophy, but for now I would be most content to teach history/social studies. The other night I had a conversation with my father about what kind of a teacher I want to aspire to someday become. My father was worried that I'd be too biased towards the left and (consciously or unconciously) inject that bias into my pupils. I reassured my father that when it came time to grade a paper or in the midst of a classroom discussion I'd make extra efforts to reward those students who while being ideologically opposed to me, clearly communicate and argue their point in a logically convinceing manner would be rewarded by their merits and not their ideology.
This got me thinking, however, about a present need I now face to do some hermeneutics unto myself. I need to do some meta-hermeneautics, and investigate the way in which I interpret the world. I need to be more conscious of my cognitive frames. I need to prove my points instead of just stating them. And most of all, I need to make a greater effort at listening to the other side and broadening the scope of whatever dialogue whenever possible.
I want to change the world. I want my future students to help me in this endeavor. Yet it is my responsibility to allow them to make whatever decisions for themselves. Thus, I hope to teach them how to spot a fallacy from a mile away. How to maximize the effeciency of their language, and most of all, to develop a passion for learning both as a means and as an end.
I'm confident that I can do all these things, but I have to stop assuming that this will all just happen, as if I was destined to be an inspiring teacher. I have a long long way to go, and the best part is, there's no end in sight.

1 comment:

DifferentiAtlas said...

Yes yes yes!
First of all, I'm so proud that you're choosing to be a high school teacher. There have been a few people around me who recently decided they wanted to be teachers, and all your students will be lucky to have mentors of such high quality.

And second of all, the praxis you are trying to translate from academia to the real world is something I have conversations about daily, analyze, implement, and struggle with. It's a difficult struggle and a challenge, yet very rewarding and a phenomenal experience. It can change every perspective, every relationship, every interaction and reaction - it's quite a journey.
And I think molding young minds to think and act in this manner is wonderful thing: if only I had known back in high school what it's taken me years to independently struggle towards.
Teaching the method, the thorough thought process, how to analyze, how to evaluate, and how to decide...THAT is what they need, not some one else's final analysis, result, or conclusion. Otherwise, they'll never know how to solve on their own new problems, new dilemmas, new crises. And believe me, they'll need all the problem-solving skills they can get considering how fucked we're leaving the next generation.
Thinking for yourself actively is much more challenging than trite.
Glad to see you're back figuring it all out, Mateo.


- Lennon