Benjamin D Young

“Philosophy is pain,” was the first piece of knowledge roared at me on my very first day of Introduction to Philosophy as a college freshman. While this was an awkward introduction to the subject, it has stuck with me. Learning and teaching philosophy challenges us to engage in the grueling task of thinking. Moreover the difficulty of the subject matter covered in philosophy does not alleviate the problem, especially with our Socratic methodology of preferring a good question to a bad answer.

Over the past thirteen years I have taught in three countries as a Graduate Tutor, Adjunct Professor, Lecturer, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Visiting Assistant Professor, and Assistant Professor. My experience of teaching students of varying educational, socioeconomic, and cultural backgrounds has not only allowed me to learn how to adapt my teaching style to fit the needs of my students, but also how to work with the students’ strengths to generate learning environments that nurture independent critical thought that is insightful and creative.

To counteract the difficulty of the philosophical process and subject matter I attempt to create a relaxed, but structured learning environment. Rather than lecturing at my classes, I like to conduct class as a gigantic tutorial. I make the students an equal part of the learning process by forcing them to think and answer questions about philosophical problems as each lecture progresses. My experience of teaching many kinds of classes to diverse groups of student across the world has allowed me to integrate what I have learned in each setting in a fun and dynamic manner that allows students to gain a tremendous amount of knowledge and a strong set of skills without noticing how painful philosophy can be. I certainly have fun teaching and try to make my enjoyment of philosophy as contagious as possible. Philosophy is fun.