In Walden, Henry David Thoreau writes “To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust. It is to solve some of the problems of life, not only theoretically, but practically.” In my teaching, no matter the class, I tell my students not to think of philosophy as mere curiosity, or as a conduit for acquiring critical thinking and writing skills. Indeed, philosophy is enjoyable and teaches important skills, but its greatest value is in the way it can change one’s life. When I was an undergraduate taking my first environmental ethics course, I recall feeling troubled by the arguments against eating meat. I couldn’t seem to find a good moral justification for the practice, but I didn’t want to stop. I talked to my professor at the time, and she told me that she didn’t care what answer I came to, as long as I could appeal to reasons for my beliefs. Under a year later, I stopped buying meat. I aim to make a similar impression on my students. I want them to leave my courses not only with the knowledge of the philosophical blind spots they once had, but also with enough love of wisdom to refuse to live their own lives unchanged.
