Exploring Subjectivity in Teaching Philosophy :: Philosophy Philosophical Papers

Exploring Subjectivity in Teaching PhilosophyABSTRACT In the teaching of philosophical system, we need to be connect with everyday life. Students in introductory courses can be more motivated when philosophical problems have personal significance. Take the consequence of selfhood. precedent textbooks planetaryly begin with the oracle at Delphi Know thyself But this catchword is usually treated as the search for general knowledge of the some genius or of human nature. Is it possible for a student to acquire some knowledge about him or herself during this course and reflect on it in a philosophically relevant way? Can personal bang help in understanding philosophical concepts such as this one? These are the straitss which I address. Since I think that philosophers have yet to bob up didactical tools for these purposes, I will present techniques derived from Gestalt therapy which can be expedient for the teaching of philosophy. The aim is not change but experience itself, wit h sense serving as the basis for philosophical analysis. The characteristics of this experience-based pedagogy are (1) trey dimensional inquiry questioning basic concepts or assumptions and opening unexampled questions, both based on personal experience (2) experiential hold involving a problem, a possibleness, and an example and (3) mutual influence between theory and experience, i.e., an interrelationship between the personal and the educational gestalt. Know Thyself This oracle at Delphi which was Socrates axiom inspires many philosophers but also psychologists and even psychotherapists. Each of them has good reasons for pressure that this is his domain. Several questions could be raised Was Socrates a philosopher or a psychologist? What benignant of knowledge is this self-knowledge? How do these domains differ and do they have something in commonplace? How are they related to spirituality? And many others. My interest, however, is more narrow. Although we can enounce t here is an overlap between philosophy, psychology and psychotherapy, in this paper I will focus on the overlap between teaching philosophy and psychotherapy. More precisely how can Gestalt principles and techniques help in the teaching of the topic of selfhood. I will outline some theoretical background of the greatness of Gestalt in relation to didactics of philosophy and describe some possible applications.When I ask whether Socrates was a philosopher or a psychologist, this is also a question about what kind of knowledge is involved. Do I really ask to know myself or do I just search for general knowledge about human nature?