Dr. Sanjay Lal

Eastern Philosophy, Ethics, Intro to Phil, Critical Thinking

When teaching philosophy, I aim to help students better understand and reach their own positions on the crucial philosophical matters we are always taking a stand on whether we realize it or not. By conveying the everyday relevance and implications of philosophical issues and by continually asking questions that lead to discussions, I help students to tap their own previously untapped insights. This begins for them the process of critical reflection on philosophical issues. Once that process is underway, my task is to assist students to develop their critical reflective skills and to help sustain their enthusiasm for philosophical inquiry. I measure success by the number of students who continue after the class to reflect seriously and critically about their commitments, even those most hidden from view in everyday experience. Over the years, I’ve had several students convey to me that they were glad they took my course because doing so has helped them better see what their actual beliefs are as well as understand those with whom they disagree. For me these are amongst the most worthwhile of course outcomes.
Thus we can see that crucial to my teaching philosophy is the idea that my role as an instructor is primarily that of a guide. As students explore the great philosophical terrain, they must ultimately reach understandings on perplexing questions on their own and for themselves. In other words, those engaged in the philosophical pursuit have to arrive at answers that, more than anything else, are personally acceptable. No authority can substitute for one’s personal conscience. Therefore my role as an instructor is primarily one of assisting others on their personal journey by suggesting living options, illuminating hidden assumptions, and exposing possible problems.
Since taking philosophical stands is unavoidable, I’m fortunate that my subject matter is one in which anyone (regardless of their level of formal training) is capable of contributing to. By attempting to offer a classroom environment that is comfortable and non-judging, students become more capable and willing to offer their philosophical contributions and thus better understand themselves.
It is often the case that students have told me that they leave my class feeling less sure of what the correct philosophical positions are. Since I regard the acquirement of skills and character traits as being more important to the learning process than knowledge of factual propositions, I find this feedback from students to be personally fulfilling. If by taking my classes students have developed a greater sense of humility and are thus more willing to listen to and acknowledge the merits of positions different than their own, they have become more capable of learning and living in harmony with members of a diverse society and thus their college training has served them well.

Eastern Philosophy, Peace Studies, Environmental Ethics, Hume