Dr. Kenneth Shouler Q & A

Dr. Kenneth A. Shouler is an author and an associate philosophy professor at County College of Morris and Lehman College.

How long have you been teaching? I started teaching part-time in September of 1981. I started teaching at Lehman in the spring of 1990 for the first time. I didn't start teaching at CCM until 2008.

How did you get into this field? I studied philosophy as an undergraduate. I took my first course in 1974. I loved it from the start and decided to major in it. Upon graduating and after working two years near Wall Street, I decided to return to graduate school. A year later I was awarded the Mellon Fellowship and a duty was to teach two courses was to teach two courses at Queensborough Community College.

What is your favorite subject to teach in philosophy? I like ethics the best because ethics is the part of philosophy that impacts your life the most and it tells you how to live. It discusses what well being is. I also think several of the greatest philosophers that ever lived are in the area of ethics. Mainly Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, all would be in my top five. They talked about ethics affecting how to live your life, how to live virtuously and how to purse knowledge.

Courtesy of KenShouler.com

Who is your favorite philosopher? Aristotle. He’s the best philosopher. There’s a few favorites that are among the greatest with him. David Hume, Socrates, Plato, and Bertrand Russell too. I think Aristotle is the best because of the breadth of his thought. He wrote about everything under the sun. And the depth of thought. But Hume’s skepticism suits my mentality; that’s what I like about him. He doubts things, doesn’t let bad arguments get by him and neither does Socrates. What do you like most about your job? I like philosophy in its own right. I like teaching it to other people and seeing them get it. I like reading new things and learning more about philosophy. There is a small number of students who are really turned on by philosophy, read everything, write well and want to take more courses. I’m always happy to see that because number one, they seem to have a capability for philosophy and two, I feel as if I had something to do with their appreciation of it. But then I think, it’s not just my teaching of the subject, it is the subject matter itself and all the great thinkers that have captured their imagination and inspired them to think further and maybe develop their own philosophies. I have met so many people who have loved the subject.

What do you dislike most about your job? I think committee meetings and grading exams are both unappealing to me. Some students don’t make the effort and so they don’t get the subject. They do poorly and blame it on you.

Do you prefer writing or teaching and why? I prefer writing over teaching because if I succeed at writing or fail at it, its up to me and me alone. But teaching requires more than just me. The students have to make an effort too. I can prepare as much as possible and be on top of my material and it doesn't matter in teaching if the person listening is not really making an effort.