Volume 19, Issue 1, March 1996
Charles C. Verharen
Pages 65-81
A Cultural Introduction to Philosophy
This paper explores the potential pedagogical benefits of philosophy for resolving conflicts in academia and for introducing students to other disciplines. Following C.P Snow's definition of academic disciplines as representing a culture, the author argues that philosophical study can provide a means to reduce strife between science and the humanities. Defining philosophy as self-reflection and prescribing pedagogical methods which open philosophical study onto cultural studies, the author offers the notion of philosophy as an introduction to a liberal arts education. Such an approach to philosophy seeks to demonstrate the interdependence between philosophy and other disciplines and bears the additional benefit of emphasizing the application of philosophy to students’ lives.