Category: education
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On It girls
My friend Peter Foges wrote a wonderful, short blog, “It Girls,” on Greta Garbo and Louise Brooks for Lapham’s Quarterly. My comment reads as follows: — Dear Peter, “Let no man be called happy before his death.” Thus Solon. But then what of Garbo and Louise Brooks? What of these after the end of celebrity? The…
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Philosophy as confession
In his review of Stanley Cavell’s autobiography, “Philosophy as Confession,” John Cottingham seeks to show that Cavell’s way of doing philosophy is more humane than the desiccated way of doing philosophy in the academy. For a number of years, Cottingham has been trying to effect a rapprochement between philosophy, religion, and psychoanalysis. He finds a…
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Test prep and higher ed: A brief history
For more than 7 years, I’ve shepherded students into higher education and taught literature and philosophy courses at colleges and universities. During my itinerant tenure (an oxymoron, I know), I’ve seen how education has come to be identified almost exclusively with the career path. The trends in majors in higher education bear this out. Since…
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On cognitive-bias modification
In “Therapist-Free Therapy,” the anonymous author describes a new form of self-induced therapy called cognitive-bias modification. The main premise is that some people have a built-in bias toward, say, being anxious. Through 15 min. self-administered CBM sessions, participants learn how to re-value things in more neutral terms. Fascinating approach, albeit quite limited in scope.
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Toward an alternative business model for philosophical counseling
The following is the proposal of a paper I will be presenting at the APPA Annual Meeting at Columbia in June. I welcome your queries, comments, and suggestions. The paper is consistent with the conception of philosophical counseling I outline under the Philosophical Counseling tab. — Update: You can read a summary of my talk…
Andrew Taggart, Ph.D. 