TEACHING

How good teaching can substantially transform students’ lives is something I have experienced first-hand. I know that requiring rigour must be accompanied by the belief that anyone can produce valuable arguments. I teach with two goals in mind, inviting all students to express their viewpoints and improving their arguments.

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Experience

I have been involved with teaching for nine years, having taught a variety of courses and students from many backgrounds. I have experience teaching Applied Ethics, Ethics, Early Modern Philosophy, Philosophy of Science and Moral Psychology. I am also prepared to teach Business Ethics, Critical Thinking, and Introduction to Philosophy courses. The first teaching role I had was supervising Moral Psychology pilot projects at the University of Sao Paulo in 2012. One student decided to continue to work on the project during the next year, long after his course obligations ended. At the University of Oxford, where I was trusted to build my own syllabi, I taught a wide range of students and classes. I have taught Early Modern Philosophy for three years to students working towards degrees in philosophy and economics. Some of these students decided to progress to graduate school in philosophy after my course, sought my assistance and were successfully admitted. In 2018, I taught Philosophy of Science to Oxford and USA exchange students from a wide range of science majors, as well as Ethics and Applied Ethics to philosophy students. In 2019, I was hired to co-write a history of philosophy high-school textbook. In 2020, I prepared a Business Ethics syllabus to philosophy and business students with feedback from Harvard Business School’s faculty; to my dismay, the class was postponed to 2022 due to the pandemic. In 2021, I run an undergraduate research seminar in Applied Ethics at the University of Sao Paulo through Zoom. These diverse experiences, coupled with presenting my research to a wide range of audiences, enable me to fine-tune my teaching to a variety of students.

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Applied Ethics Classes

In Applied Ethics, my students cover some of the major debates in the field, balancing a focus on specific issues with explaining general principles within the field. These cover topics such as end of life scenarios in healthcare, responsibility towards the poor, technological enhancement, climate change, digital privacy, disability, and extinction risks for humanity. Students are made aware that philosophy requires a detailed reading of the source material and high standard of rigour in arguing, which some might be unacquainted with. I teach them that the effective solution to these difficulties is to aim for simplicity. With these factors in mind, once I lead them through the major points of the readings, I give them the freedom to express their impressions, doubts, and arguments. Indeed, I choose readings that reaffirm that one can rigorously argue for many kinds of positions. For example, readings for climate change include both Sinnott-Armstrong arguing against individual obligations and Kagan in favour of individual action. During the debate, I make sure their arguments and disagreements are made clear, this leads to not only better arguments but to understanding the many intricate sides of an issue. Splitting large classes into smaller discussion groups which then share their thoughts with the class can be useful here. Students choose three to four classes in which they have to submit an essay about the class and are required to take an active role in the debate. In an alternative format, each student prepares a short presentation followed by class discussion. I provide extensive feedback to their essays/presentations, and encourage them to meet me during generous office hours. I am proud that not only their final work evidence their views were refined, but teaching evaluations suggest increased trust in rigorous and civic debate between opposing views.

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You can find a past Syllabus for Applied Ethics here.

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Early Modern Philosophy, Philosophy of Science and Business Ethics

I take a similar approach in Early Modern Philosophy, Philosophy of Science and Business Ethics. In Modern Philosophy, instead of orienting each class around issues, I focus on a source material by some of the period’s major exponents (such as Descartes, Leibniz, Spinoza, Hume and Locke). In Philosophy of Science, I dedicate at least two classes to different approaches to each foundational issue such as the problem of induction, demarcation and scientific realism, and then include more recent topics such as solutions to incommensurability. I guide students through a detailed reading and expect their essays to display an accurate understanding of the source material. In Business Ethics, I planned to introduce students to the field’s scope, normative foundations, and leading approaches. Then, each class would concentrate on a specific question. Are corporations persons? Who owns them? Is price gauging ethical? What is false advertising? Readings offer different approaches to each question. Regardless of the class, students have met my expectations, exhibiting an accurate and thorough knowledge of several key concepts as well as displaying a reasonable ability to argue and defend claims in a rigorous and structured form. 

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You can find my planned Syllabus for Business Ethics here, a past Syllabus for Early Modern Philosophy here, and for a shorter course of Philosophy of Science here.

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Teaching Evaluations

In my anonymous teaching evaluations, all students considered me an effective class leader, respectful and encouraging. Around nine out of ten considered I stimulated interest, provided helpful feedback, answered questions well and improved understanding (the remaining were neutral). I was never given a negative rating on any of the eleven evaluative criteria.