“Proper education arouses intellectual curiosity”

Nathan Ballantyne (ASU) continues his wonderful series of thoughtful, in-depth interviews of philosophers, The Workbench, with a conversation with Paul Gooch (Toronto). . Paul Gooch The conversation is wide-ranging, with many amusing anecdotes (including one about the role Richard Taylor’s dog played at a dissertation defense), interesting reflections on various aspects of being a philosophy professor, a discussion of what “Canadian Philosophy” is, and thoughts about the limits of philosophy. Here’s one part of the interview that focused on teaching: Gooch: As Plato pointed out in the Phaedrus, written texts can’t answer your questions, so the conversation is one-way. (Of course, he made the claim about the inadequacy of the written word in writing.) You talk to yourself when you read. That’s not teaching. I was fortunate to learn very early on that teaching isn’t just about getting my own thoughts in order; it’s an interaction that has to take into account the place the student…