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1. kaching Philosophy,29:1, March 2006 23
Autobiographical
Writing in PhilosophyClasses
Addressto aPlenarySession
of theAAPT,August2004
LAURA DUHAN KAPLAN
Abstract:Autobiographical
writingin philosophyclassencourages
beginning
students
to usetheir own philosophical
questions,
emotions,anddifficult
experiences
to unlockthemeaningof a philosophicaltext, andencourages
advanced
students
to en-qage
in originalphilosophicalwriting. Philosophical
justificationfor theapproachcanbefound in the concepts
of metaphorical
thinking,historicity.multiculturalvoices.
textualhermeneutics,
themetaphys-
ics of experience,
thelogic of discoveryandintersubjectivity.
Examplesof
studentassignments
and studentwriting iliustratethe approach.Learning
resources
for teachers
andsuggested
solutionsto practicalproblemsoffer a
helpfulstarting
point.
Autobiographical writing assignmentscan be useful tools for philoso-
phy teachers who want to stimulate students' interest in philosophy.
They can be delightful journeys of intellectual discovery for students.
And they can be opportunities for studentsto develop some of the less
talked about but essential skills of philosophical creativity: metaphorical
thinking, reading one's own questionsinto a text, and engaging readers
in one's own writing. For teachersinterestedin using such assignments
in the philosophy classroom, I offer examples of student writing, a
theoretical foundation of the approach, suggestionsfor integrating the
practice into courses, and comrnents on a few practical worries.
Examples of Student Writing
In 1998,I gavethefollowing assignment
to students
in anIntroduction
to Philosophycourseat a four-yearstateuniversity.l
In"Meditation
Two,"Descartes
finallyreassures
himself
thatheexists.
Atfust
reading,
thismayseem
implausible.
Trytofrndasituation
youorothers
have
experienced
thatmakes
Descartes's
doubt
andhissolution
seem
plausible.
In
whatsituation
mightyou(a)loseconfidence
in all theprincipies
Descartes
Q TeachingPhilosophy,2006. All rights reserved.0145-5788 pp.23-36

2. .-, A
z-+ LAURA DUHAN KAPLAN
doubts and (b) be reassuredby the knowledge that you can at least be sure
you know you exist?Describesucha situation.
Below are four students'responses
to the question.Although the
responses
are all quite different from one another,each studentsuc-
cessfullytakesone of Descartes's
points,placesit in the contextof a
personalexperience,
and learnssomethingby so doing. Each student
opensthe doorto anopportunityto think moredeeplyaboutDescartes's
project and abouther or his own view of reality.
Response
#1:A similarsituation
toRene
Descartes's
"Meditation
II" hap-
pened when I was in seventhor eighth grade. I had an Engiish teacher who
was alwayslooking for problems to solvethat would makeususeour thinking
abilities to every extent. One example shegavewas the common mystery of
whether or not atreethat falls in the woods makesany kind of noise if no one
is around to hear it. The first obvious answer was, of courseit doesbecause
we can all seea tree fall and hear the noise it makes, so why would it be any
different if no onewere around?Well, then we startedto think, maybe it does
not make a sound. I guesswe couid have done like Descartesand analyzed
the situation with all of the senses,
but to eighth gradersit would seema little
silly. I guessin the end, you could say that if we thought we were "real" and
were the oneswho could hear the sound,then of course the sound is always
"real" and hearable,whether anyone is there to hear it or not.
This studentis remindedof a similar philosophicaldiscussion
that
took placein a differentcontext,whenshewaslessintellectuallymature.
Her middle schoolclasstook the question,"If a treefalls in the forest,"
asfar asit could,andthenabandoned
it. Newiy introducedto Descartes,
sheunderstands
his projectin termsof the old question.Descartes,
she
decides,took this questionto its logical extreme.Her own philosophical
issuebecomes
the lensthroughwhich shereadsDescartes.
Response
#2:My stepfather'sbestfriend committed suicidemany yearsago
and I know he has had many doubts and questions. This death causedhim
to question if there really was a God. If there was then how could he let his
friend take his own life. It also had him questioning if you really do have
a mind. If so then how could his friend rationalize in his head that things
would be better if he killed himself. My stepfather's other big question was
if he had a soul, how could he end his own life and not consider his friends'
and family's feelings. No matter how bad things were, could he not feel the
love that everyonehad for him by their touch, actions or the words he heard
come from them? So asyou can see,my stepfatherwas very doubtful of most
things at this point. The only thing he did know was that he existsbecausehe
was feeling so much pain and had so much angerinside. And that his friend
did not exist anymore becausehe was dead.
This student'sresponsemovedme emotionally.ShetakesDescartes
a stepout of the intellectual field he setsup and into the realm of the
emotions.On the emotionallevel, radical doubt and longing for an
anchorare processes
shehas observedclosely.She usesDescartes's

3. AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL WRITING IN PHILOSOPHY CLASSES 25
vocabularyfor talking aboutknowledgeto describea relatedbut dif-
ferentphenomenon
of consciousness.
Response#3: Before I becamesaved,I doubtedthat therewas a God, who
madeusandour surroundings.sometimes I would think too hard,andwonder
where did we come from, how we were made. and what our pu{pose was
on this earth. I believed then that I solely controlled everything within and
aroundme, that therewasn't really a God.
Then I realized man [sic] didn't make everything surrounding me: earth,
sky, moon, stars, etc. when I started going to church, I learned about the
Bible. I learnedaboutthe Almighty God. Through readingthe Bible, many
of the doubts I had were being answered. Through God's word I learned
many things that man couldn't explain. The Lord is my sole provider for
everything. He made me and my surroundings.After accepting the Lord as
my Savior, He made me seethings from a different perspective (his ways).
He made me realize that I am real. put here for a reason to do unto him.
whether today, tomorrow, or a year from now, the Lord always answersmy
questions-prayers.why I believe there is God. and that I am real, is for the
simple fact that God has given me the guidance and blessings through his
word to live each day of my life."
This student has taken Descartes's ideas and restated them in
languagecharacteristicof fundamentalistchristianity, a language
that philosophyteachersoftenjudge to be incompatiblewith critical
thinking. For the student,however,the ability to restateDescartes
in
religious languagelegitimatesthe study of philosophy.The student
seesDescartes'squest as identical with her own. And the student's
restatement
in fact anticipates
Descartes's
proofs of God in the Third
Meditation. Like Descartes,this student suggeststhat certainty of
God's existenceprovides a foundation for knowledge of inner and
outer worlds. Just as DescartessaysGod stampscreatureswith the
idea of God so they will be awareof their .."itor, this studentalso
knowsGod throughthe experience
of inner awareness.
Response#4: Descartes give[s] an example about wax from a candle. He
explains that although the candle goesthrough a lot of metamorphosisit still
hasthe samebasicbuildup. Descarteswonderswhat he is becausehe knows
he is real but what if his life is like that candle where it changesforms. All he
knows is that he thinks with his mind. I think the situation I am experiencing
is my stay here in the united States.I feel like I am something that is hav-
ing an out of body experiencebecausealthough I live here I cannot function
like an American becauseI do not know the language. people speakto me
and they think I know everything that they are saying but I really can pick
up on about a third of what the actual conversationis about. I feel like I am
in somebody else's body. I know I exist when I talk to other Koreans here in
the united states becausethey are going through the samethings that I am
experiencing"So that is how I know I exist here in the United States.If I did
not have this luxury I would probably, that is mentally, ceaseto exist.

4. 26 LAURA DUHAN KAPLAN
Of the four, this studentdepartsmostradically from a literal read-
ing of Descartes,and from a one-on-onemapping of the steps in
Descartes's
thoughtonto his experience.
He creativelyreadsthe wax,
a public physicalobject,asa metaphorfor Descartes's
mind, an inner
mentalsubstance.
He doesthis because
his experience
of doubtis one
in which his public, outer self has seemedto changeshape.When he
is uncertainabout his outer world, he becomesuncertainabout his
inner world. This student'sresponse
challenges
Descartes's
view that
one can anchorcertaintyin the inner world alone.
Without a larger context theseexamplesare intriguing fragments,
raising questionsabouthow to integrateautobiographicalwriting into a
philosophycourse.Answersdependuponthe skills philosophyteachers
would like to help their studentsdevelop,and teachers'goalsdepend
upon their conceptionof philosophicalthinking. On one end of the
spectrum,autobiographical
writing can be used to developskills in
precisethinking aswell ascloseand carefulreadingof primary texts.
On the other end, it can also be used to developskills in creative,
metaphoricalthinking aswell asskills in readingtextsfor relevanceto
one'sown life andquestions.
My own practicein usingautobiographi-
cal writing is to emphasizethe latter.Before I go on to discussthat
at somelength, I would like to commenton using autobiographical
writing to developskills in precisereadingand thinking.
In the aboveexamplesof studentwriting, the analogiesdrawn by
studentsbetweentheir experiences
and Descartes's
view do not always
standup underlogical scrutiny.Student#1 saidthat doubtingthe senses
is like wonderingabouta treefalling in the forest.But Descartes
is not
wondering whether the world exists when he is not sensingit; he is
wonderingwhetherthe world existswhen he is sensingit. Student#2
saidthat radical intellectualdoubt is like losing one'semotionalcenter
throughgrief. But Descartes
might rejectthe notion that his intellectual
whirlpool is anythinglike anemotionalwhirlpool; he might sayhis doubt
comesout of carefulreasoningalone.Student#3 suggested
that finding
anintellectualfoundationis like finding God.However,Descartes
might
saythatreligiousfoundationalismis entirely inadequate
for understanding
hisprojectof rejectingfoundations.
And student#4 implied thatwatching
wax changeshapecanbe like watchingyour own self try to adaptto a
foreign culture.Yet Descarteswould surely disagreethat the thinking,
judging self actually changeswhen othersrespondto it differently.
If a teacher'saim were to develop skills in precisereading and
thinking,students
couldbe encouraged
to focuson thesedis-analogies.
Autobiographical assignmentscould function as a way to identify a
point of entry into a text that interestsa student.Once the studenthas
identified a point of interest,the studentcould be encouraged
to explore
Descartes's
view on that point by carefully noting how Descartes
might

5. AUTOBIOGRAPHICALWRITING IN PHILOSOPHYCLASSES 27
agreeor disagreewith what they have learnedfrom their experience.
In my own practiceas a teacher,however.I tend to avoid this use of
autobiographical
writing. From a practicalperspective,
I worry that it
can shutdow-nstudents'engagement.
They may feel that I haveasked.
them to shareof themselves
only to dismissthem.From a theoretical
perspective,
my aim is to expioreother dimensionsof philosophical
practicebesidesclosereadingandpreciselogical thinking.
Metaphorical Thinking as Philosophical Thinking
The type of philosophicalwork I encourage
studentsto explorethrough
autobiographicalwriting canbe describedusing at leastsevendifferent
theoreticalorientations.
Metaphorical Thinking
Educationalpsychologistwilliam J. J. Gordonwrote that metaphorsare
usefulin learningwhat has akeadybeendiscoveredaswell asin creat-
ing new ideasor solutions"z
when students
usea familiar metaphorto
helpthemgraspa newidea.they areusingmetaphorto makethe itrange
familiar. When an inventor re-describesa problem metaphoricallyand
thus comesupon a new solution,the inventorhas used metaphorto
makethe strangefamiliar. In using autobiographical
writing, students
havethe opportunityto engagein both of theseprocesses.
Their own
experience
becomesa metaphorfor the philosophythey are studying.
They can more easilyunderstand
philosophyusing their experiencei,
and reinterprettheir experiences
usingphilosophicalconcepts.
According to existentialphenomenologist
GabrielMarcel, the entire
practiceof philosophyis proposing,
extending,
andexaminingmetaphors.3
Life, saysMarcel. is a philosophicalmystery.A philosopherbeginsto
examinethemysteryby finding a way to talk aboutit, o1 in otherwords,
by capturingit in a conceptthatcanbe discussed.
But all waysof talking
aboutlife's mysteriesareapproximations
or images.They aremetaphors.
Thus philosophers.when they theorize,proposemetaphorsandlnvite
othersto walk aroundin them.on Marcel'sview, studentswho practice
autobiographical
writing areactivelycreatingphilosophicaltheories_
Historicity
Autobiographical
scholarship
asa genreis increasinglyaccepted
across
thehumanitiesandsocialsciences
asmethodologically
sound,because
it is expressive
of certainintellectualassumptions
of our age.a
Intellec-
tual positionsarerecognizedin this postmodernageto be relativeto a
person'ssocialandhistoricalcircumstances
in waysthataresometimes
but not alwayspredictable"The best way to come to understand
the
relationshipbetweenhistoricalcircumstance
and intellectualstudy is
to make it explicit. on this view. when studentsoffer autobiographi-

6. 28 LAURA DUHAN I(APLAN
cal metaphors
for understanding
philosophicalideas,they aremaking
explicit reiationships
betweenhistory and theory.
Multicultural Voices
Multiculturai and feminist theorists,acceptingthe principle of his-
toricity, havepointedout that too often we hide behind abstractions,
speakingin the passivevoice as if truths exist rather than get held
or advocatedby people.sOne of my favorite examplesof such an
abstractionis the statement"slavery was widely acceptedbefore the
seventeenth
century,"which leadsone to wonderwho accepted
it, the
conquerors
who enslaved
thosethey conquered
or the enslaved
people
themselves?6
With autobiographical
writing we speakfrom a particular
position, revealingwhat in our experienceled us to our views, On
this view, studentautobiographical
writing opensup a multicultural
conversation.
It givesstudentsand teachersan opportunityto explore
the claim that sucha dialogueis fruitful.
Textual Hermeneutics
Paul Ricoeur distinguishesbetweenmeaning as constitutedby the
doublemeaningsof words and asconstitutedby the doublemeanings
of texts.T
A focuson the doubiemeaningsof wordsencourages
readers
to seea text asan assemblyof wordsandconcepts.
Readersstudythe
meaningsof thosewords and conceptsand constructa view of what
the authorintendedto convey.A focus on the doublemeaningsof texts
encourages
readersto seea text asa whole that transcends
its parts.We
as readersthus graspa gestaltof the text, constructed
out of images
nearanddearto us.We enterthat gestaltandsounderstand
the text. On
this view, students
usingautobiographical
writing to enterthe text are
using a type of readingthat supplements
a more analyticalreading.
Metaphysics of Experience
Is experience
a subjective
innerprocess,
or a constructbasedon social,
political, andeducationalconditions?Or is it, asPaul de Man argues,
a constantconversation
betweenthe two in which our inner and outer
worlds metaphoricallyexpressone another?8
On this view, writing
aboutpersonalexperiences
revealsthe way eventsboth shapeand are
shapedby the ways we think aboutthem.
Logic of Discovery
To talk aboutthe processof makingphilosophicaltheories,one could
borrow Karl Popper'sdistinctionbetweenthe logic of discoveryandthe
logic of verification-e
Traditionalphilosophicalwriting is guidedby the
logic of verification, as we usefamiliar argumentforms to prove in a
discipline-sanctioned
way that our view hasmerit. Personalwriting lin-
gerson the logic of discovery,which is associative,
drawingon whatever
contentsof consciousness
pressthemselves
forward in their attemptsto

7. AUTOBIOGRAPHICALWRITING II.{PHILOS
OPHYCLASSES 29
be articuiated.
viewed this way,personalphilosophicalwriting allows
studentsto developimportant creativeskilrs in philosophy^
Intersubjectivity
On the onehand,historicistsarguethat objectivity in scholarshipis un-
attainable"
On theotherhand,normativeaccountsof scientificmethod
arguethat subjectivityis undesirable.
perhaps,asanthropologist
Ruth
Behar asserts,
the best compromisewould seemto be interzubjectiv-
ity.t0Insteadof ignoringtheir biases,scholarscanmakethemeiplicit,
and the scholarlyconversationcan include reflection on the ways a
researcher's
position affects their research.when studentspropose
metaphorsandwalk aroundin them,they arepracticing intersubjectiv-
ity in severalways.They areinteractingwith ihe text, fitting their lives
into the shapeofferedby Descartes,for exampie.They are conversing
with Descartes
astheymight with a respected
friend, trying on his poin-t
of view. and offering their own. They aremaking expliciithe thoughts
and experiences
they bring to readingDescartes.
And, perhaps*r"
immediately,they are offering their lives to the teacheiand possibly
to classmates,
hoping for recognitionand response.
If we arecaringteachers,
we will recognizethatthe students'
practice
of intersubjectivitycallsto us to respondto themin particularwlys" we
will enterinto their metaphorsandwalk aroundin them.But-and here
I hopeI amnot overusingthemetaphor-we mustbe carefulnot to walk
all overthem.we needto developpracticalskills in evoking,encourag-
ing. and respondingro aurobiographicalwriting in philosophy.
To that end,I shall sharetwo differentcontextsin which I haveused
autobiographical
writing successfully.
The first is an introduction to
philosophycourse,in which autobiographical
writing is onecomponent
of a fairly traditionalcourse.In this courseautobiographical
*.iting i,
usedto help studentsattendto their senseof wonder,to encourage
their
personalengagement
with philosophy,and to discourageplagiarism.
The secondcontextis an upperdivisionundergraduate
couise?orphi-
losophymajorsandminors,entitledNarrativephilosophy.The pu.por"
of the courseis to exptrore
autobiographicalwriting in philbsophy.
The aim is to offer studentsan opportunity for extendedpttltoropfri"ut
explorationwhile developingelegantwriting skills.
Introduction to Philosophy
The introductionto philosophycoursethat I shall describe,which I
taughtin 2001, introducesstudentsto selectedissuesin ethics,epis-
temology,metaphysics,and social/poriticarphilosophy.The
"o,irr"
includessometraditionalcomponents:
reading
"rruyt
thatrepresent
dif-
ferentphilosophicalapproaches,
shortwriting assignments
in response
to questionsaboutthe readings,mini-lectures,and classdiscusiions.

8. 30 LAURA DUHAN KAPLAN
The autobiographical
componententersthroughtwo otherassignments:
WOW journals and original papers.trTogether,the two components
take studentson the metaphoricaljourney describedby Gordon. The
WOW journal helps studentsmakethe familiar strange,and the origi-
nal papershelp them make the strangefamiliar. The S/OW journal is
describedin the syllabusas follows:
Wowjournal:Thisjournalis designed
toencourage
youtonoticeandwrite
about
thingsyoufindspecial
orunusual
in everyday
life: events,
activities,
feeiings,
thoughts,
movies,
music,
etc.thatmake
yousay,
"Wow!"Youwill
findthatthetopics
wediscuss
inclass
make
younotice
atleast
some
newand
different
things.
Please
writeaminimum
of 1fulIpage
perweek
inihejoumal.
Entries
maybehandwritten.
aslongastheyarelegible"
Describe
the"wow,"
try toputintowordswhytheexperience
stands
out,expiainwhatit makes
youthinkor wonder
about.
"'Wow"
journais
will becollected
twiceduring
thesemester
forinformal
feedback,
andonce
attheendofthesemester
fora
grade.
Also,duringeach
class
session
in whichthere
isnoquiz.three
people
will beasked
toread(ortellabout
something)
fromtheir"wow"journaland
otherstudents
will have
theopportunity
torespond.
My aim in the WOW journal is simply to cultivate in studentsa
senseof wonde , to encouragethem to notice when the familiar is
strange.I do not ask for deep philosophical observations.although
as the semester
goeson studentsincreasinglyoffer them. The WOW
journal is just an opportunityfor students
to speakandbe heard.I ar-
rangefor them to be heardby their classmates
as well. Studentssign
up in advancefor a dateon which to reada journal entry to the class.
On the appointeddays,we turn to thejournals abouttwenty minutes
beforethe end of class.For eachof the three studentswho read,we
listen, and then I allow three studentsto comment. After all three
readings,I invite everyonein the classto write a personalcomment
to one of the three readersand deliver it to the readerbefore the end
of class.Interestingly,studentshavechosensomeof their most mov-
ing and leastinnocuousentriesto read:witnessinga murder,growing
up in a country at war, worrying about discrimination as a foreigner
after September11. Consistently they have reported to me privately
that they receivesupportivecommentsfrom classmates.
The original paperintegratestheWOW reportswith otherideasin the
course.The assignment
givesstudentstheopportunityto takethepersonal
andput it into the contextof courseideas.Throughthis assignment,
the
strangenew coursematerialis connectedwith the familiar. Here is anex-
cerptfrom the original paperassignment
asit appears
on the syllabus:
Originalpapers:Theseareopportunities
for you to makeconnections
between
course
readings,
class
discussions,
andyourown"wow"journals.
Eachpapershouldaddress
onecentraltheme,weavingtogetherideasfrom
the threesourceslisted above.. . . Papersareevaluatedon the following
criteria:logical organization;
creativeconnections
betweenideas;depthof

9. AUTOBIOGRAPF{ICAL
WRTTINGIN PHILOSOPHYCLASSES 31
development
of ideas;
andappropriate
useof course
materials-
Youwill be
asked
toreadyourpaper
outloudtoasmallgroupof classrnates.
. ". [Y]ou
will havethechance
to rewriteit in response
to my writtencomments
and
yourclassmates'
oralcomments"
The assignment
makesit possibiefor both concretethinkersandab-
stractthinkersto write creativeiy-and makesit very difficult for students
to plagiarize.trtalsoelicits somewonderfulpapers.For example,a long
distancerunnerwrites aboutbreathasa function that connectsbody and
mind.A foreignstudentwritesaboutsocialfreedomin theU.S.compared
with his hornecountry andhow his experiences
haveaffectedhis views
on free will" ^4.cheerleader
writes aboui the deepfriendshipsbetween
teammates
that startasfriendshipsof utility. Thesearestudents'genuine
observations
abouttheir lives. rootedin their experiences,
thoughtfully
refined through the processof reflective writing, and expressed
using
conceptscharacteristicof the discipline of philosophy.
When trrespondin writing to thesepapers,I am carefuLnot approach
themasif theyarecommentson coursematerial(unlessa studentexplicitly
states
that asan aim).Instead,I readthernasexpressions
of the students'
phitrosophies.
My taskis to enterinto the student'sthoughtandtry ashard
asXcanto understandiaihatthey aretrying to say^My cornmentsusually
suinmarize
the student's
presentation,
offel suggestions
for how he or she
can expf,ess
or developihe thought more effectively, and add a personal
commenton what the papermademe think or feei. Thesesuggestions
are
rootedin thegradingcriteriasetforth on thesyllabus:I makesuggestions
abouthow to improve or extendorganization,synthesis,anddevelopment
of ideas,and I comrnenion whether studentshave drawn from all three
coursecomponents.
I alwaysassumethat each studentis trying to say
sornethingsignificant, even if it takes a iot of work for me to flnd the
threadamidstpoor writing or sioppythinking. I neveraccusestudentsof
try:ingto bluff their way through an autobiographicalassignment.I find
that when I respondseriously,studentsrise to the challenge,andprepare
assignments
theyarewilling to havetheteacherreadcarefullyandthought-
fully. lVloststudents
choose
to rewritein response
to my comments,
based
in part on the gradeincentive-but not cornpletelyso, as often students
rewrite when the extra points wili noi affect their final grade.
Narrative Philosophy
Personalphilosophicalwriting is not simply a tool for helping students
engagewith technicalphilosophies.It is alsoa genrethat offersdelight-
ful discoveriesfor both writers and readers.Somestudentswho enjoy
creativewriting areeagerto exploreit, andto ihis end I havedesigned
the "Narrative Philosophy" course,and taught it regularly since 1997-
Accordingto theuniversity'scatalogcoursedescription,thecourse"Ex-

10. 32 LAURA DUHAN KAPLAN
ploresthe useof autotriographical
andpersonaiwriting in philosophy.,,
For purposesof the course.we usethe term "narrativephilosophi,,-ro
referto anautobiographical
styleof approaching
philosoptricat
trtnicing.
Studentsin the coursernusthavea declaredphilosophymajor or minoi,
and at leastjunior standing.Thus,traditionalphilosophicaltermsand
approaches
arepart of their academicvocabulary,they havedonea fair
bit of coilege-levelwriting, andthey areactivelyinterestedin exploring
their own relationships
to ideas.The coursegivesthem u ,t"p-by-rt"p
opportunityto deveioptheir skill as personalessayists
ln prritoioptry
while exploringideasand experiences
importantto them.
.
one key to personal essaywriting is to learn to keep a reader's
interest-Readerswho are not personarfriends areunlikely to haveany
particularinterestin anauthorwho talksaboutherselfor himself at great
length-Instead,readersare likely to be interestedin their orvn ,"lr"u,
specificallyin what they canlearnfrom readingthe essay.
A good per-
sonaiessaydescribesan unusualencounterandtells us what the aoihor
trearned
from it and, by implication, what we can learn from it. To a
personalphilosophicalessay,I bring a more sophisticatedexpectation.
I want to learn somethingaboutphilosophy,to broadenor deepenmy
philosophical
thought.Thus,I amnot interested
simplyin whattheauthor
learned,but in what the authorlearnedby thinking-aboutthe experience
using phiiosophicalconcepts.By speakingaboutthemselvesin a good
personalphilosophicalessay,studentsspeakto others.In this *uy,1h"y
are not practicing a detachedobjectivity, or a narcissisticsubieitivity,
but a conscious
intersubjectivity.
Theyinvitereaders
in, implying,,,r,;
a person,you're a person,iet's chataboutlife andphil0sophy."
-
Thereis no preciserecipefor balancingthepersonalunairr" philo_
sophicalin this genre.To help studentsdevelopthe skills to find this
balance,I try to offer them good models to iead, assignments
that
evoke connectionsbetweenthe personaland the philosophical,and
constructivecriticism that is supportiveand thoughtful.
The readingsI usein thecoursevary but I usuallydrawthemfrom five
different categories.
and include one staple.The five categoriesare.
' Famousphilosophicalautobiographies
beloved by readers
throughthe centuries;rZ
" collections by popularcontemporary
essayists
with a philosophi-
cal bent;13
" Philosophicalnovelsnarratedin the first person;ra
' writings by authorswho seeautobiographicalwriting asa way for
multiculturalvoicesto enterthe philosophicalconversation;liand
" My own effortsin personalphilosophicalwriting.
The stapleof the courseis plato'ssymposium,for reasonsof both
style and content. The symposium approachesits topic through the

11. AUTOBIOGRAPHICALWRITING IN PHILOSOPHYCLASSES
voicesof eight different speakers.
Each speakerusesa different style,
andthe stylesinclude autobiography,
myth, metaphor,everydayexperi-
ences,andtheoreticalconcepts.
The subjectmatterof the Symposium,
love and sex, rarely faiis to move a studentto reflect on her or his
life experiences.
Before eachctrass"
I preparequestionsand activities
that encourage
interpretationand evaluationof the assigned
readings.
students,however,often comepreparedto sharetheir own reflections
on the texts' substance
and style.
The writing assignmentsare designedto build increasingiy so-
phisticatedskills in autobiographical
philosophicalwriting" The firsi
paperis a shortphilosophicalautobiography,
and the secondcould be
describedasawow.journal entryfoltrowed
by philosophicalreflection.
The third paperasksfor an autobiographical
response
to a specifictext,
and the fourth invites an original paper in the style we have studied.
The papersare describedin the syliabusas foliows:
Paper#1: Whatmadeyou interested
in phiiosophy,
andwhatideaswould
youdevelop
if youwerenotconstrained
by writing formalphilosophypapers
for ciasses?
(3-5 pages)
Paper#2: Describeanordinarylife situationthatled you to think of philo-
sophicaiideas,andpresentthephilosophicalideasthatflowedfrom it. (3-5
pages)
Paper#3: Write an autobiographicai
interpretationof the Symposium.
in
otherwords,describe
apersonal
experience
thatillurninatessomesectionof
thedialogue
andexplainthemeaning
yourexperience
givesto thesection.
(5-7 pages)
Paper
#4:Write anoriginatr
pieceof narrative
philosophy.
(B-12pages)
Because of the intersubjective nature of the course, students present
a short summary or excerpt from each paper to the class, and respond to
one another's presentations,sometimesin structured formats. Because
we are working on philosophical skills that favor the often hidden
dimensions of phiiosophy-metaphorical rather than logical, personai
rather than public-we end the semesterwith a discussion of defini-
tions of philosophy and its methods.
The final papers are often extraordinary. They can be humorous as,
for example, a student explores free-w-ill and determinism, and with
subtle irony blames his poor decisions on circumstances that obvi-
ously did not cause them.r6Or they can be poignant as, for example,
the mother of an autistic child explores the relationship between mind
and character.rTThe Symposium papers range from exercises in self-
discovery and self revelation as, for examptre,a student comes out as
bisexual; to elegant analysesof the structure of the symposium as de-
picting love acrossthe life cycle; to outpourings of passionatelove for
philosophy and art. when I comment on student papers in this course?
33

12. .A
J4 LAURA DUHAN KAPI-AN
trusethe sameprinciplesI usein commentingon autobiographical
pa-
persin Introductionto Philosoph,v,
askingmyself, what is the student
trying to say and how can I heip them say it more effectively. x try to
be honest:here I havelost your point arnongthe detailsof time and
place.Ftrere
I can't follow a stepyou seernto be taking in your thought.
Herex don't understand
how you seey-ourpoint asparallelingplato's.
F{ereI wonder:do you want to talk?
Tliis is sirnply the most rewardingcourseI teach.
Practica! Barriers
Teachers
interestedin using autobiographical
approaches
in teaching
philosophytend to articulatea typical set of worries.They ask,isn't
ihis time consuming?
F{owcanI usepersonalwriting if I don't know a
lot aboutthis genre?Can i requirestudentsto self-disclose,
and what
do trdo when studentsdisctrose
upsettinginformation?I would iike to
say a word abouteachof theseworries.
This approachi-stirne-ccnsurning.when responding to student
writing, thereis no way to preparean answerkey,or give out "sample
good answ'ers"
as rnodels.A teachersimply hasto read studentwork
carefuliyandlovingly-Xfthe teacherdoesn'tunderstand
what the stu-
dentis trying to say"theteacherrnustreadthe assignrnent
again,more
carefuily.Because'rhisapproachis tirne-consuming,
teachersshouid
plan their workload"and avoid experimentingwith it for the first time
when their othel preparationresponsib,iiities
areheavy.
Teacherswho use autobiographicaiwriting assignrnentsshould
prepareby readingin the genreand experimentingwith writing in it.
only throughresearch
andpracticewill teachers
learnhow to encour-
ageand evaluate
-eood
personalwriting.
Resources
areavailableto helpfacutrty
learnto usethis approach.The
Art af tlte PersonalEssar-editedby philip l-opaie offers examplesof per-
sonalessays
from thelastfew centuries,
alongwith anintroductoryessay
analyzingthe purposeof the genre.
tsAutobiographicalwriting Across
the Disciplines edrtedby Diane F" Freedmanand olivia Frey, off,ers
contemporary
examplesof scholars
in thehumanitiesandsocialsciences
includingthepersonaldirnension
in their scholarship.ie
Theperformance
of self in studentwriting by Tom Newkirk givesexarnplesfrom personal
essays
by studentsat variousstagesof development
aswriters.Newkirk
explainstheaimsof teachingpersonalwriting, andsuggestions
thathelp
teaclrers
meetthe aims.2O
Philosop'hy
and Everyd.ay
Lift edited,byr-aura
DuhanKaplan,is a coilectionof autobiographical
essays
by philosophers
exploringtraditionaland nontraditionaiphilosophicalproblems.2r
And no, of coursea teachercannot require studentsto disclose
anythingdeeplypersonalin a college-levelwriting assignment.
Every

13. AUTOBIOGRAPHICALWRITINGIN PHILOSOPHYCLASSES 35
assignment
must allow studentssomechoiceof subjectmatter.This can
be accompiished
by broadlydefiningthetopicsthey canchoose,or by
allowing them to write aboutthe experiencesof othersaswell astheir
own.At times.studentsdo disclosesensitiveor upsettinginformation
in their personalwriting. Teacherscan preparefor such situationsby
becoming acquaintedwith the resourcesfor studentserviceson their
campus.Campus counselingcentersare usually pleasedto consult
with faculty, and consider it responsiblebehavior for faculty to re-
fer students.The Dean of StudentsOffice can also help faculty sort
out information from studentsand make responsibledecisionsabout
respondingto it. Also important are the rules governing confidential-
ity. The Family Educational Records Protection Act (FERPA) gives
guidelinesfor when andto whom educationprofessionalscandisclose
information. And each statehas confidentiality guidelinesfor human
servicesprofessionatrs
that dictatethe situationsin which confidential-
ity must be breached"
In doubtful situations
, a teachercan alsoconsult
the campusattorney.While this soundsquite serious,it is important
to remember that studentsdo have resourcesfor dealing with their
problems, and that, in most situations,all we can do is urge them to
use their resources.And awkward situationscan even have a humor-
ous edge.The most awkward situation I have found myself in is one
in which I was barredby law from disclosingto a health professional
information essentialto understanding
a student'ssituation-and the
healthprofessionalhappened
to be my spouse!
As long asresourcesof facuity time, faculty learningmaterials,and
student support services are available, philosophy teacherscan feel
ernpoweredto experirnentwith autobiographicalwriting assignments.
Theseassignmentsoffer teachersa way to spark and cultivate the in-
ner processes
that birth philosophicalreflection. Most studentswill
appreciatethe opportunitiesto enter the subjectmatter in interesting
ways,expressa senseof wonder,think and write creatively,be heard
by others,and learn aboutthe diverselife-worlds of fellow students.
And many faculty will find themselvesenjoying the opportunity to
teachgenuinelyinterestedstudentswho offer endlessnew perspectives
on familiar subjectmatter.
Notes
1. Theseexamplesappeared
previouslywith adifferentanalysisin LauraDuhanKa-
plan,"PersonalNarrativein PhilosophicalWritingAssignments: Engagingwith Descartes's
Meditations;'AmericanAssociationof PhilosophyTeachers
News(Summer1998).
2. William J. J. Gordon, TheMetaphorical Wayof Learning and Knowing (Cam-
bridge,Mass.:Porpoise
Books, I97I).
3. GabrielMarcel, TheMysteryof Being (Chicago:Regnery 1950)"

14. 36 LAUR.ADUHAN KAFLAN
4. RuthBehar,"Foreword,"in AutobiographicalWriting AcrosstheDisciptines,ed.
DianeP.Freedmanandolivia Frye (Durham.N,c": Duke university press,2004)"
5. Including Claudia Card, "The Feistinessof Feminisml' in FeministEthics, ed..
ClaudiaCard(Lawrence:UniversifyFressof Kansas,1991),3-33;Patieia Hill Coltins
in Black FeministThought,reprint edition (New York: Routledge,2000); Mary Daly in
Gyn/Ecology
(Boston:BeaconPress.1978);bell hooks.FeministTheoryfrom
Margin to
center,Znd ed.(cambridge.Mass.:south End Press,2000);Maria Lugonesin "Flay-
fulness, 'world'-Traveling, and Loving Perception,'"Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist
Philosophy2:2 (Summer l9B7):3-19; andJaniceMoulton, 'A paradi_em
of philosophy:
The AdversaryMethod." in Women,Knowledge,and Reality: Explorations in Feminist
Pltilosophy,ed.Ann Garry andMarilyn Pearsall(Boston:unwin Hyman, lggg),5-20.
6. I cannotrememberwhereI first readthis exampie.
7. PaulRicoeur,TheConflictof Intetpretations:Essaysin Henneneutics(Evanston,
Ili.: Northwestern
UniversityPress,1974).
8. Paul de Man, "The Epistemology of Metaphor;' in on Metaphor, ed. sheldon
Sacks(Chica_eo:
University of ChicagoPress,I97g), Il-28"
9. Karl Popper TheLogic of ScientificDiscovery,reprint edition (NewYork: Rout-
ledge, 1992).
10. Behar."Foreword."
11- The ideaof aWOW journal wasintroducedto me by RabbiMarcia Prager,who
usesit to engageieenagers
in theprocessof preparingfor their bar or bat mitzvah.
12. For example,Augustine'sConfessions
(Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press,1998),
Rousseau'sReveries
of theSolitaryWalker(Harmondsworih:
Penguin,1980),Descartes's
Meditationson FirstPhilosophy(Indianapolis:Hackett, 1989).
13" Forexample,AnnieDillard'sPilgrimatTinkerCreek(NewYork:HarperPerennial,
1998):vicki Hearne's
Ad.am's
Task:calling Aninals ByName(Newyork: kopf, 19g6);
and JamesP. Carse'sBreakfastat the Victotl, (SanFrancisco:HarperSanFrancisco,
199s)"
14. Forexample,walkerPercy'sTheMoviegoer(Newyork:Vintage,l99g),Rebecca
Goldstein'sTheMind-BodyProbleru(Harmondsworth:
penguin,I993),and eventhevery
challengingE. L. Doctorow's Ci4, of God (Newyork RandomHouse.Z}AD"
15. For example,Patriciawilliams's TheAlchemy of Raceand Rights (cambridge,
Mass.:Harvarduniversity Press,1991);Maria Lugones's"playfirlness";andRuthBehar,s
"DeathandMemory: From SantaMaria Del Monte to Miami Beachfrom TheVulnerable
obserr-er:Anthropologythat BreaksYourHeart (Boston:Beaconpress,1997).
16. James
AdrianMarshall,'The wrong MomenttoExjt," tnphitosophyandEveryday
Life- ed-LauraDuhanKaplan(NewYork: sevenBridgespress,2002),z3g-44.
17" Margaritha Harmaty. "what is the Mind?" in plzilosophy and Everyday Lifu,
163-81.
I B. Philip Lopate, TheArt of the PersonalEssay:An Antlrclogy From the Classical
Era to thePrcsent(NewYork: Anchor, 1995)
19- FreedmanandFrye, eds.,
AutobiographicalWriting AcrosstheDisciplines.
20' ThomasNewkirk, ThePerfonnanceof Selfin StudentWriring(Portsmouth,N.H.:
Boynton/Cook,1997).
21. Kaplan,ed.,PhilosophyandEverydayLift.
LauraDuhan Kaplan.reblaura@
telws
-net