Phillip Barron

My role in the classroom is two-fold: to create an inclusive environment and then to provoke students to think critically. Much like Walter Murch, the celebrated film editor, says of the editor’s responsibility to the director, I believe that as an instructor, my role is to listen and clarify. Philosophy underwrites all other disciplines (which is why the “Ph.” in PhD stands for “philosophy”), so studying philosophy is about learning how to appreciate perplexity, how to think (and write) clearly, and how to understand complexity.

Currently, I am a post-doctoral fellow at Lewis & Clark College. I recently defended my dissertation on the metaphysics and phenomenology of personal identity to complete a PhD in Philosophy at the University of Connecticut. I also have research interests in Daoism, Zen (especially nonclassical logics), philosophy of mind, sub-Saharan African philosophy (especially from Ghana), and contemporary phenomenology.

I am also a poet. As a practicing artist, I bring a healthy respect for empirical data about what communities of artists actually do - to balance out philosophers’ tendency toward armchair theorizing about art. In 2011, I founded and edited the online journal OccuPoetry, anthologizing poetry and art of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

During my free time, I love to cook, bike, read, and hike—sometimes all in the same day.