When he teaches in other countries, John R. Searle, Mills Professor of the Philosophy of Mind and Language in the Department of Philosophy, says, "The first thing I have to do is train my students to act like Berkeley students. They are not used to asking questions in a way that challenges the professor while being at the same time respectful and observant of the rigorous logical standards of the discipline. . . . by the end of the semester they are raising their hands and arguing with me as vigorously as my Berkeley students."
Searle, whose area of focus is the philosophy of the mind and the philosophy of language, has a "reputation as a teacher and as an expositor of philosophy that extends far beyond the confines of this university. It is worldwide. He is something of a legend," according to his colleague Richard Wollheim.
Students flourish under Searle's guidance. Says one, "This was one of the most stimulating classes I've ever taken. It challenged me to great precision in my thinking and analysis of just about everything in life. Thank you for this class, this opportunity to be thoughtful."
Former students and colleagues are equally lavish with their praise. Remembering a class with Searle, one says, "the questions from the students evinced a level of intellectual engagement that I can only attribute to the fact that his teaching creates and sustains a very high dress of reflective involvement among his listeners."
Recipient of numerous awards and honors, and distinguished lecturer at universities throughout the world, Searle is also one of the few people who can list not only books by himself in his curriculum vita, he can list books about himself. Professor Searle received his B.A. and D. Phil. from Oxford, and he joined the Department of Philosophy at Berkeley in 1959.
Statement Of Teaching Philosophy
Most of my actual teaching efforts are devoted to undergraduates, and I can say now that my favorite students to teach in the whole world are Berkeley upper-division undergraduates in advanced undergraduate courses, the Philosophy of Mind, the Philosophy of Language, and Social Philosophy. Such students have a combination of intelligence, enthusiasm, intellectual openness, and a kind of respectful skepticism that I believe is unmatched anywhere in the world. When I teach in Germany, for example, the first thing I have to do is train my students to act like Berkeley students. They are not used to asking questions in a way that challenges the professor while being at the same time respectful and observant of the rigorous logical standards of the discipline. I teach them to do this, and by the end of the semester they are raising their hands and arguing with me as vigorously as my Berkeley students. But when you are not in Berkeley, it takes an effort to get other students up to Berkeley level.
Ideally in such courses I have three objectives. First, I want the students to acquire a solid understanding of the current state of work in the discipline. They should know enough about the history of the subject, the current major issues, and the leading positions on the various issues so that they have an intellectual grip on the subject matter. Second, I try to tell them what I think is the correct way of thinking about these issues, and to teach them what I believe is the truth on the various questions. I am not by any means a detached observer of these fields. And third, most important of all, I try to teach them to think and write critically on these questions. The idea is that intellectual life is not a spectator sport, and they are not passive recipients of information. We are all participants in a series of ongoing debates and discussions.
I have to add that just as important as the material and the intellectual standards that one imparts deliberately, is the mode of sensibility that one exemplifies. It is not a good idea to become too self conscious about this, but a good teacher has to know that his or her impact on the students goes far beyond the subject matter of the course.