A Focus on Pedagogy

Abstract

There is a prominent visual dimension to the teaching of philosophy and I distinguish between illustrative and performative uses of images and artworks. The former are where images are used to illustrate and communicate a philosophical idea or argument. In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave a group of prisoners have been chained to the wall of a cave, watching the shadows of things passing behind them projected onto the cave wall. Plato’s allegory lends itself to artistic representation. Robert Motherwell painted a series of abstract expressionist paintings of Plato’s Cave, with thick layers of black, white, and various shades of grey creating a deep space within which—we imagine—the denizens of the cave are chained. I have painted my own series of works that chart Descartes’ Meditations in which he overcomes his sceptical doubts and comes to acquire certain knowledge of his existence, God and the world around him. (See www.lowwintersun.org) My ‘Empiricism’ series is performative, in that the act of creation communicates the philosophical idea of abstraction. I find myself in interesting territory—on the border between teaching and art, illustration and performance. It is, though, a precarious position: become too self-conscious of the artistic dimension and teaching could become distorted. The aim is to communicate a philosophical idea, but also to capture the kind of aesthetic pulse that one receives as one glances at a chaotic blackboard at the end of class. Future collaboration between philosophers, art historians and artists should be encouraged, with artworks—from the history of art, contemporary artists, and perhaps those created by students and teachers—becoming catalysts for artistic-philosophical investigation, thus revitalizing the idea of universities embodying ongoing and open-ended conversations.