Class Act: Michael Hannen emboldens philosophy students to think critically

When his high school physics teacher veered from the problem at hand to offer a few insights on Platonism, Michael Hannen was so tantalized by the topic that he plunged forthwith into the depths of a scholarly rabbit hole and thereby discovered his life’s work.

“One day our physics teacher went off on a long digression that was basically Plato’s Allegory of the Cave,” said Hannen, program coordinator for humanities and philosophy at Amarillo College. “I’d refer to it as metaphysics today, but at the time I just thought it was the wildest thing I’d ever heard.

“It sent me to the library where I found Plato’s Republic, and that started my journey into philosophy and the long process that eventually found me writing a doctoral thesis on Plato’s metaphysics.”

Hannen, a product of California’s San Joaquin Valley, received his PhD in philosophy from UC Santa Barbara in 2014, yet his research related to Plato and the paradox of infinite divisibility is – and long will be – ongoing.

“The person who goes into philosophy simply cannot stop thinking about certain issues, about certain paradoxes or problems,” Hannen explains. “For me, what I’ve been working on for the last couple of years is the paradox of infinite divisibility.”

Hannen occasionally presents papers on the topic at prestigious academic conferences, as he has done twice in 2022 – at a meeting of the New Mexico-Texas Philosophical Society at Baylor University, and at the Central States Philosophical Association conference at the University of Nebraska.

“Can a body be divided ad infinitum?” Hannen speculates. “There are persuasive arguments on both sides.”

Hannen teaches classes in philosophy, ethics, and world religions at AC. Discussions revolve around poignant and profound issues ranging from capital punishment and abortion to the origins of humankind and the meaning of life. Hannen employs the Socratic method to foster dialogues through which his students consider “persuasive arguments on both sides” of questions raised.

“My job is not to tell my students what to think,” Hannen said. “Rather, my job is to give them the critical thinking skills to critically assess arguments for themselves – on both sides of an issue.

“Our classes are a conversation, a dialogue that leads students to a more critical understanding of their own beliefs. We get into fundamental questions of how we all ought to live, what we ought to value, all leading up to questions of ultimate significance, questions to do with the meaning of life.”

Hannen introduces various schools of thought – Platonism, Aristotelianism, the different Hellenistic schools, the Stoic school – giving his students a wide range of philosophical context. The Socratic method incorporates a sort of cross examination that helps students identify and eliminate contradictions.

“We go through the arguments from different perspectives on these kinds of questions and, ultimately, I just want them to have the critical thinking skills to decide these fundamental questions for themselves,” Hannen says.

“Pedagogically, it is effective and very engaging for students; they like that they’re not just being presented with information to memorize. Rather, they’re being asked to think about and respond to these perennial questions.”

Hannen joined the AC faculty in 2018 after seven years serving as a lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at Clemson University, during which time he completed his doctoral degree. In addition to the PhD, he holds master’s degrees in both history (Northern Illinois University) and philosophy (UC Santa Barbara).

He is passionate about teaching, and he especially enjoys doing so at AC.

“Coming to Amarillo College has given me the opportunity not only to teach but to play a creative role in designing the future of the program in my capacity as coordinator for our program in humanities and philosophy,” he said. “There’s a strong commitment to student success here, to helping students succeed in and out of the classroom.

“I think my strength as an educator is my passion for the subject. It’s a great to be able to teach philosophy for a living. The thrill of teaching is seeing that epiphany, seeing that moment of revelation, that flash of insight when a student suddenly sees what the philosophical problem is,” he said.

Hannen, who understands that few students he serves will choose to major in philosophy, ethics or world religions, remains a staunch advocate for a liberal arts education.

“What is always going to be in demand is the ability to think critically, communicate persuasively and orally, see both sides of an issue and understand where somebody else is coming from in terms of their values, in terms of their ethics and moral framework,” he said. “These are the skills that you learn in the liberal arts that carry over into anything that you will do.

“Being able to see different sides of an issue prepares you to work with people in lots of different practical contexts and in a more effective way.”

Outside the classroom, when he is not immersed in research, Hannen prioritizes spending time with his fun-loving family.

“My mother is the one who always supported me and encouraged me to continue in pursing my doctorate degree,” he says. “She’s always been there for me. I also have four wonderful brothers.

“We love to laugh. We love sports – baseball, college football, NHL, tennis. My brother Matt and I have seen a lot of the country together; Craig is just hilarious, but all my brothers can make me laugh. They’re wonderful guys.”