Abstract

Surveys of faculty in various disciplines, as well as my own discussions with colleagues, suggest that teachers of philosophy believe service learning is not relevant to their discipline. In this paper I argue that service learning is a valuable pedagogical tool even (and perhaps especially) in abstract disciplines like philosophy. After a short review of the literature on service learning’s effectiveness, I discuss four of the most common objections to its use in philosophy classes, addressing the objections at both theoretical and practical levels. Finally, I describe service-learning components I have used successfully in two introductory philosophy courses.