Sayre-McCord makes the abstract accessible … and fun

In their end-of-course comments, Geoffrey Sayre-McCord’s students describe him as “amazing,”“迷人,” “academically stimulating,” “respectful” and “brilliant” — as well as “a little goofy, as philosophy professors should be.”

他们清楚地表明，这不仅仅是像“美德”这样的介绍性课程的内容, Value and Happiness,” with its readings of Plato, 亚里士多德, 康德和米尔斯, that has helped them explore the nature of value. 这也是他教学的热情方式——贯穿课堂, engaging individual students, 分享个人故事——这为他们提供了一个在工作和生活中快乐的人的活生生的例子.

他找到了一种方法，让尘封的哲学谩骂变得生动起来，并将它们很好地应用到我们今天的生活中,一位学生这样评价莫尔黑德-凯恩校友杰出哲学教授和哈佛大学的主任 philosophy, politics and economics program in the College of 艺术 and Sciences.

His introductory class addresses the basic questions of life. “What is it to be a happy person? What’s the connection between getting respect and flourishing?” Sayre-McCord said. “Those are all down-to-earth, 当我们陷入试图赚更多的钱或买更大的房子的漩涡时，我们忽视了真正的问题.”

展示哲学与日常生活的相关性是这门课背后的驱动力，也是塞尔-麦考德在太阳城娱乐的其他工作的推动力:他开发了个人防护装备项目，并建立了“哲学与日常生活” Parr Center for Ethics 和 National High School Ethics Bowl.

Faculty Council honored Sayre-McCord on Jan. 20 . with the 2022-23 Thomas Jefferson Award, 每年颁发给最能体现杰斐逊民主价值观的教员, public service 和 pursuit of knowledge. In 2022, Sayre-McCord also received the UNC Board of Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, the most prestigious teaching award in the 北卡罗来纳大学系统, 每年颁发给每个组成机构的一名教员.

马克·兰格宣读了颁发2022-23年度托马斯·杰斐逊奖的获奖感言, Geoffrey Sayre-McCord, and Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz look on. In his nomination of Sayre-McCord, Theda Perdue杰出的哲学教授引用了学生们的评论，称赞Sayre-McCord的“Geoffervescence”是“哲学学术领域的巨大财富”.” (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)

Pursuit of happiness

杰斐逊奖得主和独立宣言作者之间的另一个联系是他们对幸福的关注. Jefferson was the man, 毕竟, 是谁把约翰·洛克的自然权利清单从“生命”改成了“生命”, liberty and property” to “life, liberty 和 pursuit of happiness.”

That pursuit led Sayre-McCord to college and philosophy. He didn’t like high school, but Oberlin College was “wonderful, stimulating and interesting,他说. 他在第一学期上了一门哲学课，并爱上了这门学科和他的一个同学, 哈丽雅特·塞尔, whose nickname is “Happy.”

“I chased philosophy and her,他说. The Sayre-McCords were married in 1980 and have two children, two daughters-in-law and two grandchildren.

事后看来，塞尔-麦考德对哲学的迷恋是不可避免的. 他的母亲, 琼·麦考德, a professor and criminologist, originally pursued a doctorate in philosophy, 首先在哈佛, 然后在斯坦福. 她最终转学社会学，因为它给她提供了更好的就业前景. “早在我知道哲学是什么之前，哲学思考和讨论就已经成为我日常生活的一部分,他说.

Applying philosophy to life

Sayre-McCord近年来的重点是2005年建立的跨学科PPE项目. With more than 400 minors this year, 这个快速发展的项目是该国同类项目中规模最大的. PPE辅修课程要求五门课程:哲学各一门, politics and economics, with a PPE Gateway course to begin and a PPE Capstone to end. 个人防护装备项目的下一步工作正在讨论中. Possibilities include a PPE major or a four-plus-one degree, 在该项目中，学生可以通过额外一年的学习将个人防护专业的辅修课程转换为硕士学位.

跨学科项目背后的驱动思想是，塑造我们的生活和机会的社会和政治机构可以通过汇集工具来最好地理解, concepts and discoveries of the three disciplines. “Each discipline shines a bright spotlight on social life, 揭示了一些细节，如果没有这门学科的好处，我们永远不会看到这些细节. Yet each also casts a long shadow,” he observed. “PPE项目试图通过将这三者结合在一起来减少阴影.”

Geoffrey Sayre-McCord (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)

Ethics in competition and class

致力于哲学与日常生活的相关性，自然使塞尔-麦考德参与了帕尔伦理中心(他于2004年帮助建立了该中心)的工作。. Among its many lectures, programs and events focusing upon ethical questions in the arts, 是全国高中道德碗.

The Ethics Bowl reaches approximately 4,000 high school students each year, offering them the kind of challenging, 发人深省的学习Sayre-McCord觉得他没有在他的高中. 在比赛中，团队讨论现实的场景，呈现道德困境. 道德碗的参赛者不进行传统意义上的辩论. 而, 团队必须回答一个由案例引发的难题，并根据他们对该问题的讨论的贡献质量进行评分.

在他的课堂上, 塞尔-麦考德经常要求学生采访一位长辈，谈谈他们面临的一个艰难的道德决定，以此帮助他们理解道德理论如何能够并且确实适用于他们认识的人. 一个例子来自一个学生，他的牧师面临着是否应该把一个患有青光眼的教区居民和一个卖大麻的教区居民联系起来的困境. He would be facilitating an illegal activity. But he would also be helping someone reduce her suffering.

“As relayed by the student, the minister was facing what was for him, 一个尖锐的, complex moral decision. To share that with the student was a genuine gift. 它提供了一个很好的例子，说明人们会太阳城娱乐自己面临着什么样的选择,” Sayre-McCord said. “That was really beautiful.”