Your professor will appreciate your zeal during those otherwise lengthy after-question lulls and your comments may even add to the discussion by default earning you big points. Also, after a few sessions with your Simba -like performance, your professor and classmates will be so desperate for you to shut your mouth that you ll be able to ride out the semester in peace. People will avoid talking to you for fear of being taken on another wild cognitive ride they can t understand or refute. Of course the Lion and the Lamb are just two approaches to surviving philosophy class. Some people are gifted enough to survive without creative tactics but the funny thing is, they don t necessarily have any more practical knowledge than those who claim ignorance.
Philosophy is funny that way it guides society by asking questions instead of giving answers.
But that s the nature of the discipline and a further reason why the subject needn t be feared even for us neophytes. Copyright 2000 Marshall Allen. All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Marshall Allen is a freelance writer and seminary student living in Southern California.