ZACH BLAESI
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My primary aim as an instructor is to help students view philosophy as a way of life: an ongoing process of asking "why" questions and refusing to accept "because I said so!" answers. To this end, I teach with an expose-and-assess approach, one that exposes the philosophical assumptions that people simply take for granted and equips students with the skills needed to assess those assumptions. ...

Consider the assumption that it is morally permissible to spend one's money on luxuries and frills. When covering the ethics of poverty, I begin with a news clip about five Florida teens who taunted a man as he drowned to death. Even though these teens were never convicted of a crime, my students agree that their failure to help the drowning man was seriously wrong. But how do students feel about their own failure to prevent suffering and death around the world? Rather than just asking them, I have them write down three unnecessary purchases they've made in the last month. Recently, this prompted one student to confess that he spent seven hundred dollars on a pair of designer boots. I use students' volunteered examples to enter dollar amounts into the website, The Life You Can Save, so that they can visualize the potential impact of their money around the world. This helps them see that their spending habits reflect an assumption about their moral obligations to the poor.

Or consider the view that life begins at conception. When covering the abortion debate, I play media clips to expose the assumption that we are biological organisms. According to substance dualism, however, we aren’t biological organisms at all: we are immaterial souls. After introducing this view, I have students get into groups to consider how a dualist might answer the question of when we begin to exist. This helps them realize that different theories of personal identity may have different implications for the moral status of the fetus, and it equips them with the concepts needed to adjudicate these issues. As one student put it, "[I] learned that many of the issues today that are branded as 'scientific issues' or 'government issues' are actually philosophical issues that must first be answered on the philosophical side of the debate before any common ground might be found."

In order to assess philosophical assumptions, I believe that students must first learn to identify, evaluate, and construct arguments. However, many students enter my courses without a clear understanding of what an argument even is. As a result, I devote an entire unit to distinguishing argument from rhetoric and introducing basic argumentative strategies, which I reinforce throughout the semester. For instance, I recently introduced my students to the optimistic induction from the success of science to the truth of physicalism. One of my students observed that the argument resembles an induction from the sun's having risen every day in the past to the conclusion that it will rise again tomorrow—an example that we discussed the second week of class. Validating her observation helped my students understand that their task is to assess these arguments for cogency.

I have students put these argumentative strategies into practice by completing a variety of writing assignments throughout the semester. For example, when teaching applied ethics, I require students to complete a "find-a-flaw" assignment that tasks them with summarizing an argument for a position on an ethical issue that they encountered outside of class and explaining why the reasoning is flawed. This habituates them into identifying arguments in their daily lives and evaluating them for validity or inductive strength. It led one student to argue that a fellow DJ committed a hasty generalization fallacy in concluding that people who listen to morally corrupt artists are apathetic and bad; another to expose the non-sequiturs in a former high school teacher's Facebook post condemning anger and incivility in politics; and several others to discuss the arguments they encountered over Thanksgiving dinner on topics such as gun control, anti-vaccination advocacy, and political protests within the National Football League.

I also require students to complete several "reading response" assignments, which task them with either summarizing an argument from an assigned reading or critically evaluating a philosophical claim. This ensures that they already have some experience writing the major components of an argumentative paper before they have to write one for the course. Moreover, I have them write their final paper in stages by developing a thesis statement and writing an outline explaining how they plan to support it; submitting a rough draft for feedback; and revising and resubmitting their paper with a cover letter explaining where, how, and why they revised it. This approach enables me to assess students' progress over time and help them make specific improvements at different stages of the writing process. For example, many of my students begin with a thesis that is too broad to support within the page limit. By having them develop a thesis first, I'm able to help them fix this mistake far in advance.

To further assess students' progress, I administer a mid-semester evaluation, which is designed to prompt students to reflect on their own role in the course and to enable me to adjust my teaching methods to their unique educational needs. For instance, when some of my students commented that they sometimes found it difficult to focus when I would respond to students' questions, I began using students' questions to solicit answers from other students for the rest of the class to assess. This method kept my students much more engaged. Even if my methods change, however, my primary objective in teaching remains constant: to empower students to question the world around them.


Teaching Dossier: click ​here to download my teaching dossier for additional evidence of teaching effectiveness. ​

Ctudent Evaluations:
  • Complete Evaluations (Spring 2022–Summer 2022, ACC)
  • Complete Evaluations (Fall 2014–Spring 2021, UT Austin)
  • Ethics (44323) (Instructor, Summer 2022, ACC)
  • Introduction to Philosophy (44306) (Instructor, Summer 2022, ACC)
  • Ethics (38690) (Instructor,  Spring 2022, ACC)
  • Ethics (38714) (Instructor, Spring 2022, ACC)
  • Introduction to Ethics (web-based) (TA, Spring 2021)
  • Philosophy and Film (web-based) (Instructor, Fall 2020, UT Austin)
  • Problems of Knowledge and Valuation (TA, Fall 2019, UT Austin)
  • Contemporary Moral Problems (Instructor, Fall 2018, UT Austin)
  • Introduction to the Philosophy of the Arts (Instructor, Spring 2018, UT Austin)
  • Introduction to the Philosophy of the Arts (Instructor, Fall 2017, UT Austin)
  • Problems of Knowledge and Valuation (TA, Fall 2016, UT Austin)
  • Mind and Body (TA, Spring 2016, UT Austin)
  • Science and the Modern World (TA, Fall 2015, UT Austin)
  • Introduction to the Philosophy of the Arts (TA, Spring 2015, UT Austin)
  • Medicine, Ethics, and Society (TA, Fall 2014, UT Austin)
Complete Courses:
  • Contemporary Moral Problems (Fall 2018, UT Austin)
  • Introduction to the Philosophy of the Arts (Spring 2018, UT Austin)​
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Course Syllabi, Descriptions, and Schedules: 
  • The Mind–Body Problem (full syllabus)

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You can tell the Professor is passionate about what he does! I liked this class!

—Ethics (44323) (Summer 2022, ACC)

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Professor Zach is a brilliant philosophy teacher. He is kind and helpful with anything presented and always willing to help even beyond class times if needed.

—Ethics (38690) (Summer 2022, ACC)

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I really enjoyed having Zach as my professor this semester! I especially appreciated his individualized, detailed feedback on our writing assignments, as they helped me improve my writing skills and streamline my corrections. He was also always available during his office hours, so I would often go and speak with him about my specific assignment and receive any clarification, if needed. Overall, an amazing professor!

—​Philosophy and Film (web-based) (Fall 2020, UT Austin)

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​This is by far my favorite course that I've ever taken at UT, and maybe even in my entire educational career. All of Zach's lectures were interesting and actually made me want to come to class. He was always open to questions and could always come up with a very well put response. He genuinely cared about his students and took their feedback very seriously. For example, students complained that the assigned readings were too long so he took the time to read through the articles he assigned and cut out all the extra 'fluff.' I have recommended this course to multiple friends and would definitely take another course offered by Zach.

—​Contemporary Moral Problems (Fall 2018, UT Austin)

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A really great course. I felt really comfortable expressing my own opinions and Zach was respectful of everyone. Zach is really knowledgeable about the subject matter and I learned a lot. This class has actually changed some of my viewpoints about the world and will influence how I talk about issues and make decisions for the rest of my life.

—Contemporary Moral Problems (Fall 2018, UT Austin)

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Professor Blaesi is one of the most caring, eloquent, inspiring, and engaging professors. It is evident how much effort and time he puts into this course. He has office hours in person and online, his lectures seem so prepared, and he provides so many resources and optional readings for those who want to read more about a topic we briefed over in class. Maybe it is just in the nature of this course, but he makes us think and talk about issues that are uncomfortable but necessary. He also cares about what we think while questioning our beliefs. Most importantly, he teaches us how to carefully determine our beliefs and how to stay consistent with our beliefs.

—Contemporary Moral Problems (Fall 2018, UT Austin)

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​I thoroughly enjoyed this course. I have never had a professor who has put in so much work and thought into their class. Zach was always available to his students and constantly communicated with us about assignments and topics we would discuss in class. He also listened to feedback from his students and tried to accommodate everyone. When students voiced concerns that the workload was heavy, he did his best to slim down assignments while still giving us important material needed for the class. He also provided multiple opportunities outside of class for extra practice if students were confused. Zach is the most fair and hardworking professor I have had during my time at UT and I would love to take a class with him again in the future.

—Contemporary Moral Problems (Fall 2018, UT Austin)

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Zach has been one of the most dedicated professors I have had at UT. He was always really prepared for each class. Also, anyone could see his passion on the subject, and his ability to make it understandable for undergraduate students. I have never taken a philosophy course, and have now found myself very interested in the topic. Zach went the extra mile for every class, and his effort was evident. This was a great class.

—Contemporary Moral Problems (Fall 2018, UT Austin)

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I originally took this course for the VAPA credit, but ended up enjoying it a lot more than I thought. The topics we covered, for the most part, were very interesting, and some I was aware of but hadn’t known it was an actual concept or theory (e.g. the male gaze). Zach was very knowledgeable on the topics in lecture but also kept us entertained and engaged. Zach was a wonderful instructor that showed his passion for the subject, which allowed us to become interested in it as well. This class helped me gain a new perspective in looking at art, and has already changed how I watch films. Thanks for a great class and semester!

—Introduction to the Philosophy of the Arts (Spring 2018, UT Austin)

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The course helped me broaden my ideas in philosophy beyond the Ancient philosopher to more modern philosophy and how philosophy can be done about basically any issue. Zachary Blaesi was a great professor that knows a great deal about what he is talking about, and he is an excellent instructor. He tells you exactly what is required of you.

​—Introduction to the Philosophy of the Arts (Spring 2018, UT Austin)

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One of my favorite classes and teachers. I could tell he was really interested in the course and loved to get involved with students. I felt like I actually learned useful information in this class. 

​​—Introduction to the Philosophy of the Arts (Fall 2017, UT Austin)

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Zach Blaesi’s course has been one of my most enjoyable courses at the University of Texas. His lectures are interesting and informative. The workload is somewhat high, but the readings are resourceful. Zach was willing to work with my accommodations and provide assist[ance] on all assignments.

​—Introduction to the Philosophy of the Arts (Fall 2017, UT Austin)

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See what my students are saying on Rate My Professor (ACC / UT Austin).
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