PHILOSPHY INSTRUCTOR
Zachary Agoff, PhD
Currently teaching at Consumes River College, Yuba College, and Stanford Online High School.
Previously at UC Davis, University of Pennsylvania, San Francisco State University.
MY TEACHING
Charity, Inclusion, and Application
These three principles (among others) guide my approach. I aim for students to reconstruct and engage with the best possible versions of arguments and philosophical perspectives, while encouraging conversations around canon construction, implementing inclusive and equitable pedagogical methods, and seeking to apply even the most abstract debates to lived experience.
Courses taught in-person, online/sync, and online/async:
History of Ancient Philosophy
History of Modern Philosophy
Critical Thinking
World Religions
Intro to Philosophy
Intro to Ethics
Environmental Ethics
Political Philosophy
SELECTED STUDENT REVIEWS
Consistently positive feedback from students
“Dr. Agoff is AWESOME!... he was the most understanding and caring instructor I've had in a while and he made the subject so interesting! Loved taking his course!"
Student Review, University of Pennsylvania
“Dr. Agoff was very clear, organized, and intelligible when explaining whatever topic we were going over during class. He makes sure that the students understand the topic and made the class very interesting.”
Student Review, UC Davis
“Zach explains difficult information in way that is easy to understand while also extracting key ideas efficiently. 10/10"
RMP Review, Yuba College
“The clearness of what was expected greatly enhanced my learning because I was able to focus on the material. I wish he could teach the rest of my classes.”
Student Review, San Francisco State University
“...incredible ability to break down complex concepts into digestible information clearly. His slides are organized and comprehensive. Dr. Agoff is an engaging professor that has a great handle on the material and very clearly cares about his students."
Student Review, UC Davis
“This may be the best course I’ve taken in three years of college. He allowed me to learn and retain diverse information and new ways of thinking in a short amount of time....”
Student Review, San Francisco State University
MY RESEARCH
Specializing in Early Modern Philosophy
My research explores Descartes’s account of the emotions and his relation with the Catholic meditational genre. I surface philosophical themes in Teresa of Avila’s work, while also bringing these themes to bear on contemporary problems, like an epistemology of misinformation. I also dabble in environmental ethics, the philosophy of martial arts, and the philosophy of science.
Selected publications:
“Teresa of Ávila, Infused Contemplation, and the Question of Her Influence Over René Descartes.”
In Journal of the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists, forthcoming“Descartes on Intellectual Joy and the Intellectual Love of God.”
In International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 2024“Experimentation, Distributed Cognition, and Flow: A Scientific Lens on Mixed Martial Arts.”
In The Philosophy of Mixed Martial Arts: Squaring the Octagon, edited by J. Holt & M. Ramsay, Co-Authored with B. Gweyer & V. Keyser.“Loving the Imageless: Descartes on the Sensuous Love of God.”
In International Journal of Philosophy and Theology, 2023“Measuring Things That Measure You: Martial Arts as a Model for Complex Epistemological Practices in Science.”
In Philosophies, 2023“Hello, We’re Philosophy in the Wild.”
In Public Philosophy Journal, Co-Authored with M. Sidzinska and M. Gadomski, 2023
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