Jennifer Baker, assistant professor of philosophy, is one of those teachers who will make you think – and think in ways you’re not accustomed to and perhaps on subjects you might not ever consider to have philosophical implications. We asked her to ponder a few questions for us – and, in the process, learned about procrastination, business ethics and why you might not want to be stranded on a desert island with a philosopher.
Who do you think is the greatest philosopher, so far, in the 21st century? “Greatest” is a hard attribution to make. I’m not sure I’d like a philosopher who thought he or she was great. One of my favorite qualities of philosophy is how it really requires humility. We expose our ideas to such an extent that people are found to be wrong all the time. There’s no hiding from it! No one agrees in this field with one person’s view. Who you think is great, someone else thinks is crazy. This is the consequence of our really trying to spell out our views, making all the details clear.
The philosopher I most benefit from is still my adviser. It was a dream to work with her, Julia Annas. I think she represents the ancient Greek ethical views better than anyone, and I find them so relevant to contemporary ethics – and contemporary ethics relevant to everything.
You study procrastination. should we embrace our inner procrastinator? We should not do that! I’ve been kind of tongue in cheek when I present on procrastination, suggesting no one in the room could possibly be a procrastinator. But, of course, everyone must have some experience with procrastination. It’s not worth having more.
I actually use the ancient Greek ethical theories to suggest ways around procrastination. Since it’s so similar in structure to addiction, I suggest two things (which may not seem related, yet they cover the necessary ground!).
One, get a procrastinator to stop. Just like you get an addict to physically stop, no matter how, and the brain can repair itself, you get a procrastinator to stop so that the cycle – which comes with rationalization, and thrill, and despising one’s self – can stop. Two, once the procrastinator is out of the psychological grips of procrastination, get the procrastinator to think about why the work he/she’s not doing is so stressful. Because we’re not very reflective, I think we can care about the wrong things, about people’s opinions of us, and about staying in a job that doesn’t suit us – even when this interferes with our happiness.
What’s your favorite book? Well, I love books that are philosophical. I love Milan Kundera. I love Bohumil Hrabal. My old pal Gary Schteyngart is a favorite. I love philosophical poets: Rilke, Seamus Heaney. I actually am crazy for our own poet, Carol Ann Davis. Though I have not read it in a while, my very favorite book may be Martha Nussbaum’s The Fragility of Goodness. It’s about ancient Greek philosophy, but she connects these with lines of poetry and a kind of awareness of life. I find it full of shockingly beautiful presentations of takes on life’s meaning.
Why do you think philosophy is important, even critical, to study today? I think some people might have had more reason to worry in the past – when philosophy was less applied. I mean, parts still are. But now much of philosophy is excellent at working with other fields. I have begun working in experimental philosophy, where we do empirical research. Many physicians learn philosophy in order to do bioethics. My colleague Whit Schonbein blends computer programming with investigations into philosophy of mind. My department chair studies evolutionary theory alongside biologists. Doing philosophy no longer means you just analyze abstract concepts. It’s both really needed and very flexible when it comes to what you can look to with its careful methodology.
You study business ethics and question the morality of the market system’s “invisible hand.” What lessons should a future business person take away from one of your classes? My angle is to convince business students that nothing should be worth more to them than their integrity. I work against mainstream business ethics in doing this. Often business ethicists will carefully analyze a situation and recommend guidelines for ethical behavior. Sure, it’s very important when they set high standards in these guidelines – and setting standards in general, I’m a big fan of. But just as often, the bar is set low. This should not be taken as a personal recommendation, an endorsement of “iffy” ethical behavior. I like to encourage students to see that no work on business ethics or the market is an argument against being as ethical as you possibly can. They don’t need permission from economists or business ethicists to be extraordinarily scrupulous. There is no argument against it. And that’s the case I try to make as we read the literature in the field.
What’s your favorite food? People have things against food? I’ve got no issue with any food. I’ll take any of it.
What kind of music do you listen to? I used to follow around Phish. I don’t even tell my students that – I think they’d be so embarrassed for me. I would even hang out with them backstage. I had a “brief” Kings of Leon infatuation and took my 6-year-old to their concert in Charleston.
Now that I’m old, I like my friends’ bluegrass music, and, honestly, the singing my kids do. They’re all in a choir, even the 3-year-old, and I like to assign them songs to learn, so I can listen. For Mother’s Day, they sang “Lola” by the Kinks and “Come, Thy Fount of Every Blessing.” A nice mix! We don’t have TV, so they’re pretty much the entertainment around our house.
Hurricane season is here. You have time to grab three things from your home as you evacuate. What are they? My daughters Arden and Tulah and my son, Wilkes. No particular order. My husband, Billy, can fend for himself.
What philosopher would you NOT want to be stranded with on a desert island? Oh, probably hardly any of them. I could not have married a philosopher, either. We’re all very annoying. I’d start swimming, perhaps.
