Amy Baehr is a professor of philosophy.

Photo Courtesy of Audra Nemirow

With curiosity and a little bit of detective work, everything in the universe can become interesting. Philosophy professor Amy Baehr knows this, as an innate, almost unpleasant, inquisitiveness has guided her since childhood, long before she could define it. Whether writing or not, Baehr has always been a philosopher.

“My father was a philosophy major,” Baehr said. “So maybe he made me into a philosopher, or maybe it’s genetic … not many people are driven to get to the bottom of things. Philosophers allow themselves to be baffled by the things that most people think are just common sense and quite ordinary. And I was always like this … I just couldn’t take things at face value and kept probing and pushing for meaning all the time. It wasn’t until I was in college that I really understood, ‘OK, this is a discipline. It’s an academic discipline, and you can get trained in it. And they’ll pay you to do it.’ And once I realized that, then I knew what I wanted to do.”

Baehr has been at Hofstra exactly 17 years, teaching courses centered in political philosophy and philosophy of law. Remaining informed about contemporary issues allows her to frame hot-button issues in philosophical ways. Baehr believes that this makes the old, overarching philosophical questions more accessible to students, whether they are studying political theory, the relationship between law and morality or any philosophical idea. 

“Philosophy is a big conversation about some key questions,” Baehr said. “But the questions have a life of their own. In my teaching, the most important thing, I think, is that students have a philosophical conversation in the classroom. And sometimes having them read some old text is really important in getting that to happen, but sometimes you don’t need to use an old text. Sometimes you can use something written yesterday. 

“I like to do contemporary philosophy,” Baehr said, “because I think the students are more receptive to it than the other stuff. But I don’t mean to be trash-talking the old classics, you know. My colleagues take folks through that material beautifully. But I’m really interested in the way people today are framing these issues.”

With expertise comes opinion, but Baehr is careful not to overwhelm her students with her own views, especially due to the strange nature of philosophy. It is far from a set of facts, and there are lots of ways to think. Baehr sees her job as providing students with opportunities to develop their own convictions regarding the subject matter.

Baehr is aware that philosophy’s open nature invites skepticism, stereotypes and doubts about its educational validity. All she can say to those who doubt is as follows, “Come hang out with me, three days a week for 55 minutes, and engage in conversation. And then at the end of the semester, you say whether you were enriched in some way – whether you were benefitted in some way. 

“That ability to be curious and to think more deeply,” she said, “that’s just a wonderful capacity to have, no matter what you end up doing. It makes you a more responsible citizen, it even makes you a better friend, it makes you kinder to yourself. If you’re a lawyer, it makes you a better lawyer, if you’re a doctor it makes you a better doctor. But I couldn’t explain that to somebody. You have to do philosophy to appreciate its benefits.”

It is clear that Baehr marvels at her position. She understands her ability to turn a single-minded passion into a livelihood as a rare and wonderful privilege. While she hopes students are able to tirelessly follow their interests in much the same way, she also offers realistic advice.

“Get to know yourself,” she said. “What do you enjoy doing, and what are you curious about? Follow that. And then the other part of me says, you know, ‘Everybody has to make money.’ So, you have to keep track of the things people will pay you to do. And can you turn yourself into the kind of a person who somebody will pay? It makes me sad to say that. Then education is just an ends-means thing. So follow your heart, but also prepare yourself to do things that people will pay you to do.”