The APA blog is working with Cliff Sosis of What is it Like to Be a Philosopher? in publishing advance excerpts from Cliff’s long-form interviews with philosophers.
The following is an edited excerpt from an interview with Justin Caouette.
This interview has been edited for length. The full interview is available at What Is It Like to Be A Philosopher?
In this interview Justin Caouette, full time, non-tenure track Assistant Professor at Bridgewater State University and a part-time philosophy instructor at Rutgers University, UMass–Dartmouth, and Northeastern University, talks about growing up in Fall River Massachusetts with a single mom, getting kicked out of high school, toxic masculinity, writing about sports for the school newspaper, arguing about the Trinity, AIM, drinking and smoking at Bristol Community College until transferring to Bridgewater State, worrying about money, discovering philosophy, clubbing, basketball, hip hop, libertarianism, Vicodin and OxyContin, working at LensCrafters, going to Washington State University, Myspace, hiking, moving on to Calgary, getting into the free will and moral responsibility literature, learning to be less aggressive, getting married, becoming a dad, managing responsibilities of fatherhood and graduate school, working on his dissertation while worried about money, butting heads with his dissertation advisor, starting another dissertation, imposter syndrome, the relationship between hard work and success on the job market, Marcus Arvan and Philosopher’s Cocoon, becoming a Bernie supporter, teaching 23 classes a year, underprivileged viewpoints within philosophy, Trump, antics from the left, the problem with optimistic free will skepticism, My Cousin Vinny, Metallica, Juice Wrld, and his last meal.
Any signs you’d become a philosopher?
I think so. The biggest sign came from fifth grade. I went to a Catholic school from kindergarten through eighth grade, and we had religion class 4 days a week. When discussing the Trinity I pressed the priest often. So much so that when I went and got my master’s degree at Washington State, an old classmate reached out to tell me how much sense it made to them that I was pursuing philosophy. I guess that my interactions with the priest had led them to become an atheist, and I hadn’t known my impact until that moment. A few years later a few other classmates reached out with similar sentiments and that was humbling to hear that I was having that effect on others at such an early age.
How did you discover philosophy?
I was a psychology major upon entering Bridgewater State and I took a philosophy class to fill an open time slot in my schedule. I took Philosophy of Human Nature with Laura McAlinden and I was immediately hooked. Other favorite classes at Bridgewater were Happiness and Meaning in Life, Plato and Aristotle, and Buddha, Socrates, and Jesus. Aeon Skoble and Ed James were also influential to me when I was a student in different ways.
How did you mature, philosophically?
Aeon and Laura never allowed me to get away with my first take on an issue, they always pressed me to better explain my position and I became a much clearer thinker because of the questions they would ask and more importantly the way they asked the questions. Being a tough person, I saw anyone disagreeing with me as a sign of confrontation, and I would immediately change my tone and begin arguing back and forth. Laura and Aeon could tell I was rough around the edges and rather than just write me off as a punk they took the time to press me in a more sensitive way. They really helped me to build my confidence as a student and thinker and opened my eyes to so many traits I had that were toxic and were holding me back from being the best version of myself. They did this not by telling me anything negative about myself, but by explaining the different positions I would argue against with clarity and asking deep and meaningful questions about why I would hold the views that I would. I’ll never forget Laura telling me I was a feminist (she was Dr. McAlinden to me at the time) and I responded by saying “really, what about me comes across as feminine?” I had no idea what feminism was in 2005. I was simply insulated in my little sports, club, and weed bubble, and rarely had discussions about gender or feminism or toxic masculinity, and I took her comment as a negative one. She then explained what feminism was and I knew right away that I was a feminist. She recently passed (suddenly), and losing her is a big loss for me. In fact, the full-time position I currently hold was her vacated position in the department. It would be something if I ended up here permanently as her replacement, but rarely do things work out in this way.
How did you grow as a student?
School always came easy to me when I actually showed up, but philosophy classes were different. I couldn’t get by with my wit and general knowledge. I had to do the reading. I was taken aback by the depth of the conversations and for the first time in my life I was reading things for pleasure. I was reading texts that weren’t assigned just to get a better grasp on the discussions that were taking place in the classroom. I was bitten by the bug, as the saying goes. I went from not even doing the readings half the time in my courses and still doing okay to reading everything that was assigned and then some. I was making connections from the theories we discussed in my psych classes to the philosophical arguments we were having about human nature, identity, and free will. I truly found my passion, as cheesy as it sounds. I became a double major the following semester and I’m convinced that’s what helped the most in my success as a student and in life.
What did your mom make of your decision to major in philosophy?
My mom was always supportive when it came to my education. She just wanted me to get a college degree. She would have preferred something with a skill set that got me a job right out of school but at the end of the day she was just proud that I was sticking with school and getting a degree. She was my biggest supporter and cheerleader, and she was always willing to listen to my new paper ideas and ask me good questions.
What did you do for fun?
At BSU I was going to the club a lot less. I was really into hip hop and the club scene in Providence, RI, and occasionally Boston, MA but that faded right about the time I got into BSU. The three years I spent there consisted mostly of me reading a lot and dating. That said, I did play basketball when I came up for air, playing basketball and going to the gym were always an important part of my life. I kept in touch with some of my old friends by playing organized flag football for a few years as well. That helped me feel like I wasn’t forgetting where I came from, so to speak. For some reason that was always a concern for me. I didn’t want to turn into someone that thought they were better than others just because I decided to get the degree and they did not. I had far too much fun bouncing around from BCC to UMass–Dartmouth and back to BCC, so I was somewhat better about having too much fun when I got to BSU. In the summers though, that’s a different story. The beach was always a good time, as were nights out in Providence and smoking with my friends.
When did you decide to go to grad school? Did you consider doing anything other than philosophy?
Upon graduating from BSU in 2008, Aeon and Laura suggested grad school to me. I didn’t know much about how grad school worked and when I was told that they would pay me to go to school and give me a scholarship I was in disbelief. Aeon was clear with me that I should only do it if I received funding, because the job market prospects were not that great. He suggested I take a year off after graduating. I had a pretty good paying job at the time as an apprentice optician and retail manager at LensCrafters. Acknowledging I was doing well for myself he urged me to make sure I wanted to give that all up. And, after a year away if I still needed to get back into it, then I should and he would be happy to walk me through the process. He suggested a few MA programs and I found a few MA/PhD programs and I applied. I was really hoping to get into Tufts to work with Dan Dennett as it was much closer and I wasn’t sure about a big move. But in retrospect that wouldn’t have been great at all given I needed the change of scenery and that change of scenery really impacted me more than any other event in my life. I applied to twelve schools after BSU, and only one accepted me with full funding—Washington State University in Pullman, WA.
You can get full access to the interview and help support the project here.
Dr. Sabrina D. MisirHiralall is an editor at the Blog of the APA who currently teaches philosophy, religion, and education courses solely online for Montclair State University, Three Rivers Community College, and St. John’s University.
