Peg O’Connor
The New York Times recently used a piece written by Gustavus Adolphus College Professor of Philosophy and Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies Peg O’Connor on its blog, The Learning Network, which uses Times content to create daily cross-curricular materials that teach skills, invite inquiry and engage students with current events.
On Oct. 22, the Times paired O’Connor’s essay “In the Cave: Philosophy and Addiction” with Plato’s well-known allegory of the cave from “The Republic,” as part of a text to text lesson.
The Times gave this as background to the lesson: “Plato’s allegory is a powerful metaphor for contemplating a divide between ignorance and enlightenment — between the “visible” world and the “intelligible” realm — and writers have applied it to all sorts of subjects. Ms. O’Connor, a professor at Gustavus Adolphus College, uses Plato’s allegory to better understand and explain the crisis of the addicted individual.”
O’Connor’s “In the Cave” piece was originally published on Jan. 8, 2012 on The Stone, a Times forum for contemporary philosophers and other thinkers on issues both timely and timeless.
O’Connor also has a regular blog on Psychology Today focused on philosophy and addiction called “Philosophy Stirred, Not Shaken.” She teaches courses at Gustavus such as “Applied Ethics,” “Feminist Controversies,” “Racism and Sexism,” and “Introduction to Women’s Studies.” She is the chair of the 51st annual Nobel Conference, which is titled “Addiction: Exploring the Science and Experience of an Equal Opportunity Condition.”
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Media Contact: Director of Media Relations and Internal Communication Luc Hatlestad
luch@gustavus.edu
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