{"id":175,"date":"2020-02-24T16:07:37","date_gmt":"2020-02-24T21:07:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transy.edu\/academics\/faculty\/dkaufman\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T10:47:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T14:47:24","slug":"dkaufman","status":"publish","type":"faculty","link":"https:\/\/www.transy.edu\/academics\/faculty\/dkaufman\/","title":{"rendered":"Kaufman, David"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Everybody has a decent background in philosophy; they just don\u2019t know it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

At Princeton University, the Ancient World intramural team reigns as the dodgeball and 3-on-3 basketball champs. The team members put up a noble fight during indoor soccer season. And ultimate Frisbee? Well, perhaps that\u2019s their Achilles\u2019 heel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a graduate student, David Kaufman was a member of the team for six years. Was his commitment to those physical tests an opportunity to try on the ancient warrior code? A way to earn respect? Prove himself on the battlefield? Impose some meaning amid the savagery of life? Ensure his own fleeting existence has some timeless significance?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nah. It was just fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Kaufman thinks studying the ancient world and its literature gives students an opportunity to, in a sense, test their own moral code, their own beliefs, the philosophy or worldview they\u2019ve adopted sometimes almost by default. After all, it might not be surprising that 2500 years ago people held some views very different from ours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Kaufman explains, \u201cThe goal isn\u2019t that students will embrace those views. But it might lead them to think a little harder about why they embrace the views they do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And these studies inevitably raise the big questions, the questions we all think about although we may never formalize them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What makes a good life? What sort of ambitions should I have? What sort of obligations do I have to other people?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are the questions that philosophy investigates. \u201cIn a philosophy class, we take up those questions and explore them in a more complicated, nuanced way, a more open-minded way. Students are exposed to the questions all the time. It\u2019s just a matter of how you go about approaching them\u2014through other texts and through a long history of people contemplating them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kaufman\u2019s goal is to get students to engage while they\u2019re in class, so they can benefit from hearing the views and interpretations of others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou want to have an environment where people feel comfortable asking questions, suggesting interpretations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s exciting about being a scholar is that you\u2019re looking at texts that people have been trying to interpret for 2500 years. There\u2019s still a lot that\u2019s new to say about it. You actually have a contribution to make to the interpretation of these texts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what is Kaufman\u2019s advice to his students? Actively grapple with what you read. See how it applies to your life. See if it sparks any new insights you\u2019re willing to share with your classmates. Listen carefully to their interpretations, especially if they introduce a viewpoint you hadn\u2019t considered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And during this process, this freeing of your mind, you may just find you\u2019ve become a liberally educated citizen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n

Academic History<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ph.D., Princeton University, Classics, 2013
M.A., Princeton University, Classics, 2011
M.A., New School for Social Research, Philosophy, 2005
A.B., Brandeis University, Philosophy and European Cultural Studies, 2003<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Courses Taught at Transy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Introduction to Philosophy
Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy
Ancient Greek I, II, III
Ancient Medicine
Plato<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Areas of Specialization<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ancient philosophy
Greek and Roman literature
Ancient medicine<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Recent Publications<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeneca on the Analysis and Therapy of Occurrent Emotions\u201d in Trends in Classics: Seneca Philosophus, edited by M. Colish and J. Wildberger, 2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGalen on the Therapy of Distress and the Limits of Emotional Therapy\u201d in Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, Vol. 47, 2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReaching the \u03ba\u03b1\u03b9\u03c1\u03cc\u03c2 in Sophocles\u2019 Electra,\u201d Lexis. Rivista di poetica, retorica e comunicazione nella tradizione classica, 2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Awards<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Bingham Research Fellowship, Transylvania University, 2013\u201315
Thomas F. Curley III Memorial Fund Fellowship, Princeton University, 2011\u201312
Stanley Seeger Research Grant for Travel in Greece, Princeton University, 2011
P.E. More Fellowship, Princeton University, 2007\u201312<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":3763,"template":"","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"academic_division":[10,5,13],"class_list":["post-175","faculty","type-faculty","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nKaufman, David - Transylvania University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.transy.edu\/academics\/faculty\/dkaufman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kaufman, David\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Everybody has a decent background in philosophy; they just don\u2019t know it. 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