NMMI Philosophy Class Featured In Roswell Daily Record
The September 19, 2023 edition of the Roswell Daily Record featured a front page article on the NMMI Introduction To Philosophy class taught by faculty member LTC Lindsay Mayo Fincher, PhD. NMMI is unique in providing this level of philosophical education.
The New Mexico Military Institute welcomed parents and families to their campus on Sept. 1 to attend classes and learn alongside students. Cadets in fatigues and red hats marched in formation in front of the Toles Learning Center.
In the basement of the learning center, Dr. Lindsay Mayo Fincher was teaching Introduction to Philosophy to 11 junior college students. Fincher and many of the students wore crisp, white button-down shirts with military patches on the sleeves. Everyone’s shoes were well-shined.
Fincher and the students were discussing Plato’s “Gorgias,” a book that was written many years before the time of YouTube — yet whose ideas about truth and misinformation remain relevant today. The internet, some might say, makes thinking about the power of words even more urgent.
“This was a difficult read,” Fincher admits. “But the point is to apply the conversation to the world.” The students are discussing how people with power should operate in community — something they’ll grapple with as future leaders.
“A person in authority can use words to manipulate an uneducated audience,” one student in navy slacks summarizes. He taps his pencil on his notebook.
We need only look at the current opioid crisis to see an example of people in power using words to create disinformation and confusion. A relentless advertising campaign contributed to addiction and overdose deaths.
Another student wearing camel-colored fatigues narrows in on a character in the book. “He said he’d rather suffer than do someone else harm.” On the whiteboard behind the students, different handwriting signifies their contribution to “Rhetoric versus Philosophy.”
The full article is viewable at this link.
