Dr. Jeremy Koons, new assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy this year, spends his time not only reflecting on philosophical discourse, but also passing the pigskin on the Green Field, where he is associate coach of the newly formed American football (as opposed to soccer) team.

Professor Koons received his PhD in philosophy with distinction at Georgetown University in Washington, DC in December 1998. He comes to AUB from positions as teaching fellow and adjunct faculty at Georgetown and as instructor at Auburn University in Alabama. A specialist in the philosophy of science, metaphysics, and logic, Professor Koons also focuses on philosophy of the mind, of language, and of business and medical ethics. But Koons also confessed to a passion for research on the nature of knowledge and the foundations of morality.

During the first semester at AUB Professor Koons taught CS 204 and Ethics. In the second semester he taught two sections in Applied Philosophy and a graduate seminar in the theory of knowledge. Although he finds a considerable amount of intellectual curiosity among his students, he has discovered that philosophy is not highly respected among many of them, perhaps because they feel it lacks practical impact on their lives. But there is, he insists, a "practical side of philosophy," which lies in what it teaches about forming arguments and developing well-reasoned opinions.

Dr. Koons and his wife Lucy, Associate Director of Publications, are both enthusiastic about their experience of AUB, Lebanon, and the region. They find the academic community enriching and the opportunities for travel, both in the region and Europe, singularly inviting and rewarding. The location is ideal, says Koons. "We can be in Cairo in an hour."

Back to Home Page