Teaching Philosophy and Human Nature

I'm still digesting course evaluation results. It's always frustrating, and it seems like that's the case no matter how good or how bad the results are, judging by the comments I hear from everyone. If nothing else, it feels like the comments are worthless, much of the time - the students aren't even trying to learn, so who are they to judge our worth as teachers?

But I do think that there is another side to the issue, and sometimes I as a philosopher forget that. I and my field are but one moment in the totality of human life. True, Socrates was a gadfly, and he was executed for that; but let us not merely blame the crowds for doing so. I want to live in a world where everyone is open to new ideas, but new ideas also disrupt society, which creates real problems for real people. People, like our students, are trying to build up a life for themselves, and let's face it, philosophy is often a destructive process. We philosophers tear down the edifices everyone else builds for the sake of a new creation. This is important for the sake of overall progress and I certainly would prefer to have a rational, informed public. But even we need to live in a society that runs more or less stably. The skills that keep order and community are often opposed to those that encourage universal, rational considerations.

I'm not completely apologizing for the ignorance of college freshmen, nor am I proclaiming that I have nothing to work on even on my side of the debate; but I do think that I, personally, need to step back and look at the larger picture of human nature sometimes. There are different forces required in society, often forming said society only through their conflict, and I am but one moment in that flux.