"What is the nature of the Good?" this seemingly simple question was the catalyst that began the career for one of Green River's favorite instructors. Future philosophy professor John Fox was only weeks out of high school when he and several friends embarked on a weekend camping trip to the Washington coast, a trip that would forever change his life. It was there, sitting on a secluded beach surrounded only by his young peers, that our beloved professor was first exposed to the teachings of the world's great thinkers, teachings he would one day pass on to students not so different than himself at that young age.
Fox went to Whitman College in Walla Walla where he realized that the works of men like Plato and Nietzsche we're what he loved most and he decided that philosophy was his future.
Fox went on to grad school saying confidently that "it is only the natural progression" to do so. Fox worked as a teacher's assistant and noted fondly that "For the first time in my life I went from constantly trying to get people to listen to me, to not only having them listening to every word I said, but also writing it down". Fox recalled that "Being a TA made me realize that just as graduate school was the natural progression from my BA, so was teaching the natural progression from grad school."
After school, Professor Fox went on to teach part time at both South Seattle Community College and Edmunds Community College saying confidently that the "only real application of philosophy was to teach it". Fox eventually left his jobs at the two community colleges and went on to earn a living in a variety of ways including social service work, retail, travel, and most importantly driving a cab.
For four years Professor Fox drove a Taxi and sates that "I consider those four years as being the completion of my education". Through driving a cab Fox says he"gained immense knowledge via experience".
In the late 1980's John Fox began working at Highline and Green River Community College. One of Professor Fox's favorite sayings is that "The themes of Philosophy include reality, knowledge, moral possibility, and human destiny" and perhaps his life reflects this paradigm more than he knows.
Perhaps it was destiny for that young man, sitting out under the stars with his friends, to pass on the knowledge and passion that was ignited within him, but then again such a destiny would be debated by any who study this great subject and what better way to do it than with a truly great man.
Teacher Spotlight: John Fox
Published: Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Updated: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 03:11
 "Photo: By Nicole Swapp")
By Nicole Swapp
John Fox
is a member of the 
1 comments