Adjunct Instructor, Philosophy

Job Description

Job Description

Job Title:  Adjunct Instructor, Philosophy                    

Department:  Arts & Humanities

Reports to: Greg Swedberg                      

Effective Date: 8/31/26, Fall 2026

# of Direct Reports: 0                                

# of People Supported: 0

Job Description:

Manhattanville University is seeking adjunct professor(s) to teach courses in Philosophy for the Fall 2026 semester (August 31 – December 18). Please note that if the Fall semester is successful, there will be the possibility of future employment.  Candidates may apply to one or more positions.

Format : Course will be scheduled to run fully in-person in the Fall at Manhattanville University. Preferred meeting dates are Tuesdays & Thursdays. Upper-level courses can run one day/week starting at 1:50 or later.  Course size: 25 or less.

Course Descriptions : 

Why be moral? Is there any unbiased moral guide? Are right acts those that have good results or those that are well intended? What is worth pursuing in life: happiness, salvation, self-realization, a more humane society? We will look at concepts of ethics and human values through the lens of (mostly) Western literature. We will trace through a series of novels that all address the same question: what does it mean to be a moral creature in times of war and great disaster? What does it mean to exist around disaster either as a direct actor or as a bystander? Each of these works will explore the different ethical duties or values that are challenged by difficult times.

Philosophy is commonly divided into four parts: Logic, Ethics, Metaphysics and Epistemology. 145Epistemology' is the classical Greek term for Theory of Knowledge, and this course provides an elementary overview of this aspect of Philosophy. Since Plato many philosophers have held that knowledge is definable in terms of true belief based upon adequate evidence. We will examine this thesis, and will also examine the three concepts from which it defines knowledge: truth, belief, and adequate evidence.

What exactly does it mean to be human? What does it mean philosophically to be a human being? It means to ask what kind of a thing I am: what kind of a substance I am. Am I my mind? Am I my body? Am I both? Am I an animal? What is an animal? Am I naturally social? Would I exist if I didn't have relations with others? These are some of the basic questions that this course will ask and ask you to reflect upon. They are some of our most basic questions. Can we even be, and be well, if we don't know what we are? We will deal both with the means with which we try to answer these questions, and with some of the most important answers to this question. Course readings will include works by Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Michael Loux, Alvin Plantinga, and John Searle.

The 19th century was a century of revolution and radical new thinking. We will see how political theories such as democracy and nationalism changed the world forever, and how philosophers were developing new ideas of what it means to be human. Readings include Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Frederick Douglass, and Karl Marx.

Reading, discussion and writing dealing with evil, defined as undeserved suffering or harm. The problem is what can philosophy say about the collective evils of wars, the slaughter by weapons of mass destruction, state acts of genocide and terrorism as well as countless individual acts of murder and cruelty? Some explanations of evil argue an irresolvable division between good and evil, to evil as the absence of good and the condition of human freedom, to theodicies that explain God's ways to sustain a non-tragic worldview. Modern philosophies attempt to find prescriptions to conquer or endure evil in the processes of history, economics, psychology and ethics and these explanations run the gamut from "radical evil," to "beyond good and evil" and contrasts between "the banality of evil" and the paralysis of moral reflection confronted by the relativity of evil.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• None.

Duties/Responsibilities:

• Prepare and teach well-organized classes and present other learning opportunities for students in accordance with student learning outcomes for the course.
• Create and share syllabus/syllabi with students and Dean’s Office. This must be posted on the University’s Learning Management Software (LMS), Brightspace.
• Post assignment grades in Brightspace for students to track their academic progress.
• Hold two hours of Office Hours for students. (This can be a mix of in-person and online).
• Use Manhattanville email for correspondence with students, faculty and staff; respond to email in a timely fashion.
• Submit Roster Reconciliations, Mid-Term and Final Grades by appropriate deadlines. File Retention Alerts when student concerns arise.
• Uphold and comply with faculty duties as described in Section V of the Faculty Handbook: General Faculty Duties and Academic Opportunities.
• Be familiar with the College Catalog and Faculty Handbook

Required Skills/Abilities:

• Subject matter expertise.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Familiarity with Brightspace or similar LMS.

Qualifications:

Education: Graduate degree in Philosophy.

Experience: Previous teaching experience.

Physical Requirements: None.

Salary: $3,375 - $3,675 per semester

Hours Expectation:

Teaching time: 2.5 hours/week

Office hours: 2 hours/week

Housing:

Housing is not provided.

Benefits:

• Eligibility for tuition remission after one year of employment.
• Instructors can make elective contributions to the TIAA 403(b) retirement account.
• Membership in the credit union.

Applications will be reviewed as they are received, and qualified candidates may be invited to interview before the application deadline. We encourage you to apply early, as the position may be filled prior to the closing date.

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States for the duration of their employment.

Manhattanville University is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  In compliance with Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and other applicable federal and state statutes, all recruiting, hiring, training, and promoting for all job classifications will be administered without regard to race, color, ancestry, age, sex, national origin, pregnancy or childbirth, disability, military veteran status or other applicable status protected by law, including state of employment protected classes.  If you are unable to complete this application process, contact Manhattanville Human Resources at View email address on ziprecruiter.com to ask for assistance.