Professor Teacher

Kelley J. Wells, Ph.D.,

Emeritus

Full and Part-time Philosophy Instructor

Evergreen Valley College

Education

Ph.D. Philosophy, St. Louis University, M.A. (R) philosophy, St. Louis University, M.Div. from Starr King School for the Ministry B.A. in English Literature from Drury University

Dr. Wells teaches philosophy with an emphasis on the relationship between epistemological, ethical and metaphysical issues. He has adopted a thematic approach, giving immediacy and relevance to philosophy. Students appreciate how the thinking of the great minds of the past can inform their own thinking. Some of the themes or “philosophical problems” include ‘what is real,’ ‘free will,’ ‘artificial intelligence’ and ‘the problem of evil.’ In addition to group work, Dr. Wells uses current movies on DVD to dramatize the themes.

Dr. Wells’ academic Area of Specialization is American Pragmatism with an Area of Concentration in the History of Philosophy.

Teaching Experience

Dr. Wells has taught philosophy part-time for the last five years, and full time for the 17 years before that, 2 years at Horry Georgetown Technical College, Myrtle Beach, SC, and 15 at Evergreen Valley College. Professor Wells believes that philosophy can be learned by anyone and is important to everyone. Today’s students learn socially. He has incorporated this fact into his pedagogical approach. Group learning is emphasized at every point of the learning process. Students do group exercises, exams and he uses student groups to critique each other’s papers. He uses Moodle and/or Canvas extensively, making his notes and topic summaries available. He also regularly emails his students, informing them of available material and upcoming events.

Courses Taught

He has taught classes in Introduction to Philosophy, Ethics, Critical Thinking, and Religion. He is interested in teaching Critical Thinking and Political Science to high school students.

Awards

Teacher of the Year for teaching and service, Evergreen Valley College, 1999.

Carnegie program for Teaching and Learning, 2010.

Publications

Peirce and the Ontology of Pragmatism

Doctoral Dissertation August 1994

Argues that the Pragmatic Maxim is not merely a tool to clarify meaning but an ontology

Dissipative, vague and general

Preprint

Full-text available, Aug 1998

The Ontology of Inference

Preprint

Full-text available, Aug 2000

A Theory of the Emergence of Mind

June 2001

Evolution of Consciousness

August 2002

Peirce's "architecture of theories" and the problem of pragmatism

Article

Full-text available Aug 2007

The paper begins as a response to Tom Rockmore's thesis that contemporary pragmatism is a healthy “confusion” of disparate views. While Rockmore sees the need of some of today's pragmatists to provide a motivation for what he calls “epistemic optimism,” I contend that the crucial question of pragmatism, the problem of pragmatism, is ontological.

Learning and Teaching Critical Thinking

This article argues that Charles Sanders Peirce’s concepts of the “Dynamics of Belief and Doubt,” and “The Fixation of Belief,” as principles in teaching and learning.

“Educational Philosophy and Theory. 2009

Non-academic experience

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