Erik Kenyon

Erik Kenyon, PhD is a scholar of Greek and Roman philosophy and a leading voice in the pre-college philosophy movement. His first book, Augustine and the Dialogue (Cambridge UP, 2018), explores philosophy of education in Augustine's early works and argues for the positive role of Skepticism in this "Church Father's" thought. This builds on his dissertation in Classics at Cornell University. His second book, Ethics for the Very Young (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019), puts theory into practice by laying out a ethics curriculum for early childhood education. This represents the fruit of several service-learning courses he led at Rollins College, which sent undergraduates to pre-schools to lead discussions of "big ideas" using games, picture books and art projects. His third book, Philosophy at the Gymnasium (Cornell UP, 2024), explores ideas of mental health and spiritual exercise in the works of Plato and Aristotle. This grew out of his time as faculty advisor to Rollins' powerlifting club, a propensity to talk between sets and the a general-education course that arose from it.

Since 2020, Erik has taught middle school Latin and ELA at Friends Academy, Dartmouth, MA. He is a member of the academic advisory board to the Philosophy Learning And Teaching Organization (PLATO) and helps oversee the national Middle School Ethics Bowl. When not engaged in philosophy or weight lifting, he is a fairly decent organist / singer and has recently taken up playing Lute.