Tyler Gulyas has decided to give Cal High students the opportunity to be part of  his new philosophy class next year.

Gulyas plans on teaching a course on philosophy that focuses on understanding and explaining people’s beliefs. Students will be learning these skills through writing and class discussions.

He plans on creating a class where students are fully engaged with class discussions and no homework is given. 

“His teaching, although a little unorthodox from the outside, is actually very structured and thoughtful,” said junior Dirk Thieme, who is in Gulyas’ psychology class this year.

Gulyas, who has taught at Cal for four years, said students will need to share opinions to advance the class discussion. But he stressed these discussions would not be like group therapy.

Students believe the work done in class will advance class topics.

“The way he teaches is really immersive and engaging,” said junior Michelle Kyutoku. “It’s simple. His way of teaching actually teaches.”

Gulyas believes that people don’t often have a foundation for their beliefs.

“When you scratch the surface people quickly get down to, ‘Well this is just what I feel’,” said Gulyas.

Gulyas said that this isn’t a justification for anything, and these feelings allow people to take foolish actions.

“I want it to be the word edifying, I want it to be something that enhances people,” explained Gulyas. “I want them [students] to actually feel like they are going to develop how they think what they think in an uplifting manner. 

“I really don’t want it to be drudgery,” he continued. “I actually want people to enhance what they think and understand what other people think.”

His understanding of teaching comes from his background. Gulyas originally worked as a mental health counselor then began working with homeless men. When he moved to San Diego, he started working with teens and found he had a knack for it and enjoyed working with that age group. 

This path is one of the ways he got interested in philosophy.

“I signed up for the class and I’m excited to have the opportunity to learn new things and increase my knowledge on the subject of philosophy,” said junior Aanchal Singh. “From what I’ve heard, Mr.Gulyas sounds like a great teacher so I’m really looking forward to this class.”

The first topic that will be covered in this class is epistemology, the study of knowledge. This topic might seem like common knowledge, but Gulyas wants to challenges his students by digging deeper into the subject. Gulyas will encourage students to define what it means to believe,  know and understand.

Next is metaphysics, which will explore fundamental questions, including the nature of concepts such as being, existence and reality. 

Another topic discussed will be ethics, which will cover the ideas of good, bad, right, and wrong. It will mainly focus on real world situations and which is the best path for people.

The next topic will be aesthetics, which will explore the nature of art and beauty. It is concerned with what people find pretty and what we don’t, including understanding reasons why people feel that way.

The final topic will be religious and political philosophies. This is to understand the new multicultural society, a place where people of different beliefs and cultural backgrounds come together.