Dr. Byron Stoyles

Professor, Philosophy
Trent University

For new Trent Philosophy professor Dr. Byron Stoyles, the value of taking a course in philosophy is simple – “It has the potential to make you a better thinker. And if you are a better thinker, you are able to lead a better life.”

Prof. Stoyles was sold on the virtues of philosophy from the first class he took during his first year at Huron College. In fact, he was so enthralled by the theories and their applications to real life that he changed his major from Biology to Philosophy and has never looked back.

“From day one, I didn’t want to put the books down… Every problem is a brain teaser and every idea has both theoretical and practical applications,” he says.

After completing a Master’s degree and Ph.D. in Philosophy at Western, Prof. Stoyles joined the ranks of Trent’s esteemed Philosophy Department last year as a sessional teacher. For the 2007/2008 academic year, he has returned as a tenure-track faculty member, eager to make his mark at Trent University.

For Prof. Stoyles, it is especially exciting to have the opportunity teach Trent students, who he describes as having different expectations and goals from other undergraduate university students. “They are more willing to question and defend their views in an open forum,” he says. “Trent students are aware that faculty care about them and that their opinions matter; it makes them more comfortable to engage in discussion.”

It is promoting this engagement with course material that Prof. Stoyles strives for most in the classroom. “You get a degree if you learn the theories, you get more if you reflect on what it all means,” he says.

On the research side, Prof. Stoyles is equally as engaged in the material he studies. Self-describing his research as the study of “ethical theories in antiquity”, Prof. Stoyles’s research focuses are on ancient philosophy and ethics. “My focus, as it was for many of the ancient philosophers, is on what a good life would be, and what sort of humans we want to be – the broad questions that most philosophers are criticized for asking,” he says with a wry smile. 

This translates into a wide-range of interests – from his doctoral work surrounding the ancient philosophical arguments about death to his courses teaching students about cyber-ethics and the moral problems and issues of significance within the realm of virtual reality.

According to Prof. Stoyles, no matter what area of philosophy one is studying, ethics always have a key role to play.

“In studying ethics, we explore and try to explain the phenomenon of thinking that some things are right and some things are wrong along with the implications of these judgments” he says. “This creates quite the challenge for philosophers. Unlike in law, for example, where lawyers have law books and codes to work by, there are no such written documents on morality to be studied by the ethicist.” 

“It is exciting to get people to think of their ethical judgements, to encourage new ways of thinking and to invite challenges to the old theories,” says Prof. Stoyles.  “In an ideal world, students learn the theory and then use it to reflect on their own views.”