Dr. Paul O’Hagan

Subject: Language Arts / Philosophy

What will my child walk away with? Mastery of the essential critical skills that the liberal arts were always designed to build: close reading, careful argument, precise writing, and the ability to engage seriously with ideas that challenge their assumptions. My research in ethics and the history of philosophy provides a deep intellectual foundation in my teaching of these skills.

What can families expect? An award-winning teacher with over ten years of university classroom experience who believes that education’s purpose is to build up and empower students. I am known for making ancient and contemporary ideas genuinely accessible without sacrificing their depth.

What does class actually feel like? Rigorous and genuinely enjoyable. Philosophy and literature taught well are not dry disciplines; they are the most human disciplines there are, and I teach them as such.

How do you challenge a curious mind? I take students into the primary texts and encourage them to engage deeply with the ideas and arguments they encounter. Aristotle on friendship, Plato on knowledge, Kant on duty — these are not historical curiosities. They are live positions that curious students can engage with, push against, and learn from directly.

Credentials and Experience Ph.D. in Philosophy, McMaster University. M.A. in Philosophy, McMaster University. Honours B.A. in Literature and Philosophy, University of Waterloo. My research focuses on ancient philosophy and contemporary ethics, particularly friendship and human relationships. I am an award-winning teacher with over 10 years of university-level classroom experience. I have been a lecturer at McMaster University and St. Jerome’s University, and a former chaplaincy director and community organizer at McMaster University.