Online Philosophy Tutor Nathan

Nathan

Nathan

Philosophy PhD

5.0

$85/hr

I love challenging assumptions about the nature of things by using reason and to hone the capacity of my students to think deeply about some of the most profound questions humans have ever asked.

Nathan
5.0
8 classes

University of Cambridge - Philosophy - PhD

I love challenging assumptions about the nature of things by using reason and to hone the capacity of my students to think deeply about some of the most profound questions humans have ever asked.

Recent Students: 4
Total Hours: 8
Last Online:
All-time Students: 4
Total Classes: 8
Signed Up:
Recent Students: 4Total Hours: 8Last Online:
All-time Students: 4Total Classes: 8Signed Up:

About Me

I studied at Cambridge with the very prestigious (Bill) Gates scholarship. I have a philosophy video channel online with over 7000 subscribers. Besides my academic work, I am married to a wonderful Kiwi girl, and am the father of two very energetic boys (aged 4 and 6).

Tutor Experience

I lecture in philosophy and teach logic classes at Cambridge University. And for the last 6 years I have been supervising Cambridge students, one on one, in their studies in various papers. And I have recently started taking on private students and adult learners too. This has given me important experience at explaining difficult concepts in ways that are understandable (important for tutoring!).

Topic Expertise

My expertise is in philosophy, especially those of a theoretical nature such as logic, metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, philosophy of mathematics and philosophy of science. But I have also taught ethics, political theory and philosophy of religion.

Testimonials

Excellent communicator, organised, very attentive and easy to deal with. I am currently doing philosophy tutorials as an adult/casual learner with Nathan and I would highly recommend him to anyone who is looking for a philosophy tutor. David (Casual learner)

I came to Nathan as a casual learner wanting to explore my interest in Philosophy. He has certainly helped me with this and now I am looking at the possibility of studying Philosophy as an A level with Nathan as my tutor. Regardless of my decision I am certain Nathan will be more than capable of helping me develop my philosophical skills and critical thinking.

Very friendly, extremely patient (which he’s needed to be at times) and exceedingly knowledgeable, I would recommend Nathan to anyone studying Philosophy! Josh (Casual learner)

Over the course of my sessions with Nathan, I’ve noticed a substantial improvement in my grades, and my confidence in philosophy is much higher. My sessions with Nathan are always engaging, and I feel like learning in our sessions is so easy. Nathan is very good at explaining the subject, and he’s also great at making sure I understand it so that I don’t have any gaps in my knowledge. Luke (A-level Philosophy)

We were delighted to find Nathan at a critical point in our daughters A level philosophy . He was particularly helpful in evaluating the arguments and helping her build her confidence with handling the material in essays.
We would happily recommend Nathan to any student seeking to make sense of complex theories and develop their thinking. Nigel (A-level Philosophy)

Nathan’s supervisions have been the most helpful of this year. He very skilfully guided my work so as to improve my philosophical responses but also to give me confidence that I am really seeing results from in my revision and further study. I hope at some time to work again with Nathan; his detailed approach is perfect for the study of meaning in philosophy it seems to me. Naomi (Cambridge University, 1st year)

Nathan supervised me in Part 1A Philosophy on the topic of metaphysics. Each week, he gave comprehensive feedback for my essays, highlighting both the strengths and weaknesses of my writing skills, the content I chose to use and my overall argument. He was my first supervisor at Cambridge, and both his compliments and critiques encouraged me and greatly improved my essay-writing. In particular, I felt that Nathan struck a helpful balance between focusing on the syllabus in light of the coming exams, and discussing the specific areas which I was interested in greater detail. His supervisions were structured so that we would cover the content necessary, but there was also time for greater discussion in areas I needed further clarification or wanted to expand my knowledge on. Overall, Nathan gave helpful and interesting supervisions. Evie (Cambridge University, 1st year)

Nathan supervised me for the Metaphysics paper in the Part 1A section of the Philosophy Tripos. His feedback was helpful and clear, and gave me a sense of what was needed in an essay at the undergraduate level, particularly because he was my first supervisor. He always provided detailed notes and suggestions on my work, that I think have helped me develop the way I think about and respond to philosophical questions. Sam (Cambridge University, 1st year)

Nathan helped me to properly understand a number of metaphysical concepts, as well as helping me develop my ability to argue philosophically in general. His feedback was always clear, detailed and insightful, and I enjoyed our supervisions. Jacob (Cambridge University, 1st year),

Nathan has supervised me during my final year of undergraduate studies, working with me in both Mathematical and Philosophical Logic. I have found his supervisions extremely helpful, with Nathan always being well acquainted and knowledgeable on the topics we discuss. He provides useful feedback in a technical capacity on essays and proofs, tightening notation and building my understanding of the need for clarity and concision. Further, I have always felt I understand the philosophical issues behind topics to a greater extent post-supervision, and know of how to improve on the work I have submitted. Django (Cambridge University, 3rd year)

Nathan has been an excellent supervisor for my Knowledge, Language and The World module this year. Communication in the supervisions has always been clear and straightforward. When concepts have proved difficult for me to understand at first time of asking, we used the whiteboard which immediately made the issues clear and manageable. The feedback on my essays was always in-depth and easy to understand when read outside of the supervision. This meant that comments made months ago are still accessible and helpful to me in lockdown now. Outside of the module itself, Nathan’s knowledge of the subject is clearly not lacking and brief tangents that we discussed within supervisions have helped me to decide which topics and philosophers I want to explore in my final year as an undergraduate at Cambridge. Jonathan (Cambridge University, 2nd year)

Nathan is a bright and passionate teacher that is full of knowledge. Whatever the topic of discussion he will push you on your views, making think about your views in a deeper and more complex way. Through his teaching, I have held myself to a higher standard and have thus become a better philosopher. Andrey (Cambridge University, 2nd year)

Nathan has been a very good Knowledge, Language and the World supervisor who has helped me a lot with structuring my thoughts and essays in a more coherent framework, deconstructing the arguments during the supervision and showing me what their logical process in my essay should have been, which is very helpful for a student who tries to understand the material for the first time. Also, his comments on my essays are very clear and detailed which shows that he has paid a lot of attention to my work. I also like the style of the supervision, which is framed around my essay and not just my general knowledge on the topic like other supervisions I’ve had, giving me the opportunity to get a better understanding of the material that I have already read and wrote about. It is evident that he has a very good knowledge of the material, as he is able to answer in great detail the questions that I ask during the supervision. The only thing that I would suggest is more variety in the essay titles that we have to choose from. Marianna (Cambridge University, 2nd year)

Nathan is a very good supervisor, I found that he was able to accurately detect the source of any unclarity that came up in my essays, and found his way of explaining quite complex concepts and theories really helpful, often by use of examples or useful diagrams. I have found my supervisions with him extremely helpful, and have learnt a lot. Zohayr (Cambridge University, 2nd year),

I found my half term of supervisions with Nathan very helpful. He supervised me for a paper I found particularly challenging and he managed to greatly increase my understanding of the core material while also helping me to develop my own ideas. The supervisions were very clear while also being engaging and encouraging me to look more into the material in my own time. Gail (Cambridge University, 2nd year),

There is a fine balance with giving feedback on essays between giving genuinely constructive criticism and not giving so much criticism as to be overwhelming; this is a balance that I think Nathan consistently hit. Always willing to engage with my original ideas, in supervision I felt that we spent an appropriate amount of time both on clarifying the underlying content and developing these such that I was more aware of both their flaws and strengths. Overall, I would say that my supervisions with Nathan were consistently excellent, and I wish him the best of luck in future endeavours. Lauren (Cambridge University, 2nd year),

I had the pleasure of studying under Nathan for four of my supervisions at Cambridge, specifically concerning the undergraduate philosophy paper on meaning. I had recently switched onto the course half-way through the year and had a whole term's worth of work to catch up with, meaning, it was a crucial time for me to get to grips with the hardest paper of the year. Least to say, Nathan was imperative to my turning the hardest paper into my most successful one out of the five papers I was sitting exams for. Going into our supervisions I had never previously studied analytical philosophy in an academic setting, but through working with Nathan over the course of four weeks I came to develop a thorough understanding of analyticity, verificationism, definite descriptions, and names. Nathan took great care in both reading my weekly essays and providing thorough and useful feedback which clarified gaps in my understanding of the material as well as improving the explication of my ideas on the page. He always tailored our supervisions after the material I had presented him, and continuously guided me through the difficult subjects by pulling from a deep understanding of both philosophical literature and the syllabus at hand. However, perhaps the most crucial aspect of our time together was that I always found it welcome to pose Nathan all sorts of questions. Not merely because I felt I could trust his knowledge, but that even outside of our dedicated supervisions I always received a swift and informed reply. This, to me, highlighted Nathan's dedication to my progress, and significantly helped me wrestle the severely testing material of the paper. Needless to say I would recommend Nathan to any student or teaching institution looking to advance their educational faculties, and sincerely hope I get the opportunity to study under him again. Jesper (Cambridge University, 1st year)

Nathan is one of the best supervisors I have ever had in Cambridge. Not only is he a funny and pleasant person to work with, he is also very enthusiastic and knowledgeable in the subject and explains the material fantastically well. I am a psychological and behavioural science student who had no prior knowledge in philosophy before I took the Year 2 Metaphysics and Epistemology paper which Nathan supervised me on. Having done neither the logics paper nor any philosophical training before made it extremely difficult for me to learn the materials. I was initially very confused with even the most basic concepts in philosophy such as ‘necessary truth’ and ‘accidental property’, but Nathan explained them with such clarity that I was able to pick up the material really quickly. Even the most obscure concepts Nathan handled them with elegance and ease. I always found his essay feedback very useful, as it helped me to fill up any conceptual gap I had in writing and to think in a more logical and critical way. I obtained a high 2i for my philosophy paper at the final exam and I couldn’t have achieved it without Nathan’s help. Nathan made studying philosophy less painful, even fun and interesting! Jiping (Cambridge University, 2nd year),

Nathan was an excellent supervisor who guided me through my first philosophy course, in metaphysics. As a psychology student, I initially found the transition to philosophy difficult. Nathan patiently explained many key concepts which allowed me to get a foothold in the subject. His supervisions were always informative and helpful and Nathan’s feedback led to both my comprehension and writing improving significantly over the course of the year. He encouraged me to think through topics carefully and independently, as well as suggesting reading strategies which proved to be beneficial. By the time of the exam I felt comfortable with the material and confident in building arguments in my essays. I went on to get my best grade of the year in metaphysics! In philosophy supervisions, the feedback on students’ work is very critical and intensive but Nathan was always very warm and approachable, which made a huge difference. Michael (Cambridge University, 1st year)

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Qualifications

PhD in Philosophy (Cambridge, UK),
MPhil in Philosophy (Cambridge, UK),
MA in Philosophy with distinction (Massey, NZ),
BA(Hons) in Philosophy with distinction (Massey, NZ),
First class bachelors degree in Mathematics and Philosophy (Massey, NZ).

Availability

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