Course Offerings
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Winter 2025▲
See complete information about these courses in the course offerings database. For more information about a specific course, including course type, schedule and location, click on its title.
Introduction to Theories of Knowledge and Reality
PHIL 105 - Conley, Brandon
This course introduces students to the following puzzles and questions of philosophy: Do we really know anything? What is time like? What are selves? Does God exist? Do we have free will? By wrestling with these big questions and by exploring how philosophy can impact everyday life, we will grow in intellectual virtues such as curiosity, rigor, intellectual humility, intellectual courage, and empathetic reasoning.
Introduction to Theories of Knowledge and Reality
PHIL 105 - Kang, Li
This course introduces students to the following puzzles and questions of philosophy: Do we really know anything? What is time like? What are selves? Does God exist? Do we have free will? By wrestling with these big questions and by exploring how philosophy can impact everyday life, we will grow in intellectual virtues such as curiosity, rigor, intellectual humility, intellectual courage, and empathetic reasoning.
Modern European Philosophy: Descartes to Hume
PHIL 120 - Goldberg, Nathaniel J.
An examination of some of the metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of religion of the European Enlightenment, including views of the rationalists Rene Descartes, Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia, and Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz; and the empiricists Catharine Cockburn, John Locke, and David Hume. Topics include skepticism about the external world, mind-body dualism, the existence and nature of God, theories of substance, personal identity, and causation.
Introduction to Logic
PHIL 170 - Goldberg, Nathaniel J.
The study of argumentation and modern formal logic. This course explores the basic principles of deductive and inductive reasoning. Students learn to symbolize and evaluate natural language arguments. Topics covered include sentential and quantificational logic.
Introduction to Logic
PHIL 170 - Gregory, Paul A.
The study of argumentation and modern formal logic. This course explores the basic principles of deductive and inductive reasoning. Students learn to symbolize and evaluate natural language arguments. Topics covered include sentential and quantificational logic.
Buddhist Philosophy
PHIL 223 - Kang, Li
An introduction to Buddhist philosophy. We focus on the philosophical articulation and defense of Buddhism, and reflect on issues in metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, and ethics. We see how different philosophical traditions—including Indian, Chinese, and Western—can be mutually informing. We also discuss the relevance of Buddhist philosophy to empirical research and everyday practice.
Contemporary Ethical Theory
PHIL 240 - Taylor, Erin P.
An in-depth exploration of central questions in contemporary normative ethical theory, including the following: Which features of actions are morally important to determining their rightness (e.g., their motive, their intrinsic nature, their consequences)? What is the relation between moral values and personal values (e.g., those deriving from personal commitments and relationships)? How demanding is morality? How can we evaluate competing theories of normative ethics? Students consider these and related issues by examining contemporary philosophical defenses of theories such as consequentialism, deontology, virtue ethics, and contractualism.
PHIL249-01/POV249-01 Poverty, Oppression, and Privilege
PHIL 249 - Pickett, Howard Y.
Same as PHIL 249. This seminar asks one overarching question: Are the increasingly common - and contested - concepts of "oppression" and "privilege" useful in poverty studies and in the pursuit of justice? Along the way, we consider the following more specific questions: Is poverty a form of oppression? Is systemic disadvantage always oppressive or is it sometimes justifiable? What is the relationship between privilege and moral responsibility? Is privilege blameworthy? Do the privileged have distinct responsibilities to advocate for the just treatment of the disadvantaged? For that matter, do the oppressed have their own distinct responsibilities or would such a burden be an additional form of oppression? Is advocating for the disadvantaged privileged and (sometimes) oppressive? If so, is failing to advocate even worse? Who is responsible for the pursuit of justice and what, if anything, should be done?
Political Philosophy: The Social Contract
PHIL 260 - Taylor, Erin P.
Is the government's power over its citizens morally legitimate? Do citizens have any political obligations to their government? What is individual liberty and how should it be respected? How should a commitment to liberty be balanced against a concern for equality and the common good? Social Contract doctrine--to which the Declaration of Independence adverts--provides answers to these questions. This course surveys the Social Contract theories of three of the most influential political philosophers of the modern age, whose writings shaped our conception of the republic and its principles: Thomas Hobbes. John Locke, and Jean Jacques Rousseau.
Intermediate Logic
PHIL 270 - Gregory, Paul A.
An examination of alternative formal logics and issues in the philosophy of logic. Topics include formal ways of modeling possibility, actuality, and necessity; advanced quantificational semantics, set theory, infinity, and paradox. Some light metalogic. May also include informal considerations of topics like conditionals, counterfactuals, intuitionism, and others.
Seminar in Ethics and Value Theory: Virtue Ethics and Liberal Arts Education
PHIL 296A - Dudley, William C. (Will)
The mission of Washington and Lee is to provide a liberal arts education that helps students develop their capacities to think freely, critically, and humanely and to act with honor, integrity, and civility. These capacities are known as virtues, positive traits of intellect and character that are believed to be conducive to living well. Virtue ethics is one of the oldest and most important approaches to moral theory. Plato famously asked whether virtue can be taught. Aristotle’s Ethics attempts to answer Plato by giving an account of how the traits that are necessary to human flourishing can be acquired. In this course, students will read classic and contemporary texts in virtue ethics, with the aim of evaluating W&L’s mission and the university’s efforts to fulfill it. What does it mean to think freely, critically, and humanely? What are the distinguishing characteristics of honor, integrity, and civility? Are these traits beneficial in every circumstance? Are there other virtues that the university should strive to cultivate in its students? How effectively do the culture, curriculum, and extra-curricular programs at Washington and Lee teach the virtues to which our mission commits us? Students will be encouraged to reflect upon their own educational goals, choices, and experiences in light of the philosophical works that they read.
Seminar in Ethics and Value Theory: Time, Life, and Death
PHIL 296K - Ades, Rachel
In this wide-ranging course, we'll explore our situation as beings conscious of time and mortality. We'll examine what it means to live well, what it means to die well, and the connection between life and death. Some questions to be considered include: What is the role of hope and mystery in life and death? What is a legacy? How should we regard time during our days, weeks, and lifetimes? Is immortality desirable? How does thinking about death influence the way we live?
Philosophy of Science
PHIL 378 - Conley, Brandon
Discussion of philosophical issues raised by the natural sciences. Topics include the nature of scientific theories, evidence, and explanation, the demarcation of science from non-science, scientific revolutions, the unity of science, and scientific realism.
Honors Thesis
PHIL 493 - Kang, Li
Honors Thesis. The department honors program is outlined at https://www.wlu.edu/philosophy-department/about-the -department/about-the-major-and-the-minor/honors-pr ogram .
Fall 2024▲
See complete information about these courses in the course offerings database. For more information about a specific course, including course type, schedule and location, click on its title.
Introduction to Moral and Political Philosophy
PHIL 104 - Conley, Brandon
The course provides a broad historical survey of moral and political philosophy. Students read selections from the work of a number of great women and men from the ancient to the contemporary period, dealing with questions of ethics and moral and political philosophy. We consider how philosophy can be way of life and how we can pursue wisdom through careful argumentation and analysis of the foundations of our beliefs about the world, morality, human nature, good and evil, government and society, justice, and equality.
Introduction to Theories of Knowledge and Reality
PHIL 105 - Kang, Li
An introduction to philosophy, covering the following puzzles and questions: Do we really know anything? What is time like? Is time travel possible? What are selves? Does God exist? Do we have free will? Students see how these big questions are pursued in both Western and Eastern traditions and how they impact everyday life. The main goal of this course is to develop rigorous and disciplined methods of thinking and writing. Emphasis is especially placed on developing the abilities to extract, present, explain, and evaluate positions and arguments.
Ancient Greek Philosophy
PHIL 110 - Goldberg, Nathaniel J.
An examination of the metaphysics of the pre-Socratic philosophers, especially the Milesians, Pythagoras, Xenophanes, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Zeno of Elea, and the Atomists, and the ethics and political philosophy of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Topics include the origin and nature of the kosmos , the nature and existence of the god(s), the trial and execution of Socrates, theories of virtue, the nature of knowledge and truth, justice and the ideal state, the nature of eudaimonia (happiness, flourishing), and the possibility of akrasia (weakness of the will).
Introduction to Logic
PHIL 170 - Gregory, Paul A.
The study of argumentation and modern formal logic. This course explores the basic principles of deductive and inductive reasoning. Students learn to symbolize and evaluate natural language arguments. Topics covered include sentential and quantificational logic.
PHIL214-01/REL214-01 Religion and Existentialism
PHIL 214 - Kosky, Jeffrey L.
Same as PHIL 214. A consideration of the accounts of human existence (faith and doubt; death and being-in-the-world; anxiety, boredom, and hope; sin and evil; etc.) elaborated by philosophers, theologians, and literary figures in the 19th and 20th centuries. The central figures considered are Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche. Attention is paid to their significance for future philosophers, theologians, artists, and literary figures, and consideration may also be paid to forerunners in earlier centuries.
John Stuart Mill
PHIL 228 - Bell, Melina C.
A study of the life and ideas of a 19th-century philosopher who was ahead of his time. The class considers such questions as: Are liberty and individuality absolutely crucial to human happiness? Are we morally obligated to conduct our lives in ways that maximize the greatest aggregate happiness? Should women and men have equal rights and opportunities? How can we combine the benefits of capitalism (higher productivity and innovation) with the benefits of socialism (avoiding poverty and exploitation)? Is it more important to fill your head with knowledge or your heart with love?
Philosophy of Law
PHIL 252 - Bell, Melina C.
An examination of topics in the philosophy of law, such as the concepts of a law and of a legal system; Natural Law theory; legal positivist and legal realist theories of law; the nature of the relationship between law, morality, and religion; civil disobedience; rights in the U.S. Constitution; freedom of speech and pornography; abortion and the right to privacy; punishment and the death penalty; and different forms of legal liability. Readings include United States Supreme Court opinions.
Metaphysics: Existence and Reality
PHIL 274 - Kang, Li
Metaphysics concerns the most general questions about existence and reality. Discussions include spacetime, material objects, persons, abstract objects, and fictional objects. The course covers the general debate between realism and idealism, and also examines how metaphysics is developed in different traditions, especially contemporary analytic philosophy and Buddhist philosophy.
Seminar in Ethics and Value Theory: Philosophy of Disability
PHIL 296J - Ades, Rachel
In this course, we will examine how disability can complicate and enhance the ways we understand knowledge, ethics, justice, and the human experience. Some questions we will consider are: What are society’s obligations to people with non-standard bodies? How do our bodies relate to the way we come to know things and what kinds of knowledge are privileged? How should we understand concepts like independence, dignity, and vulnerability? We will also explore generative opportunities for philosophers that arise from considering disability and disabled perspectives, such as: What is the nature of accessibility? What is the relationship between disability justice and medicalization? What can disability teach us about transhumanism and technology?
Medical Ethics
PHIL 346 - Taylor, Erin P.
An examination of the issues arising out of the human impact of modern biomedical research and practice. Specific issues are selected from among the following: abortion, contraception, death and dying, experimentation/research, genetics, in vitro fertilization, intellectual and developmental disabilities, public health/community medicine, science/technology, transplantation and patients' rights.
Philosophy of Language
PHIL 372 - Goldberg, Nathaniel J.
A survey of central topics in the field, including some or all of the following: reference, meaning, truth, analyticity, speech acts, pragmatics, verificationism, indeterminacy, innateness, metaphor, and development of language in the species and in the individual.
Honors Thesis
PHIL 493 - Kang, Li
Honors Thesis. The department honors program is outlined at https://www.wlu.edu/philosophy-department/about-the -department/about-the-major-and-the-minor/honors-program .
Spring 2024▲
See complete information about these courses in the course offerings database. For more information about a specific course, including course type, schedule and location, click on its title.
The Meaning of Life
PHIL 261 - Sun, Angela M. / Gregory, Paul A.
This is a Spring Term Abroad course. Only those students already accepted into the course should request an eligibility override.Thinkers such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Frantz Fanon, and Albert Camus contemplated life’s meaning against the backdrop of World War II, death camps, and the development of the atomic bomb. What were they to make of the human condition in such a world? In this course, we will spend four weeks following in the footsteps of Parisian existentialists contemplating the same questions they did. Is life absurd? Is meaning possible in a world without God? Is meaning possible under a materialist scientific world view? What is the role of identity in life’s meaning? What reasons, if any, do we have to fear death? To answer these questions, we will pair our readings and discussions with experiences in which people throughout history have found meaning (and try to find meaning ourselves).
Seminar in Ethics and Value Theory: Philosophy of Immigration
PHIL 296E - Lamb, Matthew
Students will examine important philosophical questions about human rights and ethics relating to immigration and refuge. What is the moral significance of citizenship and how might it inform answers to questions about obligations of states towards immigrants and refugees? When, if ever, does another nation acquire a moral obligation to provide citizenship to those outside of its own nation? What obligation does the original nation that a refugee is fleeing have towards its endangered citizens? Should there be a distinction between persecuted individuals as refugees and those fleeing for economic reasons? And if so, why? How should we prioritize offers of citizenship as new crises arise? Moreover, how should the moral importance of human dignity shape our answers to these questions?
Seminar in Ethics and Value Theory: Philosophy of Medicine
PHIL 296H - Conley, Brandon
This course will provide an overview of the philosophy of medicine. The course will focus on three interrelated and fundamental questions about medicine and its aims: What is medicine? What are health and disease? And what should our attitude toward medicine be, especially given that historically medicine has very frequently failed to cure or ameliorate illness? Other topics may include the advantages and disadvantages of evidence-based medicine, the nature of medicine as a science, the role of medicine in society, and whether the answers to any of these questions should be different for the case of mental health and practices aimed at addressing it like psychiatry and clinical psychology.
Seminar in Ethics and Value Theory: Images of Justice
PHIL 296I - Ades, Rachel
Western philosophy often contains visual descriptions of justice; we show justice as a person, a pie, a series of steps, a veil. In this interactive and creative course, we'll interrogate classic and contemporary ideas of justice and the images associated with them. Each week, students will find and make images that explain, criticize, or expand upon a way we conceive of justice. Students will be able to create images in multiple ways; art experience and being "good at drawing" certainly not required.