Catalog of Courses for Philosophy
Introduces a broad spectrum of philosophical problems and approaches. Topics include basic questions concerning morality, skepticism and the foundations of knowledge, the mind and its relation to the body, and the existence of God. Readings are drawn from classics in the history of philosophy and/or contemporary sources. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/
This class explores the intersection of philosophy with issues concerning VR, computer simulation, AI, etc. Can traditional philosophical problems be seen through the lens of VR and AI- and do VR and AI raise new and distinctive philosophical issues? This will show how reflection on modern technologies can help with ancient philosophical questions and how philosophy can help in the development of new technologies and society's response to them.
Analyzes the structure of informal arguments and fallacies that are commonly committed in everyday reasoning. The course will not cover symbolic logic in any detail. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Discussion groups devoted to some philosophical writing or topic. Information on the specific topic can be obtained from the philosophy department at course enrollment time. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Examines a wide variety of theories of human nature, with the aim of understanding how we can fulfill our nature and thereby live good, satisfying and meaningful lives. Focuses on the questions of whether it is in our nature to be rational, moral and/or social beings. Readings are taken from contemporary and historical sources. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Examines some of the central problems of moral philosophy and their sources in human life and thought. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Studies the fundamental principles underlying contemporary and historical discussions of such issues as abortion, euthanasia, suicide, pacifism, and political terror. Examines Utilitarian and anti-Utilitarian modes of thought about human life and the significance of death. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Examines and evaluates some basic practices and principles of Anglo-American law. Discusses the justification of punishment, the death penalty, legal liability, good samaritan laws, and the legal enforcement of morality. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Survey of the history of philosophy from the Pre-Socratic period through the Middle Ages. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Surveys the history of modern philosophy, beginning with Descartes and extending up to the nineteenth century. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
This course surveys foundational issues in the philosophy of cognitive science. Part 1 asks, what is a mind? Are minds brains? Computers? Do minds extend into the body & environment? What it would take to make a machine with a mind? Part 2 turns to the problem of personal identity over time. Once you were a kid, now you're an adult, and one day you'll grow old. What (if anything) makes you the same person over your life.
Introduces the concepts and techniques of modern formal logic, including both sentential and quantifier logic, as well as proof, interpretation, translation, and validity. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
A lecture series on the various topics central to Philosophy.
Seminars aimed at showing how philosophical problems arise in connection with subjects of general interest. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
In this class, we will examine philosophical puzzles about our ability to make rational choices that affect or determine our own happiness. How can we rationally decide to undergo a significant experience - such as having a child or moving to a new country - when have no way of knowing what that experience will be like? How can we rationally choose to make decisions about our future?
Other species seem to represent objects in their environments, think about the thoughts of their conspecifics, and perhaps even use language. Some seem to have long-term memory, emotion, and self-awareness. Do they in fact do all of these things, and if so, how, and in what sense? We will engage philosophically with the best scientific evidence available to answer these and similar questions before considering their ethical implications.
Considers the problems raised by arguments for and against the existence of God; discussion of such related topics as evil, evidence for miracles, and the relation between philosophy and theology. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
This course will consider three central questions in political philosophy: Why do political societies exist? What kind of political society is best? And, what is the proper role of the state in the social and economic affairs of its citizens? Rather than a comprehensive overview of the subject, this course will offer a chance to carefully examine some of the most influential attempts to answer to these core questions.
A survey of the political ideas and theories of the ancient Greeks and Romans, including such works as Plato's REPUBLIC, Aristotle's POLITICS and Cicero's DE RE PUBLICA. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
This course investigates the history and the scientific and philosophical implications of Darwin's revolutionary idea that the wholly unguided process of natural selection could explain the magnificent variety and adaptedness of living things and their descent from a common ancestor. One of the philosophical topics we will explore is how scientific theories are supported by evidence and how science yields knowledge
Introduces the philosophy of Plato through careful examination of selected Platonic dialogues. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
An introduction to the philosophy of Aristotle, covering his major works in ethics, political philosophy, metaphysics, theory of knowledge, and literary theory. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Examines the continued development of philosophy from after Aristotle to the end of the Middle Ages. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Studies the central philosophers in the empiricist tradition.
Primarily a study of Kant's metaphysics and epistemology, followed by a brief look at the views of some of Idealist successors. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.philosophy.virginia.edu.
A comprehensive study of the philosophy of Nietzsche, with an examination of his views on life, truth, philosophy, art, morality, nihilism, values and their creation, will to power, eternal recurrence, and more. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/. Prerequisite: instructor permission (previous course in philosophy preferred)
An introduction to the philosophy of Hegel. Students will explore Hegel's distinctive method of dialectical reasoning and his systematic approach to metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, politics, art, and history. The course situates Hegel within the broader context of German Idealism, examining his responses to Kant, Fichte, and Schelling, while also tracing his lasting impact on later traditions such as Marxism, Existentialism, Phenomenology, and Critical Theory.
Examines central metaphysical issues such as time, the existence of God, causality and determinism, universals, possibility and necessity, identity, and the nature of metaphysics. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Studies problems concerned with the foundations of knowledge, perception, and rational belief. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Studies some basic problems of philosophical psychology. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
What distinguishes science from pseudoscience, or from other human practices more generally? How does evidence confirm theories? What does it mean for a scientific theory to explain some aspect of the world? Should we believe scientific theories are true? How do values and social forces shape scientific inquiry? Such questions point to core issues in philosophy of science. In this course, we will examine these and similar topics drawing on both historical and contemporary scientific research.
An introduction to systems of non-classical logic, including both extensions and revisions to classical logic.
Topics change from semester to semester and year to year. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Studies some recent contemporary philosophical movement, writing, or topic. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Science fiction is a distinctively philosophical genre. Science fiction stories can cause us to question the bounds of what is possible, explore ethical questions that arise in alien circumstances, explore the nature of the self and the very nature of reality, and so on. This course will investigate philosophical questions via science fiction literature, and use philosophy to explore the nature of science fiction.
Words have power. They can inform and deceive, delight and hurt. They can be rousing, illuminating, poignant or hilarious. Written words encode our laws and transmit knowledge and testimony across generations. Questions covered may include: How do the words we use get their meanings? By what mechanism do sequences of arbitrary sounds combine to express thoughts and feelings? How does language enable you to express a new thought you had, even if it has never been thought before?
This course will consider three central questions in political philosophy: Why do political societies exist? What kind of political society is best? And, what is the proper role of the state in the social and economic affairs of its citizens? Rather than a comprehensive overview of the subject, this course will offer a chance to carefully examine some of the most influential attempts to answer to these core questions.
Economics is the study of how the various goods and resources that members of a community need are produced and distributed. This course will study various fundamental questions that concern economic thinking. Questions addressed can include: what is the relationship between economy and society? What is market value, and how does it relate to other kinds of value? What kinds of economic arrangements are required as a matter of justice?
History of modern ethical theory (Hobbes to Mill) with especial emphasis on the texts of Hume (Treatise, Book III) and Kant, (Grundlegung), which will be studied carefully and critically. Among the topics to be considered: Is morality based on reason? Is it necessarily irrational not to act morally? Are moral standards objective? Are they conventional? Is it a matter of luck whether we are morally virtuous? Is the morally responsible will a free will? Are all reasons for acting dependent on desires? For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Studies Anglo-American ethics since 1900. While there are selected readings from G. E. Moore, W. D. Ross, A. J. Ayer, C. L. Stevenson and R. M. Hare, emphasis is on more recent work. Among the topics to be considered: Are there moral facts? Are moral values relative? Are moral judgments universalizable? Are they prescriptive? Are they cognitive? What is to be said for utilitarianism as a moral theory? What against it? And what are the alternatives? For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
In this class, we'll first examine the question 'What is gender?' Then we'll look at ways in which gender can interact with traditional philosophical topics, including epistemology, philosophy of language, political philosophy, etc.
In this class, we'll be talking about philosophical issues at the intersection of sexuality, sexual experience, and gender experience. What is sexual consent? What is the relationship between sexual consent and sexual morality? What is sexual orientation, and what is its relationship to sex and gender? Is there such a thing as biological sex? Is there a difference between sex and gender?
This class explores philosophical issues in the nature of mental health and mental illness. Topics may include: What is the difference between a mental illness and a physical illness? How do we understand the difference between mental difference and mental dysfunction? Does our current approach to understanding mental health overly pathologize or medicalize people? What is a social contagion? What does it mean to be mentally healthy?
A heterodox belief is a belief that is held in opposition to received wisdom or status quo. Heterodox beliefs play an important role in challenging the status quo and advancing knowledge. But they are also central to conspiracy theories and misinformation. In this class, we'll discuss when and how heterodox beliefs can be warranted, and whether we can tell the difference between good and bad cases.
Examination of the nature and function of liberty in social theorists such as Adam Smith, JJ Rousseau, Ayn Rand, John Rawls, Robert Nozick. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Topic changes from year to year. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/. Prerequisite: Philosophy majors.
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
This class is about some of the fascinating and mind-bending issues that arise in the intersection of logic, philosophy, mathematics, and computer science. Some of the issues we will discuss are: the nature of infinity; set theory, including non-well-founded set theories; whether math is all about structure and what that might mean; Turing machines and the limits of computability and mathematical proof; Godel's incompleteness theorems; paradoxes and the nature of logic and truth.
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Independent study under the direction of a faculty member. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Independent study under the direction of a faculty member. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
A survey of the political ideas and theories of the ancient Greeks and Romans.
A survey of the most important philosophers of the Modern Age.
Seminar on an Ethics Topic
A seminar on the ethical implications of biomedical research.
A seminar on political theory and how the topics of rights and freedoms are incorporated.
A seminar on the nature of being and the world
A seminar on the nature and scope of knowledge.
A seminar on logic features and reasoning.
Seminar for First Yr graduate students. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Tutorial instruction. The student will attend lectures and cover the subjects of an undergraduate course, but will do additional reading and/or written work to strengthen their understanding of that philosophical area.
With the permission of the instructor, a student may arrange to take an undergraduate course for graduate credit under this designation. The student will attend lectures and cover the subjects of the undergraduate course, but will do additional reading and/or written work; the student's work in the course will be graded on a scale appropriate for graduate course work.
A survey of the political ideas and theories of the ancient Greeks and Romans.
A survey of the most important philosophers of the Middle Ages.
A survey of the most important philosophers of the Modern Age.
A survey of ethical theory and moral status.
A seminar on political theory and how the topics of rights and freedoms are incorporated.
A seminar on the nature of being and the world
A seminar on the various topics with in the Philosophy of Science.
A seminar on logic features and reasoning.
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
The course addresses recent literature on the following questions: (1) what is the ontological nature of experience? (sense-data theories vs. state theories vs. disjunctivism); (2) is the phenomenal character of experience exhausted by its representational content? (representationalism vs. qualia realism); (3) does experience contain any nonconceptual representational content? (4) are the intrinsic features of experience introspectible?
A survey of the political ideas and theories of the ancient Greeks and Romans.
A survey of the most important philosophers of the Modern Age.
A survey of ethical theory and moral status.
A seminar on political theory and how the topics of rights and freedoms are incorporated.
A seminar on the nature of being and the world
A seminar on the nature and scope of knowledge.
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
This course is designed for graduate students in their third or fourth year. It focuses on dissertation writing and the various skills relevant to professional development.
For doctoral research, taken before a dissertation director has been selected. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
For doctoral dissertation, taken under the supervision of a dissertation director. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
The importance of moral philosophy to the study of the legal and political institutions of the modern state. In addition to exploring the nature of morality and moral reasoning, the course deals with basic questions about the concept of law and the justification of the state. Possible topics include inalienable rights, distributive justice, civil disobedience, secession, and the priority of liberty. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/ppl/.
This course aims to prepare final year PPL students for their capstone thesis in the Spring semester. By the end of the Fall semester, in conjunction with PPL 4005, PPL students will have completed a proposal for their capstone thesis, compiled a viable bibliography, and obtained an advisor to work with them in the Spring
This seminar, designed to facilitate the production and collective evaluation of 35-page research papers, is taught annually by the Director of the PPL Program and/or members of the Committee on Political Philosophy, Policy, and Law. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/ppl/. Prerequisite: Fourth-year PPL major.
Topics related to Public Policy and Law
Independent study under faculty supervision, for students who are preparing for intensive research on a specific topic. Prerequisite: Instructor permission.