2012-2013 University Catalog 
    
    Mar 28, 2024  
2012-2013 University Catalog archived

Course Descriptions


 

Philosophy

  
  • PHIL 120 - Modern Philosophy


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Winter

    An examination of the metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of religion in the rationalist philosophers Rene Descartes, Baruch Spinoza, and Gottfried Willhelm von Leibniz, and the empiricist philosophers John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume. Topics include skepticism about the external world, mind-body dualism, the existence and nature of God, theories of substance, free will and determinism, personal identity, and causation. Mahon, Goldberg.



  
  • PHIL 130 - Chinese Philosophy


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    An introductory course focusing on classical (Zhou period) Confucian and Taoist philosophers. No background in Chinese studies is presupposed. Staff.



  
  • PHIL 135 - Topics in 20th-Century Philosophy


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    An examination of philosophical issues in recent Western thought, from logical atomism to deconstructionism: Husserl, Russell, Heidegger, Dewey, Wittgenstein, Quine, and others. Staff.



  
  • PHIL 140 - Introduction to Ethics


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Fall or Winter

    The aim of this course is to sharpen your understanding of some important issues concerning value and morality. We read classic works and contemporary writings in considering such questions as: Is pleasure the only ultimate good? Are individuals’ preferences the only basis for assessing the quality of their lives? What makes right acts right? What makes for a just society? What is the role of character in ethical behavior? We examine a number of influential ethical theories, including Utilitarianism, Kantianism, Contractualism, and Virtue Ethics, and assess their competing answers to these and other questions. The aim is to help you to understand the arguments put forward by defenders of these views and, by examining them, to refine your own understanding of the questions. Smith.



  
  • PHIL 145 - Contemporary Moral Problems


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Alternate years.

    Philosophical consideration of some of the main moral and political issues we confront in society and the world today, such as war, terrorism, global climate change, poverty, capital punishment, affirmative action, abortion, the treatment of animals, and hate speech. Topics vary. Bell or Smith.



  
  • PHIL 150 - Ethics and the Environment


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Yearly

    This course is a philosophical exploration of one’s responsibilities to the natural world. It has three main objectives: first, to provide an understanding of different dominant ethical theories and their application to animals, plants, and ecosystems; second, to provide an understanding of major environmental issues in current political debates, such as climate change, species preservation, and sustainable development; and third, to facilitate the development of a student’s own ethic towards the environment. Cooper, Lowney.



  
  • PHIL 170 - Introduction to Logic


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Fall, Winter

    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. Goldberg, Gregory.



  
  • PHIL 180 - FS: First-Year Seminar


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Offered occasionally. Each first-year seminar topic is approved by the Dean of The College and the Committee on Courses and Degrees. Applicability to FDRs and other requirements varies.

    First-year seminar. Prerequisite: First-year standing. A seminar for first-year students.



  
  • PHIL 195 - Seminar for First-Years and Sophomores


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Fall, Winter, Spring



    A consideration of selected issues in philosophy. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.

    Winter 2013 topic:

    PHIL 195: Seminar: Introduction to Continental Philosophy (3). This course introduces a number of key figures and topics in 20th-century European philosophy. We discuss phenomenology, existentialism, critical theory, postmodernism, French feminist theory and others. Although these philosophical perspectives are by no means the same, they have in common: (i) a radical critique of traditional philosophy and a proposal for philosophizing differently; (ii) a worry about the presumed neutrality of the ‘pure’ philosophical observer and a focus on the complicated historical-cultural subject in the world; (iii) a bringing together of theory and practice. The phrase “being in the world” frames this course because we bring philosophy “down from the heavens” back into the streets. We consider difficult questions such as: what is the human condition, and how do we encounter others? But we also ask critically: is philosophy dead, how does philosophy come to life, and can philosophy change the world? (HU) Verhage.

    Fall 2012 topic:

    PHIL 195: Seminar: Honor Beyond the Classroom: Philosophy of Honor (3). What is honor? It lies at the heart of Washington and Lee’s values, yet its hold on the wider American society is tenuous, and its meaning is unclear to many, not least to students struggling to comprehend a revered honor system. This discussion-based seminar seeks to explore the concepts of W&L’s core values, including honor, civility, integrity and respect, and to provide a foundation for students to develop their own philosophical interpretations of these values. Our readings include selections from Honor for Us, a book by W&L Emeritus Professor Lad Sessions, who taught a course on the concept of honor at W&L for more than a decade; John Stuart Mill’s famous essay On Liberty; Immanuel Kant’s celebrated account of ethics based on respect for persons; and W&L’s own White Book, which sets forth the principles of The Honor System at W&L. The central philosophical question of this course is: How can honor, civility, integrity and respect thrive, at W&L and beyond, in the 21st century? (HU) Bell.




  
  • PHIL 212 - Philosophy and Religion


    (REL 212) FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Not offered in 2012-2013

    An exploration of selected issues, such as mystical and numinous experiences and doctrines, theistic arguments, faith and reason, religion and morality, and science and religion. Staff.



  
  • PHIL 215 - Philosophy of History


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Fall 2011 and alternate years

    Who makes history, individual human beings, social or economic classes, or broad and deep circumstances, such as climate, disease, currency exchange rates, or the collective psyche? How are explanations of historical events different from explanations in physics, biology, psychology, or economics? How is our understanding of historical events influenced by ethical, aesthetic, or ideological considerations? Is history just one thing happening after another, or is there a descernible pattern or meaning in it? What role do theories play in our understanding of history? What do historians and artists have in common? What does history tell us about ourselves? Readings include works by Kant, Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Arendt, and contemporary authors. Lambert.



  
  • PHIL 221 - Plato


    (CLAS 221) FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Alternate years

    An in-depth examination of the philosophy of Plato. We look at Plato’s epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, ethics, and political philosophy through a careful analysis of several dialogues, including some or all of the following: Euthyphro, Laches, Apology, Gorgias, Meno, Phaedo, Symposium, Phaedrus, and Republic. In addition, we consider certain challenges posed by Plato’s use of the dialogue form, such as whether we are justified in assuming that Socrates is a mouthpiece for Plato’s own views, and how we should interpret Plato’s frequent appeal to myths and other literary devices within his dialogues.  Smith.



  
  • PHIL 222 - Aristotle


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Offered occasionally

    A study of Aristotle’s comprehensive philosophy of man and nature, including his logic, physics, metaphysics, psychology, ethics, and aesthetics. Staff.



  
  • PHIL 228 - John Stuart Mill


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Fall 2013 and alternate years.

    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? M. Bell.



  
  • PHIL 230 - Kierkegaard


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Offered occasionally

    What does it mean to exist as an authentic human being? This course explores diverse inquiries into this question by one of the 19th century’s most challenging thinkers. We read from a variety of famous pseudonymous writings (including parts of Either/Or , Fear and Trembling , Philosophical Fragments , The Sickness Unto Death ), as well as some lesser-known works under his own name (Upbuilding Discourses, Works of Love ). In doing so, we not only follow Kierkegaard’s literary and philosophical genius for displaying the intricacies and depths of aesthetic, ethical, and religious ways of living a human life, but we also deepen our own reflections on these matters – and perhaps strengthen our grasp on authentic living as well. Staff.



  
  • PHIL 232 - Nietzsche


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Offered occasionally

    An examination of Nietzsche’s central philosophical conceptions-revaluation of values, genealogy of morality, self-overcoming, eternal recurrence-through selected readings from various periods in Nietzsche’s authorship. Staff.



  
  • PHIL 238 - Existentialism:Meaning and Existence


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Alternate years

    Overview of existential thought in the 19th and 20th centuries. The course presents core existentialist thinkers and their critics - e.g. Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre, de Beauvoir, Fanon, Heidegger, Camus - and explores important existential themes such as human experience, anxiety, freedom, authenticity, and absurdity. Verhage.



  
  • PHIL 239 - Postmodernism: Power, Difference, and Disruption


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Winter 2014 and alternate years.

    While many things are said to be “postmodern” –architecture, pop-culture, literature, art, philosophy– the term itself escapes many attempts at definition. In this seminar, we examine the philosophical roots of postmodern thought in an effort to gain better insight to its fluid character. The course concentrates especially on the writings of Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, and Gilles Deleuze. We read Foucault’s account of power and the docile body in Discipline and Punish; we discuss Derrida’s deconstructionist project and his concept of “differance”; and we explore the fascinatingly complex world of Deleuze’s and Guattari’s A Thousand Plateaus. After carefully exploring these complicated texts, we read several critical appropriations of these works in contemporary race theory, postcolonial studies, and feminist philosophy. Verhage.



  
  • PHIL 240 - Contemporary Ethics


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Yearly

    An examination of different metaethical theories, including ethical realism, emotivism, error theory, and constructivism, and different normative ethical theories, including utilitarianism, Kantian deontology, virtue ethics, and the ethics of care, followed by an application of these normative theories to a selection of ethical problems, including famine and world hunger, abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, cloning, suicide, and self-defense. Philosophers include G.E. Moore, W.D. Ross, A.J. Ayer, J.L. Mackie, Bernard Williams, Susan Wolf, Peter Singer, Michael Tooley, Judith Jarvis Thomson, and Shelly Kagan. Mahon.



  
  • PHIL 242 - Social Inequality and Fair Opportunity


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Winter

    An exploration of the different range of opportunities available to various social groups, including racial, ethnic and sexual minorities, women, and the poor. Topics include how to define fair equality of opportunity; the social mechanisms that play a role in expanding and limiting opportunity; legal and group-initiated strategies aimed at effecting fair equality of opportunity and the theoretical foundations of these strategies; as well as an analysis of the concepts of equality, merit and citizenship, and their value to individuals and society. Bell.



  
  • PHIL 244 - Feminist Social and Political Philosophy


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Fall 2012 and alternate years

    This course critically examines the gender norms that pervade our identities, govern our everyday behavior, and organize our social life. Questions addressed may include: What is gender? In what ways does it affect the quality of women’s and men’s lives? Is gender difference natural? Is it valuable? Can it contribute to, or interfere with, human flourishing? Can a gendered society be just? What can any of us do to promote good relations among women and men? Bell.



  
  • PHIL 246 - Philosophy of Sex


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Fall

    This course explores questions related to contemporary conceptions of sexuality and its proper role in our lives. Questions addressed include: What is the purpose of sex? Are sexual practices subject to normative evaluation on grounds of morality, aesthetics, and/or capacity to promote a flourishing human life? We consider the relation between sex and both intimacy and pleasure, viewed from the perspective of heterosexual women and men, and gay men and lesbians. What are our sexual practices and attitudes toward sex? What should they be like? Bell.



  
  • PHIL 248 - Ethics of War


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 4
    Planned Offering: Alternate years

    An investigation of important ethical issues concerning the justification, conduct, and consequences of war. The course concentrates, in particular, on traditional just war theory and on recent challenges that have been raised to the central tenets of this theory in light of the rise of terrorism and “asymmetric conflict” (i.e., conflicts waged between state and non-state parties), on the one hand, and reflection upon the moral responsibility of individuals who choose to support or participate in unjust wars, on the other. We address questions such as the following: Should we regard all combatants in war as having the same moral status, regardless of whether they are fighting for a “just cause”? Is it ever morally permissible to attack non-combatants? Is terrorism ever morally justified? Is torture ever morally justified? Is there a moral obligation to engage in humanitarian intervention to stop genocide? Can the conditions of war constitute an excusing condition for acts of moral atrocity? Smith.



  
  • PHIL 250 - Philosophies of Life


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 4
    Planned Offering: Spring 2012 and alternate years

    Prerequisite: One W&L course in philosophy, one course taught by a W&L philosophy faculty member, or instructor consent. This course provides opportunities to explore philosophies of life held by influential philosophers and by ordinary people, focusing on what it means to live a good or worthwhile life. It also gives students a chance to clarify and develop their own vision of what a good life is for them. Projects include conducting interviews with members of the community outside the classroom. Bell.



  
  • PHIL 252 - Philosophy of Law


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Winter

    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. Bell, Mahon.



  
  • PHIL 254 - Philosophy of the Family


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Winter 2011 and alternate years

    This course considers philosophical issues raised by family as a social institution and as a legal institution. Topics addressed include the social and personal purposes served by the institution of family, the nature of relationships between family members, the various forms that family can take, the scope of family privacy or autonomy, and how family obligations, mutual support, and interdependency affect individual members of families. Bell.



  
  • PHIL 256 - Free Will and Moral Responsibility


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Alternate years

    This course provides an introduction to the problem of free will and moral responsibility. It is natural to wonder what place there is for freedom in a natural world of cause and effect. Our ordinary practices of holding people responsible (which includes not just blame, but also, e.g., credit, where credit is due) seem threatened equally by either determinism or indeterminism, fate or chance. In this class, we ask: What sort of concepts are freedom and responsibility, and what must a person be for those concepts to be applicable? The course begins with a brief historical overview of the problem of free will and moral responsibility, and then examines a number of contemporary philosophical perspectives on this problem, including the seminal work of P. F. Strawson, Harry Frankfurt, Gary Watson, John Martin Fischer, Susan Wolf, and T. M. Scanlon, among others. Smith.



  
  • PHIL 262 - Art, Imagination, and Ethics


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 4
    Planned Offering: Offered occassionally

    This course considers ethical issues pertaining to the creation, consumption, and criticism of artistic works, including the visual arts, literature, and music. Can artistic works be assessed morally, and are such assessments relevant to their aesthetic assessment? Is it possible for a work of art to be deeply immoral and at the same time aesthetically excellent (or vice versa)? Is there a distinctive kind of moral knowledge that can only come about through engagement with works of art? To what extent, if at all, are artists accountable for the messages implicit in their works of art, or for the effects of these works on their audiences? Are there distinctive ethical issues raised by current forms of “popular art,” e.g., video games, rap music, and slasher films? Smith.



  
  • PHIL 264 - Aesthetics


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    A consideration of the basic issues in philosophy of art. Selected viewings and readings from contemporary sources. What counts as art, and why do we value it? Do the particular arts, such as architecture, sculpture, painting, music, and poetry, have a pecking order? What do works of art tell us about ourselves? What sets of skills, sensibilities, and insights are required of an artist? This course examines these questions in the work of G.W.F. Hegel and Friedrich Nietzsche. Hegel’s Lectures on Fine Art represents perhaps the greatest attempt of philosophy to comprehend art, whereas Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy aims to show how art not only resists any such attempt but also undermines and overcomes philosophy. Lambert.



  
  • PHIL 266 - Philosophy and Literature


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Offered occassionally

    Great literature is often profoundly philosophical and great philosophy sometimes takes the form of powerful fiction. This course considers the many philosophical themes in the writings of 19th- and 20th-century authors, including Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Virginia Woolf, Ernest Hemingway, Franz Kafka, Samuel Beckett, Chinua Achabe, Toni Morrison, Jorge Luis Borges, and Robert Musil. Verhage.



  
  • PHIL 270 - Intermediate Logic


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Alternate years.

    Prerequisite: PHIL 170 or instructor consent. An examination of alternative formal logics and issues in the philosophy of logic. Topics include formal ways of modeling possibility, actuality, and necessity; obligation and permissibility; pastness, presentness, and futurity; and others. They also include informal considerations of topics like conditionals, counterfactuals, intuitionism, and others. Goldberg.



  
  • PHIL 274 - Metaphysics: Existence and Reality


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Winter

    An examination of central Issues in metaphysics. Topics include existence, the relationship between an object and its properties, time, space, persistence, and cause and effect. Topics may also include the nature of possibility, actuality, and necessary, and discussions about why anything exists at all. Goldberg.



  
  • PHIL 278 - Epistemology: Knowledge and Doubt


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Alternate years.

    An examination of the basic problems in epistemology with an emphasis on contemporary discussions. Topics include skepticism, knowledge, justification (foundationalism, coherentism, reliabilism), relativism, and rationality. Cooper, Goldberg, Gregory.



  
  • PHIL 280 - Philosophy of Nature


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    An examination of various understandings of nature and the natural from the ancient Greeks to the present. The course includes exploration of basic philosophical issues regarding the concepts “nature,” “wild,” and “wilderness.” The focus is on the relationship between landscapes and conceptualizations of time, self, and community. Staff.



  
  • PHIL 282 - Philosophy of Biology


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Yearly

    An examination of philosophical issues raised by biology, with an emphasis on current evolutionary theory. Topics include the structure of the theory of evolution by natural selection, an examination of the concepts of fitness and adaptation, the role of teleological explanation in biology, reductionism, the nature of biological species, individuality, levels of selection, and sociobiology. Cooper.



  
  • PHIL 285 - The Unruly Body: Philosophy, Science, and Culture


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 4
    Planned Offering: Spring alternate years

    In this course students study theories of embodiment. Beginning with the history of philosophy, we consider how the body gets to be subordinated to a mind; how it is considered mere matter, a building block that is unpredictable and passionate and needs to be controlled or shaped by the mind or the soul (e.g., Aristotelian biology). Continuing with an examination of how in science the body is depicted, shaped and, at times, reconstructed, the course then moves to social-cultural structures, including bodily containment and construction and, with Foucault, execution of power and punishment. Lastly, we consider how we can rethink, relive, regard, refigure, restore and respect our bodies and the bodies of others in more productive and thought-provoking ways. Verhage.



  
  • PHIL 295 - Seminar on Philosophical Topics


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3 credits in Fall or Winter; 4 credits in Spring
    Planned Offering: Fall, Winter



    A consideration of selected issues in philosophy. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.

    Winter 2013 topic:

    PHIL 295: Seminar: Personal Identity (3). In this course, we explore the historical treatment of the concept “person” and the long-standing debate over personal identity. We begin with Plato and Aristotle, then move on to the Scholastics, spend quite a bit of time on the early modernists, and finally turn to the present debate over the persistence conditions of persons. Much emphasis is placed on the background motivations and constraints at work in the different time periods, the different conceptions of “substance,” “mode,” and “soul” utilized, and the use of thought experiments. The hope is not that we can paint a clear picture of the trajectory of this debate, but that, in the end, we gain an understanding of just how nuanced and intriguing the debate over personal identity is. (HU) Gordon-Roth.

    Fall 2012 topic:

    PHIL 295: Seminar: Honor Beyond the Classroom: Philosophy of Honor (3). What is honor? It lies at the heart of Washington and Lee’s values, yet its hold on the wider American society is tenuous, and its meaning is unclear to many, not least to students struggling to comprehend a revered honor system. This discussion-based seminar seeks to explore the concepts of W&L’s core values, including honor, civility, integrity and respect, and to provide a foundation for students to develop their own philosophical interpretations of these values. Our readings include selections from Honor for Us, a book by W&L Emeritus Professor Lad Sessions, who taught a course on the concept of honor at W&L for more than a decade; John Stuart Mill’s famous essay On Liberty; Immanuel Kant’s celebrated account of ethics based on respect for persons; and W&L’s own White Book, which sets forth the principles of The Honor System at W&L. The central philosophical question of this course is: how can honor, civility, integrity and respect thrive, at W&L and beyond, in the 21st century? (HU) Bell.



  
  • PHIL 296 - Spring-Term Seminar on Philosophical Topics


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 4
    Planned Offering: Spring

    Prerequisite: Instructor consent. A consideration of selected issues in philosophy. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.



  
  • PHIL 310 - Kant


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Alternate years

    A close reading of Critique of Pure Reason , Kant’s most important work in metaphysics and epistemology and one of the most influential philosophical works ever written. Goldberg.



  
  • PHIL 315 - Hegel


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Fall, 2011 and every third year.

    Prerequisite: At least sophomore standing. The truth is the whole. Hegel’s philosophy was inspired by an effort to reconcile various dichotomies of modern thought: nature and freedom, mind and body, immanence and transcendence, sensibility and understanding, reason and faith, romanticism and enlightenment, what is and what ought to be. This course examines the method and starting point of Hegel’s project, with a close reading of his Phenomenology of Spirit . In the process, we explore and assess his attempt to comprehend all of the perennial philosophical problems with a revolutionary, systematic approach. Because Hegel is also the first philosopher to take the history of philosophy seriously and make history a fundamental category of philosophy, we gain a better understanding of both his predecessors and those whom he influenced (including existentialists, Marxists, and postmodernists) in our own time. Lambert.



  
  • PHIL 320 - Wittgenstein


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Offered occasionally

    Prerequisites: One course in philosophy and instructor consent. Ludwig Wittgenstein is arguably the most influential philosopher of the 20th century. His thought presents a challenge to fundamental assumptions in the history of philosophical ideas. Ultimately, he sees philosophical problems such as those surrounding the nature of being and mind, and questions about how we understand the world as persuasive and subtle misdirections that language can pull us toward. Consequently, in later works, Wittgenstein attempts to dissolve philosophical problems by untangling their sources in language. This course is a close study of Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations, highlighted by the use of secondary sources, including an emphasis on the analysis of language, meaning, rule-following, understanding, mind, and states of consciousness. Lowney.



  
  • PHIL 322 - Heidegger


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Offered occassionally

    We use the expression ‘being’ all the time in our everyday language, but do we really understand what Being is? Heidegger argues that the extraordinary question of Being is the most important question of philosophy. This course explores this question through a careful reading of Heidegger’s magnum opus Being and Time and some later essays. In addition to the meaning of Being, we discuss the following themes in Heidegger’s writing: temporality, being-in-the-world, being-towards-death, authenticity, and care. Verhage.



  
  • PHIL 335 - Ethics of Globalization


    BUS 335
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Fall or Winter

    Prerequisite: At least junior standing. This seminar examines a number of ethical issues raised by the phenomenon of globalization. Though globalization is not new, recent business, technological, and policy developments have made the world more integrated and interdependent than ever before. Increasing economic, cultural, and political interconnections have created a host of new questions about how to conceive of the moral rights and responsibilities of individuals, multi-national corporations, nation-states, and global institutions within this new global framework. This course identifies and clarifies some of these questions, and considers how they have been addressed from a variety of different disciplinary perspectives. Questions concerning the ethics of globalization are approached through an analysis of a few specific topics, such as immigration, humanitarian intervention, and global poverty and inequality. Because the issues raised by the phenomenon of globalization cross disciplinary boundaries, readings are drawn from a wide variety of fields, including philosophy, business, economics, political science, and anthropology. Reiter and Smith.



  
  • PHIL 340 - History of Ethics


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Offered occasionally

    A close examination of the writings of some of the philosophers who have shaped modern ethical thought, including St. Thomas Aquinas, Niccolò Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Nietzsche, and John Stuart Mill. Topics include theories of Natural Law; the social contract; the origin and nature of justice; morality and reason; morality and Christianity; and individual autonomy and state paternalism. Mahon.



  
  • PHIL 342 - Metaethics


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Fall or Winter 2011-12 and alternate years.

    This course focuses on contemporary issues in metaethics. For example, we address questions such as the following: Do moral judgments express truths that are independent of our feelings and conventions? Are “goodness” and “wrongness” real properties of things, or do we simply use these terms to express our subjective preferences toward states of affairs? Can we reason about morality? Do moral considerations provide practical reasons for all rational agents, or does the normative force of these considerations depend upon an agent’s subjective desires? We also consider some meta-theoretical questions about the aims, methods, and authority of moral theory. Smith.



  
  • PHIL 344 - Virtue Ethics


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Offered occasionally

    This course examines the recent resurgence of interest in virtue-based theories in ethics. These theories, which trace back to the Ancient Greek philosophers (particularly Aristotle), emphasize the importance of the virtues and good character to living a flourishing human life. Such views are increasingly being defended as an alternative to traditional rule-based (deontological) and consequence-based (consequentialist) theories in ethics. We begin by looking at some of the seminal articles that sparked this renewed interest in virtue ethics, and then examine a fully developed neo-Aristotelian virtue ethical account (and some criticisms that have been raised to this account). Smith.



  
  • PHIL 346 - Medical Ethics


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Yearly

    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, mental retardation, public health/community medicine, science/technology, transplantation and patients’ rights. Cooper.



  
  • PHIL 348 - Legal Ethics


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Winter

    An examination of the issues associated with lawyers’ roles in society and their impact upon and obligations to the client, the court, and the legal profession. The course also addresses questions of the role and function of law and the adversary system. Cooper.



  
  • PHIL 354 - Distributive Justice


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Fall 2011 and alternate years

    Prerequisite: Junior standing or instructor consent. How should the product of social cooperation be distributed in a just society? Is wealth redistribution through taxes fair? Is it a fair distribution of wealth that a just society depends on, or is distributive justice more complicated than that? Should we have welfare programs, and, if so, what should they be like? Our studies may include John Rawls’ political liberalism, Robert Nozick’s libertarianism, Ronald Dworkin’s equality of resources, Amartya Sen’s capabilities approach, Stuart White’s justice as fair reciprocity, and criticisms of the distributive paradigm. Bell.



  
  • PHIL 357 - Self and Social World


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Fall 2013 and alternate years.

    This course takes as its starting point the question of the ‘other.’ We explore such questions as: how do we perceive, and communicate with others who have different bodies, genders, cultures and histories? How do we see ourselves through the eyes of others? Can we speak for others? Can we build bridges across differences and forge common ground? We begin with traditional philosophical accounts of selves and others, i.e., Hegel’s dialectic of master and slave, Husserl’s alter ego, Buber’s philosophy of dialogue, Sartre’s account of shame, Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology of embodied intersubjectivity, and Levinas’ ethics of alterity. Later, we concentrate on the work of feminist philosophers, race theorists, and post-colonialist thinkers who critique these traditional philosophies and offer alternative ways of speaking about self and other. Verhage.



  
  • PHIL 360 - Roe v. Wade and the Abortion Question


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 4
    Planned Offering: Spring 2013 and alternate years

    Prerequisite: Instructor consent. This course considers the question of whether abortion should be legal in a modern state from the perspectives of contemporary moral philosophy and U.S. law. For the first two weeks, we will consider some of the most famous arguments for and against abortion from contemporary moral philosophers, law professors, and theologians. For the second two weeks, we will consder the relevatn U.S. Supreme Court cases that preceded the landmark Roe v. Wade (1973) case, and that case itself; we will then consider the subsequent relevant cases, paying special attention to Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), and the more recent Stenberg v. Carhart (2000) and Gonzalez v. Carhart (2007). We listen to the oral arguments as they were presented to the Court in several of these cases, as well as watch some relevant films. Schedule permitting, we take a day trip to Washington, D.C. and visit the U.S. Supreme Court. Mahon.



  
  • PHIL 372 - Philosophy of Language


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Alternate years

    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. Goldberg, Gregory.



  
  • PHIL 375 - Philosophy of Mind


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Yearly

    A consideration and assessment of dualism and materialism and of various theories of the relation between the mental and the physical, such as the identity theory, functionalism, and supervenience. Gregory.



  
  • PHIL 378 - Philosophy of Science


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Alternate years

    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. Cooper, Gregory.



  
  • PHIL 380 - Philosophy of Mathematics


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Offered occasionally

    This course is an introduction to the philosophy of mathematics. In it we investigate what (if anything) numbers are; how mathematics as a discipline relates to the sciences and humanities; whether mathematical truths are necessary, absolute, or permanent; and whether mathematical principles are invented or discovered - and if discovered where these principles exist. We start by reading a foundational work by Gottlob Frege, a philosopher-mathematician, and then read works by other philosophers. We conclude by reading works by other mathematicians Goldberg and Bourdon.



  
  • PHIL 382 - Human Nature and the Human Sciences


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 4
    Planned Offering: Spring 2013 and alternate years

    Prerequisite: One course in philosophy (other than PHIL 106), computer science, neuroscience, or psychology, or instructor consent. What does it mean to be human? Must we stay that way? We address these questions by looking critically at the technological enhancement of human capabilities. We have the means prosthetic, pharmaceutical, electronic, informational, and genetic to alter and enhance our biological endowments. We can increase our lifespan, improve our physical, cognitive, and emotional abilities like never before. What is currently possible? What will be possible in the short, medium, and long term? Could we change ourselves to such an extent that we are no longer human (becoming posthuman or transhuman)? If we can, should we? What are the dangers and moral/ethical considerations, and how are we to adjudicate them? We read authors ranging from essentialist bioconservatives to radical transhumanists. We also consider enhancements as mundane as caffeine and as far out as life extension and extreme body modification. Gregory.



  
  • PHIL 385 - Philosophy of Time Travel


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 4
    Planned Offering: Spring 2012 and alternate years

    Prerequisite: One course in philosophy or instructor consent. This course considers the philosophical possibility of time travel. Students read articles on the nature of time-travel. They also watch time-travel movies, some professional, others that they themselves will have made. Goldberg.



  
  • PHIL 395 - Advanced Seminar


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Fall, Winter



    Prerequisites: Varies with topic. An intensive and critical study of selected issues or major figures in philosophy. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.

    Fall 2012 topic:


    ENV 395: Special Topics in Environmental Ethics: Economics, Ecology and Ethics in Environmental Policy (3). No prerequiste. This course focuses on the values that shape environmental decisions. Public policy seeks to maximize social utility. In economic terms this means allocating resources so as to maximize the satisfaction of individual preferences. However, our policy decisions regarding the environment also pursue certain ecological goals, such as the preservation of biodiversity and the maintenance of healthy and functioning ecosystems. In addition, environmental policy is constrained by ethical concerns such as the pursuit of environmental justice and our responsibilities to future generations. This course addresses such questions as: To what degree are these three kinds of policy goals in tension with one another? How can we clarify our thinking about these policy goals so as to harmonize them where possible and reasonably negotiate the tradeoffs when they come into conflict? Cooper.
     



  
  • PHIL 399 - Seminar on Living Philosopher


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Winter.



    Prerequisite: Restricted to philosophy majors or minors with at least junior standing. Philosophy has a long and distinguished history. It is also an amazingly lively and active area of current research. In this seminar, students engage in an in-depth examination of the work of a major contemporary philosopher, including relevant material from other authors. Toward the end of the term, that philosopher will visit campus for a few days to meet with students in class and give a lecture open to the university at large. Students will have the opportunity to exchange ideas with, and critique the ideas of, someone at the forefront of the field. This course may be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.

    Winter 2013 topic:

    We look at the work of the moral philosopher Shelly Kagan from Yale University. His books include The Limits of Morality (1989), Normative Ethics (1998), and Death (2011). Prof. Kagan will come to campus in March. 



  
  • PHIL 401 - Directed Individual Study


    Credits: 1
    Planned Offering: Fall, Winter

    Prerequisite: Permission of the department. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different. Staff.



  
  • PHIL 402 - Directed Individual Study


    Credits: 2
    Planned Offering: Fall, Winter

    Prerequisite: Permission of the department. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different. Staff.



  
  • PHIL 403 - Directed Individual Study


    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Fall, Winter

    Prerequisite: Permission of the department. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different. Staff.



  
  • PHIL 473 - Senior Thesis


    Credits: 3
    Planned Offering: Fall or Winter

    Prerequisites: Senior standing and major in philosophy. Senior thesis. Staff.



  
  • PHIL 493 - Honors Thesis


    Credits: 3-3
    Planned Offering: Fall-Winter

    Prerequisites: Honors candidacy and senior standing. Honors Thesis. Note: Students must petition the department via the listed instructor. While awaiting a decision, the student must ensure a full credit load not including PHIL 493.




Physical Education

  
  • PE XXX - PE Graduation Requirement Complete


    Credits: 1
    Administrative designation of the completion of the Physical Education requirement for graduation. Credit is awarded by the University Registrar with a composite grade upon completion of all required 100- or 200-level PE skills courses.



  
  • PE 101 - Fundamental Swimming


    FDR: FP
    Planned Offering: Fall, Winter, Spring

    Students who are classified “non-swimmers” based on the proficiency test must register for this course. May be taken once. Staff.



  
  • PE 102 - Therapeutic Exercise


    FDR: FP
    Planned Offering: Fall, Winter, Spring: arranged

    Prerequisite: Consent of the head trainer. A specialized course employing physical rehabilitation techniques. Students with an acute physical impairment are assigned through consultation with the University physician in lieu of other physical education courses. May be repeated once for degree credit. Staff.



  
  • PE 111 - Aerobic Swimming


    FDR: FP
    Planned Offering: Fall, Winter, Spring

    Prerequisite: Students must have passed the swimming proficiency test or completed PE 101. A course designed to improve stroke technique and endurance. May be taken once. Staff.



  
  • PE 112 - Aquathlon


    FDR: FP
    Credits: 0
    Planned Offering: Fall, Spring

    This course combines swimming and running in order to allow students to explore various training methods to prepare themselves for competing in an aquathlon (swim/run). Students establish fitness goals, learn how to train for optimal performance, and develop the knowledge and skill to enter a competition if they choose. May be taken once. Shinofield, Hoey, Gardner, Hoey.



  
  • PE 120 - Self-Defense


    FDR: FP
    Planned Offering: Fall (1st six weeks, 2nd six weeks) Winter (1st six weeks, 2nd six weeks) Spring

    Prerequisite: Women only. Limited enrollment. A presentation of an aggression-defense system. This is a six-week course during Fall and Winter terms. May be taken once. Security staff.



  
  • PE 126 - Yoga


    FDR: FP
    Planned Offering: Fall, Winter

    The practice of yoga enhances balance, improves flexibility and builds core strength. This class offers a full mind-body workout that improves health, athletic performance, and mental acuity in people of all fitness levels. (Additional special fees) Orrison.



  
  • PE 148 - Team Handball


    FDR: FP
    Planned Offering: Fall, Winter, Spring

    Team Handball Staff.



  
  • PE 151 - Golf


    FDR: FP
    Planned Offering: Fall (1st six weeks), Winter (2nd six weeks)

    (Additional special fees and must provide own transportation.) Staff.



  
  • PE 153 - Boot Camp


    FDR: FP
    Credits: 0
    Planned Offering: Fall, Winter, Spring

    This course allows students to cross train in a variety of activities, including: circuit training, agility training, strength training, core training, running, yoga, obstacle courses, and nutrition. Staff.



  
  • PE 154 - Aerobic Running


    FDR: FP
    Planned Offering: Fall (1st six weeks), Winter (2nd six weeks), Spring

    Aerobic Running Staff.



  
  • PE 155 - Weight Training


    FDR: FP
    Planned Offering: Fall, Winter, Spring

    Weight Training Staff.



  
  • PE 156 - Soccer


    FDR: FP
    Planned Offering: Fall (1st six weeks), Winter (Indoor)

    Soccer Staff.



  
  • PE 157 - Team Sports


    FDR: FP
    Credits: 0
    Planned Offering: Spring

    This course involves basketball, volleyball, and soccer which will take up three quarters of the course. The fourth component will be any combination of team games/sports from the following: Team Handball, Softball, Ultimate Frisbee, kickball, and other games. Students will learn the fundamentals of each sport, including how to play and officiate. Staff.



  
  • PE 158 - Tennis


    FDR: FP
    Planned Offering: Fall: Beginning (1st six weeks), Intermediate (1st six weeks); Spring: Beginning, Intermediate

    Students may take this course only once regardless of level. Beginning and intermediate tennis. Staff.



  
  • PE 159 - Badminton


    FDR: FP
    Planned Offering: Fall, Winter, Spring

    Badminton Staff.



  
  • PE 160 - Volleyball


    FDR: FP
    Planned Offering: Winter (Indoor), Spring (Outdoor)

    Volleyball Staff.



  
  • PE 162 - Racquetball


    FDR: FP
    Planned Offering: Fall, Winter, Spring

    Racquetball Staff.



  
  • PE 164 - Racquet Sports


    FDR: FP
    Credits: 0
    Planned Offering: Winter, Spring

    This course combines the two sports of squash and racquetball, splitting the term between the two sports (Winter: 6 weeks on each; Spring: 2 weeks on each). Students learn the fundamentals of the sport, including how to play a game and understand the rules of competition. Staff.



  
  • PE 165 - Basketball


    FDR: FP
    Planned Offering: Fall, Winter

    Basketball Staff.



  
  • PE 166 - Squash


    FDR: FP
    Planned Offering: Fall, Winter, Spring

    Squash Staff.



  
  • PE 169 - Aerobics


    FDR: FP
    Planned Offering: Fall, Winter, Spring (depending on availability of instructor)

    An overview of alternative styles of aerobic exercise. Staff.



  
  • PE 171 - Softball


    FDR: FP
    Planned Offering: Spring

    Softball Staff.



  
  • PE 172 - Softball/Ultimate Frisbee


    FDR: FP
    Credits: 0
    Planned Offering: Spring

    This course combines softball and ultimate Frisbee. Students spend two weeks on each activity. Staff.



  
  • PE 174 - Backpacking


    FDR: FP
    Planned Offering: Fall (All class meetings mandatory; must have Thursday afternoon free)

    Backpacking Staff: Outing Club.



  
  • PE 175 - Canoeing


    FDR: FP
    Planned Offering: Spring (All class meetings mandatory; must have either a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday afternoon free)

    Additional special fees and provide own transportation. Prerequisite: Pass swimming proficiency test. Canoeing. Staff.



  
  • PE 176 - Mountain Biking


    FDR: FP
    Planned Offering: Spring (All class meetings mandatory; must have Monday afternoon free)

    Prerequisite: Instructor consent. Mountain Biking Staff.



  
  • PE 177 - Dance Conditioning


    FDR: FP
    Planned Offering: Fall, Winter

    (Additional special fees) Course work combines the study of modern and ethnic dance techniques, jazz, ballet, and improvisation with the somatic principles of Alexander Technique, Developmental Technique, and Bartenieff Fundamentals to provide a comprehensive training regimen for the development of physical endurance, strength, flexibility, and coordination. Classes include a 30?minute aerobic dance sequence of original choreography followed by an additional 30 minutes of Pilates-based mat exercises, yoga, and other innovative training methods. Participants receive training in applied imagery skills for dynamic alignment, active-isolated stretching, stress relieving, relaxation techniques, and experiential anatomy. Staff.



  
  • PE 178 - Ballet


    FDR: FP
    Planned Offering: Fall, Winter

    Additional special fees Ballet Staff.



  
  • PE 179 - Modern Dance


    FDR: FP
    Planned Offering: Fall, Winter

    Additional special fees Modern dance. Staff.



  
  • PE 180 - Wilderness Leadership


    FDR: FP
    Planned Offering: Winter

    Prerequisites: PE 174 or equivalent experience. Wilderness Leadership Staff: Outing Club.



  
  • PE 181 - Outdoor Activities:Paddling Fundamentals


    FDR: FP
    Credits: 0
    Planned Offering: Fall, Winter

    Students gain knowledge combined with hard and soft skill practice necessary for safely participating in water environments from calm water up to Class III rapids. Technical skill topics include: overview of safety equipment (helmets, PFDs, paddles, throw bags, floatation and whistle), reading moving water, hazard identification, wet/dry exit and recovery techniques, whitewater self-defense skills and basic haul systems. Group leadership topics include basics of group dynamics, communication styles, loading/unloading and transportation of equipment, required components of a pre-trip safety speech (“paddle talk”) and basic environmental hazards (lightning, entrapment, flora/fauna). Dick.



  
  • PE 182 - Kayaking


    FDR: FP
    Planned Offering: Fall

    Prerequisite: Pass a swimming test. This course is intended to provide students with an opportunity to develop fundamental knowledge and skills for planning and participating in flat and moving water situations with the use of kayaks. Students gain knowledge for safely participating in water environments from still water to class II rapids. Dick.



  
  • PE 183 - Fly Fishing


    FDR: FP
    Planned Offering: Fall, Spring

    This course is intended to introduce students to the recreation, sport, and art of fly fishing. Students develop knowledge and skills of fly fishing from a variety of approaches. As recreation, students learn to cast a fly-rod into cold-water streams of the Appalachian Mountains. As sport, students gain skills to catch cold-water fish species (rainbow, brown, and brook trout) and warm-water species (smallmouth bass, rock bass, sunfish). Students are introduced to the ancient art of tying dry flies, nymphs, and streamers of natural and artificial materials. This course also introduces students to stream conservation and restoration and current threats to native fish populations.  Guest lecturers may provide advanced fly-tying and casting technique instructions throughout the term. Dick.



  
  • PE 184 - Rock Climbing


    FDR: FP
    Students gain knowledge and skills necessary for creating multi-directional anchors, intermediate belaying techniques at various points in a multi-pitch climb, lead climbing techniques and self-rescue techniques including a belay escape with patient raise or lower.  All techniques are instructed with scenarios allowing students to demonstrate appropriate lessons taught.  This class is focused more on anchor placement/evaluation and belay safety than actual climbing technique and practice. Dick.



  
  • PE 185 - Scuba


    FDR: FP
    Planned Offering: Spring

    Prerequisite: Pass a swimming test. An introduction to the underwater world of SCUBA Diving, including classroom, pool-session, and open-water components. Students learn about dive equipment, the science of diving, responsible diving practices, and the environment. Practice time enhances students’ safety and comfort and training is completed with a minimum of five open-water dives. Successful completion results in lifetime open-water diver certification from NAUI, www.naui.com. Diving instruction is provided by Nags Head Diving of Manteo, North Carolina. Dick.



 

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