PHIL 295 - Seminar on Philosophical Topics

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

Winter 2016, Winter 2016, PHIL 295-01: Seminar: Philosophy and Film (3). Counts towards Film and Visual Culture minor. In this seminar, we discuss a range of issues in philosophy of film, and reflect on other relationships between philosophy and film. Students focus on the following kinds of questions: What is film? How should we understand the art(s) of film? What is the distinctive nature of documentary film? Why is it valuable? How do film narratives differ from other narrative forms? In what ways do motion pictures stand in a distinctive relationship to the emotions? To ethics? To knowledge? To philosophy? Do films have authors? (HU) McGonigal.

Winter 2016, PHIL 295-02: Seminar: The Moral Emotions (3). The theme of the seminar is moral emotions; such as empathy, anger, shame, guilt, pride, and gratitude. We explore popular moral psychological studies, historical texts in both the Eastern and Western philosophical traditions, and contemporary philosophers’ account of these emotions. Students gain knowledge about what moral emotions are, the history of emotion, and their role in moral reasoning, moral practice and moral theories. (HU) Hu.

Fall 2015, PHIL 295A-01: 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.

Fall 2015, PHIL 295B-01: Seminar: Asian Philosophies (3). This course provides an overview of various Asian philosophical traditions while exploring a number of important philosophical themes, such as the self, the relationship between self and the world, the relationship between human and non-human, and the motivation for ethical behavior. Texts include Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy and What the Buddha Taught. (HU) Hu.

Fall 2015, Phil 295C-01: Seminar: Philosophy of Art (3). The course divides roughly into two parts: the nature of art and the value of art. In the first part, we look at issues in the nature of art. In the second part, we discuss the nature of aesthetic value, and its relation to other values, including moral value. (HU) McGonigal.

  Planned Offering: Fall, Winter