UVa Course Catalog (Unofficial, Lou's List)
Catalog of Courses for Philosophy    
Class Schedules Index Course Catalogs Index Class Search Page
These pages present data mined from the University of Virginia's student information system (SIS). I hope that you will find them useful. — Lou Bloomfield, Department of Physics
Philosophy
PHIL 1000Introduction to Philosophy (3)
Offered
Spring 2025
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/
PHIL 1001TNon-UVA Transfer/Test Credit (1 - 4)
Transfer credit or test credit that is not equivalentto current UVA coursework. Contains content related to Artistic, Interpretive, and Philosophical Inquiry.
PHIL 1002TNon-UVA Transfer/Test Credit (1 - 4)
Transfer credit or test credit that is not equivalentto current UVA coursework. Contains content related to Cultures and Societies of the World.
PHIL 1003TNon-UVA Transfer/Test Credit (1 - 4)
Transfer credit or test credit that is not equivalentto current UVA coursework. Contains content related to PHILorical Perspectives.
PHIL 1004TNon-UVA Transfer/Test Credit (1 - 4)
Transfer credit or test credit that is not equivalentto current UVA coursework. Contains content related to Social and Economic Systems.
PHIL 1005TNon-UVA Transfer/Test Credit (1 - 4)
Transfer credit or test credit that is not equivalentto current UVA coursework. Contains content related to Chemical, PHILematical, and Physical Inquiry
PHIL 1006TNon-UVA Transfer/Test Credit (1 - 4)
Transfer credit or test credit that is not equivalentto current UVA coursework. Contains content related to Living Systems.
PHIL 1007TNon-UVA Transfer/Test Credit (1 - 4)
Transfer credit or test credit that is not equivalentto current UVA coursework. Contains content related to Science and Society
PHIL 1330Virtual Worlds and Philosophy (3)
Offered
Spring 2025
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.
Course was offered Spring 2024
PHIL 1410Forms of Reasoning (3)
Offered
Spring 2025
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/.
PHIL 1510Introductory Philosophy Seminars (3)
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/.
PHIL 1610Philosophy of Religion (3)
This course will read the work of present-day philosophers of religion. That means that in this course we will use contemporary philosophical methods to examine a number of different topics that have been of perennial interest to philosophers of religion and philosophical theologians. These topics include arguments for and against God's existence, the problem of evil, the relationship between human freedom and divine foreknowledge.
Course was offered Summer 2012
PHIL 1710Human Nature (3)
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/.
PHIL 1730Introduction to Moral and Political Philosophy (3)
Offered
Spring 2025
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/.
PHIL 1740Issues of Life and Death (3)
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/.
PHIL 1750The Meaning of Life (3)
What is the meaning of life? Does a meaningful life presuppose the existence of a divine being, or can human beings somehow create meaning? Does the certainty of death rob life of meaning, or provide it? These and related questions will be pursued through contemporary and classic texts by such authors as Sartre, Nagel, Nietzsche, Bernard Williams, and Epicurus.
PHIL 1800Philosophy of Art (3)
Art permeates our lives, yet it is hard to define what makes something a work of art, or what the purpose of art is. In tis course we will explore the philosophy of art. We will look at what some of the great philosophical figures of the past have thought about art, as well as looking at contemporary approaches.
Course was offered Spring 2015
PHIL 2000Internship in Philosophy: Teaching Philosophy in High Schools (2)
Students will intern in area high schools to work with teachers in support of their teaching of philosophy. In preparation for this, students will learn about the aims of the teachers with whom they intern, as well as the challenges they face. Students will support teachers with the construction of lesson plans, reading material, discussion points, and paper topics.
Course was offered Spring 2013, Spring 2012, Spring 2011
PHIL 2020Know Thyself (3)
Investigation of the nature and significance of our knowledge of ourselves, employing perspectives from Philosophy, Psychoanalysis, Experimental Psychology, Neurosciences, and Buddhism. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Course was offered Spring 2013, Spring 2012
PHIL 2060Philosophical Problems in Law (3)
Offered
Spring 2025
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/.
PHIL 2070Knowledge and Reality (3)
Knowledge and Reality. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Course was offered Fall 2017
PHIL 2110History of Philosophy: Ancient and Medieval (3)
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/.
PHIL 2120History of Philosophy: Modern (3)
Offered
Spring 2025
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/.
PHIL 2330Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence (3)
Do computers think? Can a persuasive case be made for the claim that the human mind is essentially a sophisticated computing device? These and related questions will be examined through readings in computer science, the philosophy of mind, logic, and linguistics. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
PHIL 2340The Computational Age (3)
This course will address the effects of rapid technological advances on a number of new & traditional philosophical topics (potential changes in our concept of personal identity as a result of biological & cognitive enhancements the loss of privacy changes in the status of scientific evidence & the diminution of the role of human scientists as a result of automated instrumentation, computationally based simulations, and computer proof methods).
PHIL 2350Minds, Machines, and Persons (3)
Offered
Spring 2025
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.
PHIL 2420Introduction to Symbolic Logic (3)
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/.
PHIL 2450Philosophy of Science (3)
Introduces the philosophy of science. Topics include experiment, casual inference, models, scientific explanation, theory structure, hypothesis testing, realism and anti-realism, the relations between science and technology, science versus non-science, and the philosophical assumptions of various sciences. Illustrations are drawn from the natural, biological, and social sciences, but no background in any particular science is presupposed. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
PHIL 2500Survey on a Philosophical Topic (3)
A lecture series on the various topics central to Philosophy.
PHIL 2510Seminar in Philosophy (3)
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/.
PHIL 2520Seminar in Bioethics (3)
Topics vary annually. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
PHIL 2640Rational Choice and Happiness (3)
Offered
Spring 2025
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?
PHIL 2645The Good Life (3)
What does it takes to live a good life. Does your life go well for you if you accomplish good things but you aren't happy? Does your life go well for you if your desires are satisfied? How do we make rational choices about our future well-being when those very choices determine who we will become and what we will want? How do we evaluate the claims of people who value parts of their lives that many think bad?
PHIL 2650Free Will and Responsibility (3)
Examines whether our actions and choices are free and whether or to what extent we can be held responsible for them. Includes the threat to freedom posed by the possibility of scientific explanations of our behavior and by psychoanalysis, the concept of compulsion, moral and legal responsibility, and the nature of human action. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
PHIL 2652Animal Minds and Animal Ethics (3)
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.
Course was offered Fall 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2020
PHIL 2660Philosophy of Religion (3)
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/.
PHIL 2670God (3)
A detailed examination of the philosophical concept of God and also of diverse arguments for and against His existence, including various ontological arguments, causal arguments, the arguments from design, and the argument from evil.
Course was offered Spring 2017
PHIL 2690Justice, Law, and Morality (3)
Examines contemporary liberal theories of justice and of communitarian, Marxist, libertarian, utilitarian, and feminist criticisms of these theories. Uses landmark Supreme Court decisions to illuminate central theoretical disputes. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
PHIL 2730Ethics and Film (3)
This course is designed both as an introduction to philosophy through moral issues, and as an exploration of film as a medium for ethical reflection. It focuses on the moving image and its potentila as a mode of philosophical thinking and examines the pertinence of ethical theories to particular issues, as these arise in contemporary films.
PHIL 2740Ethics of Violence (3)
This course will study philosophical issues arising from the encounter and conflict between different cultures. Focusing on the Spanish conquest of the Americas will address the general question of whether there is a just war, relating this discussion to fundamental questions in contemporary ethics and political philosophy.
Course was offered Fall 2014
PHIL 2750Democracy (3)
Examines competing conceptions of the democratic ideal, both in the work of historic figures such as Locke, Rousseau, Madison and Mill, and in the work of a variety of contemporary political philosophers. Focuses in particular on the relation to the democratic ideal of majoritarian voting, civic association, public deliberation and basic liberal rights. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
PHIL 2760Classics of Political Philosophy (3)
Considers some of the perennial questions in political philosophy through an examination of classical works in the field, including some or all of the following: Aristotle's Politics, Hobbes's Leviathan, Locke's Second Treatise of Government, and Rousseau's On the Social Contract. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Course was offered Fall 2020
PHIL 2775Chinese & Greek Philosophy (3)
Almost simultaneously some 2500 years ago thinkers in Greece (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle) & China (Confucius, Mencius, Laozi, others) worked through what became the foundational philosophies of 2 great civilizations. Although at the time they enjoyed no contact whatsoever, the questions posed about the nature of the world & how human beings may best live within it are strikingly complementary and serve as something of a mirror for each other.
Course was offered Spring 2019
PHIL 2780Ancient Political Thought (3)
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/.
Course was offered Spring 2020, Spring 2017, Fall 2010
PHIL 2820Philosophy of Health and Health Care (3)
In this class, we'll discuss philosophical theories of health and explore difficult issues in the measurement and treatment of health-related issues
Course was offered Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022
PHIL 2850Finding the Way: Some Philosophical Projects (3)
Examines pressing issues of the examined life, especially those ethical (How should I live?), epistemological (how and what can I know?) & overlapping both. Authors include Plato, Mencius, Marcus Aurelius, Gautama, & Laozi. Topics include testimony; virtue; skepticism; the value of knowledge, society & systematic world views; moral progress; and epistemic injustice. Combines classics with contemporary work. Argumentative essays & creative writing.
Course was offered Spring 2018, Spring 2017
PHIL 3010Darwin and Philosophy (3)
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
PHIL 3110Plato (3)
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/.
PHIL 3120Aristotle (3)
Offered
Spring 2025
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/.
PHIL 3140History of Medieval Philosophy (3)
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/.
PHIL 315017th Century Philosophy (3)
Studies the central philosophers in the rationalist tradition.
PHIL 316018th Century Philosophy (3)
Offered
Spring 2025
Studies the central philosophers in the empiricist tradition.
PHIL 3170Kant (3)
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.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
PHIL 3180Nietzsche (3)
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)
PHIL 3310Metaphysics (3)
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/.
PHIL 3320Epistemology (3)
Offered
Spring 2025
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/.
PHIL 3330Philosophy of Mind (3)
Offered
Spring 2025
Studies some basic problems of philosophical psychology. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
PHIL 3337Philosophy of Memory (3)
We will explore the nature and philosophical import of memory. Part 1: What is Memory examines experiential and causal theories of memory and asks whether memory extends past our bodies and is distinct from imagination. Part 2: Memory and Knowledge asks whether we should dogmatically accept our memories as true, even if they are reconstructive. Part 3: Memory and Personhood asks whether memory is required to remain the same person over time.
PHIL 3400Introduction to Non-Classical Logic (3)
Offered
Spring 2025
An introduction to systems of non-classical logic, including both extensions and revisions to classical logic.
PHIL 3500Seminar in Philosophy (3)
Offered
Spring 2025
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/.
PHIL 3520Topics in Contemporary Philosophy (3)
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/.
PHIL 3559New Course: PHIL (1 - 4)
This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject area of philosophy.
PHIL 3610Aesthetics (3)
Critically investigates central philosophical issues raised by artistic activity: To count as an artwork must a thing have a modicum of aesthetic value, or is it enough that it be deemed art by the community? Is aesthetic value entirely in the eye of the beholder or is there such a thing as being wrong in one's judgment concerning an artwork? including Wittgenstein, Sartre, and Pears.
Course was offered Spring 2014, Fall 2011
PHIL 3620Science Fiction & Philosophy (3)
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.
Course was offered Fall 2024, Fall 2022, Spring 2021
PHIL 3640Political Philosophy (3)
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.
PHIL 3650Justice and Health Care (3)
Philosophical account of health care practices and institutions viewed against the backdrop of leading theories of justice (e.g., utilitarianism, Rawlsian contractarianism, communitarianism, libertarianism). Topics include the nature, justifications, and limits of a right to health care; the value conflicts posed by cost containment, implicit and explicit rationing, and reform of the health care system; the physician-patient relationship in an era of managed care; and the procurement and allocation of scarce life-saving resources, such as expensive drugs and transplantable organs. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/. Prerequisite: course in ethics of political philosophy from any department, such as RELG 2650, PHIL 1740, PLPT 3010, etc.
PHIL 3651Genes, Nature and Justice (3)
What is a normal human being? What is the natural course for the human species? What does justice have to do with our genes? The emergence of technology allowing the manipulation of the human genome raises a number of ethical social, and political problems. This class will explore these challenges through philosophical argument. In particular, we will attempt to wrestle with notions such as natural, human being, perfection, enhancement and cure. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
PHIL 3652Animals and Ethics (3)
This course will examine the moral status of non-human animals and what the major ethical theories imply for our treatment of animals, including in scientific research and food. In an effort to examine their moral status, we will explore the questions of whether and to what extent animals experience pain and emotions.
PHIL 3710Ethics (3)
Offered
Spring 2025
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/.
PHIL 3720Contemporary Ethics (3)
Offered
Spring 2025
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/.
PHIL 3730Ancient Ethical Theory (3)
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Course was offered Fall 2022, Fall 2021
PHIL 3780Reproductive Ethics (3)
The focus of the course will be the exploration of various moral, legal and policy issues posed by efforts to curtail or enhance fertility through contraception, abortion, and recent advances in reproductive technology. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/. Prerequisite: One prior course in ethics from any department.
PHIL 3790Research Ethics (3)
Canvasses the history of research scandals (e.g., Nuremberg, Tuskegee) resulting in federal regulation of human subjects research. Critically assesses the randomized clinical trial (including informed consent, risk/benefit ratio, randomization, placebos). Examines the ethics of research with special populations, such as the cognitively impaired, prisoners, children, embryos and fetuses, and animals. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/. Prerequisite: One course in ethics or bioethics, or instructor permission.
PHIL 3800Feminist Philosophy (3)
Offered
Spring 2025
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.
PHIL 3810Sex, Sexuality, and Gender (3)
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?
PHIL 3830Philosophy of Mental Health (3)
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?
Course was offered Fall 2024
PHIL 3999Philosophical Perspectives on Liberty (3)
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/.
PHIL 4010Seminar for Majors (3)
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.
PHIL 4020Seminar for Majors (3)
Offered
Spring 2025
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
PHIL 4500Special Topics in Philosophy (3)
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
PHIL 4990Honors Program (1 - 15)
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/. Prerequisite: Enrollment in the departmental honors program.
PHIL 4993Directed Reading and Research (1 - 3)
Offered
Spring 2025
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/.
PHIL 4995Directed Reading and Research (1 - 3)
Offered
Spring 2025
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/.
PHIL 4999Senior Thesis (3)
Offered
Spring 2025
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
PHIL 5420Advanced Logic (3)
Examines various results in metalogic, including completeness, compactness, and undecidability. Effective computability, theories of truth, and identity may also be covered. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/. Prerequisite: PHIL 2420 or equivalent.
PHIL 5450Language and Logic (3)
This course will examine, in light of classical readings and with the aid of the techniques of formal semantics and formal pragmatics, topics that have been given the most intense treatment: distinction between sense and reference, nature of meaning, relation between thought and language, etc.
Course was offered Spring 2011
PHIL 5460Philosophy of Science (3)
Logical analysis of the structure of theories, probability, causality, and testing of theories. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Course was offered Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2011
PHIL 5470Philosophy of Mathematics (3)
Comparison of various schools in the philosophy of mathematics (including logicism, formalism, and conceptualism) and their answers to such questions as 'Do numbers exist?' and 'How is mathematical knowledge possible?' For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/. Prerequisite: Some familiarity with quantifier logic or instructor permission.
PHIL 5480Philosophy of the Social Sciences (3)
Problems studied include explanation in the social sciences; the place of theory; objectivity; the relation between social science and natural science, philosophy, and literature. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/. Prerequisite: Six credits of philosophy or instructor permission.
PHIL 5510Seminar on an Ancient History of Philosophy Topic (3)
A survey of the political ideas and theories of the ancient Greeks and Romans.
PHIL 5520Seminar on a Medieval History of Philosophy Topic (3)
A survey of the most important philosophers of the Middle Ages.
PHIL 5530Seminar on a Modern History of Philosophy Topic (3)
A survey of the most important philosophers of the Modern Age.
PHIL 5540Seminar on an Ethics Topic (3)
Seminar on an Ethics Topic
Course was offered Spring 2022, Fall 2020
PHIL 5550Seminar on a Philosophy of Bioethics Topic (3)
A seminar on the ethical implications of biomedical research.
Course was offered Fall 2018
PHIL 5560Seminar on a Political Philosophy Topic (3)
A seminar on political theory and how the topics of rights and freedoms are incorporated.
PHIL 5570Seminar on a Metaphysics Topic (3)
A seminar on the nature of being and the world
Course was offered Spring 2024, Fall 2019
PHIL 5580Seminar on a Epistemology Topic (3)
A seminar on the nature and scope of knowledge.
PHIL 5590Seminar on a Logic Topic (3)
A seminar on logic features and reasoning.
PHIL 5760Global Justice, Health & Human Rights (3)
This seminar attempts to expand the horizons of bioethics to include a set of important issues impacting global health. The focus is on current work in political phil bearing on the rationale and limits of political toleration; assistance to the 'distant needy'; nationalism vs. cosmopolitanism; the objectives and measures of human development;and the proposed role of human rights as a transcultural lingua franca for international ethics. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Course was offered Spring 2013, Fall 2010
PHIL 7110Plato (3)
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
PHIL 7120Aristotle (3)
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Course was offered Fall 2016, Fall 2011, Fall 2009
PHIL 7330Metaphysics (3)
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Course was offered Fall 2014
PHIL 7341Mental Content (3)
Examines a variety of issues concerning the nature of mental content, including one or more of the following. (1) The ontological status of mental content: Does mental content relate us to abstract objects? What are the prospects for naturalizing intentionality? (2) The relationship between intentional content and phenomenal character: Are these distinct features of mental states, or is one of these properties reducible to the other?
Course was offered Fall 2012
PHIL 7450Topics in the Philosophy of Language (3)
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Course was offered Fall 2012
PHIL 7500First Year Seminar (3)
Offered
Spring 2025
Seminar for First Yr graduate students. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
PHIL 7501Tutorial Instruction (3)
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.
Course was offered Spring 2016, Fall 2014
PHIL 7502Readings in Philosophy (3)
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.
Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2019
PHIL 7510Seminar on an Ancient History of Philosophy Topic (3)
A survey of the political ideas and theories of the ancient Greeks and Romans.
PHIL 7520Seminar on a Medieval History of Philosophy Topic (3)
A survey of the most important philosophers of the Middle Ages.
PHIL 7530Seminar on a Modern History of Philosophy Topic (3)
A survey of the most important philosophers of the Modern Age.
PHIL 7540Seminar on a Philosophy of Ethics Topic (3)
Offered
Spring 2025
A survey of ethical theory and moral status.
PHIL 7550Seminar on a Philosophy of Bioethics Topic (3)
A seminar on the ethical implications of biomedical research.
PHIL 7560Seminar on a Political Philosophy Topic (3)
A seminar on political theory and how the topics of rights and freedoms are incorporated.
Course was offered Spring 2019
PHIL 7570Seminar on a Metaphysics Topic (3)
Offered
Spring 2025
A seminar on the nature of being and the world
PHIL 7575Seminar on the Philosophy of Science Topic (3)
A seminar on the various topics with in the Philosophy of Science.
PHIL 7580Seminar on a Epistemology Topic (3)
A seminar on the nature and scope of knowledge.
PHIL 7590Seminar on a Logic Topic (3)
A seminar on logic features and reasoning.
Course was offered Spring 2019, Fall 2016
PHIL 7631Rights (3)
This seminar will examine the nature of and possible justifications for claims of right. Readings will be from both classical and contemporary sources. The works we read will be authored principally by philosophers, with a few pieces by political and legal theorists.
Course was offered Spring 2017, Spring 2014, Spring 2011
PHIL 7632Rescue, Charity and Justice (3)
This course examines arguments for and against moral and legal "positive" duties (to assist others). We consider possible duties to give emergency aid (rescue), to improve the condition of the needy (charity), and to impose more equitable distributions of goods within and between nations (justice).
Course was offered Fall 2015, Fall 2012
PHIL 7634The Duty to Obey the Law (3)
This seminar will examine philosophical debates concerning the duty to obey the law (or political obligation) and the grounds for various kinds of legal disobedience. Readings will be from contemporary sources in political philosophy and legal theory.
Course was offered Fall 2016, Fall 2013
PHIL 7640Philosophy of History (3)
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
PHIL 7710Ethics (3)
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Course was offered Fall 2019, Spring 2014, Fall 2009
PHIL 7720Contemporary Ethics (3)
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Course was offered Fall 2014, Spring 2011, Spring 2010
PHIL 7770Political Philosophy (3)
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
PHIL 7995Supervised Research (1 - 12)
Offered
Spring 2025
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
PHIL 8161Hume and Kant on Ethics (3)
In the seminar we will examine the moral theories of David Hume and Immanuel Kant, in that order. The main texts are Hume's Treatise and Kant's Groundwork, but considerable attention will be given as well to Hume's second Enquiry and to Kant's Critique of Practical Reason and Metaphysics of Morals.
Course was offered Fall 2012
PHIL 8320Contemporary Epistemology (3)
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
PHIL 8340Philosophy of Mind (3)
Philosophy of Mind. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Course was offered Fall 2014, Spring 2013
PHIL 8360Experience (3)
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?
PHIL 8370Possible Worlds (3)
This seminar focuses on the metaphysics of possibility and necessity, along with other related topics. It's central texts are Alvin Plantinga's "The Nature of Necessity" and David Lewis's "On the Plurality of Worlds".
PHIL 8420Advanced Logic and Foundations of Mathematics (3)
Advanced Logic and Foundations of Mathematics. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Course was offered Spring 2018
PHIL 8460Philosophy of Science (3)
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Course was offered Fall 2011, Fall 2009
PHIL 8510Seminar on an Ancient History of Philosophy Topic (3)
A survey of the political ideas and theories of the ancient Greeks and Romans.
PHIL 8520Seminar on a Medieval History of Philosophy Topic (3)
A survey of the most important philoosphers of the Middle Ages.
PHIL 8530Seminar on a Modern History of Philosophy Topic (3)
A survey of the most important philosophers of the Modern Age.
Course was offered Spring 2019, Spring 2016, Spring 2015
PHIL 8540Seminar on a Philosophy of Ethics Topic (3)
A survey of ethical theory and moral status.
PHIL 8550Seminar on a Philosophy of Bioethics Topic (3)
A seminar on the ethical implications of biomedical research.
PHIL 8560Seminar on a Political Philosophy Topic (3)
Offered
Spring 2025
A seminar on political theory and how the topics of rights and freedoms are incorporated.
PHIL 8570Seminar on a Metaphysics Topic (3)
A seminar on the nature of being and the world
PHIL 8580Seminar on a Epistemology Topic (3)
A seminar on the nature and scope of knowledge.
Course was offered Spring 2018
PHIL 8590Seminar on a Logic Topic (3)
A seminar on logic features and reasoning.
PHIL 8640Law and Morality (3)
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
PHIL 8995Supervised Research (3)
Offered
Spring 2025
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
PHIL 8998Non-Topical Research, Preparation for Research (1 - 12)
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.For master's research, taken before a thesis director has been selected.
PHIL 8999Non-Topical Research (1 - 12)
For master's thesis, taken under the supervision of a thesis director. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
PHIL 9700Dissertation Seminar (3)
Offered
Spring 2025
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.
PHIL 9998Non-Topical Research, Preparation for Doctoral Research (1 - 12)
Offered
Spring 2025
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/.
PHIL 9999Non-Topical Research (1 - 12)
Offered
Spring 2025
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/.