The Department of Philosophy at Vanderbilt offers a wide range of
courses relating philosophy to various dimensions of human concern. The
department also emphasizes those philosophers and movements that
have had significant, forming effect in Western culture.
Declaration of Major Form
Program of Concentration in Philosophy
The program of concentration should be tailored to the needs and interests
of the student. The following distribution of courses is required as
part of the major. Logic: 102 or 202 (at least 3 hours); Ethics: 105, 238, or
239 (at least 3 hours); History of Philosophy: 210, 211, 212 (at least six
hours). Any alterations must be approved by the director of undergraduate
studies. We encourage all majors to work closely with their advisers to
select courses that form a coherent whole. The student must take at least
30 hours in the major field of which at least 21 hours must be in courses
beyond the 100 level.
The Honors Program offers opportunities for advanced study in philosophy,
including independent research projects and/or enrollment in certain
graduate seminars (with permission of the instructor). To be admitted
to the program, the student must: (a) be a major in philosophy; (b) have a
grade point average of 3.0 in all courses; (c) have a 3.5 grade point average
in philosophy courses; and (d) develop a written proposal for advanced
study in consultation with a philosophy faculty sponsor. Students who satisfy
these requirements should meet with the director of undergraduate
studies to review their programs, whereupon the director may nominate
the students for honors work. Honors work typically begins in the junior
year or in the first semester of the senior year. Students who successfully
complete the program while maintaining the grade point averages of 3.0
generally, and 3.5 in the major, will receive honors in philosophy; students
who do especially distinguished work will receive high honors.
Minor in Philosophy
The minor in philosophy consists of 18 hours, including at least 12
hours in courses beyond the 100 level. The minor program will be constructed
so as to provide a broad grounding in philosophy and to complement
the student's other studies. Each program must be approved by the
director of undergraduate studies.
Declaration of Minor Form
Starred course 100 or 100W or 105 or 115 or 115W is ordinarily taken prior to all
other philosophy courses, except 102 and 202 (logic courses), 244 philosophy of
science), and 240 (aesthetics).
* 100, 100W. Introduction to Philosophy. An introduction to the basic problems of philosophy
based upon readings in the works of selected leading philosophers. FALL, SPRING.  Staff.
102. General Logic. A study of the uses of language, definition, informal fallacies, the theory
of the syllogism, the basic operations of modern symbolic logic, and selected issues in inductive
logic and scientific method. Emphasis is placed on the ambiguities and pitfalls of ordinary
usage and on techniques for translating ordinary arguments into formal logic. FALL, SPRING.
103. Introduction to Asian Philosophy. Philosophical thought of Asian origin, especially
India and China, from ancient times to the present, theoretical and practical concerns.
SPRING.  Brodrick, Faber.
* 105. Introduction to Ethics. A study of theories of the good life and of the nature of virtue.
Readings in major texts and discussion of selected problems. FALL, SPRING.  Lachs, May.
108. Introduction to Medical Ethics. Moral issues in the practice of medicine, biomedical
research, policies and regulations related to health care. FALL.  McIntire.
* 115F. First-Year Writing Seminar. SPRING, FALL. 
120. The Meaning of Life. Accounts of life’s meaning. The relations between ways of living,
happiness, and the fact of death. The individual’s role in giving meaning to life. Readings
from Mill, Tolstoy, Kierkegaard, and several contemporary thinkers. SPRING.  Staff.
202. Formal Logic and Its Applications. A self-contained course designed to convey an
understanding of the concepts of modern formal logic, to develop convenient techniques of
formal reasoning, and to make some applications of them in one or more of the following:
psychology, linguistics, structuralist studies, information and computer sciences, and the
foundations of mathematics. Philosophy 102 is not required. FALL.  Aikin, Talisse.
203. Advanced Asian Philosophy. Classical Asian
philosophical texts. Historical development of practices and ideas;
translation and in- terpretation issues; comparisons with European and
other traditions of thought.  Brodrick.
210. Ancient Philosophy. An examination of the major Greek and Roman philosophers with
emphasis on the works of Plato and Aristotle. FALL.  Jelinek.
211. Medieval Philosophy. Comparative study of key figures in Islamic, Jewish, and Christian
philosophy as they struggle with the philosophy of logic, metaphysics, language, culture,
politics, ethics, and nature. SPRING.  Dobbs-Weinstein, Goodman.
212. Modern Philosophy. An examination of the major philosophers of modern Europe from
Descartes and Spinoza through Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant. SPRING.  Aikin, Tlumak.
213. Contemporary Philosophy. An examination of selected problems treated in recent
philosophical literature such as meaning, perception, knowledge, truth, and freedom. Readings
from the Anglo American analytical and the phenomenological traditions.  Forry, Guenther.
216. Philosophy of Knowledge. Nature, sources, and
scope of scientific, moral, and religious belief. Justification,
knowledge, and skepti- cal challenges to their legitimacy.  Aikin.
217. Metaphysics. Selected problems in metaphysics such as ultimate explanation, meaning
of existence, time and eternity, freedom and determinism, and science and religion.
FALL.  Gray, Tlumak.
218. Hellenistic and Late Ancient Philosophy. Philosophical ideas of Stoics, Cynics, Epicureans,
skeptics, Peripatetics, Neoplatonists, and early monotheist thinkers such as Philo,
Origen, and Philoponus. SPRING.  Goodman.
220. Immanuel Kant. Kant’s revolutionary critique of the foundations of human knowledge,
moral obligation, and religious faith, with readings from his three Critiques and lesser works.
222. American Philosophy. A study of the works of selected American philosophers from
the colonial period to the present. FALL.  Hodges, Talisse.
224. Existential Philosophy. A study of two or three existential philosophers and selected
problems that arise in relation to their thought.  Scott.
226. Phenomenology. Selected readings from such thinkers as Husserl, Sartre, and Merleau-
Ponty on the structures of experience, the sources and limits of knowledge, mind, and body,
interpersonal relations, and the meaning of freedom.  Guenther.
228. Nineteenth-Century Philosophy. A study of selected themes and writings from nineteenth-
century European philosophers.  Lachs.
231. Philosophy of History. Focus on alternative conceptions of time and history in Aristotle,
Augustine, Kant, Hegel, Heidegger, and Benjamin. FALL.  Dobbs-Weinstein.
234. Philosophy of Education. Analysis of educational concepts. Educational implications
of theories of knowledge and theories of the individual. Emphasis on higher education.
FALL.  Hodges.
235. Gender and Sexuality. Recent theories of the relation between sex, gender, and sexuality.
Construction of gendered identities, and their relation to embodiment, gender politics,
ethics and epistemology. FALL.  Staff.
238. Contemporary Ethical Theory. A study of theories about the cognitive foundations of
ethical discourses. Prerequisite: 105.  Jaeger, Wuerth.
239. Moral Problems. A discussion of specific moral problems such as the justification of
abortion and euthanasia. Moral theories such as utilitarianism will be discussed, but the
emphasis will be on their relevance to the solution of moral problems. Prerequisite: 105. 
240. History of Aesthetics. History of philosophy of art, aesthetic experience, creativity,
criticism, and related concepts. FALL.  Holt, Horowitz.
241. Modernistic Aesthetics. Abstraction, nontraditional media, mixed media, new media,
changes in artistic institutions, and the death of art. SPRING.  Holt, Horowitz.
242. Philosophy of Religion. A study of various problems concerning religious experiences;
ideas about religion and divinity. FALL.  Hodges.
243. Philosophy of Film. Challenges posed by film forms to traditional aesthetics and the
novel philosophical approaches created to deal with them. Topics include the nature of the
film image, film and experiential time, cinematic genres, the problem of mass art, and feminist
critiques of spectatorship. Weekly screenings. FALL.  Horowitz, Oliver.
244. Philosophy and the Natural Sciences. Philosophical issues in the methodology, conceptual
structure, patterns of explanation, historical development, cultural impact, and
metaphysical and ethical implications of the natural sciences. Prerequisite: satisfaction of
the Basic Science requirement. SPRING.  Jelinek.
245. Humanity, Evolution, and God. The impact of the idea of evolution on our conception
of personhood. Theistic and non-theistic approaches to philosophical anthropology, ethics
and society, the theory of knowledge, the mind-body problem, and relations with the environment
and other species. FALL.  Goodman.
246. Philosophy of Language. Philosophical problems in the methodology of linguistics,
relations between thought and language, theories of meaning and symbolism, the nature
of metaphor, the philosophical implications of theories of language acquisition. FALL. 
247. Kierkegaard and Nietzsche. A study of selected works. FALL.  Scott.
248. Philosophy and Literature. Philosophical topics in novels or poetry. Examples include:
meaning of life, linguistic meaning, good and evil, aesthetic value, and human freedom.  Hodges.
249. Philosophy of Music. Music and meaning, language, emotion, expression, interpretation,
performance, the body, and politics. No musical background is required. FALL. 
Not currently offered.
251. Topics in Aesthetics. Philosophy of art and aesthetic theory.  Not
252. Political and Social Philosophy. A study of selected social and political theories. Critical
analysis of the relevant works of Hegel, Marx, Lenin, Mill, Nietzsche, Gentile, and others.
FALL.  Talisse.
253. Philosophy and Economic Policies. A study of individual freedom, property rights,
and welfare in their implications for a free market, private ownership of means of production,
taxation, and expenditure for public goods. Readings from selected philosophers and economists—
e.g., Locke, Hegel, Rawls, Nozick, Marx, Hayek, Friedman, Galbraith.  (Not currently
254. Modern Philosophies of Law. Contemporary theories of legal validity, legal liability
(criminal and civil), and contractual obligation with special attention to the controversy
between legal positivism and “natural law” theories and the assessment of contemporary
economic analyses of legal rights. FALL.  Davis, May.
256. Philosophy of Mind. Selected problems in the philosophy of mind. Relation between
mind and body, the nature of consciousness, the problem of other minds, the status of selfknowledge,
and the possibility of machine and other intelligence. Connections with empirical
investigations in related cognitive disciplines. SPRING.  Gray, Medina.
257. Early Modern Political Philosophy. A study of competing accounts of the best form
of political association, which differ from Locke, through the works of Machiavelli, Hobbes,
Spinoza, and Rousseau.  Dobbs-Weinstein. (Not currently offered)
258. Contemporary Political Philosophy. The
emergence of post-liberal political thought.
The politics of recognition, the specificity of political action,
transformations in political theory
as a consequence of gender, race, and environmental issues. These will
be studied through
the examination of the writings of Hannah Arendt, Cornelius
Castoriadis, Heidegger, Derrida, and Habermas. SPRING.  Friedman,
260. Twentieth-Century Continental Philosophy. A study of selected twentieth-century
philosophers such as Derrida, Foucault, and Lacan. SPRING.  Wood.
261. Jewish Philosophy. Introduction to Jewish philosophy and the philosophical achievement
of such major figures as Philo, Saadiah, Maimonides, Levinas, and selected contemporary
thinkers.  Dobbs-Weinstein, Goodman.
262. Islamic Philosophy. Introduction to the major figures of Islamic philosophy including
Kindi, Razi, Farabi, Avicenna, and Ibn Khaldun.  Goodman. (Not currently offered)
263. French Feminism. Introduction to the tradition of French feminist philosophy, including
relevant works by Beauvoir, Cixous, Irigaray, Kristeva, LeDoeuff, Kofmann, and others.  Guenther, Oliver.
270. Ethics and Medicine. Selected ethical issues raised by clinical practice, medical theories,
and biomedical research and technology. No credit for students who have completed
115F, section 13. Prerequisite: 105. SPRING.  Bliton.
271. Ethics and Business. Moral problems in the business world including irresponsible
marketing, conflict between profit and social conscience, resource use, public regulation of
business, and the value of competition. Prerequisite: 105.  Lachs. (Not currently offered)
272, 272W Ethics and Law. Moral problems in the practice of law including conflicts of interest,
confidentiality, limits of advocacy, and the obligations of lawyers to clients, courts, and the
public. Prerequisite: 105. SPRING.  Davis, May.
289a–289b. Independent Readings. Designed for majors not in the Honors Program. Consists
of a project to be carried out under the supervision of a member of the department. All
projects must be approved by the department. FALL, SPRING. [Variable credit: 1–6 each
semester, not to exceed 12 over a four-semester period] Staff.
294a–294b. Selected Topics. Students may enroll in more than one section of this seminar
each semester. [3 each seminar, not to exceed 12 over a four-semester period] Staff.
295. Independent Study. Designed for students in the Honors Program in philosophy.
Consists of guided reading, periodic reports, and work on honors thesis. FALL, SPRING.
[Variable credit: 3–6 each semester, not to exceed 18 over a three-semester period] Staff