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

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/.

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/.

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.

In this class, we'll first examine the question 'What is gender?' Then we'll look at ways in which gender can interact with traditional philosophical topics, including epistemology, philosophy of language, political philosophy, etc.

In this class, we'll be talking about philosophical issues at the intersection of sexuality, sexual experience, and gender experience. What is sexual consent? What is the relationship between sexual consent and sexual morality? What is sexual orientation, and what is its relationship to sex and gender? Is there such a thing as biological sex? Is there a difference between sex and gender?

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.

Primarily a study of Kant's metaphysics and epistemology, followed by a brief look at the views of some of Idealist successors. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.philosophy.virginia.edu.

For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.

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?