Additional Faculty and Staff
Visiting Faculty
Kevin Coffey
Visiting Assistant Professor, Ph.D. University of Michigan
(540) 231-5225 | Email | 239 Major Williams Hall
Kevin Coffey specializes in philosophy of science and philosophy of physics, particularly scientific realism, formal confirmation theory, the interpretation of space-time theories, and the metaphysics of physics. Several of his current research interests include: structural realism; the status and representation of Newton's Law of Inertia; causation and the concept of force; the notion of theoretical equivalence; and the philosophical significance of geometrical (i.e., coordinate invariant) formulations of analytical dynamics.
Marc Lucht
Visiting Assistant Professor, Ph.D. Emory University
(540) 231-2157 | Email | 205 Norris Hall
Marc Lucht is a Visiting Assistant Professor in Philosophy and Peace Studies. He received his Ph.D. from Emory University in 1999. He specializes in 19th and 20th Century Continental Philosophy.
Michael Moehler
Visiting Assistant Professor, Ph.D. London School of Economics and Political Science
(540) 231-7543 | Email | 233 Major Williams Hall | Personal website
Dr. Moehler works primarily in moral and political philosophy, with a special focus on the contractarian tradition and topics at the intersection of philosophy, politics, and economics. In addition, he is interested in foundational issues in global justice and public policy. For more information about Dr. Moehler’s research and teaching areas, please visit his personal website.
Phil Olson
Visiting Assistant Professor, Ph.D. Emory University
(540) 231-2186 | Email | 219 Major Williams Hall
Phil Olson works on problems relating to virtue epistemology (in ethics and epistemology), rationality, and value theory. His approach to these problems is eudaimonistic and pragmatic, in Dewey's sense. He has taught introductory courses in ethics, metaphysics and epistemology, and ancient Greek culture, advanced courses on ethical theory and philosophy of religion, and graduate seminars on virtue epistemology, neo-liberalism, and American pragmatism.
Ted Parent
Visiting Assistant Professor, Ph.D. UNC Chapel Hill
(540) 231-8485 | Email | 221 Major Williams Hall
Ted Parent works in epistemology and the philosophy of language (especially in relation to ontology). His dissertation, entitled "Metasemantics," discusses certain epistemic limitations on semantic theorizing; it argues that under certain natural assumptions, some semantic questions cannot be resolved (even in principle). He is currently working on several articles, covering topics such as ontological commitment, two-dimensional semantics, and the apparent conflict between semantic externalism and a priori knowledge of content.
Adjunct Faculty
Jim Garrison
Professor of Education
Email | Personal Website
Jim Garrison is a professor of philosophy of education at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. His research interests focus on American pragmatism, and especially the philosophy of John Dewey.
Emeriti
Henry Bauer
Professor Emeritus and Dean Emeritus
James Buchanan
Distinguished Professor Emeritus
Richard M. Burian
Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and STS
(540) 231-6760 | Email | 220 Major Williams Hall | Personal Website
Dick Burian has general research interests in history and philosophy of science (especially conceptual change) and epistemology. He specializes in philosophy of biology, and has specific concerns in the history of nineteenth and twentieth century evolutionary theory; theories of heredity, and theories of (biological) development; the relations among biological disciplines; the impact of the molecular biology on the theory and practice of biological disciplines; historiography and methodology in history and philosophy of science; and scientific realism.
Harlan Miller
Professor Emeritus of Philosophy
Email | Personal Website
Harlan Miller has interests in a variety of topics in metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophy of mind, but most of his energy recently has gone into questions in applied ethics and ethical theory. He is particularly interested in human responsibilities (if any) to the non-human world: animals, the environment, machines. This leads both to other applied topics such as ethical, social, and political questions about agriculture, and to such theoretical questions as the nature and significance of species and the use of the fact/value distinction in the environmental sciences. He retired from teaching in 2003.
Palmer Talbutt
Associate Professor Emeritus
In Memoriam
Jack Good (1916-2009)
University Distinguished Professor | Memorial Notice
Marjorie Grene (1910-2009)
Honorary University Distinguished Professor | Memorial Notice
Lauren Fleming (1980-2011)
Visiting Assistant Professor
Instructors
Claudio D'Amato
(540) 231-5977 | Email | 213 Major Williams Hall
Jonathan Dixon
(540) 231-5977 | Email | 214 Major Williams Hall
Ivan Guajardo
(540) 231-5977 | Email | 215 Lane Hall
Eric Hodges
(540) 231-7879 | Email | 222 Major Williams Hall
Shien-Hauh Leu
Email | 314 Lane Hall
Eric Lewis
(540) 231-6476 | Email | 354 Lane Hall
Pamela Mullins-Baker
Email | 314 Lane Hall
Stephanie Semler
(540) 231-5977 | Email | 215 Lane Hall
Staff
Leisa Osborne
(540) 231-4564 | Email | 229 Major Williams Hall
Leisa Osborne is the Philosophy Department's Office Services Specialist. She has been in the department since the summer of 2003. Her primary responsibilities include assisting students, as well as supporting our faculty members. Leisa's interest include reading and traveling, as well as tutoring adult readers in basic literacy. She currently serves as the treasurer for Phi Beta Kappa and is a member of IAAP.
Terry Zapata
(540) 231-4565 | Email | 229A Major Williams Hall
Terry Zapata is the Philosophy Department's Executive Secretary, and has been in the department since 1998. Her primary responsibilities include providing administrative and clerical support to the Department Head and to the Philosophy Department as a whole. Terry has been a member of IAAP since 1999 and received her CPS (Certified Professional Secretary) rating in May of 2009. Terry is married to Carlos and originally from Fuquay-Varina, NC.