Rebecca Lloyd Waller

Rebecca Lloyd Waller is an associate professor in the philosophy department. She began teaching at Kenyon in Fall 2009. Rebecca came to Kenyon after completing a dissertation on Descartes' account of time at Purdue University. Her book, "Descartes' Temporal Dualism" was published in 2014. Her interest in the philosophy of time extend beyond her Cartesian studies. She has also published papers on Leibniz's and Spinoza's accounts of time and on McTaggart's famous refutation of time.

Rebecca entered Purdue with a master's degree in philosophy from Marquette University and with bachelors' degrees from Siena Heights University in English and philosophy.

Rebecca's primary research interests are in the history of philosophy and in metaphysics. She has particular interest in the works of Descartes, and in the topics of time and free will. When not doing philosophy, Rebecca most enjoys spending time with her husband and son (born December 2012), or dabbling in interior design, literature and theater.

Areas of Expertise

Descartes, early modern philosophy, metaphysics of time, metaphysics of free will, philosophy of religion, critical thinking, ethics.

Education

2009 — Doctor of Philosophy from Purdue University

2004 — Master of Arts from Marquette University

2002 — Bachelor of Arts from Siena Heights University

Courses Recently Taught

The primary aim of this course is to acquaint the student with the spirit, methods and problems of philosophy. Students will explore the range of issues in which philosophical inquiry is possible and to which it is relevant. Major works of important philosophers, both ancient and modern, will be used to introduce topics in metaphysics, theory of knowledge, ethics and other traditional areas of philosophical concern. No prerequisite. Offered every semester.

This course is an examination of the informal reasoning used in everyday life as well as in academic contexts. We will aim to both describe and understand that reasoning, on the one hand, and improve our competence in reasoning, on the other. We will explore the nature of explanation and causation, and we will discuss ways of articulating our reasoning patterns that make their nature clear. Thus we aim both to improve critical thinking and reading skills, and to understand in a deeper way the role that those skills play in human life. This counts towards the logic requirement for the major and minor. No prerequisite. Offered every year.

The central question in ethics is "How should I live my life?" This course explores this question by examining major ethical traditions such as honor ethics, Stoicism, Aristotelian virtue ethics, sentimentalism, utilitarianism, Kant's practical philosophy, Nietzsche's critique of morality, Buddhist ethics and feminist ethics. The emphasis is on classical texts, as well as their connections with our contemporary life. This course is suitable for first-year students. This counts toward the ethics requirement for the major. No prerequisite. Offered every year.

This course examines moral issues we encounter in our private, as well as public, lives from a philosophical point of view. We discuss various ethical approaches such as Kantianism, utilitarianism and value pluralism through analyzing issues such as abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia, the moral status of nonhuman animals, the environment, climate change, war, world poverty, inequality and the ecology of rural life. There is a strong emphasis on discussion and we use diverse methods such as Brandeis Brief and moral heuristics. This course is suitable for first-year students. This counts toward the ethics requirement for the major. No prerequisite. Offered every year.

Philosophically speaking, the period between the 11th and 16th centuries was a remarkably fertile one that both warrants and rewards close study. In this course we will examine some of the major thinkers and themes from the Jewish, Muslim and Christian medieval traditions, with an emphasis on understanding how the medieval synthesized the wisdom of the ancients of Aristotle with their dominant religious concerns. Particular attention is paid to the major epistemological and metaphysical topics pursued during this period. This counts toward the philosophical schools and periods requirement for the major. No prerequisite. Offered every third year.

This course will offer a first introduction to feminist philosophy. As such, the course will first offer a brief introduction to the disciplines of feminist theory and philosophy in general, but will then focus on three specific areas. Specifically, the course will emphasize: 1) feminist metaphysics (i.e., how gender might relate to one’s essence, and thus to questions of endurance through chance, etc.), 2) feminist epistemology (i.e., ways in which gender may influence how the world is known) and 3) feminist ethics (i.e., how gender can and perhaps should inform ethical theory). The course will focus on significant primary texts from authors who work within feminist philosophy. These works will be read towards the goal of determining how traditional philosophical questions are informed and enriched when they are considered in light of a Feminist philosophical approach. This counts toward the philosophical schools and periods requirement for the major. No prerequisite.

This course examines 17th- through 18th-century philosophy. Major figures to be studied include Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume and Kant. We will stress metaphysical and epistemological issues throughout. It wouldn't be unfair to say that Descartes sets the agenda by creating a certain conception of the mind and the nature of knowledge, while each of the subsequent figures works out various implications of that conception. As such, the course content takes something of a narrative form, where we start with a certain optimism about knowledge and work our way into a deepening skepticism, only to be rescued at the end (by a rescuer whose price may not be worth paying). This course is required for the major. PHIL 200 is recommended but any previous philosophy course is acceptable. No prerequisite. Offered every year.

The content of this course varies but includes such topics as the nature and scope of reality, causality, space, time, existence, free will, necessity, and the relations of logic and language to the world. Traditional topics such as the problems of substance and of universals may be discussed. Much of the reading will be from contemporary sources. This counts toward the metaphysics requirement for the major. No prerequisite. Philosophy major, junior standing. Offered in a three-year rotation with PHIL 400 and PHIL 405.