Lad Sessions

 

I. Personal Information

 

Full Name:               William Lad Sessions

Business Address:     Newcomb Hall N-25,

                                Washington and Lee University,

                                Lexington, VA 24450

Business Phone:       (540) 458-8795

 

II. Education

 

 

III. Teaching and Administrative Experience

 

      1985-1986   Visiting Professor of Philosophy, St. Olaf's College

      1985-1990    Director, University Scholars Program, Washington and Lee University

 

IV. Publications and Research in Progress  
 

(a) Books

(b) Articles

  1. "Feuer, Psychology, and the Ontological Argument," Inquiry 12 (1969), 431-434.
  2. "Hartshorne's Early Philosophy," in Lewis S. Ford, ed., Two Process Philosophers (AAR Studies in  Religion, #5, 1973), 10-34.
  3. "Charles Hartshorne and Thirdness," The Southern Journal of Philosophy XII, 2 (Summer 1974),  239-252.
  4. "On 'Inclusion':  A Response to Hartshorne", The Southern Journal of Philosophy XVII, 4 (Winter 1979), 555-562.
  5. "Kant and Religious Belief," Kant-Studien 71:4 (1980), 455-468.
  6. "William James and the Right to Over-Believe,"  Philosophy Research Archives 6, 1420 (1980), 48 pp.
  7. "Rawls's Concept and Conception of Primary Good," Social Theory and Practice, 7:3 (Fall 1981),  303-324.
  8. "Religious Faith and Rational Justification,"  International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 13 (1982), 143-156.
  9. "Scientific Creationism," The Washington and Lee Journal of Science, I/1 (Spring 1985), 9-12.
  10. "A New Look at Moral Arguments for Theism,"  International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 18 (1985), 51-67.
  11. "Clear Thinking on the Nuclear Freeze," The Washington and Lee Political Review (Spring 1986), pp. 5-9.
  12. "Coherence, Proper Basicality and Moral Arguments for Theism," International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 22 (1987), 119-137.
  13. "Plantinga's Box," Faith and Philosophy 8/1 (January 1991), 51-66.
  14. "The Authorship of Faith," Religious Studies 27/1 (March 1991), 81-98.
  15. "A Dialogic Interpretation of Hume's Dialogues," Hume Studies XVII/1 (April 1991), 15-39.
  16. "The Certainty of Faith," LOGOS Vol. 12 (1991)
  17. "The Certainty of Faith," in Elizabeth S. Radcliffe and Carol J. White, eds., Faith in Theory and Practice:  Essays on Justifying Religious Belief (Chicago and LaSalle, Ill:  Open Court, 1993), 75-89.  (reprint of #16)
  18. "Paul Tillich," s.v. Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, ed. Robert Audi (University of Cambridge Press, 1995), 803.
  19. "Natural Piety in the Dialogues", International Journal of the Philosophy of Religion 49 (2001), 49-62.
  20. "Sportsmanship as Honor", Journal of the Philosophy of Sport XXXI: 1 (2004), 47-59
  21. "Honor and God", The Journal of Religion (2007), 206-224.
  22. "Teaching Such a Concept [Honor] Is Not a Simple Matter", Richmond Times-Dispatch, August 5, 2007, E1

 

(c) Book Reviews

  1. Robert A. Evans, Intelligible and Responsible Talk about God (Leiden:  E. J. Brill, 1973); and Virginia Held, Sidney Morgenbesser and Thomas Nagel, eds., Philosophy, Morality, and International Affairs (New York:  Oxford University Press, 1974), in The Review of Metaphysics XXVIII:2 (December 1974).
  2. Harry James Cargas and Bernard Lee, eds., Religious Experience and Process Theology, (New York:  Paulist Press, 1976), in CROSS-CURRENTS XXVI, 4 (Winter 1977) 465-7.
  3. Bruce Kuklick, The Rise of American Philosophy (New Haven:  Yale University Press, 1977), in Process Studies 8:1 (Spring 1978), 56-60.  
  4. Stanley Cavell, The Claim of Reason (Oxford:  Clarendon Press, 1979), in The Review of Metaphysics XXXV:3 (March 1981), 601-602.
  5. Robert Neville, Creativity and God (New York: Seabury Press, 1980), in CROSS-CURRENTS XXXI:1  (Spring 1981), 113-116.
  6. Karl Ameriks, Kant's Theory of Mind (Oxford:  Clarendon Press, 1982) and Robert B. Pippin, Kant's Theory of Form (New Haven:  Yale University Press, 1982), in CROSS-CURRENTS XXIII:2 (Summer 1983), 206-211.
  7. Richard Swinburne, The Coherence of Theism (Oxford:  Clarendon Press, 1977), The Existence of God (Oxford:  Clarendon Press, 1979), and Faith and Reason (Oxford:  Clarendon Press, 1981), in CROSS-CURRENTS XXXIII:3 (Fall 1983), 357-362.
  8. John R. Silber, seven articles on Kant, in Kantian Ethical Thought:  A Curricular Report and Annotated Bibliography (Tallahassee, Fl.:  The Council for Philosophical Studies, 1984), 130-136.
  9. C. F. Delaney, ed., Rationality and Religious Belief (University of Notre Dame Press, 1979); Frederick Crosson, ed., The Autonomy of Religious Belief:  A Critical Inquiry (Notre Dame, 1981); Gary Gutting, Religious Belief and Religious Skepticism (Notre Dame Press, 1981); Robert Sokolowski, The God of Faith and Reason:  Foundations of Christian Theology (Notre Dame Press, 1982); Alvin Plantinga and Nicholas Wolterstorff, eds., Faith and Rationality:  Reason and Belief in God (Notre Dame Press, 1983); all in CROSS-CURRENTS, 1985.    
  10. Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind (Simon and Schuster, 1987), in Washington and Lee Alumni Magazine, Fall 1988, pp. 19-20.
  11. Ronald Nash, ed., Process Theology (Grand Rapids, MI:  Baker Book House, A Mott Media Book, 1987), in Faith and Philosophy 7:1 (January 1990), 123-127.
  12. David Wisdo, The Life of Irony and the Ethics of Belief (Albany, NY:  State University of New York Press, 1993), in Critical Review of Books in Religion 1994 (Vol. 7), 295-96.
  13. Robert C. Solomon, Spirituality for the Skeptic:  The Thoughtful Love of Life (Oxford University Press, 2002), in Notre Dame Philosophical Review, January 2003.
  14. John R. T. Lamont, Divine Faith (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 2004), in Religious Studies 42 (2006), 1-5.
  15. T. L. S. Sprigge, The God of Metaphysics (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2006), forthcoming in Faith and Philosophy
     

(d) Research in Progress

 

 

V. Professional Activities

(a) Papers and Talks

  1. "On Theological Arguments," Virginia Philosophical Association, October 11, 1973, and Society for Philosophy of Religion, March 7, 1974
  2. "Science as Ignorance", Washington and Lee Chemistry Seminar, December 4, 1974
  3. "Process Theology", St. Patrick's Catholic Church, April 20, 1975
  4. "The Paradox of the Ineffable," Society for Philosophy of Religion, February 28, 1976, and American Academy of Religion, December 31, 1977
  5. "Religious Faith and Rational Justification," Bates College, Lewiston, Maine, 1979, University of Virginia, March 26, 1980, and Society of Christian Philosophers, April 10, 1981
  6. "Hartshorne and Cross-Cultural Religious Studies," Society of Christian Philosophers, April 2, 1982
  7. "Creationism:  Science and Religion," Biology Department Seminar, February 2, 1984, and Alumni College/Summer Scholars (Washington and Lee), July 9, 1984
  8. "A New Look at Moral Arguments for Theism," Society for Philosophy of Religion, March 9, 1985
  9. "Coherence, Proper Basicality and Moral Arguments," Society of Christian Philosophers, March 30, 1985; also St. Olaf College Philosophy Department Colloquium, Sept. 30, 1985
  10. "Sorley's Moral Argument for Theism," Society of Christian Philosophers, April 25, 1986
  11. "Moral Arguments for Theism," College of St. Thomas, May 1-2, 1986; also Liberty University, February 17, 1987
  12. "Using Various Religious Traditions in Philosophy of Religion Courses" (Workshop panel), NEH Summer Institute, July 28, 1986
  13. "Plantinga's Box," Society of Christian Philosophers, April 10, 1987; Society for Philosophy of Religion, March 3, 1988
  14. "Christianity and Creationism," student group, Randolph Street United Methodist Church, Lexington, VA, February 28, 1988
  15. "The Quest for the Unity of Faith," Society of Christian Philosophers, April 16, 1988
  16. "Independent Honors Seminars," Virginia Collegiate Honors Council, November 11, 1988
  17. "Science and Religion," Lexington High School (Chemistry class), January 18, 1989
  18. "The Authorship of Faith," Society of Christian Philosophers, April 7, 1990
  19. "Why Excel?," Phi Eta Sigma, November 1, 1991
  20. Invited presentations on the concept of faith, Steel Center Workshop in philosophy of Religion and Theology, Hendrix College, Jan. 31-Feb. 1
  21. "Existentialism," Lexington High School, Feb. 20
  22. "Is Choshin Faith?," Society of Christian Philosophers, April 4, 1992
  23. "Roots and Branches," Society for Philosophy of Religion Presidential Address, March 6, 1993
  24. "Roots and Branches," Society of Christian Philosophers, Eastern Region, April 3, 1993
  25. "The Concept of Faith," Lord Fairfax Community College, Middletown, VA, February 17, 1994.
  26. "Truth and Liberal Education", to W&L entering freshmen, Lee Chapel, September 4, 1995
  27. "Academics in College," FUTURES program, Washington and Lee University, April 27, 1996
  28. "Liberal Education in the United States," Rikkyo University International Forum, Tokyo, May 14, 1996.
  29. "On Interpreting Hume's Dialogues: Some Reflections on 'Pamphilus to Hermippus'", Society for Philosophy of Religion, San Antonio, Texas, March 5, 1998
  30. "Author!  Author!  Some Reflections on Design in and beyond Hume's Dialogues", Eastern Division, Society of Christian Philosophers, University of Delaware, April 3, 1998
  31. "Author!  Author!  Some Reflections on Design in and beyond Hume's Dialogues", Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy, Boston, MA, August 14, 1998
  32. "On Interpretation", Manhattanville College, Purchase, NY, October 15, 1998 
  33. "Miracles Without Superstition", Society for Philosophy of Religion, Charleston, SC, March 3, 2000.
  34. "Natural Theology, Miracles, and Superstition", Gifford Bequest International Conference, Aberdeen, Scotland, May 29, 2000
  35. "An Inquiry into Honor", Inaugural address, November 1, 2000
  36. "Natural Piety in the Dialogues", Society for Philosophy of Religion, Hilton Head Island, SC, February 22, 2001 (commentator: Robert F. Brown, Delaware)
  37. "What's Wrong with Honor?," Southern Virginia University, October 17, 2003
  38. "Remarks to the Class of 2005", Washington and Lee University, September 3, 2001
  39. "What's Wrong with Honor?", Southern Virginia University, October 17, 2003
  40. "Sportsmanship as Honor", University of Canterbury, Christchurch, NZ, March 11, 2004; University of Otago, Dunedin, NZ, May 28, 2004
  41. "Honor and God", Society for Philosophy of Religion, Hilton Head Island, SC, February 25, 2005 (commentator: Tom Tracy, Bates College)
  42. "Hume's Dialogues", Southern Virginia University, April 1, 2005
  43. "Sportsmanship as Honor", Wofford College, April 12, 2005
  44. "Day of Dialogue", Lee Chapel, Washington and Lee University, February 3, 2006
  45. "Why Honor Matters", Summer Scholars, Washington and Lee University, July 19, 2007
     

(b) Respondent to Papers

  1. Victor Lowe, "Whitehead and Harvard's Second Golden Age", Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy, March 5, 1976
  2. James Keller, "The Power of God and Miracles in Process Theism," Society for Philosophy of Religion, March 2-4, 1989
  3. Richard Creel, "Agatheism:  A Justification of the Rationality of Devotion to God," Society for Philosophy of Religion, March 1, 1990
  4. Thomas Tracy, "Action:  Created and Divine," Eastern Division, American Philosophical Association, Society of Christian Philosophers group meeting, December 27, 1990
  5. Jeffrey Wattles, (on The Golden Rule), Society for Philosophy of Religion meeting, 1996
  6. John Churchill, "Clearly Wrong", Society for Philosophy of Religion, March 7, 1997
  7. William Rowe, "Jonathan Edwards on Divine and Human Freedom," Society for Philosophy of Religion, February 28, 2003
  8. John W. Woell, "Ambiguity and Truth in 'The Will to Believe'," Society for Philosophy of Religion, February 24, 2006
  9.  

 

VI. Professional Associations

 

VII. Grants Received  
 

  1.  

VIII. Courses Taught

Lecture Courses

 

Seminar courses ('*' designates team-taught course)