Walt Soffer has been a member of the Philosophy Department since 1976. He received the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1982.

Office Hours
Fall 2020 - M/W/F, 11:30-12:30
Also by appointment.
Curriculum Vitae
Education
B..A., Temple University, 1965
M.A., The Graduate Faculty, The New School for Social Research, 1970
Ph.D., The Graduate Faculty, The New School for Social Research, 1977
Publications
鈥淭he Methodological Achievement of Cartesian Doubt,鈥 The Southern Journal of Philosophy, Vol. XVI, No. 1, Spring 1978.
鈥淒escartes, Rationality, and God,鈥 The Thomist, Vol.42, No. 4, October 1978.
Review of Margaret D. Wilson, DESCARTES, The Review of Metaphysics, Vol. XXXII, No. 4, 1979.
Review of John J. Blom, DESCARTES: HIS MORAL PHILOSOPHY AND PSYCHOLOGY, The Review of Metaphysics, Vol. XXXIII. No. 4, June 1980.
鈥淜ant on the Tutelage of God and Nature,鈥 The Thomist, Vol. 45, No.1, January 1981.
Review of Dominick A. Iorio, NICOLAS MALEBRANCHE: DIALOGUE BETWEEN A CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHER AND A CHINESE PHILOSOPHER ON THE EXISTENCE AND NATURE OF GOD, The Review of Metaphysics,
VOL. XXXIV, No. 2, December 1980.鈥淗usserl鈥檚 Neo-Cartesianism,鈥 Research in Phenomenology, Vol. XI, 1981.
Review of Hector-Neri Castanada, ON PHILOSOPHICAL METHOD, The Review of Metaphysics, Vol. XXXV, No. 2, December 1981.
Review of Peter A. Schouls, THE IMPOSITION OF METHOD: A STUDY OF DESCARTES AND LOCKE, The Review of Metaphysics, Vol.XXXV, No.2, December 1981.
鈥淒escartes鈥檚 Rejection of the Aristotelian Soul.鈥 International Studies in Philosophy, Vol. XVI, No. 1, 1984.
Co-editor, THE CRISIS OF LIBERAL DEMOCRACY: A STRAUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE, SUNY Series in Political Theory, Albany: SUNY Press, 1987.
FROM SCIENCE TO SUBJECTIVITY: An Interpretation of Descartes鈥檚 MEDITATIONS, Contributions in Philosophy, Number 33, Westport: Greenwood Press, 1987.
鈥淒reaming, Hyperbole, and Dogmatism,鈥 Idealistic Studies, Vil. XVIII, No. 1, January 1988.
鈥淲isdom and Consent, Ancient and Modern: A Response to Sander H. Lee, 'An Epistemic Discussion of Participatory Democracy in THE FEDERALIST PAPERS鈥, 鈥 Proceedings of the Nineteenth Conference on Value Inquiry: THE FEDERALIST PAPERS: An Explanation and Defense of Ideas and Issues in the U. S. Constitution, 1988.
鈥淢odernity鈥檚 Problematic Nobility,鈥 Review of Stanley Rosen, THE ANCIENTS AND THE MODERNS, The Review of Politics, Vol.52, No. 2, Summer 1990.
鈥淒escartes鈥檚 Rejection of the Aristotelian Soul,鈥 in Georges J. D. Moyal (ed.) DESCARTES: CRITICAL ASSESSMENTS, VOL. III, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1991.
鈥淢odern Rationalism, Miracles, and Revelation: Strauss鈥檚 Critique of Spinoza,鈥 in LEO STRAUSS: POLITICAL PHILOSOPHER AND JEWISH THINKER, K. Deutsch and W. Nicgorski (eds.), Rowman and Littlefield, 1994.
鈥淒escartes鈥檚 Secular Paradise: The DISCOURSE ON METHOD as Biblical Criticism,鈥 Philosophy and Theology, Vol.8, No. 4, Summer 1994.
鈥淪ocrates鈥 Proposals Concerning Women: Feminism or Fantasy?,鈥 History of Political Thought, Vol.XVI, Issue 2, Summer 1995.
鈥淭he Modern Affirmation of Existence,鈥 Review of Laurence Lampert, NIETZSCHE AND MODERN TIMES, The Review of Politics, Vol.57, No. 1, Winter 1995.
"Dreaming and Direct Realism: Butchvarov鈥檚 Response to Skepticism,鈥 in Larry Lee Blackman (ed.) THE PHILOSOPHY OF Panayot Butchvarov: A COLLEGIAL EVALUATION, Problems in Contemporary Philosophy, Vol.62, New York: The Edwin Mellon Press, 2005.
Areas of Interest
Modern Philosophy
Ancient Philosophy
Phenomenology and Existentialism
History of Political Philosophy
Ethics
Philosophy of Religion
Interdisciplinary Humanities
Classes
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PHIL 100: Introduction to Philosophy
Encourages critical thinking about fundamental problems that concern existence, knowledge, and value. As a means to this end, several philosophical works are read, discussed, and evaluated.