Professor Emeritus of Philosophy
Dr. Whelan began teaching philosophy at Lycoming in 1971; he retired from the college 54 years later in 2025. He continues to teach as an adjunct.
He came to Lycoming from the University of Texas where he earned his PhD with a dissertation on Ludwig Wittgenstein. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame.
Dr. Whelan specializes in contemporary moral and political philosophy and has published articles in those areas. Over the years, he regularly taught courses called Introduction to Moral Philosophy, Philosophy and Criminal Justice, Contemporary Political Philosophy (focused on the work of John Rawls), Contemporary Moral Philosophy (focused on the work of T.M. Scanlon) and two courses of his own: Lying and Lawbreaking, Homicide and War (focused on the work of Michael Walzer).
When he’s not thinking about philosophy, he’s often thinking about golf. He won the City Senior Amateur Championship and the White Deer Golf Club Championship. In the summer of 2003, while playing in a golf tournament with his son in Austin, Texas, Whelan won a brand new Jaguar XJ 10 with a hole-in-one.
This is a note that he called his “Last Lecture”: Last Lecture