Graduate students in Nozick's Philosophy 277, "Philosophy and the Law" can enroll in related classes or write term papers on course material and themes, according to Nozick.

"It was better to make alternative plans for students than to just suspend the class [indefinitely]," Nozick said.

Nozick's students scrambling to make alternate curricular plans will eventually fill the now-vacant course slot, but students and department administrators say no one can fill Nozick's shoes.

"There's no way we can replace him...It leaves you with a curricular hole," said Pearson Professor of Modern Mathematics and Mathematical Logic Warren D. Goldfarb '69, the Philosophy Department's head tutor.

Schrage, one of the four students signed up for the substitute seminar, praised Nozick's ability to use real-world examples to involve his students in his lectures.

"He was one of the best lecturers I've ever had," he said. "It was a lot different than other classes where you sat there and just listened. He paid attention to student reaction."

"His lecture class was doing an array of lecture topics that only he can manage," he said.