Philosophy Commons^™

Book Panel Response: Symposium On Ladelle Mcwhorter's Racism And Sexual Oppression In Anglo-America: A Genealogy, Ladelle Mcwhorter

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Unfortunately I do not have space to address individually each issue these four papers raise. Instead, I will first situate my work in relation to identity politics and address fears that my approach is reductive. Then, building on comments from Professors Wilkerson and Al-Saji, I will offer some remarks about aims, methods, and shortcomings.

Aesthetics And The Philosophy Of Art, 1840-1900, Gary Shapiro

Philosophy Faculty Publications

The question can be raised whether the category or discipline of philosophical aesthetics existed before the eighteenth century. Unlike "logic:' "ethics:' and "physics:' a traditional Stoic division of philosophy with great staying power, "aesthetics" is clearly a product of modernity. As Paul O. Kristeller demonstrated in "The Modern System of the Arts:' it was in the eighteenth century that the idea of the aesthetic as a distinctive human capacity and the parallel consolidation of the notion of the fine arts crystallized in the writings of (mostly) French, German, and English philosophers and critics. The modern concepts of art and aesthetics …

Caretakers Of The Garden Of Delight And Discontent: Adirondack Narrative, Conflict, And Environmental Virtue, Eric Richard Holmlund

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation concerns a widely recognized natural area, New York's Adirondack Park, that serves both as an international model for conservation and as a context for persistent conflict over natural resources, space, wealth and esthetics. It employs narrative inquiry as a method to examine the sources and the function of narratives or stories explaining the history and the present status of social groups in the Park. Narrative theorists maintain that we borrow from such socially circulating narratives to craft our own identities, and then repeat them until we believe them, almost without regard for the factual basis in history or …

Therapeutic Discourse And The American Public Philosophy: On American Liberalism's Troubled Relationship With Psychology, Clifford D. Vickrey

Honors Theses

I explore the main currents of postwar American liberalism. One, sociological, emerged in response to the danger of mass movements. Articulated primarily by political sociologists and psychologists and ascendant from the mid-fifties till the mid-seventies, it heralded the "end of ideology." It emphasized stability, elitism, positive science and pluralism; it recast normatively sound politics as logrolling and hard bargaining. I argue that these normative features, attractive when considered in isolation, taken together led to a vicious ad hominem style in accounting for views outside the postwar consensus. It used pseudo-scientific literature in labeling populists, Progressives, Taft conservatives, Goldwaterites, the New …

Family Ties: Mainstream Environmentalists' Understanding Of Radical Environmentalism In America, Zachary W. Ezor

Honors Theses

Environmentalism in the United States manifests itself in numerous ways. While American environmentalists have been grouped into broad camps over the years, observers have struggled to accurately classify the different components of the movement. Lately, environmentalists have been characterized based on their chosen modus operandi. Environmentalists who employ typical interest group tactics of policy advocacy and accept the notion of political compromise can generally be called 'mainstream.' Alternatively, those environmentalists who employ non-conventional strategies like direct action and take a no-compromise stance on environmental issues are typically described as 'radical.' Despite these distinctions, both radical and mainstream environmentalists are parts …

The Purely Reflected Self, William A. Price

Honors Theses

Belief in the concept of the self causes suffering. Unfortunately, although conceptual constructions like this may help to define our goal—the casting off of the belief in the self—this is a much more difficult thing to actualize and attain in daily practice. Our building blocks can form a neat tower, and we can climb to the top and gaze at the horizon, but they will topple, leaving us once again over our heads in the hedgerow. Buddha describes his teachings as a raft to ford the river of suffering in order to reach the far off bank of enlightenment: as …

On Perfect Friendship: An Outline And A Guide To Aristotle's Philosophy Of Friendship, Kristen Psaty

Honors Theses

Providing insight into such timeless questions as: What is friendship? Are the best friends similar or dissimilar? and Does having friends make you a better person?, the paper addresses the importance of friendship for Aristotle, but also for the modern reader as well. A topic of special philosophical concern, Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) considered friendship to be necessary in achieving a virtuous and fulfilling life. Consequently, he wrote more about friendship than any other virtue he presented. This paper lays the foundation for understanding Aristotle’s philosophy of friendship as well as its position within his larger moral schema. The image of …

Plato’S Theory Of Forms: Analogy And Metaphor In Plato’S Republic, Anthony Jannotta

Undergraduate Review

It would be impossible to understand Plato’s writings on the nature of justice, beauty, or the good without first understanding Plato’s theory of Forms. Plato gives us a variety of different arguments in favor of his theory; most, if not all, of these arguments are analogical. I will explicate two such arguments, the sun analogy and the argument for the Forms found in book X, evaluating each as they are discussed. The evaluation will be geared toward cogency and consistency. First, though, I briefly explain Plato’s theory of Forms in general before examining these arguments. Ultimately, I will conclude that …

Resolving Incomparability, David Pinkowski

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

When confronted with an important choice between two very different options, an agent often will be at a loss as to how to decide between them. This is often true even if the agent has a good understanding of the pros and cons of each option, and even if she is committed to something like "the best overall decision for me." One way to analyze this situation is to assert that the options are incomparable for the agent. Incomparability arises when, for two options, it seems that one is neither better nor worse than, nor equal to, the other. If …

Editors’ Introduction, Glenn Hartelius

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

NA

An Investigation Of The Relationships Among Self-Construal, Emotional Intelligence, And Well-Being, Constance A. Mara, Teresa L. Decicco, Mirella L. Stroink

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This study aims to further investigate the convergent validity of the recently-proposed

metapersonal model and measure of self-construal, and to emphasize the discriminant

validity of the metapersonal self-construal as a distinct construct, capturing a unique aspect

of self-construal separate from either interdependent or independent aspects. The study

looked at two questions: (1) Does the metapersonal self-construal predict higher emotional

intelligence? (2) Do those who have higher metapersonal self-construal scores also report

greater well-being? A group of 212 undergraduate students was assessed using a self-construal

scale that includes the new measure of metapersonal self-construal, along with scales

measuring emotional intelligence and …

Consciousness And Society: Societal Aspects And Implications Of Transpersonal Psychology, Harry T. Hunt

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Although transpersonal psychologies of self realization emphasize individual

development, earlier shamanic traditions also showed a central societal aspect and group based

consciousness. Indeed, many have understood the transpersonal movement as developing

towards an abstract globalized neo-shamanism. That altered states of consciousness, whether

as integrative realizations of the numinous or as dissociative “hypnoid” states, could be felt

and shared collectively was a familiar concept to the first generation of sociologists, who saw

all consciousness as social and dialogic in form. Durkheim, in particular, foresaw a globalized

spirituality of the future, his “cult of man,” in which modern individuation would progress

to …

The Grofs’ Model Of Spiritual Emergency In Retrospect: Has It Stood The Test Of Time?, Darlene B. Viggiano, Stanley Krippner

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The purpose of this essay is to review the Grofs’ model of spiritual emergencies. The authors

ask: Has the model been useful for identifying and treating psycho-spiritual distress? Should

it be amended? Spiritual emergency can be defined as a crisis involving religious, transpersonal,

and/or spiritual issues that provides opportunities for growth. Spiritual emergence, meanwhile,

lends itself to gentler transformation. The research methods include an archival literature

review triangulated with an authoritative interview. The findings are that the Grofs’ model

of spiritual emergencies was ahead of its time and that the medical establishment needs to

catch up. Adaptations and revisions that …

Koans And Levels Of Consciousness, John Rowan

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This is a theoretical paper devoted to an examination of the phenomenon of the Zen

koan. First, the existing understanding of the koan will be outlined from a number of

sources. This will be followed by an examination of what the koan would look like from

a structural point of view. Ken Wilber’s outlook will then be used to look at the koan in a

fresh way so that one might see it as a kind of test of the level of consciousness exhibited

by each solution. The latter is related to recent thinking on models in general.

Relational Spirituality And Developmental Spirituality: Introduction To Special Topic Section, Glenn Hartelius, Maureen Harrahy

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

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The Self And The Great Chain Of Being: Interview With Robert Bolton, Samuel B. Sotillos

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

NA

Jacob Wrestles The Angel: A Study In Psychoanalytic Midrash, Michael Abramsky

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This essay is a study in psychoanalytic Midrash: a literary and psychological meditation on the

Biblical story of Jacob. The Hebrew verbal root from which the term Midrash derives means to

investigate or explore. It is a genre of Biblical scholarship used to interpret the Bible in symbolic

and inspirational terms. This essay examines Jacob as he moves from a character dominated by

self-defeating neurosis through his transformation into a spiritual being and exemplar of principled

leadership. Insights from Freudian and Jungian psychologies, mythology, and literary traditions are

used to describe and explain Jacob’s character metamorphosis.

Is Justification Knowledge?, Brent J C Madison

Philosophy Papers and Journal Articles

Analytic epistemologists agree that, whatever else is true of epistemic justification, it is distinct from knowledge. However, if recent work by Jonathan Sutton is correct, this view is deeply mistaken, for according to Sutton justification is knowledge. That is, a subject is justified in believing that ρ iff he knows that ρ. Sutton further claims that there is no concept of epistemic justification distinct from knowledge. Since knowledge is factive, a consequence of Sutton’s view is that there are no false justified beliefs.

Following Sutton, I will begin by outlining kinds of beliefs that do not constitute knowledge but that …

Heidegger’S Notion Of Religion: The Limits Of Being-Understanding, Angus Brook

Philosophy Papers and Journal Articles

In the last two decades, the question of religion has become a central concern of many philosophers belonging to the Continental philosophical tradition. As the interest in religion has grown within Continental philosophy, so also has the question of Martin Heidegger’s relationship with religion. This paper poses the question of what religion meant to Martin Heidegger in the development of phenomenology as ontology; how he preconceived the notion of religion and why he eventually denied any authenticity to religion. In engaging with this question, the paper will also attempt to disclose some delimitations of Heidegger’s approach to religion.

Shame And Philosophy, Richard P. Hamilton

Philosophy Papers and Journal Articles

Shame is a ubiquitous and highly intriguing feature of human experience. It can motivate but it can also paralyse. It is something which one can legitimately demand of another, but is not usually experienced as a choice. Perpetrators of atrocities can remain defiantly immune to shame while their victims are racked by it. It would be hard to understand any society or culture without understanding the characteristic occasions upon which shame is expected and where it is mitigated. Yet, one can survey much of the literature in social and political theory over the last century and find barely a footnote …