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Grand Valley State University

McNair Scholars Journal

Journal

Philosophy

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 5 of 5

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Phenomenology And The Rehabilitation Of Philosophy, Matthew J. Berrios Jan 2011

Phenomenology And The Rehabilitation Of Philosophy, Matthew J. Berrios

McNair Scholars Journal

Philosophy as the study of ultimate principles of knowledge, has been challenged recently in history by some of the intellectual forces in modernism and post-modernism. In response to this, the movement known as phenomenology has arisen to answer the objections posed by these two intellectual movements. As a movement, phenomenology was developed in the late nineteenth-century under the German mathematicianphilosopher Edmund Husserl as a response to the logical questions involved with some of the psychologistic systems of thought of the period that sought to reduce the rules and workings of logic to psychological processes of the human mind. However, because …


The Enlightenment And Its Effects On The Haitian Revolution Of 1789-1804, Rebekah Nicholson Jan 2006

The Enlightenment And Its Effects On The Haitian Revolution Of 1789-1804, Rebekah Nicholson

McNair Scholars Journal

Throughout history, revolutions have started because of new ideas that change thinking and disrupt the status quo. The Haitian Revolution of 1789-1804 is no exception. The Enlightenment ideas of equality for men and representative government were crucial to the insurrection. However, how did Enlightenment philosophy make its way to the Caribbean and influence the people to free themselves from their colonizer, France? One slave in particular was strongly influenced by Enlightenment ideas: Toussaint L’Ouverture, the leader of the revolution. Ultimately, the Enlightenment inspired a successful slave revolt in Haiti. While traditional scholarship has depicted the slaves in the revolt as …


Misuse Of Myth: Conscious Adherence Or Authoritative Control Mechanism, Henry H. Averhart Jr. Jan 2005

Misuse Of Myth: Conscious Adherence Or Authoritative Control Mechanism, Henry H. Averhart Jr.

McNair Scholars Journal

Myths are significant in explaining the existential questions of life, but when they are adopted uncritically, they may generate more harm than good. Admittedly, there is no way out of myth; we are the mythical creature. We need, therefore, to become more aware of myth and more critical of the myths we already, if only unknowingly, have adopted. This research addresses common misconceptions of the definitions of myths, attempts to identify the conscious and unconscious use of myths in our daily lives, and ultimately introduces the concept of modified myth adoption. This is done by analyzing and synthesizing selected scholarly …


Thinking The Body: Sexual Difference In Philosophy An Examination Of Maurice Merleau-Ponty’S Account Of Embodiment In Phenomenology Of Perception, Jillian Canode Jan 2002

Thinking The Body: Sexual Difference In Philosophy An Examination Of Maurice Merleau-Ponty’S Account Of Embodiment In Phenomenology Of Perception, Jillian Canode

McNair Scholars Journal

Western Philosophy, for a very long time, concerned itself with the task of separating mind and body, reason and emotion, and thus men and women. As a result of women’s disallowance to participate in philosophy, philosophy remained a faculty of the mind and women were relegated to the home. Maurice Merleau-Ponty, a 20th century French philosopher, brought philosophy back to the body with Phenomenology of Perception. In this text Merleau-Ponty offers a universal account of how humans experience embodiment. This paper examines not only Merleau-Ponty’s neglect, but also philosophy’s neglect of the female body: Merleau-Ponty assumes that the male …


Drowning The Constraints Of Freedom: Schopenhauer’S Freedom Of The Will In Kate Chopin’S The Awakening, Bobbie Ann Rekis Jan 2002

Drowning The Constraints Of Freedom: Schopenhauer’S Freedom Of The Will In Kate Chopin’S The Awakening, Bobbie Ann Rekis

McNair Scholars Journal

Although the overarching metaphor of The Awakening is the sea, it cannot be said that Edna’s victory lies in her death by drowning; instead, it lies in what she has made of her life. The novel tracks the evolution of her will. The will is the element of human nature that German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer calls the “thing-initself,” that which strives successfully against those constraints imposed by society. Edna desires to break through the chains of convention and constraint as she moves toward new freedoms—physical, intellectual, and moral. Edna’s victory lies within her ungrounded will, which in turn, wills itself …