Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Hear & Believe: Epistemic Humility And The Limits Of Human Reason, Elias Seeman

Philosophy Student Projects

There are few more hotly debated questions in philosophy than the capacity of human reason as it relates to knowing God. Both Immanuel Kant and G.W.F. Hegel dedicated a significant portion of their work to precisely this question. These thinkers, however, did not seek to understand the capabilities and limits of human reason from a distinctly Christian perspective. Their work, while containing real insights, has serious, problematic implications for Christian thinkers, making it imperative to chart a path toward a robustly Christian, Biblically-anchored, conception of reason.

Righting Health Policy: Bioethics, Political Philosophy, And The Normative Justification Of Health Law And Policy, D. Robert Macdougall

Publications and Research

In Righting Health Policy, D. Robert MacDougall argues that bioethics needs but does not have adequate tools for justifying law and policy. Bioethics’ tools are mostly theories about what we owe each other. But justifying laws and policies requires more; at a minimum, it requires tools for explaining the legitimacy of actions intended to control or influence others. It consequently requires political, rather than moral, philosophy. After showing how bioethicists have consistently failed to use tools suitable for achieving their political aims, MacDougall develops an interpretation of Kant’s political philosophy. On this account the legitimacy of health laws does …

God And Kant’S Suicide Maxim, Carlo Alvaro

Publications and Research

Kant’s argument against suicide is widely dismissed by scholars and often avoided by teachers because it is deemed inconsistent with Kant’s moral philosophy. This paper attempts to show a way to make sense of Kant’s injunction against suicide that is consistent with his moral system. One of the strategies adopted in order to accomplish my goal is a de-secularization of Kant’s ethics. I argue that all actions of self-killing (or suicide) are morally impermissible because they are inconsistent with God’s established nature and order. It is argued that the existence of God as the locus of moral value and duty …

Metaphysics Supervenes On Logic: The Role Of The Logical Forms In Hegel's "Replacement" Of Metaphysics, W. Clark Wolf

Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications

In this paper, I seek to explain Hegel’s view that his “logic” replaces metaphysics. I argue that Hegel’s discussion of logical forms of judgment and syllogism in book III of The Science of Logic is meant to be the foundation of his reformation of metaphysics. Implicit in Hegel’s discussion of the logical forms is the view that the metaphysical concepts discussed in books I and II of the Logic supervene on the role of subject and predicate terms in the logical forms discussed in book III. Hegel thus has an explanation for the nature and signifcance of metaphysical concepts that …

The Destructive Draw Of Historical Determinism, Jared Russell

Honors Projects

Historical determinism can be understood as the idea that future events are predestined, usually by an esoteric or economic force. This is accompanied by the belief that there is a certain group of enlightened people that know what this future outcome will be. These people are also often convinced that it is their duty to help bring about this historical synthesis. While there are different iterations of historical determinism that can be critiqued, this paper will be focusing on some of the most influential. Specifically, the connection between a historical determinism as imagined by Hegel which was then adapted into …

Murderer At The Switch: Thomson, Kant, And The Trolley Problem, James E. Mahon

Publications and Research

In this book chapter I argue that contrary to what is said by Paul Guyer in Kant (Routledge, 2006) Kant's moral philosophy prohibits the bystander from throwing the switch to divert the runaway trolley to a side track with an innocent person on it in order to save more people who are in the path of the trolley in the "Trolley Problem" case made famous by Judith Jarvis Thomson (1976; 1985). Furthermore, Thomson herself (2008) came to agree that it would be wrong to throw the switch, just as it is wrong to push the person off the bridge to …

Li Zehou: Synthesizing Kongzi, Marx, And Kant, Andrew Lambert

Publications and Research

To understand the details of Li Zehou’s work, it is helpful to first locate it within the social and historical contexts to which Li was responding. Specifically, his work can be understood as a contribution to the struggle to establish the intellectual foundations of a Chinese modernity. As China transitioned away from the long-lived dynastic system that had ended early in the twentieth century, there was intense debate in China about what forms of social and political order should take its place. Marxism emerged as the governing ideology after the Communist revolution, but this did not settle the outstanding social …

Psychoanalysis, Dignity, And Life: An Introduction, David Metzger

English Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Missing The Apes Of The Trees For The Forest, Carlo Alvaro

Publications and Research

The debate over ape personhood is of great social and moral importance. For more than twenty-five years, attorney Steven Wise has been arguing that animals who have cognitive complexities similar to humans should be legally granted basic rights of au- tonomy. In my view, granting personhood status and other rights to great apes are at- tainable goals. But how should we go about it? My worry is that Thompson’s suggest- ed strategy relies on Kantian ethics, in particular on Kant’s notion of autonomy. In fact, I am worried about Kantian ethics in general because of its influence on morality and …

Secrets Vs. Lies: Is There A Moral Asymmetry?, James E. Mahon

Publications and Research

In this chapter I argue that the traditional interpretation of the commonly accepted moral asymmetry between secrets and lies is incorrect. On the standard interpretation of the commonly accepted view, lies are prima facie or pro tango morally wrong, whereas secrets are morally permissible. I argue that, when secrets are distinguished from mere acts of reticence and non-acknowledgement, as well as from acts of deception, so that they are defined as acts of not sharing believed-information while believing that the believed-information is relevant, the correct interpretation of the commonly accepted moral asymmetry between secrets and lies is that secrets are …

From Justice To Fairness: Does Kant's Doctrine Of Right Imply A Theory Of Distributive Justice?, Michael Nance, Jeppe Von Platz

Philosophy Faculty Publications

The fact that Kant does not articulate a theory of distributive justice has not kept political philosophers from citing Kant as inspiration and support for whatever theory of distributive justice they favor - including those who argue that the notion of distributive justice is itself mistaken. This widespread reliance on Kant invites the question, "Does the Doctrine of Right imply a theory of distributive justice?"

To address this question, we discuss Paul Guyer's argument that Kant's Doctrine of Right implies, roughly, the principles of distributive justice as found in Rawls's justice as fairness. Guyer's argument is that Kant's theory of …

The Revelation Of God, East And West: Contrasting Special Revelation In Western Modernity With The Ancient Christian East, Nathan A. Jacobs

Philosophy Faculty Publications

The questions of whether God reveals himself; if so, how we can know a purported revelation is authentic; and how such revelations relate to the insights of reason are discussed by John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, René Descartes, G. W. Leibniz, and Immanuel Kant, to name a few. Yet, what these philosophers say with such consistency about revelation stands in stark contrast with the claims of the Christian East, which are equally consistent from the second century through the fourteenth century. In this essay, I will compare the modern discussion of special revelation from Thomas Hobbes through Johann Fichte with the …

Health And Sickness: An Examination Of The Question Of The Affirmation Or Negation Of Life In The Face Of Suffering, Frank M. Scavelli

Student Publications

In this thesis, I examine a line of thought that stretches from Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), who regarded his own work merely as an interpretation and continuation Immanuel Kant’s (1724-1804) philosophy, through Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), who reacted to Schopenhauer’s negation of life with an affirmative philosophy, to Thomas Mann (1875-1955), who, operating from within this tradition, attempted a synthesis of it as well as a critical analysis of some of its aspects and their relation to seemingly-pathological fascistic sentiment he witnessed in the Germany of the 1920s and 30s. This line of thought deals with the essential question of Life. It …

Review Of Art And Ethics In A Material World: Kant's Pragmatist Legacy By Jennifer A. Mcmahon, William Simkulet

Philosophy and Religious Studies Department Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Two Kinds Of Ends In Themselves In Kant’S Moral Theory, David Hakim

2015 Undergraduate Awards

Immanuel Kant argues that rational beings are bound by an unconditional moral requirement to treat humanity always as an end and never as mere means. Kant derives this requirement from the principle that humanity is an end in itself. The purpose of my essay is to provide an interpretation of Kant’s concept of an end in itself that is consistent with the other features of his moral theory and that does not have morally repugnant consequences. To be consistent, Kant must identify a good will with an end in itself. I provide two independent arguments to demonstrate that this follows …

Political Obligation, Richard Dagger, David Lefkowitz

Political Science Faculty Publications

This essay begins, therefore, with a brief history of the problem of political obligation. It then turns, in Part II, to the conceptual questions raised by political obligation, such as what it means for an obligation to be political. In Part III the focus is on the skeptics, with particular attention to the self-proclaimed philosophical anarchists, who deny that political obligations exist yet do not want to abolish the state. Part IV surveys the leading contenders among the various theories of political obligation now on offer, and Part V concludes the essay with a brief consideration of recent proposals for …

Hegel's Critique Of Contingency In Kant's Principle Of Teleology, Kimberly Zwez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research is a historical-exegetical analysis of Hegel’s reformulation of Kant’s regulative principle of teleology into a constitutive principle. Kant ascribes teleology to the faculty of reflective judgment where it is employed as a guide to regulate inquiry, but does not constitute actual knowledge. Hegel argues that if Kant made teleology into a constitutive principle then it would be a much more comprehensive theory capable of overcoming contingency in natural science, and hence, bridging the gap between natural science and theology. In this paper I argue that Hegel’s defense of the transition from natural science to theology is ultimately …

Kant And The Destiny Of Humanity, Elliot Stephenson

The Trinity Papers (2011 - present)

No abstract provided.

The Biopolitical Unconscious: Not-All Persons Are Political, Ross G. Shields

Media and Cultural Studies Honors Projects

It is a tenet of post-structuralist theory that discursive series fail in their attempts to constitute themselves as totalities. A system can fail in two distinct ways—from Kant’s dynamic and mathematic failures of reason, to Jacques Lacan’s equation of the two failures of language with the two failures (male and female) of sex. Biopolitical theory offers the most recent account of failure and collapse, now on the geopolitical scale. Given that the biopolitical subject too is sexed, this thesis asks the question: How does biopolitics fail? Franz Kafka’s aborted novels offer a premonition to a possible answer.

Skepticism Leads To Faith, Kelsey Kats

The First-Year Papers (2010 - present)

No abstract provided.

Paul Redding, Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying So Much About Meaning And Love Hegel’S Metaphysics And Kant’S Epistemic Modesty, James Kreines

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

In this interest of time, I’ll just say something directly: this is an incredible book. Reading it, thinking it through, is extremely rewarding. I haven’t read a work of philosophy that had as much impact on me since being in school myself. The book presents you with new ideas and connections and it forces you to see philosophy and its history in new ways, even if you (like me) had been quite attached to your old ways. The book got into my head. Now I find myself, in idle moments, arguing with Paul up there in my head; as if …

The Truth About Kant On Lies, James E. Mahon

Publications and Research

In this chapter I argue that there are three different senses of 'lie' in Kant's moral philosophy: the lie in the ethical sense (the broadest sense, which includes lies to oneself), the lie in the 'juristic' sense (the narrowest sense, which only includes lies that specifically harm particular others), and the lie in the sense of right (or justice), which is narrower than the ethical sense, but broader than the juristic sense, since it includes all lies told to others, including those who are bent on harming innocent others.

The Geometry Of Intuitions: Reconsidering Kantian Constructivism, Michael Mcnulty

Philosophy Honors Projects

The role of visual methods in geometry is puzzling. Though diagrams can make a geometric theorem immediately evident, current rules of proper inference suggest that diagrams are mere heuristics-simply aiding in the psychological digestibility of a proof. Securing a justificatory role for visual methods involves describing how inference from a diagram guarantees the universality and the a:priority of a geometric theorem. Such an analysis is provided in Kant's synthetic a priori account of geometry. In this paper, Kant's theory is explicated and subsequently defended from attacks related to modern advances in predicate logic, relativistic physics, non-Euclidean geometry and formalism.

Apriority From The 'Grundlage' To The 'System Of Ethics', Sebastian Rand

Philosophy Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Logic Of Life: Hegel’S Philosophical Defense Of Teleological Explanation Of Living Beings, James Kreines

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

Hegel accords great philosophical importance to Kant’s discussions of teleology and biology in the Critique of the Power of Judgment, and yet also disagrees with Kant’s central conclusions there. More specifically, Kant argues for a generally skeptical view of teleological explanation of living beings; Hegel responds that Kant should instead defend such explanation—and that the defense of teleology should lead Kant to different conclusions throughout his theoretical philosophy.

I aim to avoid the sort of interpretive charity that would begin with a currently popular philosophical view and then seek to find that view in historical texts. This approach would …

From Being To Givenness And Back: Some Remarks On The Meaning Of Transcendental Idealism In Kant And Husserl, Sebastian Luft

Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications

This paper takes a fresh look at a classical theme in philosophical scholarship, the meaning of transcendental idealism, by contrasting Kant’s and Husserl’s versions of it. I present Kant’s transcendental idealism as a theory distinguishing between the world as in-itself and as given to the experiencing human being. This reconstruction provides the backdrop for Husserl’s transcendental phenomenology as a brand of transcendental idealism expanding on Kant: through the phenomenological reduction Husserl universalizes Kant’s transcendental philosophy to an eidetic science of subjectivity. He thereby furnishes a new sense of transcendental philosophy, rephrases the quid iurisquestion, and provides a new conception of …

Aesthetics Into The Twenty-First Century, Curtis Carter

Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications

The new concerns facing aestheticians in the twenty-first century require serious attention if the discipline is to maintain continued viability as an intellectual discipline. Just as art changes as cultures develop, so must aesthetics. In support of this view is a personal account of evolving engagement with aesthetics and the factors that led to embracing change and a plurality of practices as essential to the health of aesthetic today. A brief examination of the state of aesthetics as it has evolved in the American Society for Aesthetics since its inception in the 1940s will follow. These two lines of development, …

Between The Bounds Of Experience And Divine Intuition: Kant’S Epistemic Limits And Hegel’S Ambitions, James Kreines

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

Hegel seeks to overturn Kant's conclusion that our knowledge is restricted, or that we cannot have knowledge of things as they are in themselves. Understanding this Hegelian ambition requires distinguishing two Kantian characterizations of our epistemic limits: First, we can have knowledge only within the “bounds of experience”. Second, we cannot have knowledge of objects that would be accessible only to a divine intellectual intuition, even though the faculty of reason requires us to conceive of such objects. Hegel aims to drive a wedge between these two characterizations, showing that we can have knowledge beyond Kant's bounds of experience, yet …

Book Review: Between Kant And Hegel: Lectures On German Idealism, By Dieter Henrich, James Kreines

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

Recent decades have seen a surge of interest in the development of German philosophy from Kant to Hegel. A remarkable share of responsibility for this rests with Dieter Henrich, whose influence stems from his unequaled historical learning and unfailing philosophical sophistication. In 1973, Henrich gave a course of lecture son German idealism at Harvard. David Pacini and others transcribed the lectures, Pacini edited the transcripts, and they have now been published as Between Kant and Hegel.

Those looking for a broad introduction to Henrich’s approach will find one that is both sophisticated and a pleasure to read. Specialists and …

The Inexplicability Of Kant’S Naturzweck: Kant On Teleology, Explanation And Biology, James Kreines

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

Kant’s position on teleology and biology is neither inconsistent nor obsolete; his arguments have some surprising and enduring philosophical strengths. But Kant’s account will appear weak if we muddy the waters by reading him as aiming to defend teleology by appealing to considerations popular in contemporary philosophy. Kant argues for very different conclusions: we can neither know teleological judgments of living beings to be true, nor legitimately explain living beings in teleological terms; such teleological judgment is justified only as a “problematic” guideline in our search for mechanistic explanations. These conclusions are well supported by Kant’s defense of his demanding …