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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Becoming Harmonious: What Can Confucius Contribute To Our Theory Of Rights, Edgar J. Vasquez
Becoming Harmonious: What Can Confucius Contribute To Our Theory Of Rights, Edgar J. Vasquez
Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy
In the West, the core value that informs how we create and think about rights is autonomy, especially for the individual. For the ancient Chinese philosopher, Confucius, the core value to be pursued is harmony or the well-being of society as a whole. In this paper I argue that the West should also make harmony our core value. To make my case, I take influence from Confucius to look at how his theory differs from typical Western political theory. I discuss Confucius’ emphasis on duties rather than rights, the idea of citizenship as a privilege rather than a right, and …
Resentment, Will, And Moral Identity, Nicole Reid
Resentment, Will, And Moral Identity, Nicole Reid
Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy
Our everyday personal interactions with others are nothing if not complex. Accidents happen, mistakes are made, and the seamless understanding of the attitudes and actions of others doesn’t always occur. At some point an apology will need to be offered. In this essay I intend to examine the work done by an apology after an accidental transgression in mitigating unfavorable reactive attitudes like anger and resentment. This important work, I’ll argue, is more than just a societal norm. The work of an apology not only helps others to hold us in our identity as morally responsible agents, but has the …
Hope, Contentment, And Shame: The Formulation Of Agency In Children, Niamh Quinnan
Hope, Contentment, And Shame: The Formulation Of Agency In Children, Niamh Quinnan
Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy
In this paper, I examine how agency develops in children and I evaluate where parents and guardians are responsible for facilitating this development. I explain how parental scaffolding allows children to be supported by their parents to learn to hope, both as it is relevant to their growth and development, and as they begin to acquire particular skills relevant to their agency. Through what I call collaborative agency, I express the importance of parental facilitation and nurturing of the moral agency of their child so that they may better develop complete agency by adulthood. I explain the roles that hope, …
"The Algorithm Decides": Unintentional Agency Laundering & Explanation, Carson Johnston
"The Algorithm Decides": Unintentional Agency Laundering & Explanation, Carson Johnston
Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy
In this paper I explore a situation under-explored by AI researchers where those who deploy decision-making algorithms unintentionally launder their moral agency to algorithms through anthropomorphic ascriptions of their underlying architecture. Often, this kind of agency laundering occurs rather innocently, by attempting to render an otherwise opaque system transparent through simplified and analogous explanations intended to enhance the decision subject’s understanding. Consequently, when unintentional agency laundering happens, the decision subject’s agency to seek recourse for adverse outcomes is undermined in the process of laundering the data controller’s moral agency to a non-agent. This paper explores this situation as it pertains …
On Radical Moral Encroachment: Distancing Epistemology From Truth, Roshan Dahale
On Radical Moral Encroachment: Distancing Epistemology From Truth, Roshan Dahale
Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy
Rima Basu has described radical moral encroachment as a theory that detaches wronging from action and attaches it to the belief instead. Furthermore, the stakes are associated with the wrongness of the belief rather than the risk of being false. Basu believes that this form of encroachment accurately captures our modern intuition on how racism functions. However, this paper lays out objections to this form of thinking. The rebuttal includes making the distinction between assumptions, probabilities, and outright beliefs. Probabilities and assumptions cannot be equated with an outright belief. Next, there is the issue of making the wronging of another …
Letter From The Editors, Edgar J. Vasquez, John Milkovich
Letter From The Editors, Edgar J. Vasquez, John Milkovich
Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy
No abstract provided.
Descartes Meets Samkhya, Edgar James Vasquez
Descartes Meets Samkhya, Edgar James Vasquez
Senior Honors Theses and Projects
One of the great shortcomings of Cartesian mind-body dualism has been what is known as the Mind-Body Problem. Specifically, how does the mind (an immaterial substance) affect the body (a material substance) and vice versa. One of the first Indian philosophical traditions, Samkhya, provides a strict dualism as Descartes does, but does not encounter the mind-body Problem. Samkhya avoids the problem of mind-body interaction by drawing the dividing line differently than Descartes does. Instead of dividing the world into mental and physical, Samkhya divides the world into pure awareness (purusha) and everything else (prakriti). Which of course includes the mind …
Imposed Food And Its Challenges To Food Security, Zachary Tobias
Imposed Food And Its Challenges To Food Security, Zachary Tobias
Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) declares that food security exists when all people have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food. This is taken to understand food security in four measures: availability, access, utilization, and stability. The focus of this paper will be on access which concerns the affordability and allocation of the food supply (Ahteensuu & Siipi, 2016). I argue that social pressures on food choice, which I call food impositions, limit one's access to sufficient and safe foods by encouraging undereating in women and unhealthily high volumes of meat consumption in men. People …
Justice And Autonomy In Islamic Bioethics, Sarah Khaleefah
Justice And Autonomy In Islamic Bioethics, Sarah Khaleefah
Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy
Islamic bioethics acts as a normative guide to issues in the medical and scientific fields based on the religious perspective of Islam. In this paper, I will discuss one of the principles of Western biomedical ethics using this perspective. In particular, I will demonstrate how this principle should be reformulated, by Islamic understanding, into the principle of respect for justice. The principle of respect for justice can be viewed in the same way as the principle of respect for autonomy, composed of the negative obligation to refrain from actions that destabilize justice (such as causing harm to others), and the …
A Conversion To A Flourishing-Based Ethical Egoism: Discovering Morality’S Prudential Rationality, Carson Johnston
A Conversion To A Flourishing-Based Ethical Egoism: Discovering Morality’S Prudential Rationality, Carson Johnston
Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy
How do we live a moral life while also living a life of value to us? A life filled with passions, interests, and relationships? This paper tackles a possible reconciliation between morality and rational prudence that ensures a moral way of life is valuable for the agent that lives it. The author is motivated to build a moral theory that is “good for” the moral agent—an individual that has a capacity to understand the moral value and impact of their actions in relation to others. It is a theory that recognizes the human tendency to follow partial, self-interested, and typically …
On The Truth Values Of Definite Descriptions: Examining The Russell-Strawson Dialectic, Ibrahim Dagher
On The Truth Values Of Definite Descriptions: Examining The Russell-Strawson Dialectic, Ibrahim Dagher
Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy
A well-known critique of Russell’s Theory of Descriptions, offered by P.F. Strawson, is that a central tenet of Russell’s theory, the claim that any particular utterance of a sentence with a non-referring definite description will be either true or false, is mistaken. Strawson provides a similarly well-known argument in support of this claim which at least in part rests on an analysis of such utterances as implying or presupposing, rather than asserting, parts of the logically existential proposition that Russell takes such sentences to be. For Strawson, propositions such as ‘the x is p’ instead presuppose ‘there is an x’ …
Being-In-Love: Kierkegaard And Existential Love, John Milkovich
Being-In-Love: Kierkegaard And Existential Love, John Milkovich
Senior Honors Theses and Projects
In this essay, I argue for an adaptation of Plato and Kierkegaard’s conceptions of love based on a style of analysis I call “existential analysis.” The existential analysis requires our conceptions of things to exclude any reference to view-from-nowhere concepts. Plato and Kierkegaard both make use of view-from-nowhere concepts in their theories of love. I argue that specific features of each of these theories–namely the pursuit for infinite beauty, the Absolute Paradox, and the other-self–can be removed from their respective view-from-nowhere concepts and reinterpreted to serve as a possible foundation for a future conception of love generally understood. Although Plato …
Wittgenstein On Reasonable Doubt And Calling Bullshit, Frank Hernández
Wittgenstein On Reasonable Doubt And Calling Bullshit, Frank Hernández
Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy
In this essay I analyze a passage from Ludwig Wittgenstein’s On Certainty. This excerpt contains the expression “O, rubbish!” (Ach Unsinn), which I consider to be closely related to the notions of “bullshit” developed by Harry Frankfurt and Gerald A. Cohen. The relevance of this essay is illustrated with lively examples, both related to contemporary society and identified by Wittgenstein about 70 years ago. The paper is organized in six sections containing 1) an introduction to the topic, 2) an explanation of “bullshit” as found in the works of Frankfurt and Cohen, 3) an explanation of Wittgenstein’s work on …
Palouse Prairie: Ethics Behind The Loss Of An Ecosystem, Hailey V. Smith
Palouse Prairie: Ethics Behind The Loss Of An Ecosystem, Hailey V. Smith
Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy
There is an ethical tradeoff between growing high-yield agricultural products and the integrity and goodness of an ecosystem. Why must we protect an ecosystem and prevent extinction of other organisms? One might claim that the human benefit gained from environmental destructions for the purpose of agriculture is more valuable than any life or structure that existed in the ecosystem. In the case of the Palouse Prairie in Eastern Washington, early white settlers in the area valued the monetary gains from agriculture more than any goodness of an intact ecosystem. Unlike the benefits gained from farming (which could be attained through …
On The Deconstruction Of Metaphysics: Heidegger’S Critical Ontology In Being And Time, Marshall Pierce
On The Deconstruction Of Metaphysics: Heidegger’S Critical Ontology In Being And Time, Marshall Pierce
Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy
Martin Heidegger’s Being and Time offers a sustained critique of the Western philosophical tradition. Specifically, Heidegger describes his project as a “deconstruction” of prior ontological systems, whose goal is a positive recuperation and reformulation of the “question of being.” This question, Heidegger suggests, has been obscured and distorted by prior metaphysics. In Division One of Being and Time, Heidegger explicates his own ontology in a critical mode, positioning himself against various canonical figures while forging his own, novel conception of the “being of beings.” This paper offers a focused exposition of Being and Time’s first Division, tracing the …
Laughter As A Critical Tool For Liberation, Jay Nelson
Laughter As A Critical Tool For Liberation, Jay Nelson
Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy
No abstract provided.
Hegel, Marx, And The Realization Of The Self In Work: Towards A Humanistic Ontology Of Labor, Omar Khali
Hegel, Marx, And The Realization Of The Self In Work: Towards A Humanistic Ontology Of Labor, Omar Khali
Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy
It has become evident in advanced capitalism that the worker’s relation between their labor and their selfhood remains unclear and distorted. For many, labor is merely a means for putting food on the table and a roof over their head. This does not mean, however, that labor in itself gives rise to this prevailing relation. The objective of this essay is to uncover a fundamental ontological characteristic of labor; namely, its ability to reflect one’s subjectivity and capabilities as a human being. I attempt to demonstrate, through thinkers such as Karl Marx and G. W. F. Hegel, that the worker's …
A Case For Creating Clearly Condemnatory Status Of Wrongdoers, Chloe Berger
A Case For Creating Clearly Condemnatory Status Of Wrongdoers, Chloe Berger
Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy
In recent work discussing how we should address public statues of wrongdoers, people typically argue for either removing statues or retaining them, often with the addition of a contextualizing plaque, counter-commemoration, or other alteration.1 In contrast to mere removal or modification, I argue that one permissible alternative is to create clearly condemnatory statues of wrongdoers, but only for wrongdoers with already existing statues. That is, we need not create statues of every wrongdoer; we should only create them following removal of the originals. While my arguments apply to wrongdoers generally, including confederates, colonizers, and genocidaires, I focus on Columbus as …
Letter From The Editor, Mac Neaville
Letter From The Editor, Mac Neaville
Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy
No abstract provided.
Acta Cogitata - Volume 9, Mac Neaville, W. John Koolage
Acta Cogitata - Volume 9, Mac Neaville, W. John Koolage
Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy
No abstract provided.
Teaching, Learning, And Everyday Folk Psychology, Natalia Anderson
Teaching, Learning, And Everyday Folk Psychology, Natalia Anderson
Senior Honors Theses and Projects
No abstract provided.
What Makes An Oppressor? A Response To Ann Cudd's Analyzing Oppression, Marri Visscher
What Makes An Oppressor? A Response To Ann Cudd's Analyzing Oppression, Marri Visscher
Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy
Ann Cudd’s Analyzing Oppression ends on the question of resistance, where she details how each social group identified within oppressive systems should take up the project of creating a more just social structure. To do this, Cudd distinguishes between the oppressed, the merely privileged, and the oppressors, each with their own unique responsibilities for dismantling oppression. I find Cudd’s definition of ‘oppressors’ to be too narrowly tailored, and am arguing that seeking to increase or maintain one’s privilege relative to another group is sufficient to qualify an individual as an ‘oppressor’. Additionally, I will be expanding Cudd’s analysis of deformed …
Originalism: More Than Mere Foolishness Or Fraud, Levi Durham
Originalism: More Than Mere Foolishness Or Fraud, Levi Durham
Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy
Over the last few decades, the Supreme Court has become increasingly divided along ideological lines, and the outcomes of controversial issues are often entirely dependent on whether the conservative or the liberal justices have a majority. When deciding difficult cases, Supreme Court Justices seem to have little common ground to serve as the basis of their decisions. There is frequently no agreed upon method for deciding the Constitutionality of actions, statutes, and lower court rulings. One method that could be part of the answer is originalism: the doctrine that states that the meaning of the Constitution is unchanging. However, originalism …
How The Self-Serving Attributional Bias Affects Student Learning, Natalie Anderson
How The Self-Serving Attributional Bias Affects Student Learning, Natalie Anderson
Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy
The self-serving attributional bias (SSAB) is a very common human bias. The SSAB, however, is at odds with being a good learner, since learning (often) requires learning from failure. In this paper, I explain controlled failure as part of good learning activity design. This design (among others) should include a metacognitive component wherein students are asked to learn about learning from failure, which requires them to come face to face with their own SSAB. In order to alleviate this conflict, I advocate for two designs found in the teaching literature: after-event reviews and guided reflection.
Is There A Case For Permissivism?, Jennifer Kuo
Is There A Case For Permissivism?, Jennifer Kuo
Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy
This paper discusses Schoenfield’s arguments in favor of permissivism as discussed in “Permission to Believe,” including its main intuitive and theoretical motivations. The focus is specifically on critically evaluating the arguments combating objections that cite permissivists’ worrying arbitrariness in determining a truth-conducive method to lead to a conclusion based on a body of evidence. I argue that Schoenfield, in her defense of permissivism, uses instances of peer disagreement that do not qualify as permissivism due to inconclusive evidence, and that she does a better job showing alternative epistemic attitudes as implausible rather than strengthening the case for permissivism by overcoming …
Hegel's Two Faces Of Patriotism: War And The Modern Liberal State, Ben Schwabe
Hegel's Two Faces Of Patriotism: War And The Modern Liberal State, Ben Schwabe
Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy
A survey of the actions and rhetoric of the most influential contemporary international governance organizations would suggest that the greatest possible attainment of world peace is the highest goal of the modern world. The largest strain of modern political philosophy tends to concur: Hobbes’ commonwealth’s existence is justified by its provision of an escape from the state of war, Locke too seeks peace to protect life, liberty and property, and Kant lays out most explicitly the project and conditions for perpetual peace. Courage, among other virtues associated with the act of war, falls out of favor in the moral philosophy …
Poetry As Meditation: Buddhism, Daosim, And Han Shan, Emily Hunt
Poetry As Meditation: Buddhism, Daosim, And Han Shan, Emily Hunt
Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy
A role of poetry is to relieve the existential weight of one’s existence. For many, poetry is a means of survival, not a luxury. It is not readily seen as something that preserves humanity. Yet, it does. The role of the poet is to express more lucidly what is concealed beneath the skin. Language exists because one has an innate need to establish things that have not been previously established. Words are not founded in reality, and what is said is hardly ever what is meant. However, one does not notice this when she is merely perceiving the world around …
Letter From The Editor, Cristóbal Arellano Borges, W. John Koolage
Letter From The Editor, Cristóbal Arellano Borges, W. John Koolage
Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy
No abstract provided.
Cover Art, Katherine Ferran
Cover Art, Katherine Ferran
Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy
No abstract provided.
The Shapes Of Solidarity Through Difference, Bella Brown
The Shapes Of Solidarity Through Difference, Bella Brown
Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy
The following paper will track the subtle and not-so-subtle differences between various forms of feminism, specifically the differences between Indigenous and white feminism. Though the differences can outnumber the similarities, I do not see this as a discouragement for forming intercultural bonds for a peaceful coexistence, in fact this is the opportunity for solidarity to change the perception and reach of feminism as a movement. Feminism has the potential for reaching a broader audience without minimizing the differences of separate groups. This paper does not call for the aggregation of different groups in order to further the goals of white …