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Articles 1 - 30 of 78
Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Nepantla And Mestizaje: A Phenomenological Analysis Of The Mestizx Historical Consciousness, Jorge Alfredo Montiel
Nepantla And Mestizaje: A Phenomenological Analysis Of The Mestizx Historical Consciousness, Jorge Alfredo Montiel
Dissertations (1934 -)
My dissertation consists of two main Parts. Part I draws from Edmund Husserl’s notion of the “historical a priori” and from seminal decolonial thinker Anibal Quijano’s formulation of “coloniality” to offer a framework for what I call the “coloniality of history.” Chapter 1 draws from Husserl’s and from contemporary analyses of the “historical a priori” as a historical horizon of conceivability for subject and truth formation. Chapter 2 brings this phenomenological analysis to interpret Quijano’s formulation of “coloniality” as a historical horizon of conceivability and to offer a framework for what I call the “coloniality of history.” This framework shows …
The Categories Argument For The Real Distinction Between Being And Essence: Avicenna, Aquinas, And Their Greek Sources, Nathaniel Taylor
The Categories Argument For The Real Distinction Between Being And Essence: Avicenna, Aquinas, And Their Greek Sources, Nathaniel Taylor
Dissertations (1934 -)
There is a distinctively Avicennian way of understanding the categories to be found in the works of Thomas Aquinas that vindicates Aquinas’s early argument for the distinction between being and essence. Two of the most important and influential Aquinas scholars in the twentieth century recognized the roots of this Avicennian way in Aquinas, but neither Etienne Gilson and Cornelio Fabro made good on their insights. In this dissertation, I trace this Avicennian way through its sources in the Greek commentators and demonstrate how it provides the necessary insight into the structure and nature of the categories that render Aquinas’s Genus …
Emmanuel Levinas And Jacques Maritain On The Student-Teacher Relationship In Catholic Higher Education, Timothy Rothhaar
Emmanuel Levinas And Jacques Maritain On The Student-Teacher Relationship In Catholic Higher Education, Timothy Rothhaar
Dissertations (1934 -)
The purpose of this dissertation is to serve as a stepping stone to a larger philosophy of the Catholic university. Its thesis argues that Catholic universities have lost their way by means of faith, identity, and ethical crises, and in order to recover these we must return to the primordial student-teacher relationship embedded in a Catholic philosophical anthropology. Beginning in the mid-20th century, with roots at the turn of the century, Catholic universities took a decided secular move away from their theological roots beginning with Fr. Theodore Hesburgh’s reimagining of the Catholic university as a corporate entity. As a result, …
Looking Through Whiteness: Objectivity, Racism, Method, And Responsibility, Philip Mack
Looking Through Whiteness: Objectivity, Racism, Method, And Responsibility, Philip Mack
Dissertations (1934 -)
Does a white philosopher have anything of value to offer to the philosophy of race and racism? If this philosophical subfield must embrace subjective experience, why should we value the perspective of white philosophers whose racial identity is often occluded by racial normativity and who lack substantive experiences of being on the receiving end of racism? Further, if we should be committed to experience, in what sense can the philosophy of race and racism be “objective”? What should that word mean?Tackling this question first, “objective” should at least mean general, that the ideas of the literature can be coherently integrated. …
The Empathetic Autistic: A Phenomenological Look At The Feminine Experience, Dana Fritz
The Empathetic Autistic: A Phenomenological Look At The Feminine Experience, Dana Fritz
Dissertations (1934 -)
Western philosophy has asserted that in order to be a person, one must be rational. This idea was not challenged until the nineteenth century. One school to challenge this notion was phenomenology, which asserted that what made one a person was their ability to empathize. While the founder of the school, Edmund Husserl, did not assert that the ability to decipher nonverbal cues was necessary in order to empathize, several of his followers did. This emphasis on deciphering nonverbal cues proved problematic for some populations, especially the Autistic. Autism is a neurological condition which makes it difficult to decipher nonverbal …
When To Trust Authoritative Testimony: Generation And Transmission Of Knowledge In Saadya Gaon, Al-Ghazālī And Thomas Aquinas, Brett A. Yardley
When To Trust Authoritative Testimony: Generation And Transmission Of Knowledge In Saadya Gaon, Al-Ghazālī And Thomas Aquinas, Brett A. Yardley
Dissertations (1934 -)
People have become suspicious of authority, including epistemic authorities, i.e., knowledge experts, even on matters individuals are unqualified to adjudicate (e.g., climate change, vaccines, or the shape and age of the earth). This is problematic since most of our knowledge comes from trusting a speaker—whether scholars reading experts, students listening to teachers, children obeying their parents, or pedestrians inquiring of strangers—such that the knowledge transmitted is rarely personally verified. Despite the recent development of social epistemology and theories of testimony, this is not a new problem. Ancient and Medieval philosophers largely took it for granted that most human knowledge primarily …
Concerning Aristotelian Animal Essences, Damon Andrew Watson
Concerning Aristotelian Animal Essences, Damon Andrew Watson
Dissertations (1934 -)
In this dissertation I attempt to clarify Aristotle’s notion of essence. In particular, I focus on the essence of animal substances. When looking at Aristotle’s biological works and works like the Metaphysics it becomes perplexing how the accounts of animal essences in both are to constitute a unified view. In Parts of Animals the emphasis seems to be on definitions of animals that are rich enough to further explanatory aims. It is hard to see how such rich but messy definitions will be amenable to the strategies for a definition’s unity as are given in the Metaphysics. I argue that …
Cosmic City - Cosmic Teleology: A Reading Of Metaphysics Λ 10 And Politics I 2, Brandon Henrigillis
Cosmic City - Cosmic Teleology: A Reading Of Metaphysics Λ 10 And Politics I 2, Brandon Henrigillis
Dissertations (1934 -)
The goal of my project is to provide a reading of Metaphysics Λ 10. Λ 10 states that there is an order in the cosmos, or a cosmic nature. The problem for the interpreter of Aristotle is how to make sense of this claim given Aristotle’s arguments elsewhere regarding nature/substance and the priority of substances over the parts of a substance. To explain what Aristotle means when he states that there is a cosmic nature and arrangement, I first examine the army and household analogies offered by Aristotle in Λ 10. I contend that the household analogy in particular provides …
Al-Fārābī Metaphysics, And The Construction Of Social Knowledge: Is Deception Warranted If It Leads To Happiness?, Nicholas Andrew Oschman
Al-Fārābī Metaphysics, And The Construction Of Social Knowledge: Is Deception Warranted If It Leads To Happiness?, Nicholas Andrew Oschman
Dissertations (1934 -)
When questioning whether political deception can be ethically warranted, two competing intuitions jump to the fore. First, political deception is a fact of human life, used in the realpolitik of governance. Second, the ethical warrant of truth asserts itself as inexorably and indefatigably preferable to falsehood. Unfortunately, a cursory examination of the history of philosophy reveals a paucity of models to marry these basic intuitions. Some thinkers (e.g., Augustine, Aquinas, Grotius, Kant, Mill, and Rawls) privilege the truth by neglecting the realpolitik, i.e., the truth is inviolate. Others (e.g., Machiavelli, Bentham, and the often infamous caché of 20th century dictators) …
The Epistemology Of Disagreement: Hume, Kant, And The Current Debate, Robert Kyle Whitaker
The Epistemology Of Disagreement: Hume, Kant, And The Current Debate, Robert Kyle Whitaker
Dissertations (1934 -)
The epistemological issue of disagreement comprises several related problems which arise in relation to disagreeing with another person. The central questions at issue are: (1) Can a body of evidence confer rationality on opposed propositions? (2) What is the relevance of unshareable evidence to disagreement? (3) What are one’s epistemic responsibilities in the context of disagreement? I consider several arguments from the recent disagreement literature which suggest that reasonable disagreements between people who have shared their evidence and are epistemic peers--i.e., they are equally informed about the disputed issue, and are roughly equal with respect to intelligence, thoughtfulness, carefulness, alertness, …
The Fantastic Structure Of Freedom: Sartre, Freud, And Lacan, Gregory A. Trotter
The Fantastic Structure Of Freedom: Sartre, Freud, And Lacan, Gregory A. Trotter
Dissertations (1934 -)
This dissertation reassesses the complex philosophical relationship between Sartre and psychoanalysis. Most scholarship on this topic focuses on Sartre’s criticisms of the unconscious as anathema both to his conception of the human psyche as devoid of any hidden depths or mental compartments and, correlatively, his account of human freedom. Many philosophers conclude that there is little common ground between Sartrean existentialism and psychoanalytic theory. I argue, on the contrary, that by shifting the emphasis from concerns about the nature of the unconscious to questions about the role of imagination in psychical life, we can see that Sartre and Freudian-Lacanian psychoanalytic …
Re-Evaluating Augustinian Fatalism Through The Eastern And Western Distinction Between God's Essence And Energies, Stephen John Plecnik
Re-Evaluating Augustinian Fatalism Through The Eastern And Western Distinction Between God's Essence And Energies, Stephen John Plecnik
Dissertations (1934 -)
In this dissertation, I will examine the problem of theological fatalism in St. Augustine and, specifically, whether or not Augustine was philosophically justified in his belief that his views on divine grace and human freedom could be harmonized. As is well-known, beginning with his second response To Simplician (ca. 396) and continuing through his works against the semi-Pelagians (ca. 426-429), Augustine espoused the Pauline doctrine of all-inclusive grace: that the fallen will’s ability to accomplish the good is totally a function of God’s elective grace. What, then, does the fallen will do to work out its own salvation? There is …
The Province Of Conceptual Reason: Hegel's Post-Kantian Rationalism, William Clark Wolf
The Province Of Conceptual Reason: Hegel's Post-Kantian Rationalism, William Clark Wolf
Dissertations (1934 -)
In this dissertation, I seek to explain G.W.F. Hegel’s view that human accessible conceptual content can provide knowledge about the nature or essence of things. I call this view “Conceptual Transparency.” It finds its historical antecedent in the views of eighteenth century German rationalists, which were strongly criticized by Immanuel Kant. I argue that Hegel explains Conceptual Transparency in such a way that preserves many implications of German rationalism, but in a form that is largely compatible with Kant’s criticisms of the original rationalist version. After providing background on Hegel’s relationship to the traditional rationalist theory of concepts and Kant’s …
Care Of The Sexual Self: Askesis As A Route To Sex Education, Shaun Douglas Miller
Care Of The Sexual Self: Askesis As A Route To Sex Education, Shaun Douglas Miller
Dissertations (1934 -)
In adolescent sex education, the contemporary debate has developed into two camps: the paternalistic view and the liberal view. I argue that both sides of the camp have been too focused on actions and behavior and are assuming a heteronormative background. This dissertation argues that the way to take care of the self is through exercises, techniques, self-discipline, and self-cultivation—what the ancient Greeks called áskēsis. By applying áskēsis to sex education, students will gain the character of taking care of the sexual self and have a robust outlook of themselves via sexuality.After looking at countless syllabi, I reduce three …
'Our Feet Are Mired In The Same Soil': Deepening Democracy With The Political Virtue Of Sympathetic Inquiry, Jennifer Lynn Kiefer Fenton
'Our Feet Are Mired In The Same Soil': Deepening Democracy With The Political Virtue Of Sympathetic Inquiry, Jennifer Lynn Kiefer Fenton
Dissertations (1934 -)
This dissertation puts American philosophers and social reformers, Jane Addams (1860-1935) and John Dewey (1859-1952), in conversation with contemporary social and political philosopher, Iris Marion Young (1949-2006), to argue that an account of deliberative equality must make conceptual space to name the problem of ‘communicatively structured deliberative inequality’. I argue that in order for participatory democracy theory to imagine and construct genuinely inclusive deliberative spaces, it must be grounded in a relational ontology and pragmatist feminist social epistemology. The literature has largely developed deliberative inequality in terms of access (e.g., participation costs) and ‘impoverished capacities’ for political participation (e.g., political-process …
Humor, Power And Culture: A New Theory On The Experience And Ethics Of Humor, Jennifer Marra
Humor, Power And Culture: A New Theory On The Experience And Ethics Of Humor, Jennifer Marra
Dissertations (1934 -)
The aim of this dissertation is to offer a new theory of humor that takes seriously both the universality and power of humor in culture. In the first chapter, I summarize historical and contemporary theories, and show how each either 1) fails to give any definition of humor, 2) fails as a theory of humor, and/or 3) underappreciates, dismisses, or does not consider the power of humor in experience. The second chapter explains the failures of prior theories by understanding the problem in terms of Ernst Cassirer’s philosophy of symbolic forms. These forms of culture are perspectives through which we …
Towards A Philosophy Of The Musical Experience: Phenomenology, Culture, And Ethnomusicology In Conversation, J. Tyler Friedman
Towards A Philosophy Of The Musical Experience: Phenomenology, Culture, And Ethnomusicology In Conversation, J. Tyler Friedman
Dissertations (1934 -)
This dissertation engages the questions and methodologies of phenomenology, the philosophy of culture, the philosophy of music and ethnomusicology in order to investigate the significance of music in human life. The systematic orientation of Ernst Cassirer’s philosophy of symbolic forms provides the overarching framework that positions the approach in chapter one. Following Cassirer, art in general and music in particular are not regarded as enjoyable yet dispensable pastimes, but rather as fundamental ways of experiencing the world as intuitive forms and sensations. Establishing the ontological significance of music entails unpacking the sui generis experience of time, space and subjectivity that …
Hume On Thick And Thin Causation, Alexander Bozzo
Hume On Thick And Thin Causation, Alexander Bozzo
Dissertations (1934 -)
Hume is known for his claim that our idea of causation is nothing beyond constant conjunction, and that our idea of necessary connection is nothing beyond a felt determination of the mind. In short, Hume endorses a "thin" conception of causation and necessary connection. In recent years, however, a sizeable number of philosophers have come to view Hume as someone who believes in the existence of thick causal connections - that is, causal connections that allow one to infer a priori the effect from the cause, and vice versa. Hume doesn't wish to deny such connections, said philosopher's claim, he …
The Parable As Mirror: An Examination Of The Use Of Parables In The Works Of Kierkegaard, Russell Hamer
The Parable As Mirror: An Examination Of The Use Of Parables In The Works Of Kierkegaard, Russell Hamer
Dissertations (1934 -)
This dissertation focuses on an exploration of the use of parables in the works of Soren Kierkegaard. While some work has been done on Kierkegaard’s poetic style, very little attention has been paid to his metaphors, despite their prevalent use in his works. Much of the scholarship instead treats his parables as mere examples of philosophical concepts. In this work, I argue that Kierkegaard’s parables function primarily to cause the reader to see him or herself truly. The parables work like mirrors, reflecting our true selves back onto ourself. In this way, the parables prompt Kierkegaard’s readers to overcome the …
Developing Capabilities: A Feminist Discourse Ethics Approach, Chad Kleist
Developing Capabilities: A Feminist Discourse Ethics Approach, Chad Kleist
Dissertations (1934 -)
This dissertation attempts to preserve the central tenets of a global moral theory called “the capabilities approach” as defended by Martha Nussbaum, but to do so in a way that better realizes its own goals of identifying gender injustices and gaining crosscultural support by providing an alternative defense of it. Capabilities assess an individual’s well-being based on what she is able to do (actions) and who she is able to be (states of existence). Nussbaum grounds her theory in the intuitive idea that each and every person is worthy of equal respect and dignity. The problem with grounding a theory …
The Social And Historical Subject In Sartre And Foucault And Its Implications For Healthcare Ethics, Kimberly Siobhan Engels
The Social And Historical Subject In Sartre And Foucault And Its Implications For Healthcare Ethics, Kimberly Siobhan Engels
Dissertations (1934 -)
This dissertation explores Jean Paul Sartre’s and Michel Foucault’s view that subjectivity is socially and historically constituted. Additionally, it explores their corresponding ethical thought and how these viewpoints can be applied to ethical issues in the delivery of healthcare. Sartre and Foucault both hold the view that human beings as subjects are not just participants or spectators in social practices, rather, they become subjects with ontological possibilities through their interaction with these practices. In Chapter One, I trace Sartre’s views on subjectivity in his two major works Being and Nothingness and The Critique of Dialectical Reason, Volume 1, showing how …
Contextualizing Aquinas's Ontology Of Soul: An Analysis Of His Arabic And Neoplatonic Sources, Nathan Mclain Blackerby
Contextualizing Aquinas's Ontology Of Soul: An Analysis Of His Arabic And Neoplatonic Sources, Nathan Mclain Blackerby
Dissertations (1934 -)
Contemporary scholarship has generally focused on two major influences that have shaped Thomas Aquinas’ account of the soul. The first set of scholarship focuses on how doctrinal concerns and the Augustinian and Scholastic traditions defined the central issue that Aquinas faced, viz., explaining how the soul can be treated as an individual substance that has an essential relationship to a body. The second set of scholarship focuses on Aquinas’s employment of Aristotle’s works in his attempt to resolve the issue. Contemporary assessments of Aquinas’s theory of the soul-body relation therefore take Aquinas to be offering a solution that follows directly …
Hegel And The Problem Of The Multiplicity Of Conflicting Philosophies, Matthew M. Peters
Hegel And The Problem Of The Multiplicity Of Conflicting Philosophies, Matthew M. Peters
Dissertations (1934 -)
As Hegel notes in his long Introduction to the Lectures on the History of Philosophy, the problem of the multiplicity of conflicting philosophies presents a particularly urgent problem to the very discipline of philosophy itself. For, from the viewpoint of what Hegel would refer to as “ordinary consciousness”, the fact that there are so many different philosophies which seem constantly to disagree can only lead to one conclusion: philosophy itself is a futile enterprise. Hegel, perhaps more than any previous philosopher, was sensitive to this charge of futility levelled against philosophy. In response, he provided an explanatory account of the …
Aquinas, Averroes, And The Human Will, Traci Ann Phillipson
Aquinas, Averroes, And The Human Will, Traci Ann Phillipson
Dissertations (1934 -)
Scholars have largely read Aquinas’ critique of Averroes on the issue of will and moral responsibility in a positive light. They tend to accept Aquinas’ account of Averroes’ theory and its shortcomings, failing to read Averroes’ theory in its own right or take a critical eye to Aquinas’ understanding of Averroes. This dissertation will provide that critical eye by addressing four key issues associated with the location and function of the will: (A) the nature of the Intellects as both separate and “in the soul,” (B) the notion that the Intellects are “form for us,” (C) the relationship between the …
Investigations Of Worth: Towards A Phenomenology Of Values, Dale Hobbs Jr.
Investigations Of Worth: Towards A Phenomenology Of Values, Dale Hobbs Jr.
Dissertations (1934 -)
The purpose of this project is to provide a clear and compelling account of the existence and nature of values within a phenomenological context. Values such as beauty or virtue are certainly a major part of our experiential lives. After all, what would life be worth if we could never describe a painting as beautiful, for example, or a beverage as delicious? Nevertheless, understanding what these values are on their own terms has historically been a rather difficult task. Certainly, they are not ordinary objects that could be seen or heard, touched or tasted, like the physical objects to which …
Developing Capabilities: A Feminist Discourse Ethics Approach, Chad Kleist
Developing Capabilities: A Feminist Discourse Ethics Approach, Chad Kleist
Dissertations (1934 -)
This dissertation attempts to preserve the central tenets of a global moral theory called “the capabilities approach” as defended by Martha Nussbaum, but to do so in a way that better realizes its own goals of identifying gender injustices and gaining cross-cultural support by providing an alternative defense of it. Capabilities assess an individual’s well-being based on what she is able to do (actions) and who she is able to be (states of existence). Nussbaum grounds her theory in the intuitive idea that each and every person is worthy of equal respect and dignity. The problem with grounding a theory …
Living Within The Sacred Tension: Paradox And Its Significance For Christian Existence In The Thought Of Søren Kierkegaard, Matthew Thomas Nowachek
Living Within The Sacred Tension: Paradox And Its Significance For Christian Existence In The Thought Of Søren Kierkegaard, Matthew Thomas Nowachek
Dissertations (1934 -)
This dissertation presents an in-depth investigation into the notion of paradox and its significance for Christian existence in the thought of the Danish philosopher and theologian Søren Kierkegaard. The primary aim of the study is to explore and to develop various expressions of paradox in Kierkegaard’s authorship in order to demonstrate the manner by which Kierkegaard employs paradox as a means of challenging his Christendom contemporaries to exist as authentic Christians, and more specifically to enter into the existential state I am identifying in this project as living within the sacred tension. With this aim in mind, I begin with …
The Effect Of Orthodontic Appliances On The Evaluation Of The Professionalism And Esthetics Of An Adult Employee, Laura Hanson Vaccariello
The Effect Of Orthodontic Appliances On The Evaluation Of The Professionalism And Esthetics Of An Adult Employee, Laura Hanson Vaccariello
Master's Theses (2009 -)
This study explored the influence of fixed and removable orthodontic appliances on participants’ ratings of the job performance, intelligence, and attractiveness of an adult female. Ninety-four adult subjects were recruited from the Graduate School of Management at Marquette University. Each subject received an identical employee performance review with an attached photograph of a female employee. The smile of the photo was manipulated to represent one of four conditions: no orthodontic appliance, a metal orthodontic appliance, a ceramic orthodontic appliance, or a clear aligner. Subjects then rated the employee on three continuous Likert scales. Ratings of job performance, intelligence, and attractiveness …
Moral Imagination And Adorno: Before And After Auschwitz, Catlyn Origitano
Moral Imagination And Adorno: Before And After Auschwitz, Catlyn Origitano
Dissertations (1934 -)
In the aftermath of national or international tragedies, appeals for action such as, “Never Forget” or “Never Again” are ubiquitous. Theodor Adorno makes a similar call in the wake of the Holocaust, proclaiming that all education should be focused on the prevention of another genocide. While most would agree with such a statement, practically how do we respond to such a call, specifically in light of Adorno’s work? Answering this question is at the heart of this project and I argue that imaginative memorials can fulfill Adorno’s criteria for post-Auschwitz education. I first present a theory of moral imagination by …
Nature, Feminism, And Flourishing: Human Nature And The Feminist Ethics Of Flourishing, Celeste D. Harvey
Nature, Feminism, And Flourishing: Human Nature And The Feminist Ethics Of Flourishing, Celeste D. Harvey
Dissertations (1934 -)
This dissertation examines the viability of a feminist ethic of flourishing. The possibility of a eudaimonist, or flourishing-based, ethic adapted for the needs of feminist ethics and politics has recently been raised by a number of feminist moral philosophers. However, in these discussions, the degree to which an ethic of flourishing requires a substantive conception of human nature has not been adequately addressed. Flourishing-based ethical theories appear to require a substantive account of the kind of thing whose flourishing is to be promoted, while contemporary academic feminism is characterized by a strong suspicion toward claims about human nature. Chapter one …