Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Keyword
-
- Absurd; Aesthetics; Camus; Kierkegaard; Philosophy of love (1)
- Analytic philosophy; Direct reference; Empty names; Fiction; Gareth evans; Keith Donnellan; Language; Millianism; Nathan salmon; Negative existentials; Philosophy; Philosophy of language; Saul kripke (1)
- Apocalyptic (1)
- Chalmers; Consciousness; Intentionality; Mental content; Phenomenal; Physicalism; Representational; Representationalism (1)
- Consequentialism; Ethics; Kant; Mill; Non consequentialism; Parfit; Preservation of life; Reason; Reconciliation; Sidgwick (1)
Articles 1 - 6 of 6
Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Direct Reference And Empty Names, Benjamin Cook
Direct Reference And Empty Names, Benjamin Cook
HIM 1990-2015
The purpose of my thesis is to explore and assess recent efforts by Direct Reference Theorists to explain the phenomenon of empty names. Direct Reference theory is, roughly, the theory that the meaning of a singular term (proper name, demonstrative, etc.) is simply its referent. Certain sentences, such as negative existentials ("Santa does not exist"), and sentences in contexts of fiction ("Holmes lived on Baker Street"), present the following challenge to DR Theory: Given that the semantic value of a name is simply its referent, how are we to explain the significance and truth-evaluability of such sentences? There have been …
Reason Leads: A Reconciliation In Ethics, Stephen Oldham
Reason Leads: A Reconciliation In Ethics, Stephen Oldham
HIM 1990-2015
The use of reason appears to lead to divergent conclusions for what is right and what is good in human action. While reason is a central feature in ethical theory, there is a problem when that central feature does not lead to consistent conclusions about how to act in a given situation. Several philosophers have attempted to combine previous moral theories in order to provide a better template for human action. I contend that the use of reason is of vital import when determining the foundation for moral action and that moral theories, to be consistent with reason, should incorporate …
The Meaning Of Being In Speech: Language, Narrative, And Thought, Leah Kaplan
The Meaning Of Being In Speech: Language, Narrative, And Thought, Leah Kaplan
HIM 1990-2015
In this thesis I will follow the works of Jacques Derrida and Hans-Georg Gadamer, reconciling both thinkers by providing a reflection on the necessary and foundational conditions for the experience of meaning. A reflection on Jacques Derrida's formulations on différance, trace, absence, presence, clôture, and hospitality, alongside Gadamer's critical hermeneutics on the aesthetics of play and interpretation will open up this tension and provide a new relation for the possibility for meaning. By reconciling these two philosophers it will become apparent that the Self-Other relationship, the activ-ity of difference,and the trace, all condition a space for heterogeneity within linguistic, hermeneutic, …
The Relationship Between Consciousness And Intentionality, Jordan Bell
The Relationship Between Consciousness And Intentionality, Jordan Bell
HIM 1990-2015
Within the Philosophy of Mind two features of our mental life have been acknowledged as the most perplexing - consciousness, the phenomenal "what it is likeness" of our mental states, and intentionality, the aboutness or directedness of our mental states. As such, it has become commonplace to develop theories about these phenomena which seek to explain them naturalistically, that is, without resort to magic or miracles. Traditionally this has been done by analyzing consciousness and intentionality apart from one another. However, in more recent years the tide has turned. In contemporary theories these phenomena are typically analyzed in terms of …
Upbuilding Oppositions: Kierkegaard, Camus, And The Philosophy Of Love, Jesus Luzardo
Upbuilding Oppositions: Kierkegaard, Camus, And The Philosophy Of Love, Jesus Luzardo
HIM 1990-2015
Despite the fact that they are both known as leading figures of existentialism, the relationship between 19th century Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard and 20th century French philosopher and novelist Albert Camus has largely gone unexplored in secondary scholarship. In the few times that their relationship is discussed, focus is heavily placed on the most obvious difference between the two thinkers: their religious orientations, which tends to prevent any further analysis or discussion. Furthermore, popular conceptions of each thinker-largely informed by their most popular works, arguably Fear and Trembling and The Myth of Sisyphus, respectively-tend to depict them as pessimistic and …
Inverse Intuition: Repurposing As A Method To Create New Artifacts, To Invent New Practices, And To Produce New Knowledge, Warren Jones
Inverse Intuition: Repurposing As A Method To Create New Artifacts, To Invent New Practices, And To Produce New Knowledge, Warren Jones
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This dissertation argues that Digital Natives, rather than employing novel ways of thinking (such as those suggested by Walter Ong's concept of Second Orality), are in fact employing a way of thinking that has always existed: repurposing. Ruth Oldenziel discusses how, historically, women used "a kind of mental quality" enabling them to re-use objects in novel ways to accomplish more of life's tasks. My research led me to investigate how a wide variety of people, especially historically marginalized people, used this kind of mental quality. This dissertation explores repurposing's real world uses as well as its uses in narratives, specifically …