Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Keyword
-
- Epistemology (2)
- Altruism (1)
- Applied ethics (1)
- Artifact (1)
- Belief Formation (1)
-
- Benevolence (1)
- Broken windows (1)
- Charles Mills (1)
- Classical theism. (1)
- Coincidence (1)
- Common point of view (1)
- Conceptual truths (1)
- Contiguity (1)
- Divine immutability (1)
- Divine simplicity (1)
- Epistemic safety (1)
- Evolution of morality (1)
- Evolutionary theory (1)
- Exaptation (1)
- Hume (1)
- Infralapsarianism (1)
- Intention (1)
- Intuition Critique (1)
- John Davenant (1)
- John Rawls (1)
- Just War (1)
- Just force (1)
- Just war tradition (1)
- Knowledge as a Factive Mental State (1)
- Liberal political theory (1)
Articles 1 - 7 of 7
Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Public Artifacts, Empirical Vulnerability And Descriptive Metaphysics, Blake Davenport
Public Artifacts, Empirical Vulnerability And Descriptive Metaphysics, Blake Davenport
Theses
Herein I argue that Amie Thomasson’s account of public artifacts is empirically vulnerable. I first identify the descriptive claims that feature in Thomasson’s argument and then outline an experimental framework in which the accuracy of those claims can be evaluated. I conclude with some brief remarks on the possible implications of my approach for Thomasson’s account, and some thoughts on whether an experimental approach to evaluating projects in descriptive metaphysics might be valuable more broadly.
The Nature Of God & Predestination In John Davenant's Dissertatio De Praedestinatione Et Reprobatione, Jonathan Roberts
The Nature Of God & Predestination In John Davenant's Dissertatio De Praedestinatione Et Reprobatione, Jonathan Roberts
Theses
This paper is an exposition and defense of John Davenant's critique of the lapsarian understanding of the ordering of God's decrees. I evaluate Davenant's use of theology proper in his critique of said debate and contend that if Davenant is correct about divine simplicity and divine immutability, his critique of lapsarianism is successful.
Realist Nonideal Theory: The Intuition Critique, Reflective Equilibrium And The Role Of Morality In Politics, Danny R. Underwood Ii
Realist Nonideal Theory: The Intuition Critique, Reflective Equilibrium And The Role Of Morality In Politics, Danny R. Underwood Ii
Theses
In this paper, I explain political realist Raymond Geuss’ critique of John Rawls concerning his use of intuitions when developing a political philosophy. Rawls’ justice as fairness, due to its reliance on moral intuitions, fails to achieve the theory's purported aim and has the effect of affirming the status quo. I use Rawls’ idea of reflective equilibrium, where our theoretical principles are checked against our commitments until a satisfactory balance is reached, as an explanatory framework to discuss various forms of political philosophy. By adopting this framework, the disputes between various approaches to political philosophy are reducible to which initial …
Degrees Of Altruism As Dependent Upon Degrees Of Relations, Bobbi Jackson
Degrees Of Altruism As Dependent Upon Degrees Of Relations, Bobbi Jackson
Theses
In David Hume's A Treatise of Human Nature (1738), he asserts that humans act most altruistically toward people in the closest relations to us, e.g., in family or friendship relations, and somewhat less so toward those who are merely in our own ethnic group, of our own nationality, etc., and least altruistically toward people in the most distant relations to us. But, current empirical data appears to indicate vast multitudes of exceptions to Hume's claim. The purpose of this paper is to attempt to determine the cause of this apparent conflict and suggest potential solutions that might allow Hume's theory …
Soldier, Officer, Citizen: Applying Just War Theory To Police Use Of Force, Benjamin N. Wisniewski
Soldier, Officer, Citizen: Applying Just War Theory To Police Use Of Force, Benjamin N. Wisniewski
Theses
A police officer's badge is the emblem of a shield, meant to protect and serve citizens from violence and crime. Yet today, so many citizens feel their shield is absent, if not weaponized against them. This perception of malfeasance has become evident in the waves of outrage and protest that followed high profile applications of coercive and lethal force by the police in recent years. One need only look at the armor and munitions police deploy in the searches of citizens and on perimeters of protests as evidence that the tools of the police mission are converging with those of …
The Epistemic Status Of Moral Conceptual Truths, Kara D. Boschert
The Epistemic Status Of Moral Conceptual Truths, Kara D. Boschert
Theses
Evolutionary debunking arguments assume that morality could, conceptually speaking, be about anything. A response to this contention is that there are some moral conceptual truths which counter assertions that we could be in error about basic moral truths. According to proponents of moral conceptual truths, some things, by definition, cannot count as moral. Putative moral conceptual truths, such as “stealing is wrong,” are thought to enjoy a privileged epistemic status because anyone who denies them forfeits their ability to engage in competent moral reasoning. This paper explores whether moral conceptual truths can offer a satisfactory response to the debunkers’ premise …
Justify This! The Roles Of Epistemic Justification, Tamala L. Endriss
Justify This! The Roles Of Epistemic Justification, Tamala L. Endriss
Theses
Since Gettier's (1963) paper, epistemology has exploded with ideas of how to overcome cases where an agent has a justified true belief, and yet, does not have knowledge. Some epistemologists have tried to escape the Gettier Problem by stating knowledge is true belief plus something else, whereby removing justification, which seems to be the key player in Gettier Problems. Still, others suggest that any addition to true belief will cause issues. Timothy Williamson (2000) contends that knowledge is not analyzable. For Williamson, knowledge is the most basic state of mind; it is a factive mental state that cannot be explained …