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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Moving Beyond ‘Therapy’ And ‘Enhancement’ In The Ethics Of Gene Editing, Bryan Cwik
Moving Beyond ‘Therapy’ And ‘Enhancement’ In The Ethics Of Gene Editing, Bryan Cwik
Philosophy Faculty Publications and Presentations
Since the advent of recombinant DNA technology, expectations (and trepidations) about the potential for altering genes and controlling our biology at the fundamental level have been sky high. These expectations have gone largely unfulfilled. But though the dream (or nightmare) of being able to control our biology is still far off, gene editing research has made enormous strides toward potential clinical use. This paper argues that when it comes to determining permissible uses of gene editing in one important medical context—germline intervention in reproductive medicine—issues about enhancement and eugenics are, for the foreseeable future, a red herring. Current translational goals …
How To Solve Hume's Problem Of Induction, Alexander Jackson
How To Solve Hume's Problem Of Induction, Alexander Jackson
Philosophy Faculty Publications and Presentations
This paper explains what’s wrong with a Hume-inspired argument for skepticism about induction. Hume’s argument takes as a premise that inductive reasoning presupposes that the future will resemble the past. I explain why that claim is not plausible. The most plausible premise in the vicinity is that inductive reasoning from E to H presupposes that if E then H. I formulate and then refute a skeptical argument based on that premise. Central to my response is a psychological explanation for how people judge that if E then H without realizing that they thereby settled the matter rationally.
Rampant Non‐Factualism: A Metaphysical Framework And Its Treatment Of Vagueness, Alexander Jackson
Rampant Non‐Factualism: A Metaphysical Framework And Its Treatment Of Vagueness, Alexander Jackson
Philosophy Faculty Publications and Presentations
Rampant non-factualism is the view that all non-fundamental matters are non-factual, in a sense inspired by Kit Fine (2001). The first half of this paper argues that if we take non-factualism seriously for any matters, such as morality, then we should take rampant non-factualism seriously. The second half of the paper argues that rampant non-factualism makes possible an attractive theory of vagueness. We can give non-factualist accounts of non-fundamental matters that nicely characterize the vagueness they manifest (if any). I suggest that such non-factualist theories dissolve philosophical puzzlement about vagueness. In particular, the approach implies that philosophers should not try …
What’S So Authentic About Restoration?, Remei Capdevila-Werning, Sue Spaid
What’S So Authentic About Restoration?, Remei Capdevila-Werning, Sue Spaid
Philosophy Faculty Publications and Presentations
When shown two identical works of art, and told that one is the original and the other an artist-sanctioned copy, most viewers claim that they prefer the ‘original’, precisely because they imagine that something of the artist’s hand remains. Knowing full well that most everything that is old, yet still exists, has undergone some form of restoration, we are surprised that some philosophers still share viewers’ preference for some original over its sanctioned copy, as if they too believe that something of the artist’s hand remains, even if paint molecules have chipped off or surfaces have been (unbeknownst to them) …
Justice Or Pleasure?, Christopher M. Innes
Justice Or Pleasure?, Christopher M. Innes
Philosophy Faculty Publications and Presentations
Dr. Robert Ford confides to Dolores that his father would not agree with his creation of robots for the enjoyment of humans. "My father told me to be satisfied with my lot in life. That the world owed me nothing. And so, I make my own world" ("Contrapasso"). This tells us at once that Dr. Ford's father had a Platonic notion of justice.