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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

Phil 201 - Logical Reasoning, Robert Robinson Oct 2018

Phil 201 - Logical Reasoning, Robert Robinson

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.


Perspectives On Natural Philosophy, Stanley N. Salthe Aug 2018

Perspectives On Natural Philosophy, Stanley N. Salthe

Publications and Research

This paper presents a viewpoint on natural philosophy focusing on the organization of substance, as well as its changes as invited by the Second Law of thermodynamics. Modes of change are pointed to as definitive of levels of organization; these include physical, chemical, and biological modes of change. Conceptual uses of the subsumptive hierarchy format are employed throughout this paper. Developmental change in dissipative structures is examined in some detail, generating an argument for the use of final causality in studies of natural systems. Considerations of ‘internalism’ in science are presented along the way.


Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Phi 1600 (Logic And Moral Reasoning), Alexander Steers-Mccrum Aug 2018

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Phi 1600 (Logic And Moral Reasoning), Alexander Steers-Mccrum

Open Educational Resources

The goal of this class is to familiarize students with formal and informal logic. Logic illustrates and explores the connections between ideas. It can help us evaluate our beliefs and make and understand arguments. Aside from its use in philosophy, logic is of particular importance in mathematics and law, and is foundational for computer science.


Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Phi 1600 (Logic And Moral Reasoning), Andreea Prichea Aug 2018

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Phi 1600 (Logic And Moral Reasoning), Andreea Prichea

Open Educational Resources

The goal of the course is for students to familiarize themselves with the structure of an argument. Identify and iterate the difference between inductive and deductive, valid and invalid arguments. Learn methods to determine if an argument is valid or invalid, and be able to identify faulty arguments based on the argument's structure. The core of the course will focus on deductive arguments as they relate to moral arguments. . The student throughout the course will be exposed to arguments in natural language, and try to analyze them through the methods learned.


Ethics And Moral Issues Oral Inquiry And Problem Solving Research Project: Oral Presentation (Step 3) [Philosophy], Cheri Carr Jul 2018

Ethics And Moral Issues Oral Inquiry And Problem Solving Research Project: Oral Presentation (Step 3) [Philosophy], Cheri Carr

Open Educational Resources

This Ethics and Moral Issues (HUP 104) assignment incorporates the main elements of the rubrics for both Inquiry and Problem Solving (IPS) Core Competency as well as the Oral Communication Ability. It deposits Capstone Oral/IPS. The emphasis on the organization of the student’s speech, evaluation of research that represents diverse points of view on the problem chosen, and emphasis on building an argument from true premises to well-supported conclusions all speak to the IPS rubric. The emphasis on communicating clearly the stakes of the problem and the student’s solutions, the credibility and diversity of the research sources, as well as …


Formalizing The Umwelt, Rohit J. Parikh Jun 2018

Formalizing The Umwelt, Rohit J. Parikh

Publications and Research

In the early part of the XXth century, Jacob from Uexkuell introduced the notion of the Umwelt which is the personal world which animals and humans live in. It is understood that each of us has our own Umwelt. This paper is an attempt to understand the notion of Umwelt using tools from logic and decision theory.


Explaining The Illusion Of Phenomenal Consciousness, Daniel S. Shabasson Apr 2018

Explaining The Illusion Of Phenomenal Consciousness, Daniel S. Shabasson

Publications and Research

According to illusionism, phenomenal consciousness does not exist. There is nothing “it is like” to see red or feel pain. Most people find illusionism highly counterintuitive and it remains a minority view among philosophers. To increase its intuitive plausibility, we proponents of illusionism must solve what Keith Frankish (2016) has termed the illusion problem. We must explain why phenomenal consciousness seems to exist and why the illusion that it exists is so powerful. Focusing on introspective judgments about our color experiences, I propose a theory to solve the illusion problem.

I intend to show that we can understand the …


A Multi-Functional View Of Moral Disengagement: Exploring The Effects Of Learning The Consequences, C. Justice Tillman, Katerina Gonzalez, Marilyn V. Whitman, Wayne S. Crawford, Anthony C. Hood Jan 2018

A Multi-Functional View Of Moral Disengagement: Exploring The Effects Of Learning The Consequences, C. Justice Tillman, Katerina Gonzalez, Marilyn V. Whitman, Wayne S. Crawford, Anthony C. Hood

Publications and Research

This paper takes us beyond the unethical act and explores the use of moral disengagement as a multi-stage, multi-functional regulatory, and coping mechanism that not only allows individuals to engage in unethical behavior, but also manage the negative emotions (i.e., guilt and shame) from learning the consequences of such behavior. A resource-based lens is applied to the moral disengagement process, suggesting that individuals not only morally disengage prior to committing an unethical act in order to conserve their own resources, but also morally disengage as a coping mechanism to reduce emotional duress upon learning of the consequences of their actions, …


Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Phi 1600 (Logic And Moral Reasoning), Gerrit Jan Kamperdyk Jan 2018

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Phi 1600 (Logic And Moral Reasoning), Gerrit Jan Kamperdyk

Open Educational Resources

This course examines the principles of clear and accurate thought, including sound and valid arguments and methods of scientific reasoning in moral and political argument.


Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Phi 1600 (Logic And Moral Reasoning), Jesse Rappaport Jan 2018

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Phi 1600 (Logic And Moral Reasoning), Jesse Rappaport

Open Educational Resources

This course examines the principles of clear and accurate thought, including sound and valid arguments and methods of scientific reasoning in moral and political argument.


On The Relationship Between Economics And Ethics, Mark D. White Jan 2018

On The Relationship Between Economics And Ethics, Mark D. White

Publications and Research

Economics and ethics have been linked since the days of Adam Smith, but this connection became tenuous after the formalization of economic theory in the twentieth century, the success of which in academia, government, and business serves to insulate it from ethical critique. Nonetheless, a field of “economics and ethics” has developed to restore this connection, albeit in two directions with disparate methodological approaches: one applying mainstream economic theory, primarily based in utilitarian ethics, to topics of ethical concern, and the other incorporating alternate forms of ethics, such as deontology and virtue ethics, to enrich economic analysis.


Symposium On Buddhist Perspectives On Free Will: Agentless Agency?, Rick Repetti Jan 2018

Symposium On Buddhist Perspectives On Free Will: Agentless Agency?, Rick Repetti

Publications and Research

This special issue of the Journal of Buddhist Ethics, Volume 25, is a symposium on the anthology, Buddhist Perspectives on Free Will: Agentless Agency? (Repetti), and on the topic reflected by that title, more broadly, based on an Author Meets Critics session of the 2018 American Philosophical Association Eastern Division meeting organized by Christian Coseru. To orient readers new to the topic, I first sketch what some of the issues are regarding Buddhist perspectives on free will. Second, I briefly describe the anthology, and third, I introduce the several contributions to this symposium. As I am sympathetic to most …


Phil 201 Logic Syllabus, Robert Robinson Jan 2018

Phil 201 Logic Syllabus, Robert Robinson

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.


Español (Y Castellano), José Del Valle, Vitor Meirinho Jan 2018

Español (Y Castellano), José Del Valle, Vitor Meirinho

Publications and Research

El significando y traducibilidad de «español» está indefectiblemente ligado al vocablo «castellano», cuyo significado y traducibilidad resultan también inaccesibles si se ignoran los de aquel. Cualquier relato que persiga trazar la historia de este idioma y, especialmente, determinar su origen se encuentra con la coexistencia de, al menos, estas dos palabras. Esta sinonimia, que como tal se manifiesta imperfecta e incómoda, revela también la condición política de la lengua que designa, es decir, su participación en la construcción y cuestionamiento de subjetividades políticas –ya sean regionales, nacionales o sociales–. Es precisamente la condición política de la palabra –de «español», de …


In Anthropocene Air: Deleuze's Encounter With Shakespeare, Steven Swarbrick Jan 2018

In Anthropocene Air: Deleuze's Encounter With Shakespeare, Steven Swarbrick

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.


Phil 201 Logic Syllabus, Robert Robinson Jan 2018

Phil 201 Logic Syllabus, Robert Robinson

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.


Phil 253 Logic Syllabus, Robert Robinson Jan 2018

Phil 253 Logic Syllabus, Robert Robinson

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.


It Wasn’T Us: Reply To Michael Brent, Rick Repetti Jan 2018

It Wasn’T Us: Reply To Michael Brent, Rick Repetti

Publications and Research

In “Confessions of a Deluded Westerner,” Michael Brent insists no contributions to Buddhist Perspectives on Free Will (Repetti) even address free will because none deploy the criteria for free will that Western (incompatibilist) philosophers identify: the ability to do otherwise under identical conditions, and the ability to have one’s choices be up to oneself. Brent claims the criteria and abilities in that anthology are criteria for intentional action, but not all intentional actions are free. He also insists that Buddhism, ironically, cannot even accept intentional action, because, on his analysis, intentionality requires an agent, which Buddhism rejects. …


It Wasn’T Me: Reply To Karin Meyers, Rick Repetti Jan 2018

It Wasn’T Me: Reply To Karin Meyers, Rick Repetti

Publications and Research

This is my reply to Karin Meyers, “False Friends: Dependent Origination and the Perils of Analogy in Cross-Cultural Philosophy,” in this Symposium. Meyers generally focuses on exegesis of what Early Buddhists said, which reasonably constrains what we may think about them if we are Buddhists. I agree with and find much value in most of her astute analyses, here and elsewhere, so I restrict my reply here to where we disagree, or otherwise seem to be speaking past, or misunderstanding, each other. In this regard, I focus on three of her claims. Meyers argues that (1) Buddhist dependent origination …


Forgiveness: An Ordered Pluralism, Miranda Fricker Jan 2018

Forgiveness: An Ordered Pluralism, Miranda Fricker

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.


Determinism And The Problem Of Individual Freedom In Li Zehou’S Thought, Andrew Lambert Jan 2018

Determinism And The Problem Of Individual Freedom In Li Zehou’S Thought, Andrew Lambert

Publications and Research

Li Zehou’s work can be understood as an account of a Chinese modernity, a vision for Chinese society that seeks to integrate three distinct philosophical approaches. These are Chinese history and culture, which Li understands as largely Confucian; Marxism, which has exerted such influence on a modernizing China; and Western learning more generally, as expressed by figures such as Immanuel Kant and Sigmund Freud. Li also frequently expresses the hope that a Chinese modernity will be one in which the importance of the individual is recognized, and rights and freedoms upheld (e.g., 2006, p. 182). But this stance raises an …


Classical Philosophical Approaches To Lying And Deception, James E. Mahon Jan 2018

Classical Philosophical Approaches To Lying And Deception, James E. Mahon

Publications and Research

This chapter examines the views of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle on lying. It it outlines the differences between different kinds of falsehoods in Plato (real falsehoods and falsehoods in words), the difference between myths and lies, the 'noble' (i.e., pedigree) lie in The Republic, and how Plato defended rulers lying to non-rulers about, for example, eugenics. It considers whether Socrates's opposition to lying is consistent with Socratic irony, and especially with his praise of his interlocutors as wise. Finally, it looks at Aristotle's condemnation of lies, and asks whether lies to enemies, and self-deprecating lies by the magnanimous person, are …


Contemporary Approaches To The Philosophy Of Lying, James E. Mahon Jan 2018

Contemporary Approaches To The Philosophy Of Lying, James E. Mahon

Publications and Research

The chapter examines fifty years of philosophers working on lying - from the 1970s to the current day – focusing on how lying is defined (descriptively and normatively), whether lying involves an intention to deceive (Deceptionists) or not (Non-Deceptionists), why lying is wrong, and whether lying is worse than other forms of deception, including misleading with the truth. Philosophers discussed include Roderick Chisholm and Thomas Feehan, Alan Donagan, Sissela Boy, Charles Fried, David Simpson, David Simpson, Bernard Williams, Paul Faulkner, Thomas Carson, Roy Sorensen, Don Fallis, Jennifer Saul, Andreas Stoke, Jonathan Webber and Clea Rees


Secrets Vs. Lies: Is There A Moral Asymmetry?, James E. Mahon Jan 2018

Secrets Vs. Lies: Is There A Moral Asymmetry?, James E. Mahon

Publications and Research

In this chapter I argue that the traditional interpretation of the commonly accepted moral asymmetry between secrets and lies is incorrect. On the standard interpretation of the commonly accepted view, lies are prima facie or pro tango morally wrong, whereas secrets are morally permissible. I argue that, when secrets are distinguished from mere acts of reticence and non-acknowledgement, as well as from acts of deception, so that they are defined as acts of not sharing believed-information while believing that the believed-information is relevant, the correct interpretation of the commonly accepted moral asymmetry between secrets and lies is that secrets are …