Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Retroactive Harms And Wrongs, Steven Luper

Philosophy Faculty Research

According to the immunity thesis, nothing that happens after we are dead harms or benefits us . It seems defensible on the following basis: 1. If harmed (benefitted) by something, we incur the harm (benefit) at some time. 2. So if harmed (benefitted) by a postmortem event, we incur the harm (benefit) while alive or at some other time. 3. But if we incur the harm (benefit) while alive, backwards causation occurs. 4. And if we incur the harm (benefit) at any other time, we incur it at a time when we do not exist. 5. Yet nothing incurs harm …

Natural Law, Slavery, And The Right To Privacy Tort, Anita L. Allen

All Faculty Scholarship

In 1905 the Supreme Court of Georgia became the first state high court to recognize a freestanding “right to privacy” tort in the common law. The landmark case was Pavesich v. New England Life Insurance Co. Must it be a cause for deep jurisprudential concern that the common law right to privacy in wide currency today originated in Pavesich’s explicit judicial interpretation of the requirements of natural law? Must it be an additional worry that the court which originated the common law privacy right asserted that a free white man whose photograph is published without his consent in …

Review - "Motive And Rightness" By Steven Sverdlik, Nancy J. Matchett

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Review - "Motive and Rightness" by Steven Sverdlik

A Comparative Study: Traditional Evangelical Friends Pastors With Contemporar Evangelical Pastors For Twenty-First Century Application, Thomas Crawford

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This is a study of the dominant views of traditional evangelical Friends pastors and contemporary evangelical pastors. A comparative study of lifestyle, methods of ministry, and primary doctrinal beliefs is used to discover areas of agreement, differences, and points critical to successful leadership for Evangelical Friends pastors. Being a pastor and denominational leader in the Evangelical Friends Church-Eastern Region for the past 32 years gives the author a critical interest in this study. Every church and denomination wants to effectively reach people for Christ. The author and Evangelical Friends are no different. Academic research is combined with interviews of evangelical …

Rhyme Or Reason:That Is The Question?, Jim Roche

Articles

Noting that “the aesthetic should not be limited merely to the way things look” the organisers of this conference sought “in part to address the discursive limitation in architecture and related subjects by broadening the aesthetic discourse beyond questions relating to purely visual phenomena in order to include those derived from all facets of human experience”.

So where does etchics come in? Well, the introductory brochure noted that most philosophical trained aestheticians will say that “the aesthetic is everything” hinting perhaps of the necessity for a more haptic experience of architecture. It also drew on Wittgenstein’s quote that “ethics and …

An Apologetic To Sun Hwan Pyun's Dialogue Theology As A Liberation Theology Of Religions, Youngchan Kim

Masters Theses

Sun Hwan Pyun was a professor at Methodist Theological University. As a theologian, he grappled with two important theological questions: "Is Christianity an exclusive religion?" and "Is Christianity only a religion for the upper class?" Regarding the exclusivism of Christianity, Pyun searched for an answer in ecumenical-religious pluralism. As an answer for "is Christianity for the poor", he accepts Minjung liberation theology. Pyun wanted to combine these two theologies and, subsequently, referred to his dialogue theology as a liberation theology of religions. The purpose of this thesis is to search for the theological and biblical answers to these theological questions …

Discovering The Literary Relevancy Of Watchmen: A Review Of The Graphic Novel's Philosophical Themes, Tyler Flynn

Senior Honors Theses

The American comic book, specifically those of the superhero genre, is a medium that has been associated with stagnant, morally upright characters and formulaic plots. However, author Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons changed said stigma with their groundbreaking series Watchmen. An analysis of the work’s storyline, as well as some of the main characters, will reveal the deep philosophical and psychological underpinnings of the graphic novel, and, more importantly, its literary merit. A Christian interpretation of the work will also be presented.

Special Obligations: The Structural Risks Of Friendship, Anna B. Myavec

Student Publications

Friendship is often conceived of as a freely chosen intrinsic good, yet friendship gives rise to special obligations that can act against ethical regard for others. Philosophers who recognize the significance of special obligations, such as Diane Jeske in Rationality and Moral Theory: How Intimacy Creates Reason, argue that special obligations are an undeniable feature of friendship and give rise to conflicts between friends and others to whom one has responsibilities. I argue that friendship can pose insoluble problems of special obligation, not just because obligations to friends can conflict with other obligations we have, but because friendship can challenge …

The Organization Of American States (Oas) In Rhetoric And Reality, Elizabeth Marie Moore

Annual Celebration of Student Scholarship and Creativity

The purpose of this study is to examine how well the countries in the Western Hemisphere translate Organization of American States’ (OAS) resolutions into actual meaningful legislation, and how international discourse influences, or does not, domestic policy. This study will utilize the data program QDA Miner in order to better analyze texts of agreements and treaties put forth by the OAS, and to highlight the correlation between different types of rhetoric and meaningful member state action. Data will be gathered primarily from the OAS’ own data bases and compiled into the QDA software for analysis. This analysis will allow the …

Finishing Well: A Phenomenological Investigation Of Spiritual Transformation In Retirement-Age Evangelical Men, Johnny Justin Baker

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The baby boomers comprise a large segment of the United States population (78 million) but many of them are without spiritual resources to finish well in life. However, there are a few Evangelical men who have experienced spiritual transformation in retirement-age and have discovered the resources for security and significance in the spiritual dimension. Through a qualitative research design the stories of eight participants gave richness and depth to this study. These men described how they and others were impacted by the transformation experience. They discarded superficial forms of cultural Christianity to embrace authentic intrinsic change. The spiritual transformation experience, …

The Organization Of American States (Oas) In Rhetoric And Reality, Elizabeth Marie Moore

Philosophy Student Scholarship

The purpose of this study is to examine how well the countries in the Western Hemisphere translate Organization of American States’ (OAS) resolutions into actual meaningful legislation, and how international discourse influences, or does not, domestic policy. This study will utilize the data program QDA Miner in order to better analyze texts of agreements and treaties put forth by the OAS, and to highlight the correlation between different types of rhetoric and meaningful member state action. Data will be gathered primarily from the OAS’ own data bases and compiled into the QDA software for analysis. This analysis will allow the …

A Hierarchy Of Love: Myth In C.S. Lewis's Perelandra, Joseph Walls

Masters Theses

In C.S. Lewis's Perelandra, the transposed creature is drawn up into its "kindly stede" as a sacramental symbol of Christ through that fictional planet's unbroken relationship between meaning and form. Although Perelandra's "wheels-within-wheels" hierarchy may at first seem reminiscent of Catholicism's teachings on symbol, as a Protestant, Lewis believes that human beings cannot be truly sacramental symbols until the return of Christ. Lewis's optimistic depiction of a cosmic hierarchy is one of perfect love: superiors rule their subordinates with agape, and creatures who discover their submissive roles reciprocate with eros or adoring love. Every created being in Perelandra is part …

Thinkings 2: Collected Evocations, Interventions, And Readings, Jeff Noonan

Philosophy Publications

No abstract provided.

In Defence Of Higher-Order Musical Ontology: A Reply To Lee B. Brown, Andrew Kania

Philosophy Faculty Research

In a recent article in this journal, Lee B. Brown criticizes one central kind of project in higher-order musical ontology—the project of offering an ontological theory of a particular musical tradition. I defend this kind of project by replying to Brown’s critique, arguing that musical practices are not untheorizably messy, and that a suitably subtle descriptivist ontology of a given practice can be valuable both theoretically and practically.

The Next Fifty Years, Ladelle Mcwhorter

Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Faculty Publications

Continental philosophy tends to be very textual, defined not so much by a set of problems as by a set of interpretive practices. We read Levinas or Irigaray and write interpretations of those texts. Of course, we do more than issue commentary; we think through texts, grappling with problems, concepts, and historical and cultural phenomena. Still, most of our work remains closely tied to texts. Consequently, it often reproduces a distinction between primary and secondary philosophical work that we might question. Nobody would deny the creativity of John Sallis’ or David Wood’s work or that of Debra Bergoffen or Kelly …

Punishment And Reform, Steven Sverdlik

Philosophy Research

Reformist ideas in the philosophy of punishment can be traced back to Plato. However, it is only in the late 19^th century that explicitly reformist ‘theories’ are discussed by philosophers, and in the 20^th century that they are worked out at length. The conception of reform has recently undergone important changes. Contemporary writers who are apparently reformist utilize use an enriched moral conception of reform, which conceives of it in terms of repentance for wrongdoing and a commitment to obey the law for moral reasons. This departs from an earlier conception that places less emphasis on repentance and …

Law, Philosophy, And Civil Disobedience: The Laws' Speech In Plato's 'Crito', Steven Thomason

Articles

Plato's 'Crito' is an examination of the tension between political science, a life devoted to the rational discourse and the critique of politics, and the demands of allegiance and service to the city. The argument Socrates makes in the name of the laws is not just meant to persuade Crito. Rather, it is a philosophic defense of the city itself, the philosophic response to Socrates' own speech in the Apology defending philosophy. This speech reveals the dangers and problems of a life devoted to philosophy when reason is directed to politics and calls into question the values and way of …

Selfhood And The Unity Of Consciousness, Kate Hanniball

Summer Research

The focus of my summer research was a philosophical investigation of the concept of selfhood incorporating an emphasis on the physical realities of the brain, in particular bi-hemispheric communication between the right and left hemispheres via the neural pathway known as the Corpus Callosum.

Working within the theoretical framework of Derek Parfit the present research explored the question of selfhood by maintaining a focus on the unity of consciousness we all associate with the singular nature of the self. The theory of conscious unity--or the idea that at any one time all our phenomenal experiences are unified by the fact …

Up In Smoke: The Place Of The Modern American Cigarette, Hannah B. Grose

Student Publications

Since its discovery, the use of tobacco products has acted as a form of meditation, social engagement, and reprieve. In the era following the late 1950’s, designated “smoking areas,” whether sequestered informally by social constraints or formally by the law, have led to a culture of very “implaced” cigarette smoking. These have become places of escape, places of exile, and places of compromise. This paper explores what it means to belong, and not to belong, to these places, and the role of designated smoking areas in the formation of our culture.

Philosophy And Theology: After-Birth Abortion, Christopher Kaczor

Philosophy Faculty Works

The article focuses on the issues related to philosophy and theology. It cites the example of an article based on the topic by philosopher Michael Tooley in the year 1972. As mentioned, article made critics of abortion squirm and also tried to extend the ethics of exclusion to cover not just prenatal but also postnatal human beings.

Aesthetics In Contemporary Art: Philosopher And Performer, Curtis L. Carter

Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

What Must We Hide: The Ethics Of Privacy And The Ethos Of Disclosure, Anita L. Allen

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Aesthetics And Art Of Friendship, Sheila Lintott

Faculty Contributions to Books

In the spirit of exploring fresh perspectives, I offer this investigation into the aesthetic aspects of personal relationships with a focus on friendship.1 Glossing the aesthetic aspects of friendship, as we too often do, impoverishes our understanding of the value and meaning of friendships, relationships which give shape and content to our lives, which animate our lives or, as Nancy Sherman (1993) puts it, relationships which structure the good life. The friendships we forge and those we forgo, the loves we cultivate and those we lose, these varying and variable relations broaden (or impoverish) our experiences, intensify (or diminish) our …