Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Moral Philosophy Of William Wollaston, Yael Sofaer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation provides the first thorough exposition of the moral theory proposed by William Wollaston in his treatise The Religion of Nature Delineated (1724), and demonstrates it to be an innovative contribution to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries' project of developing a moral theory by reason alone (in which lie the origins of contemporary moral realism); with the foundational principle of acting in accordance with nature as the standard of morality. Wollaston's treatise contains an unrecognized innovation: the principle that rational agents express propositions by their actions--that, as propositions, have truth values--which makes it possible to determine the moral status …

Rawls, Religion And The Ethics Of Citizenship: Toward A Liberal Reconciliation, Jeffrey Michael Cervantez

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explores the conflict between religion and Rawls’s liberalism. Often Rawls’s critics contend that the idea of public reason is hostile to religion or unfriendly to citizens of faith. I argue that this concern is misguided. A careful analysis of Rawls’s work demonstrates that he is far more welcoming to religion than is sometimes claimed. To defend this thesis I put forward what I take to be the best interpretation of Rawls’s idea of public reason, one that I think is immune to most of the standard objections.

Nevertheless, there are some lingering challenges to public reason that need …

Kant's Change Of Heart: Radical Evil And Moral Transformation, Christina Drogalis

Dissertations

In Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason (1793), Kant makes the claim that all humans are radically evil, both by nature and through a free choice. This radical evil, which is the state of having a Gesinnung (disposition) that commits oneself to prioritizing incentives of inclination above incentives of duty, throws into question whether humans can ever become morally good. For this reason, many commentators have dismissed the Religion as not cohesive with Kant's corpus and do not consider it to play an important role in his ethical theory, in particular. Contrary to this traditionally-held interpretation, I show in …

Pure Land And The Social Order In Twelfth-Century China: An Investigation Of "Longshu’S Treatise On Pure Land", Trevor Davis

Student Work

A 2012-2013 William Prize for best essay in East Asian Studies was awarded to Trevor Davis (Saybrook College '13) for his essay submitted to the History Department, “Pure Land and the Social Order in Twelfth-Century China: An Investigation of Longshu’s Treatise on Pure Land.” (Valerie Hansen, Professor of History, advisor.)

Davis' essay makes a powerful argument about the Pure Land Buddhist Wang Rixiu's understanding of Southern Song (1127-1279) society. Although Pure Land Buddhism is often thought to be egalitarian - or at least to challenge traditional hierarchies - Trevor shows that for Wang Rixiu, an egalitarian Pure Land coexists …

The Spiritual Impulse To Turn Within And The Engagement In A World Of Action, Jared A. Rodriguez

Senior Theses and Projects

In this essay, I will compare three modern, contemporary thinkers, Thomas Merton, Mahatma Gandhi and Jiddu Krishnamurti. These three come from relatively different theological backgrounds. Thomas Merton is a Catholic monk, Mahatma Gandhi is a traditional Hindu with sentiments that come from Buddhism, and Krishnamurti, from birth was predetermined to belong to the Theosophists as their new World Leader. The underlying themes that connects these three profound figures together is, first, their transcendentalist approach in understanding the self, the cosmos, and the profane world by methods of contemplation, meditation and silence. Second, they are connected by a familiar personal spiritual …

The Modern Ontological Argument: In Which The Position Of Alvin Plantinga Is Refuted, Zachary Green Crownover

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this work, I set out to accomplish three tasks. First, I hope to educate those who may be unfamiliar with the philosophy of religion, by presenting to them rough outlines of positions commonly assumed by logically minded spokespersons for atheism and theism, respectively. Second, I introduce and explicate the work of Alvin Plantinga—a prominent proponent of theistic belief—and in such a way that it may be clearly understood even by those without prior experience of modal logic. Finally, I adopt a polemical stance against Plantinga, and reach the following conclusion: Contrary to Plantinga's assertions, and given the modal framework …

The Influence Of Intersecting Identities On Acceptance, Disclosure, And Internalized Homonegativity, Megan C. Lytle

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Gaming With God: A Case For The Study Of Religion In Video Games, Vander I. Corliss

Senior Theses and Projects

This study is an analysis of religion in video games and makes the case that more formal work needs to be done on the subject. Despite the prevalence of video games in society today, little formal research has been done on the subject of religion in video games. Video games give the audience a level of interactivity that other forms of entertainment cannot provide. Religion has been at odds with the entertainment industry for decades and as a new form of entertainment media, video games have been using religion for some time. Most often it is used in the story …

The Ontological Foundations For Natural Law Theory And Contemporary Ethical Naturalism, Bernard Mauser

Dissertations (1934 -)

This dissertation explores some objections to natural law theory- many of which are also leveled against contemporary naturalism. Despite the way the natural law tradition has fallen into disrepute in much of the American academy, this dissertation defends a classical Thomistic approach to natural law from some modern and contemporary criticisms. It begins with a brief explanation of the theory of natural law that will be defended from these contemporary objections. Chapter three examines G.E. Moore and David Hume's classical problems posed to natural law, along with some contemporary defenders of Moore's position. These arguments are purported to undermine using …

Seeking The Face Behind The Face: Rosenzweig And Nietzsche Opening To The Feminine Divine, Sharon Mar Adams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study begins with a reading of Franz Rosenzweig's Star of Redemption and Friedrich Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra in a manner that offers evidence for what I call a feminine divine. In reading the Star against Zarathustra I explore how even as Rosenzweig appears to praise Nietzsche as being emblematic of Rosenzweig's "new thinking," Rosenzweig eventually finds Nietzsche falls short, (or, in other words, Rosenzweig critiques Nietzsche in suggesting his pagan roots prevent him from ever reaching Revelation). I suggest Nietzsche's texts do indicate a type of divine inspiration, but it is one coming not from the Father God of …

Toward A New Mystical Poetics Of God In The Post-Mortem Age : From God As The Supreme Being To God As The One-And-Only Being, John Francis O'Neill

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

At certain axial moments in history new religious worldviews emerge to replace prior perspectives that are no longer adequate or persuasive. A new worldview opens new possibilities for the human religious quest for meaning, being, and salvation. A fundamental conviction underlying this dissertation is that we are living in a "post-mortem age" - that is, an era defined by profound challenges to the centuries-long dominant religious worldview, culminating in the twentieth century experience of the "death of God." While disturbing and disruptive for many, this historical condition can also be seen as a liberating and even providential event, opening the …

The Place Of Theology In A World Come Of Age: A Comparative Analysis Of The Writings Of Dietrich Bonhoeffer And Paul Ramsey., Dave Buckner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the twentieth century dawned in the western world, there were voices both inside and out of the Christian Church that began to question religion's central place in man's daily life. Had humanity finally progressed to the point where religion was no longer necessary? Had we at long last developed the characteristics and perspectives that religion had attempted to engrain within us? Or were the rules and regulations of religion still needed to ensure the continued advancement of civilization? This is a study of two opposing voices in that debate: theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer and ethicist Paul Ramsey. What follows is …

Ethnographic Field Research Methods, Edicta Grullon

Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview

Presents ethnographic research methods along with characteristics (evidential and non-evidential "identities") of an anthropologist that may affect his/her access to information and the quality of data collected. Offers several examples from experiences of field researchers. Considers Muslim North Africa as a region demanding attention to its specific cultural realities. Explores ethics and the role of the ethnographer.

San Francesco D'Assisi E Santa Caterina Da Siena. La Loro Influenza Sulla Letteratura, La Cultura, La Religione E L'Arte Italiana Dei Primordi, Ann-Frances Hamill

Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview

Examines the works and thoughts of two Italian saints: Saint Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) and Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380). Explores the common ideological denominator in the works of these major figures and analyzes their impact on Italian society and culture.

Wittgenstein And Religion, Daniel Patrick Corrigan

Philosophy Theses

This thesis considers the implications of Wittgenstein’s early and later philosophy for the issue of religious belief, as well as the relation of religion to Wittgenstein’s thought. In the first chapter I provide an overview of the Tractatus and discuss the place of religion within the Tractarian framework. I then provide an overview of Philosophical Investigations. In the second chapter I consider interpretations by Norman Malcolm and Peter Winch of Wittgenstein’s later philosophy in relation to religion, as well as Kai Nielsen’s famous critique of ‘Wittgensteinian Fideism.’ The third and final chapter takes up the issue of construing religious belief …

The American Board's Single Missionary Women In American Indian Missions, 1810–1860, Lisa Jacqueline Travis

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Between 1810 and 1860 in American Indian missions, single missionary women comprised half of the female workforce in the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM). Because the ABCFM operated as a business for converting and assimilating American Indians, it hired single women to perform vital and various tasks. Missionary couples requested that the ABCFM appoint single women to teach, perform domestic work, and care for mission children. Biographically, they resembled each other, but their reasons for becoming missionaries varied. Some single women became missionaries after lifelong dreams, but others because the suggestion was made. As workers, some were …

Hegel And The Concept Of Religion In Greek Tragedy, Barbara Scot

Dissertations and Theses

A parallel can be drawn in intellectual development between ancient Greece and late eighteenth century Europe concerning the secularization of the religious myth. This parallel is illustrated in a literary mode in Greece and in a philosophical mode in Europe. In both historical situations the intellectual development of a society was posited in a delicate balance of religious mythical interpretation of human existence and in a growing assertiveness of the self-consciousness of the individual. A significant point of analogy is the similarity of the Greek tragedians’ attempt to define man in relation to the gods and Hegel’s formulation of a …

Philosophy In Milton's "Paradise Lost", Ernest J. Wilderson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation

A number of attempts have been made to fit the Miltonic ideals into the pattern of a particular religious or philosophical group. He has been called Calvinist, Arminian, Unitarian, and Spiritualist. The treatment of vital religious beliefs in "Paradise Lost" however, leaves little doubt as to Milton's contempt for any and all orthodox theology. That he was a liberal in morals, in politics, and in religion has never been doubted.