Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Politics Of Representation: The Role Of The Gaze In Pornography, Jennifer Jeffers

Jennifer M. Jeffers

An accessible reader/text for beginning students of philosophy, this volume offers a broad scope of diverse classic and contemporary selections – with a narrative and format that presents difficult issues and readings in a simplified but not condescending manner. The readings are grouped around major philosophic themes: logic, ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of religion, philosophy of art, and social and political philosophy. It also offers a selection of readings from Eastern philosophy.

The Story Not Told: Sex And Marriage In Pardo Bazán's "Los Cirineos" And "La Argolla", Linda Willem

Linda M. Willem

This article examines how narrative strategies of indirection employed in “Los cirineos” and “La argolla” engage the reader’s ethical participation in examining and questioning societal norms concerning sex and marriage. In “Los cirineos,” the opposition between the moral and the immoral is broken down by the presence of what Shlomith Rimmon Kenan has called “doubly-directed clues,” resulting in mutually exclusive readings of the text that exemplify C. Namwali Serpell’s concept of oscillating narration. In “La argolla,” the sexual content of a proposition is suggested rather than stated due to what Robyn Warhol has defined as its “antinarratable” nature, but it …

Persimals, Steven Luper

Steven Luper

What sort of thing, fundamentally, are you and I? For convenience, I use the term persimal to refer to the kind of thing we are, whatever that kind turns out to be. Accordingly, the question is, what are persimals? One possible answer is that persimalhood consists in being a human animal, but many theorists, including Derek Parfit and Jeff McMahan, not to mention John Locke, reject this idea in favor of a radically different view, according to which persimalhood consists in having certain sorts of mental or psychological features. In this essay, I try to show that the animalist approach …

Competing For The Good Life, Steven Luper

Steven Luper

No abstract provided.

Annihilation, Steven Luper

Steven Luper

No abstract provided.

Death, Steven Luper

Steven Luper

No abstract provided.

Exhausting Life, Steven Luper

Steven Luper

Can we render death harmless to us by perfecting life, as the ancient Epicureans and Stoics seemed to think? It might seem so, for after we perfect life—assuming we can—persisting would not make life any better. Dying earlier rather than later would shorten life, but a longer perfect life is no better than a shorter perfect life, so dying would take nothing of value from us. However, after sketching what perfecting life might entail, I will argue that it is not a desirable approach to invulnerability after all.

Mortal Harm, Steven Luper

Steven Luper

The harm thesis says that death may harm the individual who dies. The posthumous harm thesis says that posthumous events may harm those who die. Epicurus rejects both theses, claiming that there is no subject who is harmed, no clear harm which is received, and no clear time when any harm is received. Feldman rescues the harm thesis with solutions to Epicurus' three puzzles based on his own version of the deprivation account of harm. But many critics, among them Lamont, Grey, Feit and Bradley, have rejected Feldman's solution to the timing puzzle, offering their own solutions in its place. …

Posthumous Harm, Steven Luper

Steven Luper

No abstract provided.

Archaeologies Of Text: Archaeology, Technology, And Ethics, Matthew Rutz, Morag Kersel

Morag M. Kersel

No abstract provided.

The Niebuhr Brothers For Armchair Theologians, Scott Paeth

Scott R. Paeth

This volume offers a compelling introduction to the life, times, and theological thought of H. Richard and Reinhold Niebuhr--the two most important American theologians of the twentieth century. Although the Niebuhr brothers shared the same heritage and experienced many of the same formative moments, their thought diverged at key points as their lives and careers developed. Scott R. Paeth's expert introduction to the Niebuhr brothers explores this history and the enduring influence of the Niebuhrs on religious and political thought. This lively introduction, which includes witty illustrations from Ron Hill, is an essential resource for understanding these enduring theological figures.

Shaping Public Theology: Selections From The Writings Of Max L. Stackhouse, Scott Paeth, E. Harold Brietenberg, Hak Joon Lee

Scott R. Paeth

Max L. Stackhouse is one of the most prolific and influential American theologians of the last half century, and he has been widely recognized for his contributions to the emerging field of public theology. This volume compiles some of Stackhouse's most significant shorter writings. These selections make clear his central role in the development of public theology as a distinct disciplinary perspective in the fields of Christian theology and theological ethics. Shaping Public Theology serves as an introduction to Stackhouse's extensive corpus; readers will see the depth and breadth of his comprehensive public theology while also gaining insight into his …

Making Sure We Are True To Our Founders: The Association Of The Bar Of The City Of New York, 1970-95, Jeffrey Morris

Jeffrey B. Morris

No abstract provided.

Ethics: Contemporary Readings, Edited By Harry J. Gensler, Earl W. Spurgin, And James C. Swindal, Harry Gensler, S.J., Earl Spurgin, James Swindal

Earl W. Spurgin

No abstract provided.

"What Culture Of Violence?", Scott Paeth

Scott R. Paeth

No abstract provided.

Ethical Reasons And Political Commitments, Lisa Rivera

Lisa Rivera

Political commitments to resist oppression play a central role in the moral lives of many people. Such commitments are also a source of ethical reasons. They influence and organize ethical beliefs, emotions and reasons in an ongoing way. Political commitments to address oppression often contain a concern for the dignity and well-being of others and the objects of political commitments often have value, according to ideal moral theories, such as Kantian and utilitarian theory. However, ideal moral theories do not fully explain the ethical reasons political commitments engender. First, ideal moral theories do not explain the normative priority that agents …

"The Responsibility To Lie And The Obligation To Report, Scott Paeth

Scott R. Paeth

This article is an examination of the moral complexity of the act of whistleblowing in the context of corporate corruption. Whistleblowing may be a morally admirable act underataken by morally ambiguous agents, but can only be fully understood in context. Using German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s essay “What Does It Mean to Tell the Truth?” This essay will examine how the kind of deception sometimes necessary in whistleblowing cases can be testimony to a larger and more profound truth.

Ethics And The Golden Rule, Harry Gensler, S.J.

Harry J. Gensler, S.J.

Harry J. Gensler defends the golden rule and addresses all of the major philosophic objections, pointing out several common misunderstanding and misapplications. Gensler first discusses golden-rule reasoning and how to avoid the main pitfalls. He then relates the golden rule to world religions and history, and to areas like moral education, egoism, evolution, society, racism, business, and medicine. The book ends with a discussion of theoretical issues (like whether all morality reduces to the golden rule, which the author argues against).

Ethics: Contemporary Readings, Edited By Harry J. Gensler, Earl W. Spurgin, And James C. Swindal, Harry Gensler, S.J., Earl Spurgin, James Swindal

Harry J. Gensler, S.J.

No abstract provided.

Eight Is Enough?: The Ethics Of The California Octuplets Case, Scott Paeth

Scott R. Paeth

The recent California octuplets case raises a number of important issues that need to be addressed in the context of the increasingly widespread practice of in vitro fertilization. This paper explores some of those issues as looked at from the perspective of protestant theological ethics and public theology, examining the moral responsibilities of the various participants in the process, both before and after the octuplets’ birth, including the mother, her doctors, the health care bureaucracy, the wider society, and the media. Each of these participants failed in significant respects to consider the ethical implications of the births in this complicated …

The Moral Complexity Of Video Games, Scott Paeth

Scott R. Paeth

Over the past two decades, video games have reached a level of technological sophistication that enables them to immerse players in complex stories and relationships. The games require players to draw not only on their hand-eye coordination skills and puzzle-solving prowess but also on their moral imagination as they navigate complex relationships and their consequences. Today's video games are light years away from Pong and Asteroids, and they have the potential not only to offer richly textured narratives and fantastically realistic-seeming worlds but to aid in forming us as moral beings, for better and for worse.

The Publication Of Ethically Uncertain Research: Attitudes And Practices Of Journal Editors, Carla Angelski, Conrad Fernandez, Charles Weijer, Jun Gao

Charles Weijer

Background

Publication of ethically uncertain research occurs despite well-published guidelines set forth in documents such as the Declaration of Helsinki. Such guidelines exist to aide editorial staff in making decisions regarding ethical acceptability of manuscripts submitted for publication, yet examples of ethically suspect and uncertain publication exist. Our objective was to survey journal editors regarding practices and attitudes surrounding such dilemmas.

Methods

The Editor-in-chief of each of the 103 English-language journals from the 2005 Abridged Index Medicus list publishing original research were asked to complete a survey sent to them by email between September-December 2007.

Results

A response rate of …

Categorical Imperative As The Source Of Morality, Joyce Lazier

joyce lazier

No abstract provided.

Ethics And Experience: Life Beyond Moral Theory, Harry Gensler, S.J.

Harry J. Gensler, S.J.

The article reviews the book "Ethics and Experience: Life Beyond Moral Theory," by Timothy Chappell.

Love, Sex Shouldn't Be Free, Andrew Blitman

Andrew Blitman

No abstract provided.

Speaking For Oneself: Wittgenstein On Ethics, Matthew Pianalto

Matthew Pianalto

In the “Lecture on ethics”, Wittgenstein declares that ethical statements are essentially nonsense. He later told Friedrich Waismann that it is essential to “speak for oneself” on ethical matters. These comments might be taken to suggest that Wittgenstein shared an emotivist view of ethics—that one can only speak for oneself because there is no truth in ethics, only expressions of opinion (or emotions). I argue that this assimilation of Wittgenstein to emotivist thought is deeply misguided, and rests upon a serious misunderstanding of what is implied by the nonsensicality of ethical claims on Wittgenstein's view. I develop a reading of …

Moral Conviction And Disagreement: Getting Beyone Negative Toleration, Matthew Pianalto

Matthew Pianalto

The sort of toleration we need is tolerant engagement, not just putting up with others.

One Play Cannot Be Known To Win Or Lose A Game: A Fallibilist Account Of Game, Tamba Nlandu

Tamba Nlandu

This paper discusses what it means to be a good sport. It offers an account of sportsmanship rooted in the proper understanding of the limited role each participant plays during a specific sporting contest. It aims at showing that, from a fallibilist perspective, although it may perhaps be logically possible for a single play to win or lose a sporting event, it makes epistemologically no sense to single out a particular game action, moment or decision as the crucial one which determined victory or defeat. Our view, we shall argue, is consistent with the empirical nature of sporting activities. Since …

The Need For An Augustinian Left, Scott Paeth

Scott R. Paeth

No abstract provided.

In Defense Of Intolerance, Matthew Pianalto

Matthew Pianalto

Thanks to extremists like Scott Roeder, the anti-abortionist who murdered Dr George Tiller, and James von Brunn, the white supremacist who opened fire in the U.S. Holocaust Museum, as well as the various groups around the world who resort to terror bombings, we are likely to see renewed and continuing discussions about the importance of tolerance. “Can’t we all just get along?” Indeed, intolerance gets a bad rap because the most salient examples of intolerance are these same hate-mongering fanatics. This is unfortunate, for while tolerance is often necessary for us to all get along and better understand each other, …