Philosophy Commons^™

Philosophy In The Narrative Mode: Alexander The Great As An Ethical Character From Roman To Medieval Islamicate Literature, Anna Ayşe Akasoy

Publications and Research

Histories of Arabic and Islamic philosophy tend to focus on texts which are systematic in nature and conventionally classified as philosophy or related scholarly disciplines. Philosophical principles, however, are also defining features of texts associated with other genres. Within the larger field of philosophy, this might be especially true of ethics and within the larger body of literature this might be especially the case for stories. Indeed, it is sometimes argued that the very purpose of storytelling is to reinforce and disseminate moral conventions. Likewise, the moral philosopher can be conceptualized as a homo narrans.

The aim of this …

Creolizing Modern Buddhism: A Reply To Yarran Hominh & A. Minh Nguyen, Evan Thompson

Comparative Philosophy

In reply to Hominh and Nguyen, I argue that “creolizing” methods in the study and practice of Buddhism should not be opposed to historicist and contextualist modes of investigation and understanding. Rather, historicism and contextualism can and should inform creolizing approaches.

Cosmopolitanism, Creolization, And Non-Exceptionalist Buddhist Modernisms: On Evan Thompson’S Why I Am Not A Buddhist, Yarran Hominh, A. Minh Nguyen

Comparative Philosophy

In his recent book, Why I Am Not a Buddhist, Evan Thompson argues that inter-tradition or cross-cultural philosophical dialogue ought to be governed by cosmopolitan conversational norms that do not subsume any one tradition’s deep commitments under those of any other tradition, but rather bring those commitments into the discussion so that they can be challenged and defended. He argues on this basis for the application of a deeply contextualist and historicist interpretive methodology to Buddhist texts, concepts, and theories in dialogue with philosophy and contemporary cognitive sciences. Buddhist modernism, in eschewing that deeply contextualist and historicist methodology, falls …

Sameness, Difference And Environmental Concern In The Metaphysics And Ethics Of Spinoza And Chan Buddhism, Michael Hemmingsen

Comparative Philosophy

In this paper I contrast the metaphysical philosophies of Benedict de Spinoza and the ‘sudden enlightenment’ tradition of Chan Buddhism. Spinoza’s expressivist philosophy, in which everything can be conceived via a lineage of finite causes terminating in substance as a metaphysical ground of all things, emphasises the relative sameness of all entities. By contrast, Chan’s philosophy of emptiness, which rests on the dependent co-origination of all entities, renders such comparison fundamentally meaningless. Having no source beyond dependent co-origination to generate a thing’s distinct nature leads to a metaphysics in which, rather than being relatively similar or different, all things …

Scarcity Or Economic Insecurity? Two Yardsticks For Measuring Capitalism’S Performance, Costas Panayotakis

Publications and Research

This article argues that capitalism’s relationship to economic insecurity is as important for the evaluation of that system as its relationship to scarcity. Critically analyzing the neoclassical and Marxist focus on capitalism’s relationship to scarcity, the article describes how capitalism’s relationship to economic insecurity offers a more cogent elaboration of these traditions’ shared belief that the economic system should serve people. In particular, while critical of the neoclassical portrayal of capitalism as a system using scarce resources efficiently, this paper also argues, against Marxism, that an alternative to capitalism might be preferable even if scarcity is not abolished.

A Kantian View Of Transgenderism, Michael S. Mendoza

Eleutheria: John W. Rawlings School of Divinity Academic Journal

• The recent popularity of sex reassignment surgery is logically untenable and immoral when understood in the light of Kantian philosophy. From a Kantian perspective of synthetic a priori judgments, I argue that a biological male cannot rationally claim to “feel like a woman inside.” As a male, any female is part of the noumenal world and cannot be known apart from perception. The statement “I feel like a woman inside” assumes all women feel the same on the inside. Kant’s explanation of the noumenal and phenomenal excludes the possibility of knowing that all women or men feel the same inside …

Laura Mason (1957-2021): An Appreciation

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

No abstract provided.

Animals In Irish Society: Interspecies Oppression And Vegan Liberation In Britain's First Colony By Corey Lee Wren, Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

No abstract provided.

Feeding Britain: Our Food Problems And How To Fix Them, Martin Caraher

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

No abstract provided.

Irish Country Furniture And Furnishing 1700-2000 By Claudia Kinmonth, Clodagh Doyle

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

No abstract provided.

Silence In The Kitchen: How Students Innovated And Created Despite Covid-19., Anna Cruickshank, Pauline Danaher

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

The COVID-19 lockdown has changed the educational landscape forever; everything that we thought we could not do online, it turned out we could. When the Irish Government announced that all third-level educational institutes were to close in March 2020 and that lecturers would move theory-based lectures online, it seemed a daunting challenge. Most lecturing staff had little experience of lecturing with online platforms and no time to prepare the students for new ways of working and attending class. Little did we know that twelve months later, as the crisis raged on, that an even bigger decision had to be grappled …

"This Wizard Of The Cooking Stove": How P.G. Wodehouse Contributed To The Field Of Gastronomy Through Anatole, The French Chef, In The Jeeves-And-Wooster Series, Elizabeth Wilson, Anke Klitzing

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

Priscilla Parkhurst Ferguson’s premise that Balzac, a realist fiction author, contributed to the cultural field of gastronomy by his ethnographically accurate depictions of restaurants in mid-nineteenth-century Paris, prompts asking whether this may be true for other fiction authors that painstakingly reflect the foodways of their time and place, such as English author P.G. Wodehouse through his character, the French chef Anatole, in the Jeeves-and-Wooster series. Thematic analysis found three gastronomic themes surrounding Anatole that could be confirmed as historically accurate. The highly-skilled chef employed in the country houses of the Edwardian upper class possessed cultural capital through his professional capabilities …

Food, Comfort And Community: Media Coverage Of Last Meals For The Dying, Tina Sikka

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

This article examines the media coverage of food in the context of community-based end of life rituals and death meals that are increasingly being observed by those undergoing a medically assisted death (medical assistance in dying: MAID). I employ a reconstituted form of media analysis that aims to identify and unpack the socio-cultural themes, values, and assumptions that underpin these food events. These include the central frame of plenty, community/family, personality, comfort, and gender. My objective is to provoke a discussion about how media coverage acts as a site from which to understand the significance of food in the context …

Dependent Or Independent: Exploring The Culture Of Local Coffee Shops In China, Hui Zhi, Huan Chen

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

Despite the short history of coffee in China, the Chinese coffee market has been expanding and gradually becoming an important overseas market for coffee transnational corporations such as Nestlé and Starbucks since the 1980s. Meanwhile, the number of independent coffee shops owned by individuals in China is inflating in response to the increasing demand of high-quality coffee. The popularity of independent coffee shops reflects a struggle between local and global cultures. Although previous studies about independent coffee shops in other Asian countries and areas, such as Japan and Taiwan, are abundant, no study has yet addressed independent coffee shops in …

Editorial, Michelle Share, Dorothy Cashman, Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

No abstract provided.

Cover And Table Of Contents

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

No abstract provided.

A Conflict Of Disinterest: The Problem Of Party In The Early American Republic, Darren Morgan

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

This study examines the lost classical republican virtue of disinterestedness—its early role in the nation’s founding, its eventual subordination to partisanship, and its enduring legacy in the realm of politics. Two seminal documents shaped Americans’ early ideas regarding disinterestedness, namely James Madison’s Federalist, No. 10 and George Washington’s “Farewell Address;” however, these cornerstones of impartial politics built upon a long history of classical republican thought from both ancient Rome and mother England. The eventual impracticality of such a virtue quickly gave way to a more enticing and interested form of politics in the early republic—one where lines were rapidly …

A Critique Of Audi's Ethical Intuitionism, Caleb Yarbrough

Student Research Submissions

Robert Audi’s 2005 book The Good in the Right is a formidable representative of the recently resurgent theory ethical intuitionism (EI). Its renown is not unearned; Audi has developed a novel version of EI that preserves some of the most appealing features of Rossian EI while making a few key changes that help it to stand up better to some criticisms. This paper will explore Audi’s position and articulate a variety of objections to it that, taken together, prevent it from being a serious contender on the metaethical stage. The first section will discuss some of the difficulties with Audi’s …

Witnessing Anew: Human Rights Advocacy For Migrants At The U.S. Southern Border In Covid-19 Times, Ellen Maccarone

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

In this paper I provide a case study of transnational migrant advocacy done by the Kino Border Initiative during the COVID-19 pandemic. Shortly before the pandemic I spent a week with KBI for an immersion experience part of which focused on the ideas of human rights advocacy and witnessing. “Witness” in this context has both a spiritual/moral dimension and an experiential one that can form a foundation for advocacy. Using accounts of migrants to inform and humanize changed when interpersonal witnessing became impossible during the pandemic. This increased the levels of human rights abuses experienced by migrants and limited the …

Stoicism And Just War Theory, Leonidas D. Konstantakos

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The ancient philosophy of Stoicism, itself one of the foundations for international law, can improve contemporary just war thinking by forming a coherent set of philosophical principles to serve as a foundation for a just war theory. A Stoic approach considers justifications for moral actions to come not from an appeal to human rights, conformity to deontological rules, or from the utility of the actions themselves, but from virtuous character traits and corresponding virtuous actions. As such, a Stoic approach to just war theory is a virtue ethics perspective in which metaethical incentive for moral action is the agent’s own …

What Are Intended As Systems Of Support Become Systems Of Struggle, Kevin Timpe

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

Education is, in theory, a human right owed to all individuals, including those who are disabled. In practice, however, that right is often not satisfied. While disabled students now have a federal right to a public education in the United States, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is often not followed. And even when it is, ensuring that it is often places undue demands on disabled students and their families. The system that is supposed to support disabled students all too often is itself a source of struggle.

Civic Engagement Through Theatre: Running A Brechtian Workshop In The Classroom, Margot Morgan

eJournal of Public Affairs

This study presents an innovative active learning technique to support the development of civic education: a theatrical workshop based on the dramaturgy of Bertolt Brecht. I argue that the Brechtian workshop can develop three skills necessary for effective civic engagement: perspective taking, collaboration, and critical judgment/self-reflection, and that these skills are directly tied to the three civic values of pluralism, community, and civic responsibility. Using qualitative data gathered in the course of teaching this workshop to two distinct student populations — a self-selecting group of students in a liberal arts environment and a group of students at a commuter campus …

The Role Of Sex: An Analysis Of U.S. Attitudes Toward Climate Change, Chloe Riggs

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study analyzes the intersection of sex, environmental risk perception of climate change, and feminism. More specifically, with a sample size of 8,280 respondents from the American National Election Studies (ANES) 2020 Times Series Study, this research examines the relationship between pro-environmental attitudes and sympathy for feminism, controlling for sex, as well as if a measure of sympathy for feminism influences pro-environmental attitudes, controlling for demographic (age, education, race, sex, and income) and political preference (political ideology and party affiliation) variables. Previous literature strongly supports a sex gap in risk perception, a pattern known as the White Male Effect (WME) …

A Gendered Analysis Of Habermas And The Underrepresented Narratives Of Domestic Migrant Claims, K C. Abalos-Orendain

The Canadian Society for Study of Practical Ethics / Société Canadienne Pour L'étude De L'éthique Appliquée — SCEEA

This paper explores the limitations and possibilities of Habermas’ critical social theory and discourse ethics by utilizing the analyses of two of his former students, Nancy Fraser and Seyla Benhabib. Fraser shows us the limitations of Habermas’ position because it fails to take into consideration the female perspective and contribution to the labor force. This raises the question of migration within the gender framework. On the other hand, Benhabib argues for the potential of Habermas’ philosophy by reminding us of its universalist stance.

Women As Victims Of ‘Misogyny’: Re-Centering Gender Marginalization, Xinyi Angela Zhao

The Canadian Society for Study of Practical Ethics / Société Canadienne Pour L'étude De L'éthique Appliquée — SCEEA

: Among various views concerning the nature of womanhood, one difference between the materialist and the pluralist accounts is whether a woman should be defined or identified based on her typical female biological features. The former treats “woman” as the social meaning of the biological female, while the latter insists that one can be a woman by virtue of one’s internal identity without also having the normatively associated biological features. In this paper, I argue against the latter view that the inclusion or demarginalization of transwomen requires more than self-identification and that it demands the recognition of the role of …

Seeing Differences Differently: Peter Best And Morally Relevant Differences, Sandra Tomsons

The Canadian Society for Study of Practical Ethics / Société Canadienne Pour L'étude De L'éthique Appliquée — SCEEA

Recently, I benefited from reflecting on Best’s arguments in There is no Difference. Accepting his argument chain to establish that there is no difference between individual Indigenous personsand European persons, we agree that Indigenous persons and Europeans have the same humanity, moral worth and individual moral human rights. Hence, we agree that Indigenous persons in Canada should legally have equal human rights. The moral difference Best sees, and I no longer see, is between Indigenous nations and European nations. For Best, differences between nations can make one nation superior to another. Challenging Best’s superior-inferior-nation hierarchy, I argue that liberal …

Canadian Decolonization: The Path To Indigenous Recognition And Sovereignty, Sebastian Farkas

The Canadian Society for Study of Practical Ethics / Société Canadienne Pour L'étude De L'éthique Appliquée — SCEEA

How can Indigenous peoples acquire recognition and sovereignty within Canada? The heinous treatment of Indigenous Canadians is well documented. Thankfully, Canada has progressed from this horrific past. Whether it was Stephen Harper’s public apology in 2008, the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, or Justin Trudeau’s 2015 campaign promise of a “nation-to-nation” approach, Canada has tried to repair past wrongs. However, this is not enough. By relying on decolonization theory, this paper explains that Canada must change its process for adjudicating legal affairs if Indigenous peoples are to have their rights respected, guaranteed, and upheld as sovereign peoples.

Aging Justice: Health Justice Extended, Alex Mayhew

The Canadian Society for Study of Practical Ethics / Société Canadienne Pour L'étude De L'éthique Appliquée — SCEEA

The ethical framework of health justice posits that humans have a right to health, a meta-capacity to pursue their goals. However, elderly people are often expected to endure the loss of capacity as natural, while health justice as an ethical framework has been silent on the topic of aging. By extending the idea of health justice to aging, we can see the involuntary deterioration of health and end of life as a social justice issue. Meanwhile, developments in biology suggest that aging may be reversible. Therefore, we ought to support efforts to reverse aging and restore capacities to all people

The Responsive Diversity Worker: Emotional Labour In Academia, Amber Spence

The Canadian Society for Study of Practical Ethics / Société Canadienne Pour L'étude De L'éthique Appliquée — SCEEA

Often in academia, women and minorities are held to a higher standard in how they present themselves (caring, empathetic) and how they manage the emotions of colleagues and students. The emotional labour that is expected of them is well documented. In this paper, I develop a new concept to address the emotional labour of diversity workers: Responsive Diversity Work. I summarize Carla Fehr’s view of the epistemic diversity worker, develop a theory of emotional labour, and explain how the responsive diversity worker, in virtue of the unfair emotional labour expected of her, is at great risk of mental health issues.

God And Kant’S Suicide Maxim, Carlo Alvaro

Publications and Research

Kant’s argument against suicide is widely dismissed by scholars and often avoided by teachers because it is deemed inconsistent with Kant’s moral philosophy. This paper attempts to show a way to make sense of Kant’s injunction against suicide that is consistent with his moral system. One of the strategies adopted in order to accomplish my goal is a de-secularization of Kant’s ethics. I argue that all actions of self-killing (or suicide) are morally impermissible because they are inconsistent with God’s established nature and order. It is argued that the existence of God as the locus of moral value and duty …