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Articles 1 - 30 of 160
Full-Text Articles in Philosophy
Biological Teleology In The Modern World, Kathryn Siena
Biological Teleology In The Modern World, Kathryn Siena
Honors Theses
In humans, the heart moves blood through the body. Does the heart therefore have a teleological explanation? Aristotelian teleology (described in Aristotle’s Physics) is the cause-for-the-sake-of-which, or the end towards which something moves. It is evident from current scientific knowledge that there is some sort of orientation of organisms toward an end. This orientation, following Aristotle’s definition of teleology, is conceptually distinct from efficient causation. This orientation is also metaphysically distinct from efficient causation because efficient causal explanations do not properly describe the orientation. However, two common ways of describing teleological explanations imply efficient causation as a metaphysical element. …
Logical Sense In The Skeptical Self-Refutation Problem: Sextus Empiricus’ Logos And Pathos, Stacy E. Cunningham
Logical Sense In The Skeptical Self-Refutation Problem: Sextus Empiricus’ Logos And Pathos, Stacy E. Cunningham
Honors Theses
The self-refutation problem is an all too familiar objection to all varieties of skeptical arguments, in fact, it is as old as skepticism itself. My analyses will first focus on the arguments and objections to ancient Pyrrhonian skepticism. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy describes the goal of Pyrrhonian skepticism as “suspension of judgment as a way of achieving calm (ataraxia) in the face of seemingly intractable disagreement.” The position involves a series of arguments, or, “modes”, for evaluating claims in such a way that the evidence for and against accepting a claim are equally balanced, leaving the inquirer with no …
Development Under Erasure: Deconstruction In Development Discourse, Micah Gill
Development Under Erasure: Deconstruction In Development Discourse, Micah Gill
Honors Theses
Jacques Derrida’s theory of deconstruction has been historically underappreciated in development. Yet Derrida’s critical theory realizes development as an inherently deconstructive field, one which advocates for the Other when disciplines such as economics and international relations overlook them. By examining the history of development through a Derridean lens, we can see how deconstruction was working within some of the development discourse’s prominent shifts leading up to its “impasse” in the 1980s. Heightened critical attention around this time catalyzed a flurry of deconstructive processes in the following years which have reshaped the landscape of development scholarship and practice. The story of …
Dispelling Delusion And Seeing Nature: A Comparative Analysis Of Lucretius’ _De Rerum Natura_ And Hui-Neng’S _Platform Sutra_, Isaac Raymond
Dispelling Delusion And Seeing Nature: A Comparative Analysis Of Lucretius’ _De Rerum Natura_ And Hui-Neng’S _Platform Sutra_, Isaac Raymond
Honors Theses
Lucretius’ De Rerum Natura and Hui-neng’s Platform Sutra have never been compared in a scholarly context; as such, this paper builds a new bridge between Western and Eastern philosophical literature, examining language, narrative, ethics, teleology, theology, and departures from orthodox philosophies in order to synthesize a clear and complete view of the two works in dialogue. De Rerum Natura, or On the Nature of Things, is a first-century BC epic poem composed in Latin by Titus Lucretius Carus which explains Epicurean philosophy in great detail through verse. The Platform Sutra is an eighth-century AD Chinese Zen (Ch’an) Buddhist sermon, …
Taylor, Genealogy, History, Peter Hawes
Taylor, Genealogy, History, Peter Hawes
Honors Theses
In this paper I compare two different genealogies of the idea of the ‘self’: Charles Taylor’s and Michel Foucault’s. I begin by arguing that Taylor’s focus on combating what he calls “subtraction stories” places him in the genealogical tradition with Foucault. I then engage with Foucault's genealogy of the self, which illuminates how the notion of the ‘self’ was constructed as a means of control, which leads him to say we should do away with trying to understand it outside of relations of power. This call for the rejection of the self, I suggest, presents a problem for us, who …
Speak Now To Forever Hold Your Piece: On Aesthetic Ownership And Interpretation, Spencer Heitman
Speak Now To Forever Hold Your Piece: On Aesthetic Ownership And Interpretation, Spencer Heitman
Honors Theses
The primary objectives of this research are to describe ways in the interpretation of art-objects is shaped by their ownership and to endorse fan culture participation as a mechanism through which people might be led to aesthetic value. This analysis shall be grounded in an understanding of trust and shall point the reader toward care, noting that these phenomena positively correlate and help interpreters to receive meaning of more abundance and depth. It will be initially claimed that art interpretation is itself contribution to aesthetic dialogue with artists. This claim is grounded in an understanding of art’s communicative capacities and …
The Cut To The Heart Of The Matter: Justice, Morality, And Virtue Ethics In Intimate Relationships, Quinn Heiser
The Cut To The Heart Of The Matter: Justice, Morality, And Virtue Ethics In Intimate Relationships, Quinn Heiser
Honors Theses
Since the Enlightenment project to reconstruct morality using purely rational grounds failed, modern moral debate has been fragmented. Furthermore, intimate relationships, whether romantic or marital, are plagued with all kinds of injustices that have not been formally addressed in a philosophical investigation. The purpose of this thesis is to argue that the moral theory to restore interpersonal justice in intimate relationships is the notion of ‘practice’, founded by Alasdair MacIntyre under the Aristotelian virtue ethics tradition. What is meant by the notion of practice is any human activity with goods exclusive to its extent, as well as cooperative, objective, and …
Making Good Doctors: The Ama’S Code Of Ethics And A Culture Of Virtue, John Howard Hassmann
Making Good Doctors: The Ama’S Code Of Ethics And A Culture Of Virtue, John Howard Hassmann
Honors Theses
The American Medical Association’s (AMA) Code of Medical Ethics consists of principles that ensure the legal sanctity and professional conduct of practicing physicians. These principles outline imperatives for physicians “primarily for the benefit of the patient. But a physician can be terrible without violating the AMA’s Code of Medical Ethics. Although the AMA’s code ought not be forsaken or replaced, any code of ethics cannot make its adherents good. Physicians cannot become good following a code that neglects to address the delicacy of good habits. Further, a topical, crisis-management approach to ethical training stifles physicians whose ethical goals transcend lawfulness …
Defensio Reipublicae, Joseph Vanacore
Defensio Reipublicae, Joseph Vanacore
Honors Theses
In my thesis idea of Defensio Reipublicae I intend to analyze the founding of the American republic, while also briefly touching upon the history of republicanism in the Roman republic, in order to formulate a defense in support of republicanism. By looking at sources of the foundation of the United States, as well as political philosophy, I plan to lay out why republicanism—as a form of governance—is a prime choice for the self-governance of human societies. Sources such as the Federalist Papers, scholarly articles, political philosophers like Montesquieu, Locke, and Machiavelli, in addition to the expertise of my advisor, President …
Pluralistic Ethical Personalism, Qifan Hu
Pluralistic Ethical Personalism, Qifan Hu
Honors Theses
In the thesis, I sketch out a general outline for a pluralistic, personalist theory of ethics. This theory intends to capture the phenomenon that our life experience is saturated with ethical and other kinds of values; and it also emphasizes the idea that each ethical agent, or human being, has a unique ethical project that is understandable in light of various ethical values.
Assessing The Damage: Moral Realism And The Evolutionary Debunking Argument, Olivia Denton
Assessing The Damage: Moral Realism And The Evolutionary Debunking Argument, Olivia Denton
Honors Theses
For millennia, prominent thinkers have believed that moral sentiments were the recognition of external, objective truths, be they of divine, Platonic, or natural origin. Now the challenge is to find any objective tether at all for our evaluative judgements. The theory of evolution’s encroachment on metaethics is practically as old as Charles Darwin himself, but the more evolved version of this attack on the justification for moral realism (the position that avers the existence of objective moral truths and that we can know at least some of them) comes in the form of Evolutionary Debunking Arguments (EDAs). The (specifically, materialist) …
Emotional Perspectives On Existential Threat: Evaluating The Rationality Of Climate Anxiety, Rachael Lange
Emotional Perspectives On Existential Threat: Evaluating The Rationality Of Climate Anxiety, Rachael Lange
Honors Theses
This thesis seeks to answer the following question: Is climate anxiety a rational emotion? In order to arrive at an answer, several queries embedded in the main question must be addressed. This paper will outline a theory of emotion in order to define anxiety, assess climate change as a specific emotional object, and compare the rationality of anxiety using two evaluative standards. Climate anxiety is an emerging emotional phenomenon experienced in response to the perceived detrimental effects of a warming climate. Due to the novel identification of this contemporary emotional phenomenon with the established emotion of anxiety, there has thus …
Juvenile Life Without Parole: Exposing The Parallels Between Juvenile Offenders And Those Who Sentence Them, Autumn Fortenberry
Juvenile Life Without Parole: Exposing The Parallels Between Juvenile Offenders And Those Who Sentence Them, Autumn Fortenberry
Honors Theses
This thesis will discuss Juvenile Life Without Parole sentencing (JLWOP) from three perspectives: (1) the evolving standard of decency as developed through relevant U.S. Supreme Court cases; (2) the cognitive and psychosocial development of adolescents that creates reduced culpability in juvenile offenders; and (3) the justifications and implications of punishment as-applied to juvenile offenders. In my fourth chapter, I argue that JLWOP sentencing disregards the humanity and transformable nature of juvenile offenders. I will then draw a parallel between the implications of a juvenile offender's underdeveloped cognitive functions on their decision-making processes and the implications of a trial judge's underdeveloped …
Rawls And Vattimo: An Argument For Congeniality Between Political Liberalism And Hermeneutical Nihilism, Tanner Cheek
Rawls And Vattimo: An Argument For Congeniality Between Political Liberalism And Hermeneutical Nihilism, Tanner Cheek
Honors Theses
In this thesis, I will evaluate the relationship between the liberal political philosophy of John Rawls and the hermeneutical nihilism of the Italian philosopher and politician Gianni Vattimo. I will argue for congeniality as the best characterization of this relationship. In the first chapter, I will briefly describe the political philosophy of Rawls, highlighting those ideas which will be especially relevant to the following chapters. In the second chapter, I will detail the ideas of hermeneutical nihilism as put forth by Gianni Vattimo, consider the areas of intersection of this philosophical view with that of Rawls, and argue for congeniality …
Assembling Ideal Actualization In Viennese Social Housing, Jack Day
Assembling Ideal Actualization In Viennese Social Housing, Jack Day
Honors Theses
The central aims of this paper are to create a potential concept for what an ideal social housing program could look like and then to determine the extent to which the social housing program in Vienna, Austria has brought this ideal to reality. The social housing program in Vienna was chosen due to its popularity as a program and its generally positive reputation. The paper proceeds by first offering potential definitions for social housing, its ideals, and potential indicators for ideal fulfillment. Then, I take influence from the frameworks of assemblage theory and path-dependency theory to analyze the material, temporal, …
The Dream Of The Common Good: Not A Nightmare, Jackson Gregory Dellinger
The Dream Of The Common Good: Not A Nightmare, Jackson Gregory Dellinger
Honors Theses
This paper examines an emerging position in the philosophy of law, common-good constitutionalism. In the first two parts of the paper, I explain the position and constitutionalism more generally, examining how common-good constitutionalism fits within the definition of constitutionalism providing by a neutral scholar. In the next five parts, I attempt to show that common-good constitutionalism’s preference for explicit adherence to the common good does not violate constitutionalism. In doing so, I provide an examination of common-good constitutionalism’s relationship with three important constitutional principles and the separability of common-good constitutionalism as a whole and the infamous views of its most …
An Argument For Sensuous Revolution And Its Manifestation In The Food System, Anna Smith
An Argument For Sensuous Revolution And Its Manifestation In The Food System, Anna Smith
Honors Theses
In this food system, we witness issues such as health disparities, social injustice, and environmental injustice, which all flow within one another. When seeking to address such issues it is essential to recognize their inherent interconnectedness and root causes; otherwise, intended solutions can perpetuate the issues they aim to solve when they do not encompass full-seeing. The greatest barrier to full-seeing is disconnection with experience, which occurs when what we are experiencing is obscured by static conceptions. This inhibition of holistic understanding, when occurring through such limited perspectives, makes solving issues such as health disparities, social injustice, and environmental injustice …
Speech Acts As Contingent Encounters: Realizing Agency In Contaminated Worlds, Zachary Cross
Speech Acts As Contingent Encounters: Realizing Agency In Contaminated Worlds, Zachary Cross
Honors Theses
Agency is realized in the act of speaking, an act which is always contingent on a collaborative process that transforms all parties involved. We think and act with one another and our concepts, there is no act of speech prior to encounter. In this paper I explore different ways which language shapes our thinking and play with those structures to use them as models for realizing agency. This exploration became personal insofar as exploring ways of thinking transformed my own sense of agency in the speech act. The completion of this paper is thus essential to its conclusion.
Mapping Conceptions Of Ideology In Contemporary Philosophy, Mary Marlowe
Mapping Conceptions Of Ideology In Contemporary Philosophy, Mary Marlowe
Honors Theses
No abstract provided.
On The Importance And Peripheralization Of Women In The Four Gospels, Akua Lewis
On The Importance And Peripheralization Of Women In The Four Gospels, Akua Lewis
Honors Theses
No abstract provided.
Philosophy And Music: A Search For Truth, Zhengzhou Li
Philosophy And Music: A Search For Truth, Zhengzhou Li
Honors Theses
For early Wittgenstein, and perhaps the early analytic tradition, the scope of philosophy is almost synonymous with the limit of language. The quietist doctrine thus abandons all metaphysical inquiry. In the history of philosophy, some German philosophers around the 19th century showed us how we can arrive at the ontological truth in ways other than with language. For these German philosophers, aesthetics and art are vital tools in searching for truth. In response to the Wittgensteinian quietism and in search of other ways of philosophizing besides through the use of language, my thesis focuses specifically on the art of music …
A Leap Into Communion: Kierkegaard And Spiritual Practices In _To The Wonder_, Madeleine Hall
A Leap Into Communion: Kierkegaard And Spiritual Practices In _To The Wonder_, Madeleine Hall
Honors Theses
The study of metaethics contains the question of where value comes from. Different theories of goodness encourage tracing goodness back to God, saying that goodness is that which is like God (the resemblance thesis) or that which perfects nature (the perfection thesis). Kierkegaard participates in these questions of goodness, and in Fear and Trembling concludes that the moral absolute of the akedah reveals a good, Divine mystery. Fear and Trembling is a work of Christian existentialism that encourages an internal faith that embraces mystery rather than attempting to conquer it. Rather than trying to understand exactly who God is, Kierkegaard …
Addressing The Harms Of Pornography, Gillian Allison
Addressing The Harms Of Pornography, Gillian Allison
Honors Theses
Within this paper I look at the existing philosophical work on pornography, from scholars like Catherine MacKinnon, Ronald Dworkin, and Rae Langton to show the current state of the pornography debate that I intend to enter by presenting my own argument about the morality of pornography. I argue that while pornography is harmful, these harms are best resolved through increased sexual education and the popularization and production of more inclusive pornography. The harms pornography causes are so great because pornography is where a lot of people learn about sex. Pornography was never designed to depict an average sexual experience. If …
The Plight Of Social Media: An Analysis Of The Effects Social Media Has On Political Discourse, Kelsey Delaney
The Plight Of Social Media: An Analysis Of The Effects Social Media Has On Political Discourse, Kelsey Delaney
Honors Theses
ABSTRACT
Delaney, Kelsey. The Plight of Social Media: An Analysis of the Effects Social Media has on Political Discourse. Department of Political Science, March 2021.
Advisor: Çıdam, Çiğdem
This thesis demonstrates how social media has affected political discourse. It builds on an analysis of epistemic bubbles and echo chambers to show how social media contributes to the formation of insulated groups and perpetuates belief polarization. Two case studies are used to display how social media has been weaponized by political actors through the manipulation of algorithms, bot accounts, anonymity, normalization, and trend-setting tactics. The first case study focuses on how …
Responsible Belief- An Interpersonal Approach, R J. Conk
Responsible Belief- An Interpersonal Approach, R J. Conk
Honors Theses
Beliefs occupy a powerful role in all aspects of our lives and are essential to many of the most impactful realms of human activity. All intellectual, political, and social activity relies on the stable function of our belief practices, and our everyday experience certainly reflects this. At times, we find it fitting to hold people
responsible for the beliefs they develop, and if these beliefs are in some way bad or incorrect, to blame them for them. However, this is in tension with the popular sentiment that opinions are open to (mostly) free adoption and expression. So long as your …
On Narrative Approaches To Conspiracy Theory, John Hydrisko
On Narrative Approaches To Conspiracy Theory, John Hydrisko
Honors Theses
This thesis handles narrative approaches to conspiracy theory. It provides an overview of conspiracy theory and narrative before affirming a relationship between the two. It then introduces Fenster’s work on conspiracy narrative before engaging with the considerations therein. After discussing the tradition of visualizing narrative structure, it applies these practices to conspiracy narrative. This application allows for a discussion of recent innovations within conspiracy narrative. By using the QAnon as a case study, the paper investigates the emergence of protagonism and non-narrativism within the genre. Ultimately, this investigation suggests that contemporary conspiracy narrative is both better suited to the modern …
An Examination Of The Themes Of Invisibility And Hypervisibility In Black Women’S Experiences Within The Prison System, Sarah N. Kuhns
An Examination Of The Themes Of Invisibility And Hypervisibility In Black Women’S Experiences Within The Prison System, Sarah N. Kuhns
Honors Theses
Using Kimberlee Crenshaw’s concept of intersectionality, the author argues that how incarcerated Black women are treated because of how others perceive their identities lead to certain traits of theirs being rendered invisible or hyper-visible. Their humanity and needs are rendered invisible while stereotypes of criminality, insanity and hyper-sexuality are hyper-visible. Because their humanity is not fully seen, while their criminality is seen as hyper-visible, state violence is used against them as a tool of control and domination. Due to the fact that incarceration and the state violence that comes with a prison sentence, prison abolition should be considered as a …
Dialectical Reasoning And Developing Responsive Models Toward Political Ecology, Dawson J. Vandervort
Dialectical Reasoning And Developing Responsive Models Toward Political Ecology, Dawson J. Vandervort
Honors Theses
In this thesis, I seek out the modes of thought that we have developed for making sense of the world and elucidate how the logic of domination and reduction of reason to a calculative tool has led to the climate crisis. Throughout my research, I look for models to overcome mechanized thought and find two useful remedies that will require time and effort to implement: critical self-reflection and storytelling skills. Self-reflection involves dialectically thinking or considering alternative approaches to how we understand the world rather than accepting the standard norms for thinking and using them without question. Storytelling involves the …
The Art And Importance Of Deliberative Rhetoric In Political Communications, Cameron Sadler
The Art And Importance Of Deliberative Rhetoric In Political Communications, Cameron Sadler
Honors Theses
This project explores the use of deliberative rhetorical appeals in political communications. Seven professionals spanning all levels of politics were interviewed about their work as communications specialists and strategists. Their insights further proved the necessity for attention to rhetoric in messaging.
Covid-19 And Challenges To The Traditional Understanding Of Individual Medical Autonomy, Callon A. Green
Covid-19 And Challenges To The Traditional Understanding Of Individual Medical Autonomy, Callon A. Green
Honors Theses
Throughout history, vaccines have provided the human population with the ability to combat dangerous illnesses and avoid preventable suffering. Despite the benefits vaccines provide to the public health of the United States, anti-vaccination sentiment and resistance to vaccine uptake are still prevalent in the modern day. As the COVID-19 pandemic has developed into a major public health crisis that can be controlled through vaccination, the issues underlying vaccine resistance are becoming more critical to return to normal life. Using COVID-19 as a case study, it is evident that the individual choice to deny vaccination can have consequences on the health …