Philosophy Commons^™

The Ethics Of Customizable Ai-Generated Pornography, Aaron Yarmel, Jonathan Lang

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

The Ethics Of Ai And Robotics In Kitchens And Food Systems, Rachel Robison-Greene

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

Ai, Domination And Control Of Humanity's Future, William D'Alessandro

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

A Cyborgian Middle Way Between Ai Alignment And Ai Fairness, Zach Peck

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

Moral Responsibility Gaps For Medical Ai: An Analysis Of Physicians' Perspectives, Jared Nathaniel Smith

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

Ai Responsibility Gap: Not New, Inevitable, Unproblematic, Huzeyfe Demirtas

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

Bearing The Moral Weight: What's Lost When Ai Decides, Christine Susienka

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

Brain/Computer Interfaces, Relational Ethics, And The Habitus Of Ableism, Rosie Wilkinson '06

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

Experience Machines And Experiencing Machines, Patrick Mckee

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

Conscious Ai And The Climate Crisis, Griffin Kiegiel

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

Superintelligence And Suicide, Ricky Mouser

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

Artificial Intelligence, Human Cognition, And Human Rights: Employee Infantilization And Organized Immaturity With Bossware Platforms, Jo Ann Oravec

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

Alyosha The Christian Hermeneut, Eddie Li

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

Presentation Abstract: Alyosha as the Christian Hermeneut

This presentation is adapted from my essay Alyosha as the Christian Hermeneut, written under the supervision of Dr. Paul Contino. In the essay, I gave an analysis of the character Alyosha in Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, in light of Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology, Hans-Georg Gadamer’s hermeneutics, and Dr. Contino’s book on Incarnational Realism. I discussed how Alyosha adapts from an inexperienced Christian disciple to a mature interpreter capable of conducting the hermeneutical fusion of horizons with different horizons. Within this capability, Alyosha develops his unique Christian horizon, enabling him to understand and reconcile the …

Teaching Philosophy Classes In Spanish Or Bilingually In The South Texas Borderlands, Alex Stehn, Cynthia Paccacerqua, Danny Marrero, Christopher Gomez, Dania López García, Katherine Christoffersen

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

Situated in the deep south Texas borderlands, over 90% of our students are Hispanic or Latino/a/x and the majority are bilingual. That is, most students enrolled across every course at our university are heritage speakers of Spanish. As professional philosophers, we believe that teaching these students should involve engaging them as the bilingual and bicultural students they are while helping them develop philosophical biliteracy. Our panelists are from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds (native speaker, heritage speaker, L2 speaker) but all of us are bilingual, bicultural, and biliterate faculty who have been working together as a team to design and …

Lip(S) Service: A Socioethical Overview Of Social Media Platforms’ Censorship Policies Regarding Consensual Sexual Content, Sage Futrell

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

The regulation of sexual exploitation on social media is a pressing issue that has been addressed by government legislation. However, laws such as FOSTA-SESTA has inadvertently restricted consensual expressions of sexuality as well. In four social media case studies, this paper investigates the ways in which marginalized groups have been impacted by changing censorship guidelines on social media, and how content moderation methods can be inclusive of these groups. I emphasize the qualitative perspectives of sex workers and queer creators in these case studies, in addition to my own experiences as a content moderation and social media management intern for …

Educating With Empathy: Empowering Students To Build Bridges Across Difference, Sara Shady

Day of Scholarship

This project explores the powerful role empathy can play in helping us constructively navigate the significant differences that often divide us in the 21st century (politics, race/ethnicity, religion, etc.). I define empathy as an intellectual and moral virtue, and defend its importance within the larger context of virtue ethics. I also explore practical ways to help students develop empathy in curricular and co-curricular settings.

Individualism And Nonconformity In Ralph Waldo Emerson's ‘Self-Reliance', Brendan Roof

2023 Symposium

My presentation utilizes the etymology of the word genius to explore Emerson’s “Self-Reliance.” Emerson would empower the individual in a conformist society to find harmony through nonconformity. The etymology of genius as a spiritual guide reinforces his stance on individualism, namely by qualifying the spirit, or the individual’s discretion, as all-powerful and constant. The word is rooted in the belief that a “spirit attendant” overlooks and guides the host body of each individual. Genius has also been defined as the “personification of a person’s natural appetites.” In terms of Emerson’s genius, man’s inherent appetite to belong to a collective reinforces …

Economics Over All: How Neoliberalism Affects Our Paradigms Of Identity And Relationships In The 21st Century, Richard R. Murphy

2023 Symposium

Not much is more heavily debated in the realm of social sciences than the phenomenon of Neoliberalism. Philosophers and academics alike, from the lectures by Michel Foucault in the latter half of the 20th century, to the publications of David Harvey and Wendy Brown today, the only constant is that Neoliberalism is a complex and nuanced system of internal governmentality. These fundamental changes to our paradigms trigger an evolved adaptively plastic mechanism that regulates our inclusive and exclusive moralities. By analyzing the mechanic structure of Neoliberalism and how it changes our paradigms of identity and relations, we may begin to …

The Polarization Of Political Parties And The American Republic, Patricia Cazeau

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

In the modern age of the 24-hour news cycle and social media, misinformation is rampant, and tensions are high. With a constant barrage of information coming from either direction, political opinions grow in number, and often in opposition to one another. This widens the fissure between the two major political parties in America, the conservative Republican, and liberal Democratic parties. Based on a study of 11 countries, including the United States, political polarization threatens democracies by creating political “tribes” that subscribe to groupthink, a harmful ideology that uplifts one school of thought while condemning others. In addition to having violent …

Jean-Jacques Rousseau’S Discourse On Inequality And Its Impact On Modern Western Society, Roger Engle

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

The famous French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau has undoubtedly left his mark on history and heavily influenced numerous governments over the last two hundred years. Rousseau’s “Discourse on Inequality”, in particular, changed the way in which individuals view society, religion, and morality in a significant manner. The worldview which is presented in this writing is the product of years of abandonment, sexual promiscuity, and a lack of personal responsibility. The real-world implications of which have led to the deaths of millions upon millions in one of the bloodiest centuries in all of human history and inspired some of modern history’s most …

How Technology Is Exacerbating The Mental Health Epidemic, Dhruv Schultz

COD Library Student Research and Award Symposium

Every year, technology of all mediums seems to make its way further into our lives. Offering unparalleled value in the workplace and classroom, as well as entertainment in our personal lives, it’s no wonder the world is becoming digital. However, this rapid digitalization may come at a hefty price. As technology becomes more integrated into daily life, mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, and addiction are on the rise. This research paper aims to explore the correlations between technology use and mental health, asking the question: to what extent is excessive technology use contributing to the mental health crisis? …

The Efficacy Of A Carbon Tax In Modern-Day America, Paige Adkins

COD Library Student Research and Award Symposium

Exploring how effective a carbon tax in the United States would be when considering the social, economic, and political factors its legislation would harbor. Delving into five articles and data analysis through a lens of critical thinking, the bias in studies conducted about the tax is examined, and further external implementation factors are considered. Flaws in scientific reasoning and inconsistencies among sources are discussed, and taken into consideration when determining a carbon tax’s efficacy. Driven by logic, these sources are put under the microscope to ultimately determine how beneficial a carbon tax would be without skewed opinions shaping its conclusion. …

Women Who Kill: Providing And Justifying Alternative Legal Pathways To The Use Of Battered Women Syndrome As Self-Defense, Sara Das '23

Senior Research Symposium

Legal scholars have been grappling with how to handle legal cases concerning battered women since the 70s. Lenore Walker argued that battered women have a condition called battered woman syndrome that alters their perceptions. The cases by themselves do not fulfill requirements for self-defense, a justification doctrine nor duress, an excuse doctrine. I argue that battered women should be excused, not through using battered women syndrome to support pre-existing claims, but instead by using other psychological research to support Morse’s partial excuse doctrine. The first part of the paper argues why battered woman syndrome does not work as a psychological …

By The Light Of The Mind: Augustine And Gordon H. Clark On Truth And The Existence Of God, Christopher Rankin

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Textual or Investigative

Freedom, Mystery, And Kinds Of Desire: The Doctrine Of Theosis And Free Will's Intelligibility Question, Aaron Milkie

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Textual or Investigative

Origins Of Evil And Its Grip On The Human Body, Paige Farquhar

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Textual or Investigative

The Baconian Ethics Of Psychosurgery, Elizabeth Mathews

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Theoretical Proposal

Ubuntu And The Struggle For Reason: Humaneness Beyond Humanism, Andrew Shaw, Ismael Gutierrez

Puget Sound Undergraduate Philosophy Conference

"Ubuntu and the Struggle for Reason: Humaneness Beyond Humanism"

Andrew Shaw (University of Washington)

Comments by Ismael Gutierrez (Puget Sound)

Chair: Emma Cole

This paper examines how modern societies might begin to live by the African philosophy of ubuntu through the prominent example of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. Following the work of philosophers from perspectives of race and disability, I contend that the liberal conception of rational personhood continues to grapple with problems of exclusion and demonstrate the exigency of theorizing alternative modes of personhood. I then argue in support of ubuntu as a moral system …

The Hermeneutics Of Nudging: The Reciprocity Between Transhumanism And Nudging, Ian Doherty

Graduate Student Research Symposium

This paper investigates and evaluates the implications of nudging someone toward transhumanism. Transhumanism offers a path to alleviate suffering and transcend our physical and mental limitations. Transhumanist technologies consist of alterations like genetic modification, neural implants, and molecular nanotechnology. These technologies are meant to give people full morphological freedom over their bodies. Although transhumanism remains a largely unknown movement, this is where nudge theory can help raise its prominence. Nudge theory aims to help people make better choices, and aid them in making better decisions related to their health and lifestyle. If paired correctly, transhumanism seems to be a perfect …

Peripheral Minds: An Abridged Phenomenological Analysis Of Dyslexia, John Henry Reilly

Graduate Student Research Symposium

This paper endeavors to provide a novel way of understanding Dyslexia through the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl. Dyslexia is currently defined as a neurodevelopmental disorder. It is “a specific and persistent learning disability affecting the acquisition and development of the written language code (reading and spelling) and causing significant handicap to academic achievement and/or activities of daily life.” This medicalized definition has several conceptual problems and does not commensurate with the lived experience of Dyslexic people.

Dyslexia is therefore defined by negation—it is defined through what it is not. This paper utilizes Husserlian phenomenology to work toward a definition …