Philosophy Commons^™

Locked In Functions: A Short Poem For Robert Langlands, Virgilio A. Rivas

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This short poem is inspired by Robert Langlands, recipient of the 2018 Abel Prize. The poem tries to sum up in poetic language, as brief but substantial as it can be, the philosophical and rhetorical connotation of his contributions to mathematics, from automorphic forms to number theory, and the famous Langlands programme, among others. Also partly inspired by Edward Frenkel's tribute to Langlands, the book Love and Mathematics, the poem seeks to capture the philosophical beauty of mathematics that privileges the importance of 'functions' over 'passions', consistent with Langlands' purely mathematical side.

From A Doodle To A Theorem: A Case Study In Mathematical Discovery, Juan FernáNdez GonzáLez, Dirk Schlimm

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

We present some aspects of the genesis of a geometric construction, which can be carried out with compass and straightedge, from the original idea to the published version (Fernández González 2016). The Midpoint Path Construction makes it possible to multiply the length of a line segment by a rational number between 0 and 1 by constructing only midpoints and a straight line. In the form of an interview, we explore the context and narrative behind the discovery, with first-hand insights by its author. Finally, we discuss some general aspects of this case study in the context of philosophy of mathematical …

Speakers And Addressees As Creative Interpreters, Svitlana Novikova

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Philosophers in the past have argued that the way the word “interpret” is used within creative fields unhelpfully conflates the notions of deriving and creating content. Arguing against this, I propose that the blurring of these two notions accurately describes how addressees interpret speakers, performers interpret scores, and audiences interpret art and music. Even speakers can be described as creative interpreters in this sense, as articulating a thought into an utterance requires an interpretive effort. I develop the idea that interpreting straddles the divide between deriving and creating content within the framework of the ostensive-inferential communication proposed by Sperber and …

Salty: A Diffractive Inquiry Of Visceral Knowing And Embodied Aesthetics, Mei Ling Chua

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation takes a diffractive, onto-epistemological approach to everyday practices with salt in order to articulate an expanded understanding of meaning making and knowledge production. This research reckons with and challenges dominant modes of knowing that engage a Cartesian perspective to situate knowing as the exclusive domain of the mind in both form and topic of inquiry. This research acts simultaneously as both a direct practice of and metacognition about knowledge production by examining 1. the embodied (including sensory and emotional aspects) and 2. the relational (including interpersonal and socio-cultural) dimensions of experience as visceral knowing. This articulation of …

Three Essays On Substructural Approaches To Semantic Paradoxes, Brian C. Porter

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis consists of three papers on substructural approaches to semantic paradoxes. The first paper introduces a formal system, based on a nontransitive substructural logic, which has exactly the valid and antivalid inferences of classical logic at every level of (meta)inference, but which I argue is still not classical logic. In the second essay, I introduce infinite-premise versions of several semantic paradoxes, and show that noncontractive substructural approaches do not solve these paradoxes. In the third essay, I introduce an infinite metainferential hierarchy of validity curry paradoxes, and argue that providing a uniform solution to the paradoxes in this hierarchy …

Filling The Vacant Space: A Close Reading Of Kant’S Dialectic Of Pure Practical Reason, Mae Ashraf Ali Saafan

Theses and Dissertations

The main aim of this thesis is to explore Kant’s central notion of rational belief. Kant’s account of rational belief could be viewed as the ground on which rational moral agents assent to propositions that enable them to avoid any practical incoherence as they engage in their moral duty.

The paper will offer a close reading of the dialectic of pure practical reason, particularly the doctrine of the postulates of practical reason. In this doctrine, Kant argues that although there is no theoretical proof for or against freedom, God, and the immortality of the soul, rational moral agents ought to …

Everybody Wants To Be A Fascist Online: Psychoanalysis And The Digital Architecture Of Fascism, Anthony Faramelli, Imogen Piper

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

Félix Guattari and Franco Berardi have both argued that media ecologies and psychic ecologies are intimately intertwined and as such, any exploration of the collective unconscious must engage with how the mind is formed with and through media. This understanding of networks of interdependence necessitates an exploration of how platformization has impacted users” collective psyche. Drawing from psychosocial theory, psychoanalysis and the work of Félix Guattari, this article analizes the micropolitics of desire of digital platforms, with an explicit focus on how algorithmic structures amplify extreme Right content, allowing fascisms to metastasis throughout digital spaces. It will first examine the …

Punk Rock Vegan Movie, Michele M. Desmarais

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Punk Rock Vegan Movie (2023), directed by Moby.

Learning From Buddhist Teachings And Ethical Practices In Qualitative Research, Pei-Jung Li

The Qualitative Report

This paper aims at conceptualizing research ethics in qualitative research with Buddhist teachings. As a Buddhist, I first introduce how Buddhism came to be central in my life and eventually influenced me as a qualitative researcher. I exemplify how the concepts of all-beings-are-equal, karma, the five precepts, and repentance might inspire a qualitative practice that centers ethics and informs a researcher’s interactions with participants. I suggest that researchers not only work on reflecting on their body (actions), speech (talk), and mind (thoughts) but more importantly, move beyond just reflection and reflexivity to facing and resolving “unwholesome” moments that may arise …

Divinity, Dereck Daschke

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Divinity (2023), directed by Eddie Alcazar.

The Impact Of The Canva Program On The Learning Of The Ninth Grade Students In Jordanian Schools Of Html, Maha Abu Maizer

Al-Balqa Journal for Research and Studies البلقاء للبحوث والدراسات

This is a semi-experimental study that aims at measuring the impact of CANVA on the learning of ninth graders in a Jordanian school of HTML. 50 female ninth graders were randomly selected from 72 students in Aisha Bint Abi Baker school, and were distributed to two groups; control, which was taught traditionally, and experimental, which was taught with CANVA to learn HTML as a part of their computer curriculum. The researcher used a set of 20 multiple choice questions to test their knowledge achievement and skills. After checking the validity and reliability of the test. The results showed that there …

Book Review On Mindfulness-Based Emotion Focused Counselling (By Padmasiri De Silva), Kathleen Higgins

Comparative Philosophy

No abstract provided.

Book Review On Sculpting The Self: Islam, Selfhood And Human Flourishing (By Muhammad Faruque), Mohammad Azadpur

Comparative Philosophy

No abstract provided.

Illuminating Chinese Aesthetics With Kant’S Account Of Genius? Possibility And Difficulty, Kefu Zhu

Comparative Philosophy

Many scholars interpret Chinese Aesthetics with the Kantian theory of genius because they seem to form a parallel: similar innate and spontaneous mental talents that exceed normal cognition and imagination generates beautiful arts with similar extraordinary qualities. I argue that projecting Kant’s genius to illuminate the creative power analogically, i.e., the carefree-wandering mind, is infeasible. The theory of genius assumes a critical project that stipulates a valuable way to exercise the power of judgment. Genius is only a postulated idea for successfully making aesthetic judgments on artworks. In contrast, the carefree-wandering mind assumes a Daoist metaphysical-ethical theory centering on the …

Zero, Śūnya And Pūrṇa: A Comparative Analysis, Animisha Tewari

Comparative Philosophy

Due to apparent duality in this world, one has to face a lot of difficulties while searching for the Truth. Our ego is the root cause for perception of duality and this in turn leads to suffering. This suffering can only be extinguished by attainment of the Truth, i.e, non-duality. However, in order to enable the finite intellect to comprehend the incomprehensible non-duality, this undifferentiated whole is sometimes denoted by nothingness (śūnya) or fullness (pūrṇa). Non-duality is usually understood by the numeral ‘1’ which stands for unity or oneness. The main aim of this paper is …

How Al-Farabi’S Interpretative Method Can Engage With Aristotle’S Method In Cognition And Practical Philosophy, Meysam Shirvani

Comparative Philosophy

Following Aristotle, al-Farabi divides philosophy into theoretical and practical each of which requires some specific methodology both in interpretation and cognition. Based on this division, there may arguably be four methodologies for four parts: 1) cognition of theoretical philosophy 2) interpretation of practical philosophy 3) cognition of practical philosophy 4) interpretation of practical philosophy. This paper focuses on the last one: the methodology of interpreting practical philosophy. Al-Farabi has an undeniably significant contribution to practical philosophy as a commentator on Greek philosophy and as a founder. In this paper, I investigate how al-Farabi (870-950 AD) read classical practical philosophy to …

The Best Confucian Hybrid Meritocracy-Democracy For Liberal Democracies, John J. Park

Comparative Philosophy

Several contemporary Confucian philosophers have posited differing hybrid views fusing meritocracy to democracy. There is a good deal of interest in a meritocracy in contemporary Confucian thought, and such a view perhaps should receive more serious consideration in liberal democratic thought since it may make for a stronger form of government when appended to democracy. In this paper, four contemporary hybrid theorists who combine elements of a meritocracy with a democracy are critically analyzed concerning an ability for their views to be instantiated in liberal democracies for the legislative branch only. Finally, I provide a modified hybrid view for the …

Ubuntu’S Ontological Account In African Philosophy And Its Cross-Tradition Engagement On The Issue Of Being Versus Becoming, Anthony Chimankpam Ojimba

Comparative Philosophy

This paper x-rays Ramose’s ubuntu ontological account in African philosophy and its cross-tradition engagement on the issue of being versus becoming (such as the Yin-Yang, Heraclitean, Nietzschean, Whiteheadean and the Buddhists’ accounts) with a view to showing how convergence and divergence of thoughts in the African, European, and Asian philosophy contexts can advance cross-cultural philosophizing or cross-tradition approach to doing philosophy. Ramose’s ubuntu ontology designates a reconstruction of reality within the framework of motion, as captured in his concept of be-ing-becoming, while the Heraclitean, Nietzschean, Whiteheadean and the Buddhists’ ontological accounts also conceive reality within the confines of endless …

Caducitas And Śūnyatā: A Neoplatonist Reading Of Nāgārjuna, Fabien Muller

Comparative Philosophy

In this paper I am addressing the question whether Nāgārjuna’s doctrine should be understood as a theory that describes reality itself (ontology) or as a theory of our relation to reality (epistemological, logical, psychological, etc.). To answer this question, I propose to compare Nāgārjuna’s concept of emptiness to that of ‘caducity’, a key element in the ontology of Renaissance Neoplatonist philosopher Francisco Patrizi. By showing that these concepts are similar, I argue that Nāgārjuna’s standpoint can be considered as that of ontology.

Ineffability, Emptiness And The Aesthetics Of Logic, Andreas Kapsner

Comparative Philosophy

In this essay, I explore the nature of the logical analysis of Buddhist thought that Graham Priest has offered in his book The Fifth Corner of Four (5of4). The paper traces the development of a logical value in- troduced in 5of4, which Priest has called e. The paper points out that certain criticisms I have made earlier still stand, but focuses on a recon- ceptualization of 5of4 in which these arguments carry less weight. This new perspective on the book, inspired by a response to my arguments by Priest himself, sees the logical analysis of Buddhism …