Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons^™

Review Of The Movement For Black Lives: Philosophical Perspectives, Daniel Fryer

Reviews

Philosophy gets a bad rap when it comes to its engagement with the world’s most pressing social problems. Recall that famous epigrammatic final note from Karl Marx’s Theses on Feuerbach: “The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point, however, is to change it.” It may be tempting to take this line as a call to substitute studious reasoning for an “act first, think later” strategy. But that doesn’t seem to be Marx’s intention. Rather than being a call for “blind activism” that rejects “rational dialogue, discourse, or discussion,” Marx is better read as challenging philosophy to …

World Spirit And The Apotheosis Of Artificial Superintelligence: A Speculative Design Proposal, Ian Gonsher

Scholarly Research

This essay puts forth a speculative design proposal for a device with affordances for talking to, and receiving responses from, God. We begin with an analysis and critique of the concept of God, framing this concept within an understanding of Hegelian Spirit (Geist) and technological evolution. In this context, Spirit, or World Spirit (Weltgeist), can be characterized as the aggregate consciousness of all people - as human consciousness itself: In the simplest terms, this immanent framing of the “mind of God” is culturally and socially constituted as the communication that people engage in with each other, in all the diverse …

Women, Animals, Food: Planetary Perspectives On The Non-(Hu)Man, Samu/Elle Striewski

Comparative Woman

The paper comparatively reads Mahasweta Devi’s Pterodactyl, Pirtha, and Puran Sahay (1995) and Margaret Atwood’s The Year of the Flood (2009) to trace the ways in which both novels show the complex intertwinement of the climate crisis with gender, class, race, subalternity, anthropocentrism, and veganism. Bringing together Gayatri C. Spivak’s notion of “planetarity” with ecofeminist philosophy and literary criticism, the article proposes a planetary ecogender reading of the two texts and their representation of the non-man, non-human, and non-subject. Building up further on Jacques Derrida’s critique of carno-phallogocentrism, the pedagogy of a relational ethics of “nurturing” is hence presented …

Unselfing Love: An Analytical Account Of Personal Love And Its Compatibility With Other-Regarding Love, Fangyi(Steve) Wang

CMC Senior Theses

There is a wealth of philosophical literature on love. The two main camps of literature are descriptive and analytical. The former aims to best synthesize and describe how people manifest love in real life, while the latter takes the normative position of evaluating how people should be loving, which normally blends love with a hint of ethical or justice related principles.

One hidden theme that underlies many of the debates on love is the relation to the lover’s self. As this paper will gradually unfold, there are many self-interested reasons disguised behind the philosophical definition of love and the reason …

For Richer Or Poorer: The Warren Court's Relationship To Socioeconomic Class, Nicole Jonassen

CMC Senior Theses

The U.S. Constitution does not enshrine socioeconomic rights. Why does this matter? Many argue that socioeconomic rights have value in and of themselves because they secure certain minimum conditions of human dignity, but socioeconomic rights also have instrumental value because abject material deprivation often makes traditional political and civil rights meaningless. In this thesis, I explore the relationship between U.S. constitutional law and socioeconomic rights through an analysis of the Warren Court’s decisions regarding socioeconomic class. In Chapter 1, I present existing literature on socioeconomic rights, socioeconomic rights in the American context, and what many scholars see as the Warren …

Recognition And Domination: A Hegelian Approach To Evolving Gender And Technology Paradigms, Zachary Davis

CMC Senior Theses

This paper aims to develop a strong account of recognition. It begins with a Hegel-inspired account of recognition as a fundamental desire that drives humanity. This account establishes recognition as fundamental to the initial subject formation of independent self-consciousnesses as agents. I offer the lord-bondsman dualism to provide a critique of domination as oppositional to securing the means for recognition. This entails that, as history progresses the world ought to move towards universally adopting mutual recognition relationships without domination. I adopt this goal as an ideal form of recognition. In Chapter 2, I apply this recognitional framework to gender. Through …

Creating A Just System Of Civil Recourse – Articulating The Controlled Instrumentalist Approach For Marginalized People, Rukmini Banerjee

CMC Senior Theses

A system of civil recourse is a precondition for a just society. In this paper, I outline the ideal version of a system of civil recourse and analyze the accounts of various liberal philosophers to explain how a non-instrumental and mutual accountability theory of civil recourse best encapsulates its stated purpose. I analyze the American system of civil recourse, specifically tort law, and argue that it bypasses the threshold of tolerable injustice for marginalized people in the United States. Using Tommie Shelby’s framework in Dark Ghettos: Injustice, Dissent, and Reform, I argue that marginalized people are not obligated by …

Not Just Bony Fish: All Nonmammalian And Nonavian Animals Are Neglected In Both Welfare And General Research, Jennifer A. Mather Ph.D.

Animal Sentience

The lack of research on fish welfare highlighted by Oldfield & Bonano (2024) is only part of a more general problem: a relative neglect of animals other than mammals and birds. The causes are our lack of knowledge, our negative view of what we consider to be “lower” animals and our underestimation of their intelligence and sensitivity. Our estimation will increase as our knowledge increases. As a broader view spreads to the public through the media, it should gradually increase the demand to expand both research and welfare, especially beyond mammals and birds.

A Praxis Towards Social Change Based On Foucault's Conceptualization Of Experience As Relational, Lila Maureen Wakeman

Theses and Dissertations--Philosophy

This project develops a praxis towards social change based on the works of Michel Foucault. It first establishes Foucault’s philosophical assumptions, methods, and political goal of countering “objectivizing” modern Western social forces. It then draws on sources from the three major phases of Foucault’s career to trace his development of a general conceptualization of experience as relational, or as non-exhaustively co-constituted by and through three indispensable kinds of social forces: knowledge, power, and ethics. It then evaluates implications of Foucauldian experience for efforts towards social change to conceptualize a general Foucauldian praxis towards social change. The praxis aims to affect …

Hegelianism As Anti-Authoritarianism, Tyler Van Wulven

Theses and Dissertations--Philosophy

My dissertation intervenes in two ongoing conversations about the nature of freedom. The first seeks to understand and combat the allure of authoritarianism. The second, rooted in 19^th and 20^th century philosophy, sheds light on this phenomenon by suggesting that the acknowledgment and endorsement of the social and historical origins of our normative commitments would awaken us to our radical freedom. My dissertation contributes to this conversation by suggesting that authoritarianism is rooted in a failure to comprehend ourselves, and that a proper investigation into human selfhood is needed to understand and actualize our powers of self-determination. Drawing …

Relationality In Rousseau's Philosophy Of Education, Thayne Cameron

Theses and Dissertations--Philosophy

Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s assertion of Emile that “Our true study is that of the human condition” serves as the foundation for this dissertation, which examines the significance of certain kinds of basic experiential relationships in Rousseau’s philosophy of education. By analyzing the relationships between the self and objects, the self and others, and the educator and the learner, this work elucidates how these interactions underpin Rousseau’s pedagogical views and their implications for fostering personal and social virtue.

The dissertation explores the self-object relationship through affectivity, embodiment, and purposeful activity, demonstrating how direct engagement with objects shapes perceptions and behaviors. It then …

Animal Personality And Sentience As Distinct Concepts, Mark Briffa

Animal Sentience

Owens et al (2024) discuss how knowledge of both animal personality and sentience in target populations can be leveraged to enhance wildlife conservation programmes. In this commentary I expand on the distinction between these two concepts. Behavioural differences should be considered broadly across conservation programmes, not just those involving species deemed sentient.

Donald Griffin: A Visionary In Science And Consciousness, Charles Foster

Animal Sentience

Carolyn Ristau’s (2024) timely biography reviews Donald Griffin’s pioneering ideas with depth and historical perspective, describing Griffin’s approach to science, his openness to interdisciplinary insights, and his bold stance on consciousness. Ristau’s work highlights Griffin’s relevance to contemporary debates on consciousness and natural selection.

Don Griffin And The Early Days Of Cognitive Ethology, Gordon M. Burghardt

Animal Sentience

Carolyn Ristau’s trilogy provides a comprehensive account of Donald Griffin’s life and work, with the third volume focusing on cognitive ethology. This commentary focuses primarily on my own interactions with Don, particularly during my sabbatical at Rockefeller University when his campaign for cognitive ethology was gaining momentum. I recount my research on reptile behavior and cognition, my collaboration with Don and others at RU, and my role in advancing his ideas while contextualizing them within 19th-century comparative psychology. I also discuss developments in cognitive ethology, including critical anthropomorphism, the challenges of integrating subjective experience into behavioral science, and Griffin’s lasting …

Other Perspectives On Animals, Their Sentience And Cognition, Joyce M. D'Silva Mrs

Animal Sentience

For those of us who work to achieve legal recognition that animals are sentient beings, and should in many cases be allotted personhood, Donald Griffin is indeed an inspiration and a true game-changer. He put paid to the narrow behaviourist interpretation of animals’ lives promoted by Skinner et al. He became a real heir to Darwin’s belief in animal emotions. He enabled campaigners for animal welfare and indeed animal rights to quote his work as a distinguished scientist to give gravitas to their calls for legal recognition and protection of animals.

An Individuals-Oriented Approach To Conservation, Kristy M. Ferraro

Animal Sentience

Individual cognitive and emotional differences in personality among animals, along with differences in their behavioral traits, are increasingly important in conservation efforts. It is not only more effective but more ethical to take both collective and individual perspectives into account in both research and practice.

Wildlife Conservation And Adaptation To Humans, Valeria Mazza Phd, Claudio Carere

Animal Sentience

For many animal species, the ability to adapt to coexistence with the human species and to the environmental changes that humans cause is a biological imperative. This adaptive capacity varies not only between species, but within species. Studying individual differences in animals’ behavioral, cognitive and physiological adaptability is important for integrating ethology and conservation. Findings about animal cognitive capacities, including learning, need to be applied in conservation—but humans need to be educated about ethology, coexistence and conservation too.

Readings In Western Philosophy For Louisiana Learners, Jeff Mclaughlin, Marco Altamarino (Editor), Ryland Johnson (Editor), Peter Klubek (Editor), Michael Martin (Editor)

Open Educational Resources

It is important for students not only to get an appreciation and understanding of philosophy but also to be exposed to the very words and ideas of those who have shaped our thinking over the centuries. Accordingly, the title of this collection hints at the facts that these readings are from the original sources and that these philosophers were the originators of many of the issues we still discuss today.

Major areas of philosophy covered here are Ethics, Epistemology, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Religion, Ethics, Sociopolitical Philosophy, and finally, Aesthetics.

Shame And History, Bennett B. Gilbert

University Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

If history—our past, the sum of our thoughts, passions, and deeds—is so pervasive, influential, and meaningful, why then do we lose sight of it? Why do we not gain good values from it? And if it is part of our existential core, why then do we so often fail to ravel it into our deliberations?

I propose that very often and to a great degree it is shame that separates us from history. Shame: garrulous, compulsive, intense, omnivorous. A shamed person pushes away the experiences that shame her, thus cutting off the past.

The Ethics Of Involuntary Intervention, Landyn Tipton

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This is a deep ethical analysis of the act of non-consensual intervention that discusses the distinction between voluntary and involuntary intervention and explains when it would be considered appropriate and inappropriate to intervene in someone else's life. This paper presents an argument for the right to autonomy, including specific scenarios like consensual types of intervention (psychological therapy), religious intervention (specifically involving LGBTQ conversion therapy), and situations where the person is potentially harming themselves or others. There will also be an interpretation of autonomy and the claim to authority through the lens of Utilitarianism and Kantian ethics.