Politics, Pedagogy, And Public Perception: A Shifting Understanding Of Liberalism In America,
2025
Harding University
Politics, Pedagogy, And Public Perception: A Shifting Understanding Of Liberalism In America, Jackson Trahant
Honors Theses
At Harding University, and in broader American political discourse, liberalism has been contorted from a prolific political philosophy into a meaningless misnomer. This paper studies what liberalism is to define what it isn't, by building a foundation of understanding in both modern theorists, like Sheldon Wolin, Alan Ryan, and Ian Adams, and the seminal works of classical liberal thinkers such as Locke, Tocqueville and Mill. Next, I deploy a self-designed survey, consisting of 4 passages derived from the literature written by those above. 80 Harding students responded, and their responses were gathered into SPSS, a data processing software, and ran …
Love Drugs: Exploring The Ethical Implications Of Relationship Targeting Biochemical Supplements,
2025
The University of Texas at Arlington
Love Drugs: Exploring The Ethical Implications Of Relationship Targeting Biochemical Supplements, Hallie Young
2025 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive
"Love drugs" can be defined as chemical interventions that affect desire, attraction, and affection. Contemporary advancements in neurochemical interventions have increased interest in love drugs and highlighted the need for accessible love drug analyses. This project explores how love drugs will affect contemporary relationships through realistic literary scenarios informed by current philosophical literature. These scenarios consist of three vignettes compiled into a novella-length creative work. It was initially anticipated that these vignettes would reveal that introducing a meta-biological or chemical intervention into social situations where authenticity is normatively highly valued would prompt participant introspection. In practice, this work finds that …
The Publics Of Hannah Arendt And Jürgen Habermas,
2025
University of Louisville
The Publics Of Hannah Arendt And Jürgen Habermas, Andrew Heggie
College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses
Hannah Arendt’s and Jürgen Habermas’s accounts of the public are notable and important cornerstones in contemporary western political philosophy. This thesis will offer characterizations of Arendt’s account of the public realm in The Human Condition, and Habermas’s account of the public sphere in The Structural Transformation of The Public Realm, comparing and contrasting these accounts to each other in order to highlight the uniqueness of each account; as well the possible contemporary political relevance of these accounts.
Deadly Choices: Political, Legal, And Moral Understandings Of U.S. Supreme Court Death Penalty Decisions,
2025
University of Connecticut
Deadly Choices: Political, Legal, And Moral Understandings Of U.S. Supreme Court Death Penalty Decisions, Anabelle S. Bergstrom
Honors Scholar Theses
This thesis explores the political, legal, and moral factors that influence Supreme Court justices when penning capital punishment decisions. It also examines the evolution of thinking toward the death penalty by former justices John Paul Stevens and Harry Blackmun throughout their tenure on the Court. Cases are analyzed through fact-pattern analysis and the jurisprudential regime theory, which quantitatively build upon existing literature detailing the theoretical background of judicial decision-making through the attitudinal model. An analysis of Justices Blackmun and Stevens’ papers at the Library of Congress focuses on rhetoric that reflects utilitarian and retributive theories of punishment. Findings show that …
Pedro Aceves Mfa Thesis,
2025
California State University - San Bernardino
Pedro Aceves Mfa Thesis, Pedro M. Aceves
Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations
My Work is about looking at Cruising through a queer decolonial lens. Using multiple mediums such as photo, glass, Augmented reality, and film, I explore these queer histories and aesthetics through not just an anthropological approach but also an artistic epistemological approach weaving together narratives of prehispanic and modern queer Latinidad.
Querying The Ecological Sublime: Colonial Aesthetics, Anticolonial Thought, And The ‘Double Fracture’,
2025
CUNY Hunter College
Querying The Ecological Sublime: Colonial Aesthetics, Anticolonial Thought, And The ‘Double Fracture’, Tacuma Peters
Publications and Research
This article examines the ecological sublime in its relationship to the history of colonial aesthetics, anticolonial thought, and contemporary colonialism. It argues that, while Edmund Burke utilized the sublime in support of colonialism (including settler colonialism) in North America and colonial slavery, Samson Occom and Ottobah Cugoano developed versions of the sublime to contest British colonialism in the Americas. The history of this aesthetic contestation has not been represented in scholarship on the ecological sublime, which, this article shows, has a vexed relationship with historical and contemporary colonialism. The article argues that the ecological sublime exhibits the “double fracture” of …
Humanity, Monstrosity And Uniquity: A Stirnerian Theory Of Art-Horror,
2025
Ursinus College
Humanity, Monstrosity And Uniquity: A Stirnerian Theory Of Art-Horror, Moldwarp Delgado
Philosophy Honors Papers
This thesis explores the connections between Max Stirner's philosophy, particularly his concept of personalist egoism, and the genre of horror in cultural production, analyzing themes of humanity, monstrosity, and societal roles within art-horror narratives.
Aristotle And Mencius, Comparisons Of The Good Life,
2025
Bellarmine University
Aristotle And Mencius, Comparisons Of The Good Life, Cormac I. O'Brien
Undergraduate Theses
Aristotle and Mencius are both renown philosophers in the field of ethics and moral teaching. Using the Nicomachean Ethics and The Works of Mencius, we can analyze their respective theories to come to a better understanding of what the good life is in the eyes of these two great philosophers, as well as how an individual can work towards achieving a fulfilling life.
Nietzschean Expressivism,
2025
University of Missouri-St. Louis
Nietzschean Expressivism, Cameron Jackson
Theses
What is Nietzsche’s metaethical stance? Does he even have one? We can, I argue, reconstruct an interesting metaethical view from his writings. Rather than focusing narrowly on his claims about moral judgement, I explore Nietzsche’s philosophical psychology broadly in order to argue that he is best interpreted as holding an emotivist type of expressivism. The function of moral judgement lies within its affective and action-guiding nature, and its communal role of coordinating our evaluative attitudes with one another.
Human Dignity And Prostitution,
2025
Harding University
Human Dignity And Prostitution, Clara Kernodle
Harding Undergraduate Research Conference
In the twenty-first century, it is common to see feminists and pro-sex work voices lauding prostitution and other forms of the sex industry as viable expressions of women’s sexual and financial agency. As long as every participating party consents, they argue, sex work is not only tolerable, but admirable and positive – a form of transaction or service deserving license, protection, and respect in the name of individual freedom and female agency. Such voices argue that prostitution can even be dignified, as the sex industry supposedly allows participants full freedom to express their sexuality. In this paper, I offer an …
The Ethics Of Gene Editing Hereditary Deafness,
2025
Ursinus College
The Ethics Of Gene Editing Hereditary Deafness, Jasmine Borie
Richard T. Schellhase Essay Prize in Ethics
Gene editing has been a hot topic of interest in the field of science, and many gene editing solutions for heritable diseases are in the works. In most cases, gene editing is done with good intentions, but there are some instances where it would not be favorable for reasons that may not be inherently obvious to everyone. Several forms of deafness and hearing loss can be inherited, meaning that it can be passed down from parent to offspring. Curing hereditary deafness using gene editing may seem like a good idea, but it can lead to unintentional discrimination and further stigmatization …
Doing More Good For Less: Salvaging Development Aid,
2025
Ursinus College
Doing More Good For Less: Salvaging Development Aid, Trey Dykeman
Richard T. Schellhase Essay Prize in Ethics
In stark contrast to its peak in the Marshall Plan era, professional sentiment towards international development aid has become increasingly pessimistic as its shortcomings have become apparent. Inter alia, leading thinkers charge development aid with enabling and sustaining economic dependency, governmental corruption, political power imbalances, and paternalism. Even so, there may be diamondlike programs in the development aid rough. Cash and voucher assistance (CVA) programs—a subset of development aid—have seen moderate success. In particular, as compared to other forms of aid, unconditional cash transfer programs (UCTs)—a specific type of CVA—appear economical and effective and avoid many of the above …
Jurgen Habermas's Views On Legal Validity And Discourse Ethics: A Literature Review,
2025
Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia
Jurgen Habermas's Views On Legal Validity And Discourse Ethics: A Literature Review, Rika Febriani, Supartiningsih Supartiningsih, Sindung Tjahyadi
Jurnal Civics: Media Kajian Kewarganegaraan
In modern states, law is often reduced to merely a tool of power. Many contemporary practices treat law as nothing more than a procedural requirement, disregarding its substantive values and the social conditions of society. This article discusses the validity of law within a political community from Habermas's perspective. According to him, the law must be discursive and stem from rational subjects capable of effective communication. The fundamental questions addressed are: how can law ideally be derived from norms within a political society? And how can law subsequently foster a democratic society? This article employs historical-factual methods, with primary sources …
The Influence Of Institutional Barriers And Personality On Gendered Occupational Choice,
2025
Ursinus College
The Influence Of Institutional Barriers And Personality On Gendered Occupational Choice, Mia Sideris
Richard T. Schellhase Essay Prize in Ethics
Men hold a disproportionate share of high-paying jobs, leading to an uneven distribution within the workforce. Possible rationalizations behind the formation of the occupational gap can be narrowed down to two factors: institutional barriers and personality differences. Accounts of prestigious organizations intentionally underrepresenting women in academic spheres, in addition to the persistence of societal norms can explain the observed distribution. Other perspectives insist that sex determines one’s behavior in selecting a life-long occupation, where a woman’s instinct to nurture and develop interpersonal connections leads them to choose fields that necessitate these characteristics. Compiling data from mainstream companies like Apple who …
The Complex Legacy Of Martha Graham,
2025
Ursinus College
The Complex Legacy Of Martha Graham, Izabella Entrekin
Richard T. Schellhase Essay Prize in Ethics
Second-generation modern dancer and choreographer Martha Graham is, to this day, recognized as one of the art form's most influential figures. Her distinctive technique, which has been applauded as a momentous innovation by critics throughout her life and after, is a dynamic mixture of elements Graham plucked from various experiences and aesthetics. Many, throughout history and to this day, mark Graham as a primary developer and architect of modern dance movement. She has continuously been labeled a pioneer of angular movement, dramatic contractions, asymmetrical posing, and the incorporation of ritualistic elements into her emotional compositions. However, such identifications fail to …
The New Antebellum: A Sociological Interpretation Of Christian Nationalism And Its Danger To Both Christianity And American Democracy,
2025
Ursinus College
The New Antebellum: A Sociological Interpretation Of Christian Nationalism And Its Danger To Both Christianity And American Democracy, Paige R. Dickerman
Richard T. Schellhase Essay Prize in Ethics
Hate and fear have become the new American identity, plaguing social media platforms and legislation as it drips from the mouths of the citizenry. The nation has been torn apart by polarization in a continuation of the division and extremist ideology that has tormented generations of Americans since its founding. Today, Christian nationalism is at the forefront of division and extremism in its idea of a new America, defined by traditionalism, biblical law, and an end to our taken-for-granted democratic processes. Its proponents insist that America’s survival depends on Christian laws and national observance, a claim that hides the truth …
Classic Philosophers On Modern Issues: The Ethics Of Germline Editing,
2025
Ursinus College
Classic Philosophers On Modern Issues: The Ethics Of Germline Editing, Grace O. Decostanza
Richard T. Schellhase Essay Prize in Ethics
The prospect of using CRISPR-Cas-9 technology to edit human embryos in a process called germline editing has the potential to irreparably change the world as we know it. Many pose the question: if you could save your child from having a disease, would you? But I argue that is not the only—or even, real—question we should be asking. Instead, I ask you, should we be changing humanity as we know it in ways that elude even our foremost scientists? Should we decide what disabilities make people not worth being people? Should we introduce a technology knowing full well that it …
Cash Or Credit: A Collection Of Short Essays About Economic Philosophy And The Trajectory Of Political Economy,
2025
Gettysburg College
Cash Or Credit: A Collection Of Short Essays About Economic Philosophy And The Trajectory Of Political Economy, Jackson C. Dusart
Student Publications
From John Locke to Herbert Marcuse, discussions about economics and societies have dominated the philosophical battleground. While Adam Smith waged a war against mercantilism, men like Karl Marx and John Stuart Mill, two ideological enemies, were both writing to address the same problems they saw in society. Each one of these men has contributed to a different part of the discussion. In understanding their differences, and their common ground, these essays examine a hypothetical four-hundred-dollar jacket, stolen from the author at Gettysburg College. Each one of these philosophers, each writing at different times and in different circumstances, will attempt to …
From Civic Duties To Democratic Mandates: The Theoretical Framework Of Mill And Tocqueville On Compulsory Voting In The U.S.,
2025
University of San Francisco
From Civic Duties To Democratic Mandates: The Theoretical Framework Of Mill And Tocqueville On Compulsory Voting In The U.S., Olivia Claire Luttrell
Undergraduate Honors Theses
This thesis examines the treatment of jury duty and voting in the United States through the philosophical framework of John Stuart Mill and Alexis de Tocqueville. While jury duty is legally mandated, voting remains optional, despite both civic responsibilities being foundational to democratic participation. This research explores the historical, theoretical, and practical implications of voting becoming compulsory in the United States, as it is in other democratic nations. The analysis includes a comparative case study of the impact of Australia’s mandatory voting to evaluate whether it could become compulsory in the U.S. Both philosophers offer insightful knowledge on the role …
Application Of Philosophy In Substantive Due Process Analysis Focusing On Washington V. Glucksberg,
2025
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Application Of Philosophy In Substantive Due Process Analysis Focusing On Washington V. Glucksberg, Amelia Schwensen
Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)
Substantive due process is widely regarded as the most convoluted and controversial legal concept. For years, the court has struggled to interpret and apply value-based terms in the Fourteenth Amendment, as these terms contain deeper significance beyond the words. Additionally, the court must balance expanding the law to enshrine the abstract values of substantive due process and limiting its interpretation so that it is not “creating law” or imposing its personal beliefs on its decision. This push and pull of defending values and maintaining legitimacy has created significant issues in substantive due process analysis and is the background and basis …
