Philosophy Commons^™

Toward A Corporeal Materialism. Response To Reviewers, Banu Bargu

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

No abstract provided.

Embodying The Masses. Review Of Banu Bargu's Disembodiment: Corporeal Politics Of Radical Refusal (Oxford University Press, 2024), James Martel

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

No abstract provided.

Worldmaking Against Disposability: Review Of Banu Bargu’S Disembodiment: Corporeal Politics Of Radical Refusal (Oxford University Press, 2024), Daniel Loick

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

No abstract provided.

Toward A Non- Or Post-Historical Materialism. Review Of Banu Bargu'sdisembodiment: Corporeal Politics Of Radical Refusal (Oxford University Press, 2024), Amy Allen

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

No abstract provided.

The Politics Of Literature In Dider Eribon’S Returning To Reims: An Emancipatory Review, Noa De Kievit

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

This paper examines Didier Eribon’s Returning to Reims (2009) as a model for understanding how literary and autobiographical writing can enact ''the politics of literature.'' While Eribon is widely recognized as a sociologist, his “autosociobiography”—tracing his trajectory from a working-class upbringing to an academic career alongside his coming out—blends personal narrative and sociological insight to illuminate structural inequalities and social marginalization. Reading the text through Jacques Rancière’s concept of the politics of literature, I argue that Eribon simultaneously expands the scope of what is visible, sayable, and thinkable, while reflecting critically on the interpretive authority he exercises. Building on Caroline …

A Kantian Guide To Understanding Agentic Ai And Its Ethical Consequences, Amelia Wang

Senior Honors Papers / Undergraduate Theses

The rapid emergence of Agentic AI, which are systems capable of autonomous, multi-step decision-making with minimal human oversight, has prompted growing discourse and concern regarding whether such systems possess a form of agency comparable to that of human beings, and subsequently, what ethical responsibilities ensue if they do. This thesis argues that many of the ethical risks surrounding Agentic AI stem from a fundamental misconception, which is the tendency to describe these systems using the language of agency ("deciding," "acting," "choosing") without examining whether they satisfy the philosophical conditions for genuine rational agency. Drawing on Immanuel Kant's Groundwork of the …

Shimmer Methodology: May 2026 Cultural Studies Association Of Australasia, Lola Montgomery

Staff Scholarship - Australia & Dubai

This webinar presents an overview of the contemporary state of creative-practice research and autotheory before introducing Shimmer, an emerging methodological framework developed through creative practice, postgraduate supervision, and reflective inquiry. The presentation argues that while creative-practice research has successfully established creative work as a legitimate form of knowledge production, and autotheory has legitimised lived experience as theoretical material, both traditions leave relatively under-theorised the embodied moment through which insight first emerges.

The significance of the work lies in its contribution to ongoing debates around embodiment, affect, intuition, and knowledge production within creative-practice research. Shimmer proposes a language for understanding …

Is Health Deserved? Personal Autonomy, Framing, Ethical Intimidation, And The Politicization Of Healthcare In The United States V. Japan, Ava C. Azucenas

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Is health deserved? Is your health owed to you? What does this mean, and whose responsibility is it? I argue that American culture’s use of  personal autonomy, “framing”, and ethical intimidation has stunted the improvement of both political and legal structures. This is evident in the politicization of the ‘for-profit’ healthcare system in the United States. American policymakers frequently weaponize moral foundations in order to coerce voters into supporting or opposing certain healthcare policies derived from the principle that some people are more "deserving" of health than others. This calculated “framing” of health concepts has deeply politicized such an ethical …

Avicenna On Non-Rational Voluntary Motion, Hamed Shirmohammadi

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation investigates Avicenna’s theory of non-rational voluntary motion. Avicenna’s most significant innovation in this domain is his theory of the internal senses, and in particular, his account of the estimative faculty (wahm) and its proper objects, the intentions (ma'nā). Intentions are non-sensible features of perceived particulars—such as the hostility of a wolf—that carry evaluative significance for the perceiving animal. This dissertation argues that understanding the nature of intentions is the key to explaining how a non-rational animal can pursue goals through relatively complex courses of action. Avicenna recognizes two ways in which intentions are acquired: through instinct and through …

Theories Of Time And Free Will, Sarah Otto

Honors Theses

This paper examines the intersection of the philosophy of time and the philosophy of free will, asking whether theories of time, such as the B-Theory or presentism, have an impact on free will beyond what they suggest about the truth or falsity of determinism. It first discusses common connections made between free will and time in past literature and dismisses determinism as a connection. The paper proceeds to provide three conditions for free will: the existence of a self, the ability of that self to inform decisions, and the ability of that decision to adequately participate in the causal chain. …

"First, Do No Harm": Ethical Failures And Preventive Solutions In The United States Pharmaceutical System - A Narrative Review, Rebekah R. Bailey

Honors Theses

The United States pharmaceutical system is highly advanced but faces growing ethical concerns related to drug development and marketing, overprescription, and high drug costs. This thesis examines how pharmaceutical marketing, regulatory practices, and prescribing behaviors may conflict with the ethical principle of “first, do no harm.”

Using a narrative review of interdisciplinary literature in public health, medical ethics, and applied ethics, this thesis analyzes patterns in drug development, marketing strategies, and regulatory oversight. The findings suggest that ethical issues are systemic, driven by commercial incentives, inconsistent regulatory standards, and an increasing reliance on pharmaceutical solutions. These factors contribute to overmedicalization, …

Issues Of Justice Since Batson V. Kentucky: The Ethical Implications Of Peremptory Strikes In Jury Selection, Andrew M. Nichols

Honors Theses

The usage of peremptory strikes in jury selection have led to several issues over the course of American history. Since their inception in English Common Law, their ethically questionable use has led the United States Supreme Court to rule on them repeatedly, most notable in 1986’s decision Batson v. Kentucky. This case allowed attorneys to challenge the opposing counsel if they suspected that jurors may have been removed from the venire due to their race and reinstate them if such discrimination was present. This thesis argues that this decision has not corrected the ethical issues that I identify, namely …

Aquinas In The Twenty-First Century: A Reconciliation With The Catholic Church’S Teaching On The Death Penalty, Diego G. T. Abele

Honors Theses

When the Catholic Church revised its paragraph in the Catechism that concerned the teaching on the death penalty, many believed that this seemed to contradict the Church’s traditional teaching on the death penalty, which has included the writings of thinkers like St. Thomas Aquinas. However, after applying principles of his natural law theory, this apparent contradiction goes away, and the full Catholic teaching on the death penalty comes to light. Several key theses of Thomist natural law will be described, addressing the metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical questions it seeks to answer. This will be the backbone of my paper as …

What Do We Owe A Drowning Coast? Examining Louisiana's Coastal Crisis Through The Lens Of Environmental Justice, Owen M. Plaisance

Honors Theses

This thesis argues that human contributions to Louisiana’s coastal land loss constitute a form of environmental injustice that cannot be adequately addressed through frameworks focused solely on aggregate welfare or distributive fairness. While utilitarian and Rawlsian approaches offer important insights, both are limited in capturing the full scope of harm caused by environmental degradation. In coastal Louisiana, land loss undermines not only economic resources and physical security but also the substantive freedoms required for individuals and communities to live meaningful and culturally rooted lives, while disrupting ecological systems and non-human flourishing. To address these limitations, the thesis develops the Capabilities …

Just War Theory And Coercive Non-Proliferation: Ethically Evaluating Nuclear Prevention Efforts, P. Walker Jacklin

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the ethics of coercively addressing non-nuclear states who are attempting to acquire nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons pose a serious danger on a global scale, so ethical analysis should balance these consequences with the coerciveness of state intervention. Just War Theory provides a useful framework that balances these considerations.  Using the criteria of Just War Theory, this thesis examines two 21st century non-proliferation operations: Operation Orchard and Operation Midnight Hammer. I find that Operation Orchard fails the criteria of Just War Theory, while Operation Midnight Hammer satisfies the criteria. Making this determination is ethically risky, however, because our …

The Illocutionary Constitution Of Second Nature: An Interpretive Reconstruction Of Hegel’S Philosophy Of Language, Roland William Carspecken

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation offers an interpretive reconstruction of Hegel’s philosophy of language. Rich reflections on the nature of language and its significance to human life can be found across Hegel’s works. Many of these reflections strongly suggest that language plays a vital role in Hegel’s philosophical project. Yet surprisingly, Hegel never set down a comprehensive account of his view of language. To this day, it remains a matter of dispute whether Hegel’s writings on language are consistent enough to amount to a single ‘philosophy of language’ and, if they are, what sort of philosophy of language they might offer. In the …

Expanding Expanded Access: A Case Of Onc201 And The Ethical Limitations Of Compassionate Use, Ava C. Hutchings

Honors Theses

This study examines the ethical and structural limitations of the Expanded Access program in the United States, with particular focus on its application to terminal pediatric illness. Although the program is intended to provide patients with life-threatening conditions access to investigational therapies outside of clinical trials, its effectiveness in serving critically ill children remains uncertain. This program is analyzed through careful consideration of regulatory review and ethical theory. Key policies governing Expanded Access are examined alongside scholarly discussions of pediatric autonomy and parental authority.

A case study of ONC201, a now-approved investigational drug, is used to illustrate how Expanded Access …

Values-Based Clinical Ethics: A New Model Of Health And Ethics Consultation For Patients Suffering In Extremis, Adam Trainer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation argues that contemporary clinical ethics is inadequately equipped to support patients suffering in extremis because it relies on an insufficiently discriminating account of health and a constrained model of moral reasoning. Drawing on Bernard Lonergan, it reconceives health as an emergent, multi-layered, heuristic notion shaped by biological, psychological, social, and existential goods. On that basis, it critiques principlism’s global applicability thesis and the undergirding claim that its principles form part of the common morality, arguing that this justificatory structure is philosophically insufficient and practically limited for clinical ethics in cases marked by profound suffering, moral plurality, and normative …

The Proportionality Trap: Why Retributivism's Core Principle Falls Short, Neely C. Kiihnl

Honors Theses

The notion that punishment should “fit” the crime dates back to legal retribution’s origins. Retributivism posits that offenders deserve punishment matching the severity of their crimes, lending intuitive appeal over utilitarianism, which critics argue ignores moral wrongdoing by focusing solely on social benefits like reduced harm.

Yet Adam Kolber’s work exposes proportionality’s vagueness: it raises more problems and questions than it solves. In the first section of this paper, the concept of proportionality is explored in more depth. The second section, led by Kolber’s critiques, casts doubt on the stability of proportionality. Finally, in the third section, I propose a …

What History Shows: A Structural Account Of Fixed-Point Theory Formation, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

Theory generation has long been subsumed under categories such as creativity, genius, and innovation. These categories do not distinguish assembly-based conceptual synthesis from fixed-point theory generation.

This paper makes that distinction explicit. The termination condition of assembly is external: data, citation, endorsement, usability. The termination condition of fixed-point theory generation is internal: consistency with internally held constraints, resolution of structural contradiction. The two operate under different processing conditions.

The historical record confirms this distinction. What Darwin, Einstein, Spinoza, and Kant produced was not assembly. Their processes involved unresolved branch retention and decomposition necessity, arriving at internally constrained fixed-point termination. Freud …