Philosophy Commons^™

The Practical Potential Of Living Authentically, Aaron Minnick

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

To paraphrase George Orwell, the best books are those that tell us what we already know. Perhaps, then, this thesis will ring most strikingly in the minds of those who have realized a deep dissatisfaction with the universal ethics of the day. Consequently, it is not the final word on the matter, but an exploration of a more practical ethic of living authentically. The paper deals with what I take to be the central question of philosophy: How should I live? It shows, I believe, that the proper vantage point to begin that inquiry can be at all times none …

Girls Are Us: A Collection Of Oral Histories From The Jmu Community, Anne M. Sherman

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

On a campus where women make up a majority of the student population, it is especially important that female voices are heard and given a platform on which they can control their own narrative. I wanted to give those female-identifying voices that platform. I conducted a series of interviews to examine how college-aged female-identifying students feel about their identity and how they construct that identity within the climate of the JMU community. I was particularly interested in the intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexual preference, and ability. I asked each person to share their stories of times when they …

The Broadsheet May 6, 2017, Students Of Risd, Risd Archives

All Student Newspapers

The Broadsheet was a short-lived student newspaper published in 2017. The May 6, 2017 issue was the first and contained articles on the Social Equity Action plan developed in the wake of the "Not Your Token" protests, random facts about RISD, Project Open Door (POD), faculty member Jung Joon Lee, previous student newspapers from the RISD Archives, the European Honors Program, facts about the RISD student body, a student music club on campus, how Mike Fink saved Carr Haus, and other items of interest.

Technology From The Perspective Of Society And Public Interest, Chanwoon Park

Purdue Polytechnic Doctoral Dissertations

The ultimate goals of this study were to determine ways to reconcile technology with public interest and to understand the relationship between what we know and how we feel about technology. To achieve the goals, related literatures were reviewed; the mechanism of technology development was described with empirical data; and human perception of technology was tested with a survey. The duality of technology that implied technological inherencies of technical reason and social meanings was the principle assumption of the study. Neutrality of technology becomes a myth with the presence of social meanings embodied in technology. Given the huge impact of …

Controlled Authenticity: A Hybrid Account Of Personal Autonomy, Eric Fox

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This thesis explores the concept of authenticity as a mode of self-identity, and how an added layer of control through the application of personal autonomy enables an agent to more readily achieve authentic states of being and satisfaction. Comparing the work of Diana Meyers and Marina Oshana, two prominent, contemporary writers in the field of personal autonomy, this paper attempts to establish the ground works for what components are necessary to a personal autonomy account as well as highlighting the contrasting aspects of both views. The paper engages in a synthesis of these two views, combining the social-relational theory of …

Hegel On Indian Philosophy: Spinozism, Romanticism, Eurocentrism, Gino Signoracci

Philosophy ETDs

This study examines nineteenth-century German philosopher G.W.F. Hegel’s appraisal of philosophies of India. In Hegel’s time, classical Indian texts such as the Vedas, Upaniṣads, and Bhagavadgītā had only recently been translated into European languages, and were generating tremendous controversy. Hegel carved out a unique and hugely influential position by devotedly reading fledgling translations of source texts alongside European interpretations, attempting to comprehend the philosophical significance of Indian thought. Hegel’s legacy proved deeply problematic, however, both because his views were not entirely consistent or unambiguous over time, and because his evident relegation of Indian ideas to pre- or unphilosophical status …

Contemporary Jesuit Epistemological Interests, James G. Murphy

Philosophy: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Apart from an orientation to and interest in the discernment of spirits as laid out in St Ignatius’s Spiritual Exercises, there does not exist a Jesuit epistemology as such. Compared to the numbers of Jesuit systematic theologians, scripture scholars, metaphysicians, and ethicists, there have been few Jesuit epistemologists.2 In metaphysics, Jesuits have been Thomist or Suarezian, even Platonist. In ethics, they have ranged from proportionalist through deontologist to virtue ethicist. No similar distinctive Jesuit presence is to be found in epistemology....

Material Poetics, Ellen G. Reid

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

quench: /kwen(t)SH/

a : put out, extinguish

b : to put out the light or fire

c : to cool suddenly by immersion

d : to cause to lose heat or warmth

e : to bring to an end typically by satisfying, damping, cooling, or

decreasing

f : to relieve or satisfy with liquid

This is often how projects begin, a haunting idea, word, or experience inundates my consciousness and sub-consciousness. How could the body directly relate to an experience of quenching? This provoked the idea of the extreme sport: freediving. To adequately depict the definition of quenching, any …

Black Matter, Kahlil Irving

Graduate School of Art Theses

History as we know it, is inherited. Racism, fascism, white supremacy, and Eurocentric dominance have been presented as normal and acceptable within our society for many years. This has allowed police officers to execute Black American’s and not be acquitted for their horrendous crimes. As an activist I want to challenge the status quo. As an artist I am interested in investigating how I can present ideas embody or reflect contemporary issues and concerns. Using different colors can aggressively change how an object is perceived. Historical objects hold many important.

I explore many mediums, but an anchor material that I …

On Craft, William Lentjes

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Craft is a relationship - a dialogue - between craftsman, tool, and material. Craft begins with the intent of all of these loci, and all of these loci are rooted in Being.

Being is known through the consciousness, awareness, and perception of a subject. Being is the inherent existence and totality of "what is."

Being crafts us; Craft imbues Being.

This thesis re-examines the pedagogical approach of an architectural education. The focus is placed on craft through presuppositionless phenomenology.

In an age of endless mechanized production and spiritless materialism, the practice of craft can teach us to return to the …

Intellectual Maintenance And Misguided Educational Reform. A Book Review Of What Philosophy Can Do, Nakia Pope

Democracy & Education

This is a book review of What Philosophy Can Do by Gary Gutting.

Empowering Young People Through Conflict And Conciliation: Attending To The Political And Agonism In Democratic Education, Jane C. Lo

Democracy & Education

Deliberative models of democratic education encourage the discussion of controversial issues in the classroom (e.g., Hess, 2009); however, they tend to curtail conflicts for the sake of consensus. Agonism, on the other hand, can help support the deliberative model by attending to antagonism in productive ways (Ruitenberg, 2009). In this paper, I present how agonistic deliberation (the infusion of agonism into deliberation) can work as an account of the political that may help empower young people. The paper presents two classic democratic classroom practices—structured academic controversy (SAC) and debate—together as examples of how agonistic deliberation can help students engage politically. …

Teaching For Toleration In Pluralist Liberal Democracies, Betto A.F. Van Waarden

Democracy & Education

This article determines which education enables the perpetuation of diverse ways of life and the liberal democracy that accommodates this diversity. Liberals like John Rawls, Stephen Macedo, and William Galston have disagreed about the scope of civic education. Based on an analysis of toleration—the primary means for maintaining a pluralist liberal democracy—I argue that schools should teach democratic participatory skills and a minimal exposure to diversity to enable citizens to participate in the democratic process of defining which cultural and religious practices the state should tolerate or prohibit through its laws. To make this argument, I contend, in contrast to …

Examining Assumptions About Student Engagement In The Classroom: A Faculty Learning Community’S Yearlong Journey, Marjolein Oele

Philosophy

Over the past twenty years, the term “student engagement” has become a primary means for orienting faculty and administrators around pedagogic improvements and curriculum development. The increasing prevalence of technology in educational settings and the ways it alters more traditional classroom formats, student-teacher interactions, and research methods suggest that engagement may now look and function differently than in the past. This article describes the reflective journey of a yearlong Faculty Learning Community (FLC) at a private, urban Jesuit university on the topic of student engagement. It investigates and debates current thinking on the topic, assesses methods of measurement, and shares …

Cultural Hegemony In American Democracy, Mark A. Bocchini

Senior Honors Projects

The 2016 presidential election and the rise of Trump caught most of us (if not all) by surprise. Over the course of the months leading up to the election, it became apparent the American people weren’t being given the truth, and if we were, it was framed—we were primed to believe certain things, and the agenda was already set. In the face of this I decided to look into exactly what caused the media’s behavior in this election cycle. It became apparent that the media, and the rise of Trump into prominence (and the presidency) had a common connection, which …

Philosophers On The Fringe: Albert Schweitzer, Liberty Hyde Bailey, Aldo Leopold, And The Wrongful Polarization Of Environmentalist History 2017, Minnie A.M. Lauzon

Master's Theses

This thesis includes three articles (chapters) intending to encourage clarification of an area of environmental history that has not received adequate attention since the publication of Roderick Nash’s Wilderness and the American Mind. Since its publication in 1967, little research has been dedicated to understanding the scholarly or philosophical influence Albert Schweitzer and Liberty Hyde Bailey had on Aldo Leopold. Since my undertaking of this topic, I have established two primary goals. First, I want to provide clarification to environmentalists, academics, and the populace at large that environmentalism does not have to be bound by rules and convention, but can …

Preserving Dignity In The Long Term Care Of Actively Dying Residents, Libby-Rose Cronican

All College Thesis Program, 2016-2019

As one goes through the process of aging and approaches death, they experience a series of losses: from the loss of physical or mental ability to the ultimate loss of life. These losses make the individual vulnerable to harms that can come from a variety of sources. One source is found within the everyday interactions of long-term care nurses and aides with their elderly, dying residents. Creating this harm stems from a poor nursing practice where the nurse or aide fails to recognize and promote the resident’s dignity and autonomy. The normal notion of dignity and autonomy does not encompass …

Humanity On The Verge Of Insanity: Maintaining Cultural Identity Against Oppressive Rule, Danica Katarina Skoric

Senior Theses

Ubuntu is a South African term in the Bantu language that translates to “human kindness.” This essay discusses the present-day impact of the South African philosophical concept of Ubuntu in light of the dehumanization, which Aboriginal Australians and Black South Africans faced, specifically during the period of 1960-1985. How has humanity been enslaved and degraded by assimilation and a cruel division of races, yet positively evolved and progressed due to the efforts of both female and male activists--in particular literary figure Oodgeroo Noonuccal and political leader Nelson Mandela? A lack of respect and tolerance as a result of colonialism has …

Fast Changes Through Slowing Consumption: The Need For Sustainability In The Fashion Industry, Melissa Boehlert

3690: A Journal of First-Year Student Research Writing

Overview: In 2015, a court in Bangladesh upheld charges against 38 people accused of murder. With a death toll of 1,135 people, and thousands more injured, few were able to escape the bloodshed unscathed. Years later, the bodies of 200 people remain lost. A manhunt for those involved lasted four days, as the accused attempted to flee the country. Those charged with murder in Bangladesh can face the death penalty (Calvo, Amanda). In America, people continued their daily lives unaware of the trial taking place. However, we were more connected to the trial than we could have realized or imagined, …

Reforming The Juvenile Justice System: Rehabilitation And Key Factors That Influence Juvenile Crime, Caitlyn Kenville

3690: A Journal of First-Year Student Research Writing

Overview: Aaron Phillips, a man from Pennsylvania, has been in prison for over three decades for a crime he committed when he was seventeen years old. When Aaron was seventeen, he and his friend stole and elderly man’s wallet and pushed him down in the process. Although the man was injured, he was up and walking after his injury. About two and a half weeks after the incident, the elderly man died from cardiac arrest, after having surgery to repair his fractured hip along with a separate intestinal surgery. Aaron was convicted of felony murder and tried as an adult. …