Philosophy Commons^™

Windows To The Divine: The Development Of Byzantine Art, Sam Klein

Tenor of Our Times

Byzantine art took significant inspiration form its Greco-Roman heritage but then distinguished itself through a shift in focus away from Hellenic realism and towards formal abstractions of Christian motifs. These conventions developed alongside political and theological turbulence to eventually influence a vast area of Asia Minor and Eastern Europe.

Flocks, Swarms, Crowds, And Societies: On The Scope And Limits Of Cognition, Zachariah A. Neemeh

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Traditionally, the concept of cognition has been tied to the brain or the nervous system. Recent work in various noncomputational cognitive sciences has enlarged the category of “cognitive phenomena” to include the organism and its environment, distributed cognition across networks of actors, and basic cellular functions. The meaning, scope, and limits of ‘cognition’ are no longer clear or well-defined. In order to properly delimit the purview of the cognitive sciences, there is a strong need for a clarification of the definition of cognition. This paper will consider the outer bounds of that definition. Not all cognitive behaviors of a given …

Metonymy And Metaphor As Verbal Postulation: The Epistemic Status Of Non-Literal Speech In Indian Philosophy, Malcolm Keating

Philosophy: Faculty Publications

In this paper, I examine Kumārila Bhatta's account of figurative language in Tantravārttika 1.4.11 -17, arguing that, for him, both metonymy (laksanā) and metaphor (gauna-vrtti) crucially involve verbal postulation (śrutârthāpatti), a knowledge-conducive cognitive process which draws connections between concepts without appeal to speaker intention, but through compositional and contextual elements. It is with the help of this cognitive process that we can come to have knowledge of what is meant by a sentence in context. In addition, the paper explores the relationship between metonymy and metaphor, the extent to which putatively literal language involves metonymy, and the objective constraints for …

Hermeneutic Reflections On Descartes’ Introduction To His Meditations On First Philosophy, David B. Allison

Research Resources

In these extracts reflecting on Descartes’ Introduction to Meditations on First Philosophy we undertake to read between the Descartes project, reviewing Descartes’ own account of his own project. By way of a close and critical reading, the key method of any hermeneutic approach to a philosophical text, the essay seeks to explore, in a parallel to Ranke’s ideal of history as it itself actually was [eigentlich gewesen], what Descartes ‘actually’ says. In the end, this articulates Descartes’ epistemological project beyond its usual interpretative scheme.

Books: Suggestions For Further Reading, Regennia N. Williams

The Journal of Traditions & Beliefs

No abstract provided.

The Value Of Black Lives: The Effect Of The Digital Age On African American Identity And Political Participation, Lauren Grimes

The Journal of Traditions & Beliefs

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents, Regennia N. Williams

The Journal of Traditions & Beliefs

No abstract provided.

Why Legally Downloading Music Is Morally Wrong, Tim Anderson, D. E. Wittkower

Communication & Theatre Arts Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) We've all done it. We certainly have, and we will again. But paying for and legally downloading music is morally wrong.

Finding Signatures Of Linguistic Reasoning, Jill De Villiers

Philosophy: Faculty Publications

Hinzen lays out the platform of un-Cartesian linguistics, and the ramifications threaten widespread beliefs about the relations between language and thought. The theoretical story is compelling but my commentary will address my con- cerns as a laborer in research.

Why Roma Children Need Testing In Romani, Hristo Kyuchukov, Jill De Villiers, Andrea Takahesu Tabori

Philosophy: Faculty Publications

In this paper we make one major point: that Roma children in Europe need to be tested in their mother tongue before school placement. Roma children are in a particularly perilous position with respect to their education. We describe the problematic linguistic situation of Roma children, who are bilingual and often bidialectal, but are frequently evaluated in the language of the state for educational placement, a process that has been shown to significantly compromise their chance of success. We then review the considerable empirical evidence that bilingual children must be evaluated in both languages to give a fair assessment of …

How Do We Gather Knowledge Through Language?, Elisa Freschi, Malcolm Keating

Philosophy: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Cognitive And Emotional Processes Involved In The Experience Of Objects As Holy Or Transcendent, Lotte J. Pummerer

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

In recent years, attitudes about religion/spirituality have become more pluralistic (Pew Research Center, 2015a). At the same time, the number of individuals who identify themselves as nonreligious, atheist or agnostic are growing (Pew Research Center, 2015b), yet we are lacking words and research to describe their attributions of transcendence in language not bound to religious concepts. This study aims at examining both concepts – holiness and transcendence – in their similarities and differences through assessing cognitive and emotional processes involved in experiences of objects.

The study consisted of two parts with a total of 206 Christian and 52 nonreligious/atheistic/agnostic participants. …

Restoration, Shannon M. Slaight-Brown

Theses and Dissertations

The marks I make in clay have different characteristics, and the physical mark of one’s fingertips or visual record of the hand is personal and intimate. This visible activity is the evidence of my constant presence and control within each object. Its repetitive meditation produces a private relief from my persistent anxieties. This exploration for me is not only visual, but also physical. This is the start of my infatuation with the idea of pattern. It has its own discrete visual language and modes of communication; and through my research I am developing a method of intercommunication.

Daredevil: Legal (And Moral?) Vigilante, Stephen E. Henderson

Faculty Articles

In 1964, the comic world was introduced to its first physically disabled practicing attorney: Matt Murdock. Initially a proud graduate of "State College" and later more impressively pedigreed as a graduate of either Columbia or Harvard Law, Murdock supplemented his day job as attorney with a side of vigilante justice as Daredevil. In 2003, Murdock became the only attorney superhero to appear as the title character in a movie. A truly awful movie, yes, but a movie all the same. And then in 2015, thanks to the talents of Drew Goddard, Murdock became the star of a terrific television series. …

Victims, Power And Intellectuals: Laruelle And Sartre, Constance L. Mui Phd, Julien Murphy Phd

Faculty Publications

In two recent works, Intellectuals and Power and General Theory of Victims, François Laruelle offers a critique of the public intellectual, including Jean-Paul Sartre, claiming such intellectuals have a disregard for victims of crimes against humanity. Laruelle insists that the victim has been left out of philosophy and displaced by an abstract pursuit of justice. He offers a non- philosophical approach that reverses the victim/intellectual dyad and calls for compassionate insurrection. In this paper, we probe Laruelle's critique of the committed intellectual's obligations to victims, specifically, through an examination of Sartre's "A Plea for Intellectuals." We hope to show the …

Social Justice In Social-Ecological Systems: Resilience Through Stakeholder Engagement, Frederick I. Lauer

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Successful management of social-ecological systems (SES) is predicated on quality collaborative exchanges between project stakeholders and management. The Southwest Crown of the Continent Collaborative (SWCC) Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP) provided an opportunity to explore landscape scale collaborative management and SES outcomes. Global change and future uncertainty of landscapes prompted the SWCC to employ restoration treatment alternatives throughout 1.4 million acres of forests, most of which are publicly held. The SWCC currently monitors environmental and economic variables, with plans to monitor social variables. This thesis formalizes a proposed framework to investigate SES resilience, and explores public engagement as an …

Sharing Nature: Rival Visions Of Environmental Discourse, Charles B. Hayes

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In this paper I compare and evaluate the work of Steven Vogel, Akeel Bilgrami, and Jedediah Purdy regarding the place of normative conceptions of nature in political discourse. I argue that it is not in principle undemocratic, nor is it theoretically illegitimate, nor domineering to hold and express ideas involving normative conceptions of nature. On the contrary, it is often exemplary political discourse, well suited for deeply questioning our impact on the world and for inspiring collective change.

How Should We Conceptualize Moral Disagreements About Animals?, Kristian Cantens

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

I intend this paper as a sort of philosophical reflection on my experiences as an animal activist. In my three years of doing outreach on college campuses, I came to an increasing appreciation for what Murdoch referred to as “the difficulty and complexity of the moral life and the opacity of persons” (Murdoch 1998d, 293). This appreciation came in turn at the cost of an increasing disappointment with many of the philosophers I admired at the time – namely, Peter Singer and Tom Regan. What I came to understand is that many of these contemporary moral theories were in fact …

Marlowe’S Radical Reformation: Christopher Marlowe And The Radical Christianity Of The Polish Brethren, Kristin M.S. Bezio

Quidditas

Although scholars of both literature and history have made arguments for Christopher Marlowe’s religious belief in Catholicism, the Church of England, and even atheism (which could have been conflated with both by different parties during his lifetime), few consider the belief system of the Polish Brethren, a precursor to Unitarianism established by one Faustus Socinus. This essay uses historical and social network analyses to suggest a close tie between Marlowe’s acquaintances and believers in Socinianism. Clues in Doctor Faustus and Massacre at Paris suggest Marlowe’s skepticism concerning the doctrines of Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Calvinism. Furthermore, repeated references to Poland and …

Apocalypse Then, Apocalypse Now: Rethinking Joan Of Arc In The Twenty-First Century, Timothy M. Thibodeau

Quidditas

Joan of Arc has stood alone among legendary figures of the Middle Ages in her capacity to be appropriated and employed for a host of modern noble causes. However, a fresh examination of Joan’s words and deeds reveals that her aims and objectives were not the universal “greater goods” of modern activists who have used her story to craft their own narratives. I propose that Joan’s continued attractiveness as a cultural icon now faces two major obstacles. First, in the wake of the rapid secularization of modern western society and the evolution of social mores related to gender identity and …