Philosophy Commons^™

The State Of Nature X: Why Leave? A Preface On The State Of Nature Theory, Zachary S. Stirparo

Senior Honors Theses

Great minds have addressed the issue of forming a polity, dating back to Plato. Yet, most of these great minds, such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, argue for the need to escape the state of nature into a civil form of government. However, after taking the three essential elements of man that these philosophers all comment on, self-preservation, reason, and will, a new state of nature model is created that is stronger. It is stronger because of its definition of man and the analytic inferences that flow from that definition. Therefore, the state of nature theory does …

Evidence Of Sexism And Male Privilege In The Animal Liberation/Rights Movement, Lisa Kemmerer

Between the Species

No abstract provided.

An Allegorical Reading Of Cormac Mccarthy's Outer Dark, Renee Williams

Undergraduate Research Conference

Though Cormac McCarthy deals with aspects of religion in each of his works, Outer Dark stands apart as a complete theodicy presented through complex allegory. Through his casting of the novel's characters as analogues for Christ, humanity, and Satan, McCarthy comments on the nature and consequences of the cosmic struggle between the forces of good and evil. McCarthy constructs his theodicy with the incorporation of Nietzschean philosophy and a deistic perspective.

Past, Present And Future: The New Museum Of Wisconsin Art, Curtis L. Carter

Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Academic Integrity: Values, Responsibilities, And Policies In Postsecondary Education, Sara Scully '13

Honor Scholar Theses

No abstract provided.

Seeing Candidates Through A Gendered Lens: How Differential Media Coverage Serves As A Barrier To Women's Political Participation, Shelby Bremer '10

Honor Scholar Theses

1992 was a banner year for women in politics, even earning the moniker “Year of the Woman,” thanks to the election of four women to the United States Senate at one time, an unprecedented feat in the realm of female political representation (‘Year of the Woman’). Twenty years later, in November 2012, that record was shattered, when more women ran for, and were elected to Congress than ever before. “Not since the so‐called Year of the Woman in 1992 have we seen such a leap in the number of women stepping forward to contend for Congressional seats, “ said Debbie …

Philosophical Counseling And Moral Injury: An Inquiry Into The Prospects Of Treating War Veterans Diagnosed With Moral Injury And Ptsd, Andy Sanford

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

No abstract provided.

Under The Watchful Eye: The Highly Intrusive Nature Of Facial Recognition Technology, Rocco Carzo

The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research

In lieu of an abstract, below is the first paragraph of the paper.

Facial recognition technology, or FRT, has the potential to provide numerous benefits, both to individual persons and to society as a whole. Among these benefits, convenience for everyday tasks and increased safety/security are possible. However, the likely benefits that FRT can provide are overshadowed by one major weakness of the technology: the invasion of one's privacy. FRT intrudes on the lives of all people. This can potentially lead to false accusations and/or people altering their lifestyles. Because people never know when or where they are being watched, …

An Examination Of Artificial Reproduction Versus Adoption: Taking On The Test-Tube, Marie Heberger

The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research

In lieu of an abstract, below is the first paragraph of the paper.

Human self-knowledge continues to increase monumentally, as well as the accompanying consequences. One aspect of human life that is being conquered is reproduction. While it doesn't take a genius to procreate naturally, technologies to make artificial reproduction possible are becoming more popular. Men and women who cannot conceive children naturally are getting help, and this help is leading to many ethical dilemmas and scientific questions and dilemmas. By being swept away with the abilities to make children in a lab, there are forgotten children born into unfortunate …

Shinto And Buddhist Metaphors In Departures, Yoshiko Okuyama

Journal of Religion & Film

Cinematic language is rich in examples of religious metaphors. One Japanese film that contains religious “tropes” (figurative language) is the 2008 human drama, Departures. This paper focuses on the analysis of religious metaphors encoded in select film shots, using semiotics as the theoretical framework for film analysis. The specific metaphors discussed in the paper are the Shinto view of death as defilement and Buddhist practices associated with the metaphor of the journey to the afterlife. The purpose of this paper is to augment the previous reviews of Departures by explicating these religious signs hidden in the film.

The Problem Of Evil And Humans’ Relationship With God In Terrence Malick’S The Tree Of Life, Bertha Alvarez Manninen Ph.D.

Journal of Religion & Film

Terrence Malick’s 2011 film The Tree of Life defies any attempt to be summarized in a few pat sentences. The movie tackles significant theological issues as it tells the story of one man’s journey to regain his faith after the loss of his beloved brother and a difficult relationship with his father. At the same time, it is also a film about humankind’s relationship to God, and about the kind of life human beings should strive to lead. In this paper, I will discuss two of the film’s main themes: Malick’s response to the problem of evil (or, as it …

Facing Forward, Looking Back: Religion And Film Studies In The Last Decade, Joseph Kickasola, John C. Lyden, S. Brent Plate, Antonio Sison, Sheila J. Nayar, Stefanie Knauss, Rachel Wagner, Jolyon Thomas

Journal of Religion & Film

On November 17, 2012, at the American Academy of Religion’s National Meeting, the Religion, Film, and Visual Culture Group sponsored a session entitled, “Facing Forward, Looking Back: Religion and Film Studies in the Last Decade.” The session focused on four recent books in the field of Religion and Film: John Lyden’s Film as Religion: Myths, Morals and Rituals (NYU, 2003); S. Brent Plate’s Religion and Film: Cinema and the Re-Creation of the World (Wallflower Press, 2009); Antonio Sison’s World Cinema, Theology, and the Human: Humanity in Deep Focus (Routledge, 2012); and Sheila Nayar’s The Sacred and the Cinema: Reconfiguring the …

From Cells To Cell Theory: What Would Kuhn Say?, Laura Kurjanowicz

Spring 2013, Kuhn's Philosophy of Science

Cells as we know them today were discovered in the 1600s by Robert Hooke. A couple hundred years later, scientists came to a final conclusion about how cells arose. The theory of spontaneous generation of life was abandoned in favor of cell theory, the idea that all cells come from preexisting cells. Louis Pasteur was an important thinker and experimentalist in this transition. Furthermore, the implications of this transition were far reaching and can even be seen today with the constant use of HeLa cells in scientific research. But what would Thomas Kuhn, philosopher of science, have to say about …

Bearing Likeness, Christine M. Salama

CGU MFA Theses

The world is saturated with images and things. I have chosen to put more images and things into the world. In doing so, I complicate and further saturate these connections, but I also find clarity and answers through the mark, the gesture, the image, and material. I make marks with materials that are closely related to the meanings of the things I depict. The images and objects I make are ones that I know and understand because they are close to me, but the process of making leaves room for inquiry and unfamiliarity with these same objects.

I am guided …

When Praxis Breaks Down: What Heidegger's Phenomenology Contributes To Understanding Miscues And Learning In Reading, James Magrini

Philosophy Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Degeneration Of The Human Mind: An Analysis Of Alzheimer’S Disease, A Kuhnian Perspective, Genevieve Ilg

Spring 2013, Kuhn's Philosophy of Science

In 1906, a German physician, Dr. Alois Alzheimer, specifically identified a collection of brain cell abnormalities (and the formation of plaque in the brain) as a disease, which forever changed the way scientists view degenerative cognitive disorders. Today, this brain disease bears his name, and is one of the most common diseases among the aging population. The discovery of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) can be seen as a revolutionary, paradigmatic shift in regards to scientific discovery from a Kuhnian perspective. In that vein, the discovery presents philosophical implications for the notion of personhood and how those suffering from AD are treated …

A Kuhnian Analysis Of Willis, Katie Meloro

Spring 2013, Kuhn's Philosophy of Science

Seventeenth century scientist Thomas Willis dedicated his research to understanding the complexities of the human brain. He made several crucial discoveries about the brain's functional organization and in the process contradicted Rene Descartes' pineal theory regarding the location of the soul. Willis' writings were analyzed and modified by renowned students like John Locke, but his emphasis on empirical research and his creation of the four pillars of neurology has led to Willis' continuing influence on the practices of modern science. This paper analyzes the work of Willis from a Kuhnian perspective of scientific history.

A Grammatical Paradigm, Alexia Polacheck

Spring 2013, Kuhn's Philosophy of Science

Avram Noam Chomsky is known for his work at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for his political pursuits, and most importantly, for his theories in the discipline of linguistics. Chomsky linguistic pursuits aimed to answer the following linguistic studies: how a person learns and develops a language, how a person structures and understands a sentence, and what the purpose of linguistics is as a whole. His theories dramatically changed the linguistic paradigm. Due to this change, this paper also attempts to illustrate the correlation between scientific philosopher Thomas Kuhn’s belief in ‘paradigm shifts’ and the subsequent change in linguistic thought spurred …

The Ever Changing Shape Of The Universe: A Kuhnian Analysis Of Edwin Hubble's Discoveries, John Bugnacki

Spring 2013, Kuhn's Philosophy of Science

Thomas Kuhn, author of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, sought to explain how science changes, functions, and advances. According to Kuhn, science periodically undergoes a paradigm-shift during which time the prevailing methodologies, theories, and commitments of normal-science are all thrown into question until a new dominant paradigm takes hold. However, as his career progressed and his critics railed against his new conception of scientific progress, Kuhn would emphasize the role of linguistic incommensurability in paradigm shifts over normal-science. In 1923, astronomer Edwin Hubble took the first steps toward the discovery of galaxies. In doing so, Hubble simultaneously drew upon …

How Can We Explain Altruism?, Teresa Levasseur

Spring 2013, Science and Religion

This paper looks at the topic of Altruism, or more specifically altruistic behaviors. The paper explores the explanations offered from a scientific perspective as well as those from a theological perspective to determine which view offers a deeper understanding of altruism.