Digital Commons Network^™

What Common Themes Are Challengers Trying To Silence And What Would Be Lost Without Them?, Corrine H. Martello

Richard T. Schellhase Essay Prize in Ethics

This research paper aims to analyze the controversies surrounding The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky, three commonly challenged books that are often found in high school English classes, in order to answer the question “what themes in these books are challengers trying to silence, and what would be lost without them?”. It will be broken into four sections, Alienation, Mental Health Struggles & Trauma, The Loss of Innocence, and Exploring Identity, which are common themes presented in all three books. …

Justice, Autonomy, Beneficence, And Non-Maleficence: The Global Failure To Heed Ethical Mandates In Birth Spaces, Julia Dees

Richard T. Schellhase Essay Prize in Ethics

Respectful and safe care in all birthing spaces has long been an ideal that global communities fail to meet. Birthing people are disrespected, physically or emotionally harmed, or left to completely fend for themselves during a period of extreme emotional and medical vulnerability. Historically, autonomy especially has been ignored in birthing spaces with medical trends like the twilight sleep, where women were drugged into a state of unconsciousness during birth (Taylor, 2023), demonstrating the desire of western medicine, in particular, to reduce birthing people to bystanders in their own birth. While birth trends and medical treatments have changed throughout time, …

Social Murder, Marissa Jackson Sow

Washington and Lee Law Review

In recent years, variations on Engels’s concept of social murder have been adopted into British legal and sociological lexicons to conceptualize the state’s reckless sacrifices of its most vulnerable populations—people deemed socially undesirable, legally undeserving, and economically redundant. The state allows these populations to die a multitude of deaths by failing to protect them; notably, victims of social murder are relegated to society’s underclasses, if not completely excluded from the body politic, before they are physically eliminated. Social murder is neither genocide nor ethnic cleansing; instead, social murder captures the elimination of groups of people via atrocious events for which …

How Theists Can Answer The “Why Be Moral?” Question: An Indirect Reason-Generation Account, Justin Morton

Politics, Philosophy, and Law Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this paper, I give a new type of theistic answer to the “Why be moral?” question. After briefly clarifying the version of the question I'm concerned with, as well as extant theistic answers to the question, I argue for a new kind of answer. Roughly, while on standard answers, future (post death) benefits directly generate present reason to be moral, on my view, they only do so indirectly. On my view, we only have present reason to be moral because we will have reason to be moral in the afterlife. I propose a principle of reason inheritance that would …

Neurophenomenology: A Research Method Combining Neuroscience And Philosophy, Jonas Lokensgard

Posters - 2026

Neurophenomenology – Cognitive Sciences + Phenomenology Phenomenology – the study of consciousness (basically just how you experience things) Cognitive Sciences – The study of the functional processes of the mind, and the operations of the brain that enable these processes to be performed. (“Cognitive Science” 2004)

Bioengineering The Future Of The Human Species: H+’S Ideological Iterations Of Trans-/Posthumanity As Exemplified By Futurist Literary Texts = (Bio)Technological Solutions For (And/Or) Reification Of Systemic Inequities?, Marjorie E. Bomhower

English Theses & Dissertations

While humanity has, throughout our species’ history, endeavored to dream and create astonishing, and ever-evolving, (bio)technologies with the utopian ideals of bettering our day-to day lives and achieving greater longevity, our endeavors have (thus far) not only produced remarkable, beneficial advances in longevity and quality of life, but have also yielded devastating and dire outcomes; often at the cost and victimization of marginalized communities. This dissertation focuses on select (bio)technologies – particularly, those promoted by H+ (the most current and popular technoutopianist non-profit, “educational,” organization) – with an investigation of current and nascent (bio)technological evolutions, futurist literary texts, and critical/digital …

Gregor Samsa’S Pagkagimata (Awakening) In Bikol: A Becoming-Minor In Translation, Victor John M. Loquias

Akda: The Asian Journal of Literature, Culture, Performance

Kristian Cordero’s translation of Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis instantiates what the philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari call minor literature. Preferring the Bikol term Pagkagimata—the literal event of Gregor Sama’s becoming-animal in the novel as title of the translation and the utilization of the Rinconada Bikol language for the transformed Samsa—Cordero has typified a perspective of translation that challenges the popular view of fluent translation from the source text to the target language. Exemplifying the concept of becoming-minor of Deleuze and Guattari and deploying Lawrence Venuti’s notion of the “remainder,” An Pagkagimata ni Gregor Samsa exhibits a deterritorialization of Bikol …

Sapientia Ex Machina: Engaging Ai As A Meaning-Making Tool For Philosophical Practice, Austin M. Pritchett

SPARK Symposium Presentations

This paper sets out to examine whether a Large Language Model can serve as a genuine interlocutor in philosophical inquiry. With a grounding in the phenomenology of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and in conversation with other works in philosophy on AI, language, and the mind, the author determines the extent to which an AI's contributions to conversation can be said to participate in understanding and meaning-making rather than merely simulate it, thereby making evident the extent to which it is useful in philosophical practice.

Sun-Tzuian Critique Of The Russian Strategy In Its War Against Ukraine, Eduard Vicuna

Mabini Review

This study examines the effectiveness of Russian military strategy in the Ukraine war through the lens of Sun-Tzu’s strategic philosophy. Grounded in Sun-Tzu’s principles of warfare, the study evaluates Russian strategy using five key elements: Leader Values, People’s Belief, Mitigation, Environment, and Information. Employing a qualitative methodology, the research analyzes military decisions and tactics based on these strategic dimensions. Findings indicate that while Russia initially relied on deception and overwhelming force, its failure to achieve a swift victory stemmed from flawed planning, underestimated Ukrainian resistance, and logistical challenges. The study highlights the critical role of intelligence, adaptability, and psychological warfare, …

Limit Of Labels: Examining The ‘Masc’ And ‘Femme’ Labels In Wlw Relationships Through Judith Butler’S Theory Of Performativityauthors, Nikky Garo

Mabini Review

Judith Butler’s theory of performativity emphasizes the idea that gender is constructed through a series of repeated acts. Within this framework, labels such as ‘masc’ and ‘femme’ can play a role in shaping gender identity and expression, especially in womenloving- women (WLW) relationships. Even though queerness is famously understood as a space for challenging gender norms, and WLW relationships to that extension should be a site for gender fluidity, the use of these labels in WLW relationships can reinforce patriarchal structures by replicating binary gender expressions. The act of labeling oneself or one’s partner as ‘masc’ or ‘femme’ is evidence …

Bodies Will Be Bodies?: A Case For Legitimate Body Objectiveness, Renz Villacampa

Mabini Review

Confined in spatiotemporal structures and relations, the body is caught in the linearity of economic production and the rigidity of ideological imperatives. In this setup, the objectiveness of the body is suspected of putting a person to a limit. This further interrogates and accuses the body of facilitating its own objectification. Here, I challenged prominent objections to the objectiveness of the body, particularly those coming from Marcel and the early/material feminist traditions. I then put forward a case in which the active-operative instrumentalization of the body is legitimized sans discounting the body as an addendum or mere physical extension. Further, …

Learning Spaces, Others And Self: The “I—Learning” Experience Of Philosophy Students In Achieving Learning Competencies In A Pandemic, Mark Gatus

Mabini Review

Academic programs set learning competencies as essential standards to ensure that students acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and values. The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) prescribed the competencies for the AB Philosophy Program through CMO No. 26 s. 2017, which includes the ability to demonstrate critical and logical thinking, construct cogent arguments, engage analytically and interpretively with philosophical texts, develop research and academic writing skills, apply philosophical theories to concrete situations, and critically evaluate the essence of philosophical learning in relation to the True, the Good, and the Just. However, the teaching-learning process was disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic, raising …

Wikang Filipino At Ang Diskurso Ng Kasarian: Ang Misgendering Kay Jude Bacalso Bilang Salamin Ng Panlipunang Pananaw, Ignatius Vinzons

Mabini Review

The absence of grammatical gender in Filipino pronouns and some nouns has led some to claim that the Filipino language is gender neutral. However, cases of misgendering are undeniably present in our society. If the Filipino language is truly gender-neutral, how does misgendering occur in our context? This paper discusses the concept of misgendering, examines some of its examples in the Philippine context, and revisits literature on the supposed gender-neutrality of the Filipino language. It then analyzes the case of Jude Bacalso, a transgender woman who became a topic of public discourse on social media in July 2024 due to …

Komparatibong Analisis Sa Estetikong Danas Na Hatid Ng Koreanobela At Filipinobela Ayon Sa Mga Pilipinong Manonood, Christine Morit

Mabini Review

The paper highlights a thorough discussion of the vast influence and prominence of Korean dramas (Koreanobela) in the Philippines, which has become a central focus among critics in the discourse of film and television. Their rise in popularity has fostered an appreciation for both local and foreign spaces that continue to shape and influence Filipino culture. Although the importation of films from Latin American countries—an influence rooted in Spanish colonization—is not new in the Philippines, the unparalleled appeal of Korean dramas in capturing the attention of Filipino audiences cannot be denied. To identify the reasons behind this fascination, the researcher …

A Case Against Pragmatic Encroachment, Mahali Kuzyk

Global Tides

In their paper, Evidence, Pragmatics, and Justification Fantl and McGrath offer a seemingly intuitive and attractive route to a revision of what counts as epistemic justification and knowledge. They argue that knowledge is not just a matter of evidence, but depends in part on one’s practical situation. Higher stakes and different utilities can change whether a belief is knowledge-constituting. This essay will argue that Fantl and McGrath’s attempt to use their Knowledge-Action principle (KA) to back pragmatic encroachment ultimately fails.

Epochs Vol. 1 No. 2025 - Full Issue, Emma Pfannenstiel

Epochs Art History Journal

No abstract provided.

The Artist As Sorcerer: A Critical Analysis Of David Lomas’ Essay, Antoni Miquel

Epochs Art History Journal

No abstract provided.

The Core-Modulation Architecture (Cma): A Structural Overview Of A 14-Paper Research Program (Preprint), Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

This document provides a structural overview of the Core-Modulation Architecture (CMA), a 14-paper research program on cognition, communication, and AI interaction.

The series specifies the conditions under which cognition operates, terminates, fails, and generates structure. Rather than describing cognition by its contents (beliefs, emotions, decisions), it defines cognition through its underlying architecture: constraint-governed processing across layers with distinct termination conditions.

The framework introduces a layered model consisting of Core processing (constraint preservation and structural coherence) and Modulation (affective calibration and social interface adjustment), extended by a Prior layer as the source of constraints. Across the series, phenomena such as miscommunication, …

Contributors To Issue 7

Music & Musical Performance: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Making Sense Of The Body: Cognitive Science, Disability, And Embodiment, Cheyne L. Joslin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project is to analyze different methodological approaches in the philosophy of cognitive science, with the goal of determining their usefulness for explaining and understanding bodily awareness and skill-acquisition over time. The examples of skill-acquisition are limited to motor control, impaired by various kinds of disability—but then acquired over time, via technological or rehabilitative means. These phenomena of motor learning are then viewed through the lens of two competing theoretical approaches in cognitive science: neuromechanical cognitive science, and radical enactivist cognitive science.

The strengths of the neuromechanical framework are found in its historical pedigree, and in the …

Keirkegaard And The Algorithm, John Egan

Philosophy Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

From Tiktok To Transcendence: Reclaiming Focus Through Contemplative Education, Araceli Gordus Huizar

Knowledge and Creativity Expo

In an era shaped by the attention economy and digital technology, students in higher education navigate constant stimulation that fragments attention, increases stress, and challenges emotional regulation. Research in psychology and neuroscience suggests that chronic exposure to social media, AI tools, and multitasking environments contributes to divided attention and diminished cognitive performance. While institutional responses, such as phone bans, attempt to manage distraction, they often fail to cultivate the internal capacities necessary for sustained focus and meaningful learning.

This paper argues that contemplative education--grounded in Buddhist and Hindu contemplative traditions and informed by humanistic psychology and contemporary mindfulness-based interventions--offers a …

Ancestral Rites And Tablets As A Site Of Contestation Between Confucian Filial Piety And Catholicism: The Cases Of Chinese Confucian Yan Mo And Korean Catholic Yun Ji-Chung, Mideum Hong

Journal of Global Catholicism

This essay examines how the Confucian practice of filial piety, particularly as expressed through ancestral rites and tablets, became a focal point of contention in the encounters between Confucianism and Catholicism. Focusing on the cases of the Chinese Catholic Yan Mo and the Korean Catholic martyr Yun Ji-chung, I argue that the different historical and cultural contexts in China and Korea significantly shaped how each figure understood and responded to the practice of ancestral rites. While Catholicism spread globally, local converts developed distinct theological interpretations rooted in their respective cultural traditions. Although Yan Mo and Yun Ji-chung reached divergent conclusions …

Overview & Acknowledgments, Mathew Schmalz

Journal of Global Catholicism

This Introduction overviews the work of contributors from the Graduate Symposium sponsored by the Journal of Global Catholicism and the McFarland Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture.  The Introduction also highlights the independent peer reviewed submission from Dr. Agnieszka Laddach of the University of Warsaw.

Spirituality In Abstraction: The Female Future In 20th-Century Art, Lauren T. Sargent

Epochs Art History Journal

No abstract provided.

Aristotle And The Proslavery Writings Of The Antebellum South, Ace Farris

The Cardinal Edge

This paper explores how nineteenth-century Southern intellectuals appropriated and adapted Aristotle’s ancient defense of slavery to legitimize racial slavery in the antebellum United States. Although Aristotle’s theory of “natural slavery” emerged from the social and economic conditions of classical Greece, where enslaved people constituted essential components of the household, Southern thinkers tailored his argument to justify the peculiar institution. The paper begins by outlining Aristotle’s defense of slavery in his Politics, which states that some individuals naturally lack the capacity for rational deliberation, thereby benefiting from enslavement. Then, it traces how the American South’s investment in classical education allowed …

Termination Of Conceptual Search: A Structural Account Of Meaning Stabilization And Conversion, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

Conceptual definitions form a recursive structure: words are defined by other words, which themselves require further definition. Traversing such definitions produces an open-ended branching process. Because the lexical system contains no intrinsic endpoint, conceptual understanding requires a termination operation that stabilizes meaning. This paper proposes that conceptual processing functions as an open-ended search over a definition graph and that stabilization occurs when this search is terminated. The termination mechanism depends on which cognitive layer is foregrounded. When Empathic modulation is foregrounded, termination occurs through contextual translation: concepts are stabilized once they can be mapped onto socially recognizable meanings. When Core …

Why General Ai Inherited The Body: A Structural Account Of Embodied Modulation Under Monolithic Imitation, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

General AI has pursued the replication of human-level intelligence without first decomposing human cognition into structurally distinct components. Human cognition, however, is shaped by embodied constraints such as mortality, survival pressures, finite lifespan, and physiological states. This paper argues that when cognition is treated as a single undifferentiated whole, embodied modulation is not accidentally introduced into AI systems but structurally entailed. Any attempt to imitate “human intelligence” under a monolithic model necessarily incorporates variability shaped by mortal embodiment. The tensions observed in contemporary AI systems are better understood as consequences of copying an undecomposed target rather than isolated implementation errors. …

The Emotional Construction Of Religious Experience: Senitmentalism And Moral Motivations, Yvonne Candelario

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper addresses the growing prevalence of reported religious experiences across diverse religious and spiritual traditions, alongside the persistent absence of such reports among many adherents within the same communities. This asymmetry poses a challenge for both supernaturalist and reductively skeptical accounts of religious experience. I develop a naturalistic constructivist framework to explain why some individuals choose to interpret and report some human experiences as religious experiences or report having religious experiences at all, while others do not. Drawing on a post-modern revision of moral theory, an account of constructive sentimentalism, I argue that religious experience is shaped by socially …

A Descriptive Phenomenological Study Of South Texas Non-Denominational Hispanic Ministry Leaders' Spiritual Formation Through Total Worship, Wendy Méndez

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Spiritual formation transforms a believer’s relationship with Christ. For ministry leaders, especially volunteers, this process may be enhanced through worship practices. Understanding worship as a holistic lifestyle—beyond just musical or liturgical expression—had a profound influence on participants’ personal and spiritual development in this study. Despite the abundance of literature on worship and spiritual formation, a gap existed in understanding how total worship influenced the spiritual lives of volunteer leaders, particularly in culturally diverse communities. This study addressed the lack of research on the role of total worship in the spiritual formation of volunteer leaders in predominantly Hispanic, English-speaking, non-denominational, charismatic …