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Articles 1 - 13 of 13
Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Plato’S Instruments: Harmony, Hubris, And Heartstrings, Kendra Tully
Plato’S Instruments: Harmony, Hubris, And Heartstrings, Kendra Tully
Undergraduate Review
Plato’s Symposium strives to resolve the tension between physical and moral love. After characterizing this tension through an analysis of the speeches of Eryximachus (who advocates purely physical love) and Socrates (who advocates purely moral love), this essay argues that Plato offers an interpretation of love that bridges the physical/moral divide. Evidence for this claim is found in the content of the speech of Aristophanes, the timing of the arrival of Alcibiades, and the exchange between Alcibiades and Socrates. In taking seriously both the physical and moral aspects of love, Plato concludes that humans can live beautifully together only when …
Knowledge And Skepticism In Descartes’ Meditations, Scott Campbell
Knowledge And Skepticism In Descartes’ Meditations, Scott Campbell
Undergraduate Review
My research is centered on the arguments of Rene Descartes, a 17th Century philosopher, in his work The Meditations. The Meditations is composed of six entries, which are six meditations, written in form of narration. His narrative takes form in an intricately composed piece of writing, a clever argument presented through a precise and fascinating procedure. However, the artful fashion in which he conveys his method is far from an immaculately composed calculation which Descartes leads one to believe. In this paper I will present Descartes’ procedural destruction and following reassembly of the external world and his proposed discovery of …
Domination, Individuality, And Moral Chaos: Nietzsche’S Will To Power, Angel Cooper
Domination, Individuality, And Moral Chaos: Nietzsche’S Will To Power, Angel Cooper
Undergraduate Review
One of the most well known, but deeply debated, ideas presented by the philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, is the will to power. Scholars have provided a variety of interpretations for what Nietzsche means by this concept. In this paper, I argue that, under each interpretation, Nietzsche may still face what I call, the problem of moral chaos, or the problem of endorsing the claim that immoral acts, such as murder and torture, are justifiable as they exemplify the human will towards power over others. I ultimately argue that Nietzsche’s philosophy avoids this problem: though Nietzsche proposes it is possible to harm …
Plato’S Theory Of Forms: Analogy And Metaphor In Plato’S Republic, Anthony Jannotta
Plato’S Theory Of Forms: Analogy And Metaphor In Plato’S Republic, Anthony Jannotta
Undergraduate Review
It would be impossible to understand Plato’s writings on the nature of justice, beauty, or the good without first understanding Plato’s theory of Forms. Plato gives us a variety of different arguments in favor of his theory; most, if not all, of these arguments are analogical. I will explicate two such arguments, the sun analogy and the argument for the Forms found in book X, evaluating each as they are discussed. The evaluation will be geared toward cogency and consistency. First, though, I briefly explain Plato’s theory of Forms in general before examining these arguments. Ultimately, I will conclude that …
A Moral Investigation Of Torture In The Post 9.11 World, Joe Moloney
A Moral Investigation Of Torture In The Post 9.11 World, Joe Moloney
Undergraduate Review
The field of philosophy is unique, as it allows one to logically examine issues in all disciplines, from science to politics to art. One further important discipline that philosophy examines is criminal justice. In this respect, one approach philosophy can take when examining criminal justice is to assess each issue by questioning its morality—that is, whether an action within the issue is right or wrong based upon a system of ethics. This approach concerns the subfield of philosophy known as ethics, a subfield that includes questions concerning what is morally good and morally bad. When one is faced with an …
Naturalism And Is Opponents, Joseph Spencer
Naturalism And Is Opponents, Joseph Spencer
Undergraduate Review
Ever since Descartes began his search for certainty in philosophy, many of the great philosophers have taken up this quest. One solution, proposed by W.V.O. Quine in his 1969 essay, Naturalized Epistemology, claims that we must refrain from studying epistemology in philosophy. Quine claims that our study of knowledge must only occur in the field of psychology and that we should refrain from talking about these issues in philosophy. As one can imagine, Quine’s essay was met with much criticism and anger among philosophers. Most notably, Hilary Putnam provides a devastating critique of naturalized epistemology in his essay, Why …
Reconsidering The Mind/Body Distinction: Towards A Continuist Ontology Of Consciousness, Michael Robillard
Reconsidering The Mind/Body Distinction: Towards A Continuist Ontology Of Consciousness, Michael Robillard
Undergraduate Review
In his paper, “The State and Fate of Contemporary Philosophy of Mind,” John Haldane likens the present condition of Philosophy of Mind to that of the philosophically stultifying period of late scholasticism, where naming took the place of explaining, and philosophy was reduced to taxonomy. Haldane argues that our current physicalistic lexicon has made it virtually “impossible to accommodate the basic features of mindedness revealed in reflection and direct experience.” For Philosophy of Mind to progress, Haldane argues, we must “make space” for alternative modes of knowing that exist beyond the bounds of our current, overly physicalistic terminology.
Is Prospero Just? Platonic Virtue In William Shakespeare’S The Tempest, Anthony Jannotta
Is Prospero Just? Platonic Virtue In William Shakespeare’S The Tempest, Anthony Jannotta
Undergraduate Review
The Tempest is often regarded, and rightly so, as Shakespeare’s last great play. Many scholars argue that Prospero is an analogue for Shakespeare himself, noting the similarities between Prospero’s illusory magic and Shakespeare’s poetic genius. The themes of imagination, illusion, and, indeed, theatre itself play an integral role. The line that is perhaps most often cited as evidence for this argument is Prospero’s speech directly after he breaks up the wedding masque in which he refers to “the great globe itself” (IV.i.153). There is a danger, however, in appealing to the author’s biography or treating the biography as paramount, namely …
The Sovereignty Of The Individual: Thoreau’S Call For Reformation In Walden, Bradford Vezina
The Sovereignty Of The Individual: Thoreau’S Call For Reformation In Walden, Bradford Vezina
Undergraduate Review
No abstract provided.
A Philosophical Examination Of Proofs In Mathematics, Eric Almeida
A Philosophical Examination Of Proofs In Mathematics, Eric Almeida
Undergraduate Review
No abstract provided.
Human Behavior: Self-Discrepancy Reduction, Derek Drake
Human Behavior: Self-Discrepancy Reduction, Derek Drake
Undergraduate Review
No abstract provided.
Universals And Particulars: Aristotle's Ontological Theory And Criticism Of The Platonic Forms, Brad Vezina
Universals And Particulars: Aristotle's Ontological Theory And Criticism Of The Platonic Forms, Brad Vezina
Undergraduate Review
No abstract provided.
The Powers Of Silence: Cistercian Monasticism As A Radical Critique Of Information Age Epistemology, Brad Rubin
The Powers Of Silence: Cistercian Monasticism As A Radical Critique Of Information Age Epistemology, Brad Rubin
Undergraduate Review
No abstract provided.