Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Psychoanalysis, Dignity, And Life: An Introduction, David Metzger

English Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Thoreau's Racial Privilege On His Complicated Views Of Slavery And Abolition, Cassandra Carpenter

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Throughout Henry David Thoreau’s life and writing, he pioneers the Nineteenth Century Transcendental movement as a defender of political morality and individual refinement, while simultaneously stressing the importance of maintaining intimacy with nature. The presumed static nature of Thoreau’s movement, however, does not fully encompass the tumultuous time in American history with which Thoreau exists. Living after the Revolutionary war, during the Mexican war, and before the height of the Civil-War, his thought inhabits a period of changes, sometimes positive and yet mostly negative.

The Denial Of Transcendental Freedom Is Self-Refuting, Theodore Kahn

CMC Senior Theses

The questions of what kind of freedom morality requires and how to reconcile the capacity for free agency within a determined temporal sequence represent the crux of the free will debate. Traditional compatibilists claim that determinism does not preclude our capacity for moral agency. Nuanced determinists, such as Derk Pereboom, deny the existence of moral agency and argue that free will is not required to save the basic modes of our practical lives, such as our capacity to affect each other and to lead practically morallives. I will argue in favor of Kant’s view, which holds that since freedom and …

The Fate Of Kantian Freedom: The Kant-Reinhold Controversy, John Walsh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the relation of Kant’s theory of free will to that of K.L. Reinhold. I argue that Reinhold’s theory addresses several problems raised in the reception of Kant’s practical philosophy, particularly the problem of accounting for free immoral acts. Focusing on Reinhold’s account of free will as a condition for the conceivability of the moral law shows that the historical focus on Reinhold’s break from Kant’s own account and his alleged reliance on facts of consciousness obscures Reinhold’s decidedly ‘Kantian’ argument. This approach provides a new foundation for free will and demonstrates the significance of Reinhold’s practical philosophy …

Where Literature And Philosophy Meet And Diverge, Clare C. Hagan

Undergraduate Theses

Many writers and philosophers have asked “What is art?” or “What is philosophy?” but it is difficult to encounter a text where these questions are set beside each other. Many works of philosophy appear very literary in form and content, just as there are many literary works that are very philosophical in nature. This essay examines the intersection of literature and philosophy, using Kant’s Critique of Judgement as a way into analyzing Plato’s Phaedo, as an example of literary philosophy; and Shakespeare’s Hamlet, as an example of philosophical literature. The first section deals with literature and philosophy as texts, looking …

Owen Barfield: Philosophy, Poetry, And Theology. Michael Vincent Di Fuccia, Tiffany Brooke Martin

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.

A Song Of Confusion And Annoyance: Kant On The Beauty Of Absolute Music, Ryan Walton Turner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Kant's evaluation of music in the Critique of Judgement stands as a blemish on an otherwise appealing system of judgments of beauty and of assigning aesthetic worth. In order to resolve this tension, I will present an argument in three parts. First, I will delve further into Kantian judgments of beauty to provide solid contextual grounds for why he draws his conclusions about music and will further elaborate on his various positions concerning music. Second, I will look at a few potential answers for the problem of music given by others in the philosophy of music and briefly evaluate their …

Everyone And No One: Freedom, Politics And God In Hegel's Philosophy Of Freedom, Samuel J. Copeland

Senior Projects Spring 2018

This senior project is an exploration of G.W.F. Hegel's philosophy of freedom. It draws primarily on Hegel's texts The Phenomenology of Spirit, Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences, Elements of the Philosophy of Right, and Lectures on the Philosophy of History. The exploration of Hegel's concept of freedom brings in an analysis of Hegel's Lordship and Bondage Dialectic, his critique of Kantian morality, his philosophy of the State and his philosophy of Religion and God.

From Justice To Fairness: Does Kant's Doctrine Of Right Imply A Theory Of Distributive Justice?, Michael Nance, Jeppe Von Platz

Philosophy Faculty Publications

The fact that Kant does not articulate a theory of distributive justice has not kept political philosophers from citing Kant as inspiration and support for whatever theory of distributive justice they favor - including those who argue that the notion of distributive justice is itself mistaken. This widespread reliance on Kant invites the question, "Does the Doctrine of Right imply a theory of distributive justice?"

To address this question, we discuss Paul Guyer's argument that Kant's Doctrine of Right implies, roughly, the principles of distributive justice as found in Rawls's justice as fairness. Guyer's argument is that Kant's theory of …

Secrets Vs. Lies: Is There A Moral Asymmetry?, James E. Mahon

Publications and Research

In this chapter I argue that the traditional interpretation of the commonly accepted moral asymmetry between secrets and lies is incorrect. On the standard interpretation of the commonly accepted view, lies are prima facie or pro tango morally wrong, whereas secrets are morally permissible. I argue that, when secrets are distinguished from mere acts of reticence and non-acknowledgement, as well as from acts of deception, so that they are defined as acts of not sharing believed-information while believing that the believed-information is relevant, the correct interpretation of the commonly accepted moral asymmetry between secrets and lies is that secrets are …

The Imagination In Reason: Reframing The Systematic Core Of Idealism In Kant And Hegel, Gerad Gentry

Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I argue that the point of transition between Kant and the Idealists is most aptly identified and comprehended when we bring into view a careful understanding of Kant’s principle of the free lawfulness of the Imagination. I argue that for Hegel, it was this principle that constituted Kant’s “greatest service to philosophy.” I contend that we are right to agree with Hegel that this principle is fundamental to Kant’s critical Idealism and is an important theoretical principle in its own right. More than this, though, Hegel adopts, modifies, and expands this notion and thereby turns it into …

The Revelation Of God, East And West: Contrasting Special Revelation In Western Modernity With The Ancient Christian East, Nathan A. Jacobs

Philosophy Faculty Publications

The questions of whether God reveals himself; if so, how we can know a purported revelation is authentic; and how such revelations relate to the insights of reason are discussed by John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, René Descartes, G. W. Leibniz, and Immanuel Kant, to name a few. Yet, what these philosophers say with such consistency about revelation stands in stark contrast with the claims of the Christian East, which are equally consistent from the second century through the fourteenth century. In this essay, I will compare the modern discussion of special revelation from Thomas Hobbes through Johann Fichte with the …

Rational Engagement As A Way Of Showing Respect To Oneself And Others: How We Ought To Respond To Persons Who Hold Unreasonable Beliefs, Elizabeth Cargile Williams

Masters Theses

We often encounter persons who hold unreasonable beliefs. I explore how respect informs our response to these persons. I conclude that we ought to be willing or disposed to engage in rational discussion sometimes and to some extent with persons who hold unreasonable beliefs as a way of recognizing and respecting their rational nature. I describe what the duty of rational engagement looks like in practice and apply the duty to individual cases. I then explore various considerations, including the consideration of self-respect, that influence whether we have reason to engage and how we should respond in different cases.

Kant On The Beautiful, Justin P. Amoroso

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis looks at Kant’s question about the antagonism between freedom and determinism and how he tried to reconcile them through aesthetics. I begin the thesis by sketching the influences on Kant’s aesthetics, by looking at the problem that arose after he completed his first two critiques, and by defining his three faculties. From there I examine his four moments of beauty. Next, I ask how beauty symbolizes morality. In the conclusion I submit a possible answer how beauty can resolve the antagonism between freedom and determinism. The tentative answer is as follows.

According to Kant, beauty doesn’t require us …

Health And Sickness: An Examination Of The Question Of The Affirmation Or Negation Of Life In The Face Of Suffering, Frank M. Scavelli

Student Publications

In this thesis, I examine a line of thought that stretches from Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), who regarded his own work merely as an interpretation and continuation Immanuel Kant’s (1724-1804) philosophy, through Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), who reacted to Schopenhauer’s negation of life with an affirmative philosophy, to Thomas Mann (1875-1955), who, operating from within this tradition, attempted a synthesis of it as well as a critical analysis of some of its aspects and their relation to seemingly-pathological fascistic sentiment he witnessed in the Germany of the 1920s and 30s. This line of thought deals with the essential question of Life. It …

Between The Internal And The External: Kant’S And Patañjali’S Arguments For The Reality Of Physical Objects And Their Independence From Mind, Ana Laura Funes Maderey

Comparative Philosophy

Although coming from two very different paths, both Kant and Patañjali present similar strategies to refute the skeptic argument that denies the real and independent existence of physical objects. This essay examines both strategies through the reconstruction of Kant’s and Patañjali’s twofold refutation of idealism: one based on the perceptual distinction between the real and the illusory, and the other one based on the ontological necessity of a permanent external object to understand change. I argue that the second strategy is philosophically stronger due to its phenomenological recognition of the body as a grounding point, and that this is possible …

Sublime And Anti-Sublime: Reconsidering The Relation Of The Sublime To Technology, Konstantinos Vassiliou

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

The aesthetic notion of the sublime has been traced in different fields in the growing spheres of technology, capitalism, and digitality. The variable character of the sublime is partly due to the fact that it is identified with specific objects or sources. It can emerge whenever there is an antithesis between the infinite extensions of reason and the limits of the representative faculty. Taking into account this variance, this article seeks to reexamine the relationship of the sublime to technology, especially in view of current digital capabilities. In doing so, I argue that the notion of the sublime involves its …

Sketches, Impressions And Confessions: Literature As Experiment In The Nineteenth Century, Andrew Ragsdale Lallier

Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, I argue for the existence and critical relevance of a program of experimental literature in the long nineteenth century, developed in the aesthetics of German Romanticism and adapted in a set of texts by Thomas De Quincey, Charles Dickens and George Eliot. My introduction positions this argument in context of larger debates concerning form, theory and literary capacity, provides points of connection between these authors, and outlines the most prominent features of experimental literature. In the first chapter, I present an unorthodox reading of Kant’s Critique of Judgment, accompanied by a brief account of the literary-critical …

Review Of Art And Ethics In A Material World: Kant's Pragmatist Legacy By Jennifer A. Mcmahon, William Simkulet

Philosophy and Religious Studies Department Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Unity Of Consciousness In Animals, Bernard E. Rollin

Animal Sentience

Both Descartes the rationalist and Hume the empiricist, polar opposites philosophically, denied the unity and continuity of animal mind. Kant pointed out that the presence of retrievable memories entails unity of consciousness. Rowlands now argues that animals too have unity of consciousness.

I Want To Believe: Kant, The X Files, And Cosmopolitical Unity, Jeremy Knickerbocker

Cinesthesia

Kant’s final chapter of Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View, puts forth certain observations concerning the characteristics of human beings. In order for these observations to have rational validity as a proposed ‘human nature,’ however, Kant admits that it is necessary to compare between humans and another species of rational animal. Thus in an effort not to succumb to a naively anthropocentric thesis of nature, Kant still falls victim to his own anthropocentric privileging of rationality as a strictly human capacity—at least terrestrially speaking. While Kant fails to recognize any other earthly species as a rational animal, he nevertheless …

Naturalism And The Surreptitious Embrace Of Necessity, Kurt Mosser

Kurt Mosser

In this article, two philosophical positions that structure distinct approaches in the history of metaphysics and epistemology are briefly characterized and contrasted. While one view, “naturalism,” rejects an a priori commitment to necessity, the other view, “transcendentalism,” insists on that commitment. It is shown that at the level of the fundamentals of thought, judgment, and reason, the dispute dissolves, and the naturalists' employment of “necessity for all practical purposes” is at best only nominally distinct from the transcendentalists' use of the same concept.

Moral Dilemmas And Moral Theories, Jihwan Yu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In my dissertation, I argue for the existence of moral dilemmas and draw out the implications of their existence on major moral theories. A moral dilemma arises when: a moral agent holds moral principles entailing inconsistent actions, the moral principles do not override each other, and the moral agent cannot perform all the actions entailed by moral principles at the same time. I defend the arguments for moral dilemmas by considering objections to them and offering replies to those objections. On the other hand, I raise objections to the arguments against moral dilemmas in order to refute them.

Having argued …

Thinking About Friendship: Historical And Contemporary Philosophical Perspectives, Damian Caluori

Damian Caluori

It is hard to imagine a good life without friendship. But what precisely makes friendship so valuable? And what is friendship at all? What unites friends and distinguishes them from others? Is the preference we give to friends rationally and morally justifiable? This collection of thirteen new essays on the philosophy of friendship considers such questions. In particular, it offers new interpretations of the answers given by famous classic philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle and Kant and provides fresh answers by leading contemporary philosophers. It is organized around five topics: the nature of friendship, the unity of friendship, friendship and …

Review Of Essays On Kant's Political Philosophy, Harry Van Der Linden

Harry van der Linden

Article reviews the book "Essays on Kant's Political Philosophy," edited by Howard Lloyd Williams.

Review Of Kant's System Of Rights, Harry Van Der Linden

Harry van der Linden

This article reviews the book "Kant's System of Rights," by Leslie A. Mulholland.

Review Of Kant's Platonic Revolution In Moral And Political Philosophy, Harry Van Der Linden

Harry van der Linden

Article reviews the book "Kant's Platonic Revolution in Moral and Political Philosophy," by T.K. Seung.

Review Of From Marx To Kant, Harry Van Der Linden

Harry van der Linden

This article reviews the book "From Marx to Kant," by Dick Howard.

Imagination Bound: A Theoretical Imperative, Robert Michael Guerin

Theses and Dissertations--Philosophy

Kant’s theory of productive imagination falls at the center of the critical project. This is evident in the 1781 Critique of Pure Reason, where Kant claims that the productive imagination is a “fundamental faculty of the human soul” and indispensable for the construction of experience. And yet, in the second edition of 1787 Kant seemingly demotes this imagination as a mere “effect of the understanding on sensibility” and all but withdraws its place from the Transcendental Deduction.

In his 1929 Kant and the Problem of Metaphysics, Martin Heidegger provided an explanation for the revisions between 1781 and 1787. …

A Preference For Freedom: Kantian Implications For An Incompatibilist Will And Practical Accountability, Maggie Miller

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis aims to provide a coherent account of free will and practical grounds to prefer it. Its goal is to develop a pragmatic understanding of agency by which to hold individuals morally accountable. The paper begins with a critique of P.F. Strawson, whose seminal paper “Freedom and Resentment” bypasses the question of free will altogether in its claims about morality. Subsequently, it proceeds to a defense of incompatibilism that traces an argument through the existing literature. From this position, it claims that neither Strawson nor traditional compatibilists can provide an account of morality that is reliable or well enough …