Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Trojan Women And Devil Baby Tales: Jane Addams On Domestic Violence, Marilyn Fischer

Philosophy Faculty Publications

In this discussion I will show how Addams used these bodies of knowledge in shaping a pragmatist-feminist analysis of the devil baby tales and of domestic violence. Pragmatists begin with people's concrete experience within specific, lived contexts and then return to experience to test their theories and concepts. Feminist pragmatists such as Addams give women's experiences central place. In her analysis of the devil baby tales and domestic violence, Addams presents the most marginalized women, not merely as victims, but as agents and artists in their own right.

Pragmatic Impairments, Robert Stainton

Philosophy Publications

This review essay addresses the question, "What, properly speaking, is a pragmatic impairment?" Drawing on work from two recent books, it presents three possible answers, and evaluates them.

Neoplatonism In The Risala (De Intellectu) Of Alfarabi, John Shannon Hendrix

Architecture, Art, and Historic Preservation Faculty Publications

The Neoplatonism of Plotinus and Proclus played an important role in the development of the Aristotelian concepts of intellect and perception in the Arabic commentators on Aristotle. Plotinus was not known to Arab scholars by name, but books Four to Six of the Enneads from the third century, as compiled by Porphyry, were paraphrased in the text called the Theology of Aristotle, which was translated between 833 and 842 by the circle of al-Kindi in Baghdad. The translation combined Aristole, Plotinus, and Christian and Islamic doctrines, and had a significant effect on early Islamic philosophy. The al-Kindi circle also …

The Politics Of The Romanticization Of Popular Culture, Or, Going Ga-Ga Over Pop Culture: A Critical Theory Assessment, Eric Bain-Selbo

Philosophy & Religion Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Politics Of The Romanticization Of Popular Culture, Or, Going Ga-Ga Over Pop Culture: A Critical Theory Assessment, Eric Bain-Selbo

Philosophy & Religion Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Quantum Mechanics And Ethical Antirealism: A Counter-Analogy To Boyd, Justin Lawson

Philosophy

In his paper How to Be a Moral Realist Boyd attempts to show how cases of ethical indeterminacy can be accounted for from an ethical realist’s standpoint. Boyd describes cases of extensional vagueness in the life-sciences which arise from knowable and definite underlying structures and draws an analogy to ethics to argue his case. This paper argues that an equally compelling analogy can be drawn between another type of scientific indeterminacy – that in quantum mechanics – and the related ethical cases. Because quantum mechanical uncertainty (on the Copenhagen interpretation) is a real and not merely epistemic limitation on physical …

Prayer And Subjective Well-Being: An Examination Of Six Different Types Of Prayer, Bramdon L. Whittington, Steven J. Scher

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

Participants (N = 430) were recruited online and completed a measure of six prayer types (adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication, reception, and obligatory prayer). Measures of subjective well-being (self-esteem, optimism, meaning in life, satisfaction with life) were also administered. Three forms of prayer (adoration, thanksgiving, reception) had consistently positive relations with well-being measures, whereas the other three forms of prayer had negative or null relations with the well-being measures. The prayer types having positive effects appear to be less ego-focused, and more focused on God, whereas the negative types have an opposite nature. These results highlight the role of psychological meaning …

Prayer And Subjective Well-Being: An Examination Of Six Different Types Of Prayer, Bramdon Whittington, Steven Scher

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

Participants (N = 430) were recruited online and completed a measure of six prayer types (adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication, reception, and obligatory prayer). Measures of subjective well-being (self-esteem, optimism, meaning in life, satisfaction with life) were also administered. Three forms of prayer (adoration, thanksgiving, reception) had consistently positive relations with well-being measures, whereas the other three forms of prayer had negative or null relations with the well-being measures. The prayer types having positive effects appear to be less ego-focused, and more focused on God, whereas the negative types have an opposite nature. These results highlight the role of psychological meaning …

Ethics Of Human Enhancement: 25 Questions & Answers, Fritz Allhoff, Patrick Lin, James Moor, John Weckert

Philosophy

This paper presents the principal findings from a three-year research project funded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) on ethics of human enhancement technologies. To help untangle this ongoing debate, we have organized the discussion as a list of questions and answers, starting with background issues and moving to specific concerns, including: freedom & autonomy, health & safety, fairness & equity, societal disruption, and human dignity. Each question-and answer pair is largely self-contained, allowing the reader to skip to those issues of interest without affecting continuity.

On The Value Of Philosophy: The Latin American Case, Manuel R. Vargas

Philosophy

There is very little study of Latin American philosophy in the English-speaking philosophical world. This can sometimes lead to the impression that there is nothing of philosophical worth in Latin American philosophy or its history. The present article offers some reasons for thinking that this impression is mistaken, and indeed, that we ought to have more study of Latin American philosophy than currently exists in the English-speaking philosophical world. In particular, the article argues for three things: (1) an account of cultural resources that is useful for illuminating the fact of cultural differences and variations in cultural complexity, (2) a …

Focused Attention, Open Monitoring And Automatic Self-Transcending: Categories To Organize Meditations From Vedic, Buddhist And Chinese Traditions, Fred Travis, Jonathan Shear

Philosophy Publications

This paper proposes a third meditation-category—automatic self-transcending— to extend the dichotomy of focused attention and open monitoring proposed by Lutz. Automatic self-transcending includes techniques designed to transcend their own activity. This contrasts with focused attention, which keeps attention focused on an object; and open monitoring, which keeps attention involved in the monitoring process. Each category was assigned EEG bands, based on reported brain patterns during mental tasks, and meditations were categorized based on their reported EEG. Focused attention, characterized by beta/gamma activity, included meditations from Tibetan Buddhist, Buddhist, and Chinese traditions. Open Monitoring, characterized by …

The Empirical Basis Of Ethics, Timothy A. Robinson

Philosophy Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Roads To The Great Eucatastrophie: The Christian Mythology Of C.S. Lewis And J.R.R. Tolkien, Laura Ann Hess

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze how C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien created mythology that is fundamentally Christian but in vastly different ways. This task will be accomplished by examining the childhood and early adult life of both Lewis and Tolkien, as well as the effect their close friendship had on their writing, and by performing a detailed literary analysis of some of their mythological works. After an introduction, the second and third chapters will scrutinize the elements of their childhood and adolescence that shaped their later mythology. The next chapter will look at the importance of their …

An Investigation Of The Relationships Among Self-Construal, Emotional Intelligence, And Well-Being, Constance A. Mara, Teresa L. Decicco, Mirella L. Stroink

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This study aims to further investigate the convergent validity of the recently-proposed

metapersonal model and measure of self-construal, and to emphasize the discriminant

validity of the metapersonal self-construal as a distinct construct, capturing a unique aspect

of self-construal separate from either interdependent or independent aspects. The study

looked at two questions: (1) Does the metapersonal self-construal predict higher emotional

intelligence? (2) Do those who have higher metapersonal self-construal scores also report

greater well-being? A group of 212 undergraduate students was assessed using a self-construal

scale that includes the new measure of metapersonal self-construal, along with scales

measuring emotional intelligence and …

Relational Spirituality And Developmental Spirituality: Introduction To Special Topic Section, Glenn Hartelius, Maureen Harrahy

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

NA

Relational Spirituality, Part 1 Paradise Unbound: Cosmic Hybridity And Spiritual Narcissism In The “One Truth” Of New Age Transpersonalism, Gregg Lahood

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Cosmological hybridization, a process in which spiritual paradises are bound together, is

highly active in American religious culture. Beginning with an early Christianized version of

the Buddha, this religious Creolization gathered speed after WWII and peaked during the

Vietnam War, leading to a complex spiritual revolution in which transcendence became an

all important orientation. This revolution set the scene for the emergence of a non-relational

transpersonal psychology in which Americanized nondualism gained ascendency. It is argued

here that popular New Age transpersonalism traps the spirit, breeding a self-serving, Selfas-

everything form of spiritual narcissism. Given that some are calling the …

Transpersonal And Other Models Of Spiritual Development, Harris Friedman, Stanley Krippner, Linda Riebel, Chad Johnson

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This chapter focuses on exploring various models of spiritual development. It first addresses

philosophical dilemmas underpinning the concept of spiritual development by questioning

whether these can be addressed without metaphysical assumptions embedded in religious

worldviews and thus understood in any consensual way across different historical and

cultural contexts. Traditional models of spiritual development are then reviewed, drawing

from indigenous, Eastern, and Western cultures. Integrative-philosophical and scientific

models, including those from the psychology of religion, transpersonal psychology, and

neurobiology, are then presented. The chapter concludes by noting the complexities involved

in understanding spiritual development accompanied by suggestions on future directions

for …

The Self And The Great Chain Of Being: Interview With Robert Bolton, Samuel B. Sotillos

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

NA

The Gift Of Life: Death As Teacher In The Aghori Sect, Rochelle Suri, Daniel B. Pitchford

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This article utilizes the example of the Aghori, with their radical and unique perspective on death,

as a challenge to the Western world to live an authentic, present life by maintaining awareness of

mortality. Specifically, three main themes are explored: first, a theoretical engagement of the concept

of death based on the (Western) philosophy of existentialism, second, a review of the historical

origins and philosophy of the Aghori sect, and third, a depiction of the Aghoris as a living example

of vigorously accepting death as an inevitability of life. On this basis a brief comparison of Western

and Eastern attitudes …

The Grofs’ Model Of Spiritual Emergency In Retrospect: Has It Stood The Test Of Time?, Darlene B. Viggiano, Stanley Krippner

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The purpose of this essay is to review the Grofs’ model of spiritual emergencies. The authors

ask: Has the model been useful for identifying and treating psycho-spiritual distress? Should

it be amended? Spiritual emergency can be defined as a crisis involving religious, transpersonal,

and/or spiritual issues that provides opportunities for growth. Spiritual emergence, meanwhile,

lends itself to gentler transformation. The research methods include an archival literature

review triangulated with an authoritative interview. The findings are that the Grofs’ model

of spiritual emergencies was ahead of its time and that the medical establishment needs to

catch up. Adaptations and revisions that …

Relational Spirituality, Part 2 The Belief In Others As A Hindrance To Enlightenment: Narcissism And The Denigration Of Relationship Within Transpersonal Psychology And The New Age, Gregg Lahood

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The aim of this paper is to tease out from the New Age religion and religious transpersonal psychology a more relational spirituality. Humanistic and transpersonal psychologies were important forces in the emergence of the social phenomenon of the New Age. New Age transpersonalism leans toward a restrictive non-relational spirituality because of its historical affirmation of individualism and transcendence. Relational spirituality, which is central to the emerging participatory paradigm, swims against strong and popular currents in New Age transpersonal thinking which tend to see spirituality as an individual, personal, inner pursuit, often into Eastern/Oriental nondualism. Whatever the merits of impersonal Advaita …

Jacob Wrestles The Angel: A Study In Psychoanalytic Midrash, Michael Abramsky

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This essay is a study in psychoanalytic Midrash: a literary and psychological meditation on the

Biblical story of Jacob. The Hebrew verbal root from which the term Midrash derives means to

investigate or explore. It is a genre of Biblical scholarship used to interpret the Bible in symbolic

and inspirational terms. This essay examines Jacob as he moves from a character dominated by

self-defeating neurosis through his transformation into a spiritual being and exemplar of principled

leadership. Insights from Freudian and Jungian psychologies, mythology, and literary traditions are

used to describe and explain Jacob’s character metamorphosis.

Editors’ Introduction, Glenn Hartelius

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

NA

Review: God's Rivals: Why Has God Allowed Different Religions? Insights From The Bible And The Early Church, Michael S. Jones

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

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 …

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 …

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 …

Kierkegaard On Indirect Communication, The Crowd, And A Monstrous Illusion, Antony Aumann

Faculty Works

Following the pattern set by the early German Romantics, Kierkegaard conveys many of his insights through literature rather than academic prose. What makes him a valuable member of this tradition is the theory he develops to support it, his so-called “theory of indirect communication.” The most exciting aspect of this theory concerns the alleged importance of indirect communication: Kierkegaard claims that there are some projects only it can accomplish. This paper provides a critical account of two arguments Kierkegaard offers in defense of this claim. The first argument is that he needs to use indirect communication in order to discourage …

Byron And 'The Barbarous . . . Middle Age Of Man': Youth, Aging, And Midlife In Don Juan, Melanie J. Parker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For Byron, the knowledge that he would one day have to become old was always on his mind. By the time Byron had relocated to the Continent, the idea had become something of an obsession. Thirty had always been Byron's turning point, the age at which youth would have to end and he would have to become an old man. Upon finally reaching that age, Byron found himself in a place much like Dante's selva oscura--dark, confusing, fearful, but with no other way left to go. There are allusions to this opening scene throughout Don Juan. It is …

Plateau, Tamsin E. Lorraine

Philosophy Faculty Works

No abstract provided.