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The Tension Between Altruistic Character And Self-Serving Possession In A Classical Socio-Political Ethic, Jeremy S. Neill

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Much of the Nicomachean Ethics treats egocentrism as an ineffectual and pernicious social vice out of which humans ought to be habituated. In the Politics self-centeredness is almost universally portrayed as a useful and enduring constituent of human psychology. The system of private property described in the Politics can hardly be a necessary social institution when Aristotle claims in the Ethics that the habituation process is capable of permanently fixing our attention upon public and altruistic fiscal ventures. This interpretive discrepancy between the two texts demonstrates that Aristotle’s defense of private property is ineffectual in its attempt to preserve the …

"Wenn Vernunft Volle Gewalt Über Das Begehrungsvermögen Hätte": Über Die Gemeinsame Wurzel Der Kantischen Imperative, Konstantin Pollok

Faculty Publications

Kant hat mit seiner universalistischen, formalistischen und kognitivistischen Konzeption moralisch-praktischer Gründe in Gegenüberstellung zu seiner instrumentalistischen Konzeption nicht-moralisch-praktischer Gründe eine Begrifflichkeit geschaffen, die es erlaubt, handlungsleitende Überzeugungen hinsichtlich ihres Geltungsanspruchs und ihrer Verbindlichkeit zu differenzieren. Von einem ‚Sollen‘ spricht Kant in beiden Fällen. Nicht nur der kategorische Imperativ, der unbedingt gebietet, „ich soll niemals anders verfahren als so, daß ich auch wollen könne, meine Maxime solle ein allgemeines Gesetz werden“ (GMS, AA 04: 402), sondern auch hypothetische Imperative, die bedingt gebieten, „ich soll etwas thun, darum weil ich etwas anderes will“1, nehmen bei Kant die normative Form eines ‚Sollens‘ an. …

An Ideal Approach To Global Warming, Hannah Lee Varn

Inquiry Journal 2007

No abstract provided.

Complexity, Fine-Tuning, And Multiple Universes: The Insufficiency Of Scientific Theories For Determining Metaphysical Views, Ashley Graham Kennedy

Institute for the Humanities Theses

Many argue that science can provide empirical evidence for the existence of God or a designer. In this thesis I examine three such arguments: the irreducible complexity argument from biochemistry, the fine-tuning argument from physics and the rare earth/privileged planet hypothesis from astronomy. I conclude that all three of the arguments fail to show whether or not the universe was designed, because science is not prepared to answer this question. Further, I argue that scientific theories, in general, cannot be used as the sole basis for metaphysical propositions.

The Philosophical Approach To God: A New Thomistic Perspective, 2nd Edition, W. Norris Clarke, S.J.

Philosophy & Theory

This book is a revised and expanded edition of three lectures delivered by the author at Wake Forest University in 1979. Long out of print, in its new edition it should be a valuable resource for scholars and teachers of the philosophy of religion.

The first two lectures, after a critique of the incompleteness of St. Thomas Aquinas’s famous Five Ways of arguing for the existence of God, explore lesser-known resources of Aquinas’s philosophical ascent of the mind to God: the unrestricted dynamism of the human spirit as it reaches toward the fullness of being, and the strictly metaphysical ascent …

Reports Relating To The Fifty-Eighth Annual Meeting Of The Society, James A. Borland

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Review: 'Challenging Liberalism: Feminism As Political Critique', Rebecca Whisnant

Philosophy Faculty Publications

In Challenging Liberalism: Feminism as Political Critique, Lisa Schwartzman brings her sharp interpretive and critical perspective to bear on the vexed relationship between feminism and liberal political philosophy. Noting (as have others before her) that the latter's central values -- such as autonomy, individual rights, and equality -- are both indispensable to and sometimes problematic for feminism, Schwartzman argues that these values must be reinterpreted in light of the insights gained from an alternative, non-liberal, and specifically feminist philosophical methodology. In this book, she explains why such an alternative methodology is needed, outlines some of its distinctive features, and …

Memorials 2007, James A. Borland

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Sagp Newsletter 2006/7.2, Anthony Preus

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Programs of the Society with the Pacific Division, April 7, 2007, in San Francisco, and with the Central Division, April 20, 2007, in Chicago.

Cultivating Virtue: Moral Progress And The Kantian State, Chris W. Surprenant

Philosophy Faculty Publications

After examining the ethical and political writings of Immanuel Kant, one finds an apparent paradox in his philosophy as his perfectionist moral teachings appear to be linked to his anti-perfectionist political theory. Specifically, he writes that the perfection of moral character can only take place for an individual who is inside of civil society, a condition where no laws may legitimately be implemented expressly for the purpose of trying to make individuals moral. Kant believes that living in civil society is a necessary condition for an individual to refine his talents and reason completely, a process required by morality. I …

Eternal Recurrence And The Categorical Imperative, Philip J. Kain

Philosophy

The question has been raised whether Nietzsche intends eternal recurrence to be like a categorical imperative. The obvious objection to understanding eternal recurrence as like a categorical imperative is that for a categorical imperative to make any sense, for moral obligation to make any sense, it must be possible for individuals to change themselves. And Nietzsche denies that individuals can change themselves. Magnus thinks the determinism “implicit in the doctine of the eternal recurrence of the same renders any imperative impotent…. How can one will what must happen in any case?” At the other end of the spectrum, those who …

Muffin 2007, Students Of Risd, Risd Archives

All Student Newspapers

Muffin was a newsletter produced in the early aughts by RISD’s Queer Student Union as a student guide to queer culture. The 2007 issue features articles on the Translating Identity Conference (TIC), sexual consent, the integration of rival lesbian groups on campus, lesbian films, and Brokeback Mountain, along with creative writing, a list of gay bars, and a list of queer resources.

Galileo, Biotechnology, And Epistemological Humility: Moving Stewardship Beyond The Development-Conservation Debate, Charles C. Adams

Pro Rege

This paper was presented, in modified form, at the sixty-first annual meeting of the American Scientific Affiliation, at Calvin College, July 28-31, 2006.

Review Of Injustice And Rectification By Rodney C. Roberts, Michael Monahan

Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Ethics In Business And Government, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Ethics

Bibliography and photographs of a display of government documents from Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Cyberspace, Cosmology, And The Meaning Of Life, Albert Borgmann

Philosophy Faculty Publications

When on the Tuesdays before Thanksgiving only about half of my students in the large introductory ethics class show up, I reward the faithful with the promise to reveal the meaning of life. The announcement is always met with a ripple of laughter-a mixture of incredulity, curiosity, and good humor. The meaning of life, I say, cannot be borrowed, bought, or manufactured. It has to be discovered. And how do you discover it? Why, you use the meaning-of-life-locator. And what is that?

Intelligent Design And The Boundaries Of Science, Kenton Machina

Faculty Publications - Philosophy

In this paper I describe several versions of intelligent design theory, and I examine whether there is any reasonable ground for claiming that these theories are scientific. I argue that the criteria for what counts as science are cultural and philosophical, rather than scientific. Using established philosophical/cultural notions of what counts as science, I argue that some versions of intelligent design theory count as scientific, and some versions do not.

Review Of "Reason's Grief: An Essay On Tragedy And Value" By G. W. Harris, Richard Thomas Eldridge

Philosophy Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Purification By Fire : 2 Peter 3 And The Stoic Cosmos, Peter G. Speiser

Master of Arts Theses

No abstract provided.

Gender Identity Disorder, Jennifer Mckitrick

Department of Philosophy: Faculty Publications

According to the DSM IV, a person with GID is a male or female that feels a strong identification with the opposite sex and experiences considerable stress because of their actual sex (Task Force on DSM-IV and American Psychiatric Association, 2000). The way GID is characterized by health professionals, patients, and lay people belies certain assumptions about gender that are strongly held, yet nevertheless questionable. The phenomena of transsexuality and sex-reassignment surgery puts into stark relief the following question: “What does it mean to be male or female?” But while the answer to that question may be informed by contemplation …

Reflections On Greek Bronze And 'The Statue Of Humanity'. Heidegger's Aesthetic Phenomenology And Nietzsche's Agonistic Politics, Babette Babich

Articles and Chapters in Academic Book Collections

No abstract provided.

"Heidegger’S Will To Power," Journal Of The British Society For Phenomenology, Vol. 38, No. 1 (January 2007): 37-60, Babette Babich

Articles and Chapters in Academic Book Collections

I argue that Heidegger deliberately composed the Beiträge zur Philosophie in order to keep it as an unpublished work throughout his life. In 1935, Heidegger was named to the board of directors for the National Socialist edition of Nietzsche’s collected works. This experience brought Heidegger into contact with the editorial forces that control an author’s legacy, even an author of Nietzsche’s formidable stylistic powers. And as is typical enough, the parallel Heidegger drew was a personal one. In response, Heidegger composed what might stand as his own “Nachlaß” material. The Beiträge would then work to limit Heidegger’s vulnerability to editorial …

Attunement, Deprivation, And Drive: Heidegger And Animality, Gerard Kuperus

Philosophy

No abstract provided.

Traveling With Socrates: Ways And Non-Ways In The Phaedo And Protagoras, Gerard Kuperus

Philosophy

No abstract provided.

Alan D. Breck Award Winner (2006)

Quidditas

Kimberly Johnson

The Breck Award recognizes the most distinguished paper given by a junior scholar at the annual conference.

Divine Love In The Writings Of Heloise Of The Paraclete, Carmel Posa

Philosophy Papers and Journal Articles

Heloise of the Paraclete has appeared in the volumes of Tjurunga several times over the years. Nevertheless, for those readers who know little of this famed abbess of the twelfth century, perhaps it is worthwhile reiterating a little of her story before focusing on yet another important aspect of her fascinating writings. Heloise of the Paraclete (d.1164) is perhaps better known for her brief, yet passionate love affair with Peter Abelard (1079-1142), arguably the greatest intellectual mind of the twelfth century. Briefly stated, in the course of their famous and spectacular love affair, Heloise became pregnant, was eventually married to …

Compresence Of Opposites In Nehamas, Irwin, And Fine, Timothy A. Robinson

Philosophy Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Thirty-Second Annual Midwest Philosophy Colloquium, 2007-2008, University Of Minnesota - Morris. Philosophy Department

Midwest Philosophy Colloquium

Programs for the thirty-second Midwest Philosophy Colloquium at the University of Minnesota Morris in 2007-2008.

An Internal Connection Between Logic And Rhetoric, And A Legitimate Foundation For Knowledge, Jeremy Barris

Humanities Faculty Research

It has often been argued that a theory that tries to justify itself fully is either viciously circular or produces an infinite regress of justifications. Thinking that tries to establish ultimate foundations for itself seems in the end to base itself on nothing but its own insistence that it is right. As a result it offers no real knowledge. As Robert Almeder notes, for example, a strong appeal attaches to arguments such as that "there is no non-question-begging way to answer questions such as 'Are you justified in believing your definition of justification?'"

Black The Libertarian, David P. Hunt

Philosophy

The most serious challenge to Frankfurt-type counterexamples to the Principle of Alternate Possibilities (PAP) comes in the form of a dilemma: either the counterexample presupposes determinism, in which case it begs the question; or it does not presuppose determinism, in which case it fails to deliver on its promise to eliminate all alternatives that might plausibly be thought to satisfy PAP. I respond to this challenge with a counterexample in whichconsidering an alternative course of action is anecessary condition fordeciding to act otherwise, and the agent does not in fact consider the alternative. I call this a …