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Self-Knowledge, Tyranny, And The Delphic Oracle In Plato's Charmides, Alan Pichanick

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

My focus here is the discussion between Critias and Socrates regarding the message of the oracle at Delphi: “Know yourself”. This is the only substantive discussion of the oracle outside the Apology, so we should give it careful attention, if we are at all interested in the philosophy of Socrates and those who in any way follow or depart from him. For though sôphrosunê may be elusive, the dialogue makes it clear that it is deeply connected, whatever its nature is, to the philosophical outlook of Socrates, tying together his ethical and epistemological stances. The task of understanding sôphrosunê is …

In Defense Of The Objective Epistemic Approach To Argumentation, John Biro, Harvey Siegel

Philosophy Articles and Papers

In this paper we defend a particular version of the epistemic approach to argumentation. We advance some general considerations in favor of the approach and then examine the ways in which different versions of it play out with respect to the theory of fallacies, which we see as central to an understanding of argumentation. Epistemic theories divide into objective and subjective versions. We argue in favor of the objective version, showing that it provides a better account than its subjectivist rival of the central fallacy of begging the question. We suggest that the strengths of the objective epistemic theory of …

Historical Perspectives On Attitudes Concerning Death And Dying, David San Filippo Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Beliefs and practices concerning death have changed throughout human history. In pre-modern times, death at a young age was common due to living conditions and medical practices. As medical science has advanced and helped humans live longer, attitudes and responses to death also have changed. In modern Western societies, death is often ignored or feared. Changes in lifestyles and improved medical science have depersonalized death and made it an encroachment on life instead of part of life. This has left many people ill equipped to deal with death when it touches their lives.

Perspectives On The Fears Of Death & Dying, David San Filippo Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

This E-Book will examine some perspectives on fear, the fears of death, and constructs used to overcome or deal with the fears of death. By examining the literature on fear in general, a framework can be developed to understand how individuals become fearful. In the section, “Fears of Death,” what people fear about death and why they fear it will be discussed.

Angels As Spiritual Guides, David San Filippo Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

The existence of angels has been discussed for centuries in legendary, philosophical, and religious writings. Many people have reported encounters with angels at different times in their life. Near-death research has recorded angelic encounters, during near-death experiences, by describing encounters with beings of light or angelic forms recognizable to the experiencer. This essay will discuss some legendary, theological, and philosophical beliefs that support the belief in the reality of angels as messengers, guides, and guardians to human beings and their function as spiritual guides during near-death experiences.

Designer Babies: Choosing Our Children's Genes, Bonnie Steinbock

Philosophy Faculty Scholarship

The phrase “designer babies” refers to genetic interventions into pre-implantation embryos in the attempt to influence the traits the resulting children will have. At present, this is not possible, but many people are horrified by the mere thought that parents might want to choose their children’s genes, especially for non-disease traits. I want to argue that the objections are usually not well articulated, and that even when they are, it’s far from obvious that such interventions would be wrong.

The Morality Of Killing Human Embryos, Bonnie Steinbock

Philosophy Faculty Scholarship

Embryonic stem cell research is morally and politically controversial because the process of deriving the embryonic stem (ES) cells kills embryos. If embryos are, as some would claim, human beings like you and me, then ES cell research is clearly impermissible. If, on the other hand, the blastocysts from which embryonic stem cells are derived are not yet human beings, but rather microscopic balls of undifferentiated cells, as others maintain, then ES cell research is probably morally permissible. Whether the research can be justified depends on such issues as its cost, chance of success, and numbers likely to benefit. But …

What’S New About The New Induction?, P.D. Magnus

Philosophy Faculty Scholarship

The problem of underdetermination is thought to hold important lessons for philosophy of science. Yet, as Kyle Stanford has recently argued, typical treatments of the offer only restatements of familiar philosophical problems. Following suggestions in Duhem and Sklar, Stanford calls for a New Induction from the history of science. It will provide proof, he thinks, of “the kind of underdetermination that the history of science reveals to be a distinctive and genuine threat to even our best scientific theories” [Sta01, p. S12]. This paper examines Stanford’s New Induction and argues that it— like the other forms of underdetermination that he …

The Relationship Between Theology And Philosophy: Constructing A Christian Worldview, Alan G. Padgett

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Words In Blood, Like Flowers: Philosophy And Poetry, Music And Eros In Hölderlin, Nietzsche, And Heidegger, Babette Babich

Articles and Chapters in Academic Book Collections

No abstract provided.

Questioning Our Principles: Anthropological Contributions To Ethical Dilemmas In Clinical Practice, Carolyn Sargent, Carolyn Smith-Morris

Anthropology Research

No abstract provided.

Review Of David J. Buller, Adapting Minds, Steven Scher

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

A review of David J. Buller's Adapting Minds.

Torture And Legitimacy, Ronald Sundstrom

Philosophy

George W. Bush’s administration has undermined the legitimacy of the United States of America as a member of the international community through an astonishing array of unilateral policies that do not respect the interests and concerns of that community. On matters of serious concern to the peoples of the world, such as the global environment, human rights, nuclear weapons proliferation, terrorism, and, of course, war, the United States has pursued its foreign policy interests guided by “political realism” and a stubborn commitment to its narrowly interpreted national interests. It is not enough, however, to merely identify and condemn the legitimacy …

Virtue And The Evaluation Of Character, Jacqueline Taylor

Philosophy

No abstract provided.

Thirty-First Annual Midwest Philosophy Colloquium, 2006-2007, University Of Minnesota - Morris. Philosophy Department

Midwest Philosophy Colloquium

Programs for the thirty-first Midwest Philosophy Colloquium at the University of Minnesota Morris in 2006-2007.

The Modal Gap: The Objective Problem Of Lessing's Ditch(Es) And Kierkegaard's Subjective Reply, Matthew A. Benton

SPU Works

This essay expands upon the suggestion that Lessing's infamous ‘ditch’ is actually three ditches: temporal, metaphysical, and existential gaps. It examines the complex problems these ditches raise, and then proposes that Kierkegaard's Fragments and Postscript exhibit a similar triadic organizational structure, which may signal a deliberate attempt to engage and respond to Lessing's three gaps. Viewing the Climacean project in this way offers an enhanced understanding of the intricacies of Lessing's rationalist approach to both religion and historical truth, and illuminates Climacus's subjective response to Lessing.

An Exploratory Investigation Into The Association Of Neuroticization, Cognitive Style, And Spirituality To Reported Altered States Of Consciousness In Women Experiencing Childbirth, Nikolai Gruzdev, Dimitri Spivak

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This study examined the relation of altered states of consciousness to neuroticization, spiritual experience,

and divergent thinking in a sample of women (N= 102) at late pregnancy and post-delivery. The results

suggest that stress associated with imminent childbirth is linked to higher levels of ASCs and that neuroticization

and spirituality seem to be implicated in the induction of ASCs.

Review: The End Of Wisdom: A Reappraisal Of The Historical And Canonical Function Of Ecclesiastes, Donald L. Fowler

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

A Philosophy Of Culture Approach To Inter-Religious Understanding, Michael S. Jones

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Mind, Development, And Evolution. (Review Of Evolution And Learning: The Baldwin Effect Reconsidered), Steven Scher

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

"Will A Man Rob God?" (Malachi 3:8): A Study Of Tithing In The Old And New Testaments, Andreas J. Kostenberger, David A. Croteau

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

Is tithing, that is, giving ten percent of one's income, obligatory for Christians? This first in a series of two articles investigates this question by studying all references to tithing in Scripture. The discussion commences with OT references to tithing prior to the giving of the Mosaic Law, then in the Mosaic Low, the historical, and the prophetic books. This is followed by a study of the three major NT passages on tithing. This article concludes that none of the OT or NT passages can legitimately be used to argue for the continuation of tithing in the new covenant period.

Nietzsche’S “Gay” Science, Babette Babich

Articles and Chapters in Academic Book Collections

Offers a reading of the allusion to the 'Provencal' in Nietzsche’s The Gay Science, including the troubadour’s art (or 'technic') of poetic song, an art at once secret, anonymous and thus nonsubjective, but also including logical disputation, for which it is the model, and comprising, perhaps above all, the important ideal of action (and pathos) at a distance: l’amour lointain. But beyond the Provençal character and atmosphere of the troubadour, Nietzsche’s conception of a joyful science, Nietzsche's 'gay' science also adumbrates a critique of science understood as the collective ideal of scholarship, and including classical philology as much as logic, …

In Love With Life: An American Dream Of A Luxembourger, Edmond Israel, Raymond Flammant, Center For Christian Jewish Understanding

Sacred Heart University Press Books

Based on the author's La vie, passionnément. French edition published in 2004 by Editions Saint Paul, Luxembourg.

On cover and title page: Pampered child, Refugee, Factory Worker, International Banker: New Thinking.

The unprecedented problems that challenge most of our major institutions and our traditional ways of doing things are so new that few of us have the courage or even the capacity to consider them. Yet Edmond Israel enthusiastically relishes the opportunity to think differently and boldly about how to hold our problems together in creative tension and wrestle with them until moral and efficient solutions can be found. …

Transpersonal Education: Problems, Prospects And Challenges, Paul F. Cunningham

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Despite its substantial scientific, academic, and professional achievements, transpersonal psychology has

not been fully incorporated within traditional undergraduate psychology curricula. One reason is conventional

psychology’s prejudiced perception of humanity’s spiritual nature. Other reasons lie within the field

of transpersonal psychology itself, including the lack of agreed-upon general curricular models, absence of

normative educational (student) outcomes, unstructured courses with restricted content coverage, and conceptual

and methodological disagreements among experts. One of the most pressing challenges facing contemporary

transpersonal education is the publication of an authoritative, standard textbook that would

effectively introduce undergraduate students to transpersonal psychology and facilitate the progress of …

Respect Of Utilitarianism: A Response To Regan's 'Receptacles Of Value' Objection, Scott Wilson

Philosophy Faculty Publications

According to Regan, classical utilitarians value individuals in the wrong way: rather than valuing them directly, the utilitarians must value individuals merely as receptacles of what is valuable (i.e. pleasure). I demonstrate that Regan's argument is ineffective. I first show that Regan's argument presupposes a faulty understanding of the nature of hedonism and intrinsic value. I then argue that since pleasures are states of individuals, when a person values a pleasure she thereby values the individual as well.

Ross On Desert And Punishment, Jeffrey Moriarty

Philosophy Faculty Publications

W. D. Ross thinks it is good, other things equal, that people get what they deserve. But he denies that “the principle of punishing the vicious, for the sake of doing so, is that on which the state should proceed in its bestowal of punishments.” Ross offers two main arguments for this denial: what I call the “scope argument” and the “state's purpose argument.” I argue that both fail. In doing so, I illuminate Ross's distinctive views about desert and the state.

Dretske On Knowledge Closure, Steven Luper

Philosophy Faculty Research

In early essays and in more recent work, Fred Dretske argues against the closure of perception, perceptual knowledge, and knowledge itself. In this essay I review his case and suggest that, in a useful sense, perception is closed, and that, while perceptual knowledge is not closed under entailment, perceptually based knowledge is closed, and so is knowledge itself. On my approach, which emphasizes the safe indication account of knowledge, we can both perceive, and know, that sceptical scenarios (such as being a brain in a vat) do not hold.

Notes On The Art Of Memory, Lawrence Kimmel

Philosophy Faculty Research

A few years ago I was asked to write a piece for a memorial Festschrift for a friend and colleague who had just died. It occurred to me then that remembrance was a very special faculty of mind; this essay takes up the threads of that remembrance. The task of understanding memory is daunting: it is ubiquitous in every aspect of life and thought. I will try to distinguish important features of memory as it functions in our individual and collective lives, but my primary concern is with a particular aspect of remembrance that is a creative resource vital to …

Poetics Of Death: Intimations And Illusions, Lawrence Kimmel

Philosophy Faculty Research

From whom shall we learn about death—that is, death itself, the intimacy of our own death? From biologists, priests, physicians, psychologists, philosophers, poets? Or from the aged, the dying, the terminally ill? And in relation to what? Self, others; body, mind, soul, world? And with respect to what? Acceptance, denial, reassurance? Surely all the above—understanding the enigma of death at any depth requires whatever assistance we can get. It is equally important to acknowledge, however, that the context and occasion of our asking is not incidental to what we can finally learn. In the most general way it is arguably …

Syncretism In Transpersonal Studies: Introduction To This Issue’S Special Topics Section, Harris L. Friedman, Douglas A. Macdonald

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

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