Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Facing The Fringe, Laura Gradowski

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Fringe theories are a broad set of alternative views that mainstream scientists deny. Case studies from the past two centuries demonstrate that fringe theorists have sometimes been marginalized to the detriment of scientific advancements. While it is accepted that once in a blue moon comes a diamond in the rough, there are far more cases of fringe theories becoming mainstream than has been traditionally acknowledged. Indeed, fringe theories become mainstream with such regularity that our epistemic intolerance towards them is in need of urgent reexamination. With the recognition that tolerance is an epistemic virtue, we can view debates about theory …

Necessity, Essence And Analyticity: Toward An Analytic Essentialist Account Of Necessity, Dongwoo Kim

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Some truths could not have failed to hold. Such are called metaphysically necessary truths. As Michael Dummett once aptly formulated, the philosophical problem about necessity is twofold: what makes necessary truths necessarily true and how do we recognize them as such? This dissertation aims to address these questions by developing and defending a novel account of necessity, which has the following three main theses: (1) the necessity of a statement about an entity is established as a consequence of a general principle implying that if the entity is a certain way then it is necessarily that way and the fact …

Pervasive Nonarbitrariness: Meaning From Form In Natural Language, David J. Neely

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

It is generally assumed that the expressions of a natural language are largely arbitrary. That is, any expressions that display a nonarbitrary connection between what their utterances sound like and what they mean are small in number and of no real theoretical importance.

This thesis challenges such a position. I argue that nonarbitrariness is a pervasive feature of natural language and that understanding the sound/meaning connections that exist in language is necessary if to appreciate how languages work.

I begin, in Chapter 1, by showing that many theorists are committed to the idea that nonarbitrary sound/meaning connections are of little …

Play: A Normative Theory Of Agency And Culture, Maxaie Belmont

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

From the beginning, people are introduced to many different attempts at engaging with various “cultures”, and of course, are born into their own. The extant literature of various fields in the social sciences have afforded us the realization that no one culture holds neither moral ground nor blueprint for how to be a culture, as our own culture is one of many, all a part of the world. Yet, because of the way our culture specifies how we are to engage and live, we tend towards the assumption that our culture has monopoly on the definition of culture. The following …

Epistemic Priors, Social Justice, And The Ethics Of Humor, Paul Butterfield

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this dissertation I set out a theory of humor ethics and, in particular, I establish what difference humorousness makes to an instance of speech’s moral value. I set out by making the case for this approach to the topic, demonstrating that focusing on how humorous speech differs, morally, from non-humorous speech allows us to avoid getting caught up in prior ethical debates that are not strictly about humor itself – a shortcoming that is common to many treatments of humor ethics in the existing literature. I show that, in cases of humorous speech, we typically do not assert the …

The Storytelling Cure: Medicine And Narrative From Galen To Shahrazad And Rousseau, Ryan A. Milov-Cordoba

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Are stories healing? This dissertation introduces and explores an idea that I call “the storytelling cure.” With this term I capture a set of related notions about the healing power of stories that span literary studies, intellectual history, philosophy, and medical practice. Through a comparative study I make the case for “the storytelling cure” as a cross-cultural, multiconfessional, and multilingual phenomenon of great age, complexity, and power, worthy of the most sustained attention by the contemporary field of Comparative Literature. Concretely, this dissertation presents three extended case studies of “storytelling cures” from three different kinds of texts (case history, frame …

Desire Informing Philosophy In Plato: The Lover, The Tyrant, And The Citizen, Christian P. Bagrow

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Desire informs the good and examined life by giving meaning to and requiring training for human drives. In investigating Plato’s dialogues for how desire informs philosophy, comparison gives way to a genealogical hermeneutic; the obvious want to find changes or discrepancies in Plato’s texts, and Socrates’ words, gives way to interpreting congruent transformations of thought throughout his corpus. Specifically, this thesis evaluates desire’s multitude of signification and significance through the following the chronology: Symposium, Phaedrus, Republic, Statesman, and Laws. That human failing and ambition equally find desire couched between lack and satiation is radically reconsidered in the course of …

The Music Of Sylvano Bussotti And Its Interpretation: Biopolitics, Intersubjectivity, And Modernist Canon Formation, Charles A. Rudig

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The music of Italian composer Sylvano Bussotti (1931–2021) presents intentional challenges to interpretation and canonization. These particular challenges and Bussotti’s reasoning for implementing them are interrogated in this dissertation by reading the score to Bussotti’s La Passion selon Sade (1966) through contemporaneous European social theory, philosophy, and political developments. La Passion selon Sade is a theatre piece for a chamber ensemble, with a primary vocal and dramatic role written for mezzo-soprano Catherine Berberian, with whom Bussotti frequently collaborated. Like much of Bussotti’s music from the 1950s and 1960s, the discourse surrounding the piece and its reception largely relates to its …

Audiovisual Afterlives: The Soundtrack Of Liberal Nostalgia, Max W. Kaplan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Following the 2016 American Presidential election, celebrity endorsements proved to be a more narrow gauge of public opinion than ever. The symbolic alignment with popular musicians, which had long abetted the Democratic Party’s standing with youth and particular identity groups, seemed only to reaffirm the party’s establishment status, drawing disavowal in a wave of anti-establishment sentiment on both the left and right. ‘Retromania,’ a term first coined by Simon Reynolds in 2010, can be tracked conceptually from the nostalgic inclinations of twenty-first century popular culture to the ideological sphere, where nostalgic, essentialized constructions of community, identity, and progress have coalesced …

Tell Me A Story: The Normative Power Of Storytelling, Zoe Cunliffe

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Few would dispute that stories are powerful: they have the capacity to inform, to persuade, and to engage our imaginations and sympathies. However, the contemporary philosophical literature on stories focuses exclusively on the functions of narrative stories, and in particular on the role that novels can serve in cultivating our moral and political competencies. I argue that this narrow focus is theoretically pernicious in two ways. First, it leads to an unfortunate myopia regarding the value of non-narrative storytelling practices. Second, it results in analysis that is disproportionately likely to exclude forms of storytelling that originate in marginalized groups. My …

Evaluation Rubric For An Oer Source In Philosophy, Alina N. Feld

Open Educational Resources

Criteria of evaluating an OER source in Philosophy

Book Review Of: The Concealed Influence Of Custom: Hume's Treatise From The Inside Out, Angela M. Coventry

Philosophy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Review of the book, Jay L. Garfield, The Concealed Influence of Custom: Hume's Treatise from the Inside Out, Oxford University Press, 2019.

Recovering Authenticity: Care, Conversation And Value, Shannon M. Brick

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Suppose you learn that your steak-loving friend has just adopted a vegan diet. You ask her what prompted the change, and she tells you that someone she trusts recently tweeted “Eating meat is immoral.” Your friend’s response is a little disappointing and shallow, but why? Most of our knowledge comes from trusting what other people tell us, so why, when it comes to moral matters, does deference seem inappropriate? Some philosophers think it’s because moral testimony cannot transmit important epistemic goods, like knowledge or understanding. Others think that when people defer to moral testimony, their actions or characters will be …

Marx, Race, Black Radicalism, And Racial Justice, Gregory Slack

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this dissertation I defend the claim that not only was Marx not an anti-black racist, he was an anti-anti-black racist, despite sometimes employing racist language and epithets. I prove this claim by adducing massive amounts of textual evidence from Marx and Engels’ writings, spanning their entire careers as writers and revolutionaries, where time and again they condemn black slavery and the slave-trade, look forward to and call for their abolition, and aim at a future of racial justice and equality for black people, as a component part of communist justice for all working people, under a communist mode …

Decolonizing Genderqueer: An Inquiry Into The Gender Binary, Resistance, And Imperialistic Social Categories, Lauren E. Abruzzo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines core metaphysical properties of nonbinary and genderqueer categories in dominant U.S. contexts. I address a prevailing argument that these categories, by definition, resist the gender binary and are therefore radical modes of existing. In response, I put forth a view of ‘nonbinary’ and ‘genderqueer’ that I call the Diachronic Approach, which describes these categories as yet another set of tools within an imperialistic gender system, much like ‘man’ or ‘woman.’ In other words, they are what I refer to as imperialistic social categories. While nonbinary and genderqueer people do not fall perfectly within the U.S. gender …

Banarasipan As Revelation: Immanent Utopias In The Performance Of Everyday Life, Bhargav Rani

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation locates itself at the intersection of performance theory, South Asian studies and philosophy of history to examine the history of an urban consciousness known as banarasipan (literally, "Banarasi-ness") as performed by the people of Banaras in northern India. Over the course of the twentieth century, banarasipan, as a distinct way of being in everyday life, has been characterized by its valorization of heroic laziness, seditious laughter, subversive obscenities, and by its egalitarian subjectivity that overrides sectarian and class differences. In the context of South Asian history, this dissertation interrogates the theoretical premises of both Marxist and postcolonial modes …

Why Imre Lakatos’S Account Of Science Is Superior, Kyle J. Q. Catarata

Spectra Undergraduate Research Journal

An important question that has always been debated in philosophy of science concerns that of the best account of science. Ranging from multiple accounts, from Karl Popper, Thomas Kuhn, and Imre Lakatos, etc., an argument of how Lakatos’s Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes (MSRP) is the best account of science will be defended. In addition, the best account of scientific evidence and explanation – featuring philosophers from Lakatos, Peter Achinstein, Nancy Cartwright, and Philip Kitcher – is presented in support of Lakatos’s MSRP. Furthermore, using the scientific theory of continental drift, proposed by Alfred L. Wegener, will illustrate how Wegener’s …

Ancaman Kepunahan Dan Strategi Pemertahanan Tradisi Sinrili Di Masyarakat Makassar, Fitriani Fitriani, Fitriana Fitriana, Nur Hafsa Nasir

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

This study aims to determine the factors causing the threat of extinction and the strategy of maintaining the sinrili tradition in the Makassar community. This study is based on library research with a descriptive approach. The results of this research reveal that the factors that cause the threat of extinction of the sinrili tradition in the Makassar community are:(1) Work as a singer is not considered as a main profession in Makassar, and is only seen as a side job. (2) The development of modern music which is more attractive to the younger generation poses a challenge to this tradition. …

Ontologi Huruf Nun Menuju Titik Semiotik, Hasanuddin Chaer, Abdul Rasyad, Ahmad Sirulhaq

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

Semiotics is the study of signs, symbols, and communication in people’s lives. This study which analyzes the letter nun in the Arabic Alphabet using Ferdinand de Saussure’s theory of semiotics, “dyadic semiotics” aims to reveal the breadth and depth of the meaning of the letter nun at the beginning of Surah al-Qalam. This study uses a descriptive method with a content analysis study approach, comprising data collection, data processing, and interpretation. The source of data are the Arabic script. The results of the study show that the ontological symbol for the letter nun is a means of teaching the sign …

Chef Minoritas Di Tempat Kerja: Perempuan Di Dapur Profesional, Intan Yusan Septiani, Mia Siscawati

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

Cooking activities in the traditional kitchen or in the domestic area—which are supposed to be the domain of women—are interpreted as an obligation as well as a form of a woman’s service to her family, spouse, children, and even other people who are close to her life. In other words, cooking in the domestic area is an undefined job. Regardless of the fact, when cooking shifted to the public space, it turned into a professional job, a work area which was later known as the professional kitchen. People who work in a professional kitchen are given the title professional chef. …

Membaca Persoalan Hijab Dan Otonomi Perempuan Melalui Epistemology Ignorance, Saniyah Pertiwi, Naupal Asnawi

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

Apart from its religious values, the hijab has currently developed into a lifestyle. The issue concerning the hijab in Indonesia has evolved over time with a fascinating complexity that is worth to be examined. The Indonesian people who have the habit of questioning the decision to wear or not to wear the hijab illustrates that the choice of Indonesian women is not considered as a personal matter. This research will discuss how the phenomenon of “questioning the decision to wear or not wear the hijab” is based on the epistemology of ignorance, which investigates and explains how ignorance is formed …

Negosiasi Wacana Femininitas Melalui Film-Film Animasi Putri Disney, Sella Putri Arby, Lina Meilinawati Rahayu, R M. Mulyadi

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

Negotiation Discourse of Femininity Through Disney Princesses’ Movies. Femininity tends to be explained as a condition ‘to be a woman’, making it an ideology that gives limitations to women. Mills uses discourse theory to explain femininity, stating femininity is a process that is constructed and negotiated in every interaction. Disney Princesses show changes through times and each animation film, showing a negotiation of what defines femininity. The data collection was carried out by qualitative method narrative study, with Performativity of Gender by Judith Butler and Negotiation Discourse of Femininity theory by Sara Mills. Thirteen Disney Princesses were used as researched …

Sawer: Melampaui Ruang Dan Meluaskan Jangkauan Interaksi Pada Pertunjukan Dangdut, Michael H.B Raditya

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

This article deals with the issues of sawer that have appeared over time, both in live and online performances. This topic is interesting because sawer is intertwined in the interaction and participation of two active subjects, namely the singer and her audience. In live performances, the exchange between singers and their audiences happens in the same space and time. On the other hand, accommodating sawer in online dangdut performances is a challenge. However, in 2020 there was a lot of interaction and participation—and even sawer—in online shows. I believe this is not the first glimpse of this phenomenon because online …

The Quality Of Rhyme And Rhythm In Song Lyric Translation, Aulia Fitri, Haru Deliana Dewi, Rahayu Surtiati Hidayat

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

This research is a development of Low’s theory (2008) on assessing the quality of song lyric translation based on its translation method. The objective of the study is to discover the quality of rhyme and rhythm of song lyrics in the album We Love Disney which have been translated from English to Indonesian. Therefore, this study focuses on the quality of rhyme and rhythm of the translation because these elements are significant parts of the songs. Low’s theory has been applied in the present study to measure the song lyric translation quality using three translation methods: communicative, free, and semantic …

Ryan A. Bush. Designing The Mind: The Principles Of Psychitecture, Nanda Meg Ryan Puspitasari Supriyono, Moses Glorino Rumambo Pandin

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

No abstract provided.

Benetton’S (In)Equality: A Semiotic Reading, Hianly Muljadi, Sonny Angjaya, Joanna Deborah

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

United Colors of Benetton, or UCB, has been using its advertisements to deliver positive messages and values that the clothing company represents. This article analyzes one of the photographs in Benetton’s campaign for their Spring Summer Collection of 2018. The campaign, which consists of some photographs by Oliviero Toscani, raises the theme of equality of gender and ethnicity. It shows various photographs of both female and male models from different ethnicities. However, it is found that there is one photograph that shows inconsistency with the very value that Benetton wants to convey through their campaign. Based on the semiotic analysis, …

Reflections On Beauty, Miklos Nikolaus Legrady

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

No abstract provided.

Aphorism And Anti-Aphorism: Language And Aesthetics, Nicholas Romanos

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

Karl Kraus, the great Viennese satirist, poet, and aphorist, is still little read in the Anglophone world. This article argues that Kraus’ innovative ideas about aesthetics and language, generated in response to the problems of modernity, are of great interest to the contemporary philosopher of aesthetics. Kraus’ writing is discussed here as a basis for a theory of the aphorism, which is shown to be a literary form uniquely concerned with its own form (and thus with literary and linguistic aesthetics). Kraus uses the aphorism to ‘serve language’ and, along with quotation, it constitutes the foundation of his style. This …

On The Prudential Power Of Beliefs And Fittingness Of Attitudes, Teresa Bruno-Niño

Dissertations - ALL

The Resonance Constraint is a crucial claim in the contemporary literature about well-being: if something is good for a person, it must resonate with her. As Connie Rosati and Peter Railton put it, a person’s well-being must be “suited” to her, it should be “compelling or attractive” and it should not be “intolerably alienating.” Surprisingly, the Resonance Constraint and the phenomenon of resonance itself have received little direct attention. This dissertation explores the phenomenon of resonance and its impact for theories of well-being and theories of ill-being.

In chapter 1, I focus on one aspect of resonance that has been …

Reimagining Justice As Preservative Care For Sustained Peace: Learning From Ethics Of Care And Indigenous Philosophies, Robert M. Ruehl

Philosophy and Classical Studies Faculty/Staff Publications

In A Theory of Justice, John Rawls offers a unique conception of justice as other philosophers have before him, such as Plato, Thomas Hobbes, and David Hume (Pomerleau n.d.). From a different angle, ethics of care philosophers have addressed justice too (Bubeck 1995; Engster 2007; Held 2006; Tronto 2013). For Western ethical and political thought in general, justice has been important, and existing political orders have made justice a significant, genuine virtue. In the United States, the Preamble of the Constitution includes establishing justice as one of its goals; respect for justice molds American youth as they pledge allegiance to …