Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Ii. Contemplation And Fine Wine: Tasting With Saintsbury, Schopenhauer, And Pater, Charles S. Taylor

Wine Journey: Tasting Dwelling Learning at The Kitchen Table

One never knows when it will happen. I went to my cellar to choose an accompaniment for a chestnut soufflé and a 1995 Domaine Huet Vouvray Clos du Bourg Demi-Sec returned with me . Before opening that wine, I had a set of informed questions...

Iii. Tasting Dwelling Thinking: Tasking Wine Thinking About Being With Heidegger, Charles S. Taylor

Wine Journey: Tasting Dwelling Learning at The Kitchen Table

It started simply enough. Wanting something not yet tasted I brought from the cellar a barely 6-year old 2009 Fattoria di Felsina Berardenga Chianti Classico. Had it turned the corner into its optimal drinking window? Six years is usually a bare minimum for these wines to get through their early awkwardness while reports said the 2009’s were early-maturing. A pleasant surprise, it was delightful. Chianti aroma and taste as well as the harmonious, full-spectrum profile one expects even from an entry-level Felsina Chianti were all in place. Based on that experience I opened on the next opportunity a 2009 Badia …

How Propaganda Became Public Relations: Foucault And The Corporate Government Of The Public, Cory Wimberly

Philosophy Faculty Publications

How Propaganda Became Public Relations pulls back the curtain on propaganda: how it was born, how it works, and how it has masked the bulk of its operations by rebranding itself as public relations. Cory Wimberly uses archival materials and wide variety of sources — Foucault’s work on governmentality, political economy, liberalism, mass psychology, and history — to mount a genealogical challenge to two commonplaces about propaganda. First, modern propaganda did not originate in the state and was never primarily located in the state; instead, it began and flourished as a for-profit service for businesses. Further, propaganda is not focused …

The Racial Offense Objection To Confederate Monuments: A Reply To Timmerman, Dan Demetriou

Philosophy Publications

The reply essay (1000 words) to Travis Timmerman's "A Case for Removing Confederate Monuments" in Bob Fisher's Ethics, Left and Right: The Moral Issues That Divide Us volume. In it, Demetriou explains why he thinks the mere harm from the racial offense a monument may cause does not justify removing it.

Ashes Of Our Fathers: Racist Monuments And The Tribal Right, Dan Demetriou

Philosophy Publications

In this chapter Demetriou sketches a rightist approach to monumentary policy in a diverse polity beleaguered by old ethnic grievances. He begins by noting the importance of tribalism, memorialization, and social trust. He then suggests a policy which 1) gradually narrows the gap between peoples in the heritage landscape, 2) conserves all but the most offensive of the least beloved racist monuments, 3) avoids recrimination (i.e., “keeps it positive”) and eschews ideological commentary in new monuments or revisions to old ones, 4) as much as politically feasible, recognizes only the offense of willing tribemates, and 5) responds to aesthetic and …

Remembering Sally Banes, Curtis L. Carter

Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Sacramental Shame In Black Churches: How Racism And Respectability Politics Shape The Experiences Of Black Lgbtq And Same-Gender-Loving Christians, Theresa W. Tobin, Dawne Moon

Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

The Ontological Significance Of Consciousness, Corydon Diamond

CMC Senior Theses

Providing a wholly physical description of consciousness in nature is an elusive process. Unlike all other physical systems, consciousness seems to be explainable only if it is considered as non-physical. However, the arguments for a materialist view of consciousness, with consciousness prioritized as a process which creates imperfect dependence relations in reality, eliminates the need for a dualist understanding of reality. Through an explanation of imperfect dependence, materialist consciousness overcomes all relevant dualist arguments, while simultaneously retaining an epistemic gap, denying the conceivability of zombies, and providing convincing explanations of seemingly dualist positions in a materialist fashion.

Why Does Aristotle Make So Much Sense? A Philosophical Analysis Of Aristotle, Kant, And Mill’S Moral Theories, Will Sileo

CMC Senior Theses

Throughout my experience as a student of philosophy these past four years, the philosophy that has interested me the most has been that which gives us something to take back to daily life or the ‘real world’ with us. As a result, I've been strongly drawn to ethics and pulled into the debate between the three main schools of ethics — virtue ethics, deontology, and consequentialism, with a strong affinity for virtue ethics, especially the ideas of Aristotle.

The question that I am exploring in this paper is if there is something unique about Aristotle’s virtue ethics compared to the …

Suffrage Over Suffering: How Disenfranchisement Erodes The Legitimacy Of Democratic Punishment, Kendall Hollimon

CMC Senior Theses

In this thesis I analyze both retributive and consequentialist justifications for punishment to understand the foundation for disenfranchisement as punishment. I then argue that although some of these justifications can condone disenfranchisement, the practice of disenfranchising criminals damages the democratic process, thus delegitimizing the punishments that societies democratically decide to impose.

Escaping The Snowstorm: Legal Rights And Economics In The Developing World, Zane Tolchinsky

CMC Senior Theses

In this thesis, I seek to provide a framework for developing nations making policy-decisions about legal rights, as in the realm of Rawlsian ideal theory, prescriptions for governments not living in conditions of moderate scarcity is lacking. I first springboard off Stephen Holmes and Cass R. Sunstein’s conclusion that “all legal rights are positive,” from their book, The Cost of Rights, to argue for the value of considering the economic implications of rights protections. I then propose that Holmes and Sunstein’s conclusion means that we can think of legal rights as goods to be purchased by governments. Next, I …

Stakes-Sensitive Testimonial Injustice: Prejudicial Thresholds For Belief In Testimony Of Sexual Assault, Grace Kelleher

CMC Senior Theses

In this thesis, I expand on Miranda Fricker’s account of epistemic injustice by advancing an additional model of testimonial injustice. This model, called stakes-sensitive testimonial injustice posits that an individual may incur an epistemic harm when his or her testimony is measured against a threshold for belief that has been unjustly influenced due to prejudiced stakes considerations on the part of the hearer. In particular, I focus on our society’s tendency to hold the statements of women who testify about their experiences of sexual assault to high thresholds for belief and posit that this tendency stems from a biased understanding …

The Road To Human Emancipation - The Moral And Political Foundations Of Markets, William Shi

CMC Senior Theses

The thesis aims to provide both a real public ideology and the legal and socioeconomic structures to realize Karl Marx’s ideal of human emancipation. Marx argues that in capitalist society, the legal and political superstructure forces the ruling class to represent its interest as the public interest, which legitimizes the massive inequality in resources and social power. To demonstrate how to realize the substantive public interest, the two parts of the thesis have two goals. The first part aims to formulate a rightful candidate to the public ideology of human emancipation, which represents the substantive public interest rather than the …

Examining The Ashley Treatment: A Case Study Of The Bioethical Implications Associated With Growth Attenuation Therapy Through The Lens Of The Capabilities Approach, Allison Hill

CMC Senior Theses

In this paper, I will be addressing the questions: what is the capabilities approach? How does this framework help us to understand how altering our – and our children’s – bodies can assist in achieving equality for minorities? Or does it instead work against accomplishing this goal? How does this framework help us to understand how altering the bodies of people with disabilities can also protects those individuals’ dignity? Or does it do the opposite?

@Usa Vs. @Realdonaldtrump: The Decline Of Democracy In 280 Characters Or Less, Bryn Edwards

CMC Senior Theses

From threats, to hate speech, to potential criminal statements, Donald Trump has made use of Twitter like no president or world leader before him. His presidency and communication strategy have been defined by his “tweetstorms” and a consequent slew of legal issues. The prolific rate of his tweeting has made large-scale analyses difficult as they quickly become dated.

Nevertheless, this thesis has aimed for a more holistic analysis by uniquely linking trends in his tweeting to its perceived social consequences, situating this work in a long line of analyses of presidential rhetoric and media strategies. Moreover, it assesses Trump’s use …

The Capabilities Approach To Metaphysical Personhood, Mohnish Shah

CMC Senior Theses

It is accepted that humans are persons, but what does this mean? Society equates personhood with legal rights, moral worth, and metaphysical status. But exactly what makes us persons and distinguishes us from non-persons? What does our conception of this distinction and the value and rights we grant to persons but not to non-persons say about the type of creature that we are?

Many philosophers have tried to define metaphysical personhood. However, this thesis argues that current accounts of metaphysical personhood are inadequate. Next, this thesis borrows and modifies Martha Nussbaum’s capabilities approach to human dignity in order to construct …

The Noxious Market Of Division 1 College Football, Bryan Carlen

CMC Senior Theses

This paper is made up of four sections. The first will explain Satz’ framework for identifying and treating noxious markets, as well as how it was developed, and the second will make the case for viewing D1 football as a labor market. The second section will lay out who’s involved, what their incentives are, and what they must do to earn these incentives. The third section will then apply Satz’ framework to the market at hand, as well as address a gap in her theory regarding her concept of weak agency. The paper will then conclude with policy guidelines that, …

Authenticity In Finitude: Interpretation Of Heidegger, Jinyoung Lee

CMC Senior Theses

This paper organizes Martin Heidegger’s argument for authenticity in Being and Time into a two-step process with two binaries. The first binary is an interpretation for the world, with what Heidegger calls ‘ready-to-hand’ coming prior to ‘present-at-hand.’ The second binary is an interpretation for the self, where he distinguishes the ‘authentic self’ from the ‘they-self.’ With human existence represented as Dasein, or Being-there, Heidegger paints a path for authenticity within the world of relations and the world we live with others.

For coherence between the two binaries, we need a reinterpretation of time. The second section of this paper focuses …

International Law And Theories Of Global Justice: Remarks, Steven R. Ratner, James Stewart, Jiewuh Song, Carmen Pavel

Articles

International law (IL) and political philosophy represent two rich disciplines for exploring issues of global justice. At their core, each seeks to build a better world based on some universally agreed norms, rules, and practices, backed by effective institutions. International lawyers, even the most positivist of them, have some underlying assumptions about a just world order that predisposes their interpretive methods; legal scholars have incorporated concepts of justice in their work even as their overall pragmatic orientation has limited the nature of their inquiries. Many philospophers, for their part, have engaged with IL to some extent—at a minimum recognizing that …

Three Existentialist Readings Of Gloria Anzaldua's Borderlands/La Frontera, Mariana Alessandri

Philosophy Faculty Publications

This essay provides three new and related philosophical readings of Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands/la Frontera: 1) in the lineage of canonical European Existentialists like Jean Paul Sartre, who provides an analysis of shame; 2) in the lineage of Mexican Existentialists like Samuel Ramos and Octavio Paz, who attribute a relative of shame to Mexicans; and 3) in dialogue with Africana Existentialists like Franz Fanon, who describe the bodily shame of nonwhites in racist societies. Anzaldúa’s concept of “linguistic terrorism,” which existentially translates into la vergüenza linguística, extends the scope of European, Africana, and Mexican Existentialisms while putting all three in dialogue …

An Analysis Of Early Modern Philosopher Mary Astell And A Critique Of The Western Canon, Analisea L. Araya

2020 Symposium Oral Presentations

In my paper I address the unfoundedness of leaving out certain voices in the historical studies of philosophy. In order to make this point I investigate a brilliant thinker of the 17th and 18th centuries, Mary Astell. I also address, analyze and critique the Western Canon for leaving out the philosophies of women, and highlight social constructivism and social representation theory in education and the philosophies behind these concepts. Despite the misleading drift of the Western canon, there were brilliant female thinkers throughout the history of philosophy. Telling only a single story of something that has so much depth, history, …

Reconceptualizing College Impact Studies Through A Fractal Assemblage Theory, Laura Elizabeth Smithers

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

College impact studies have formed the common sense of understanding institutional relationships to student growth and change for decades. In this time, they have become entangled with the production of the neoliberal university. This paper¹ presents an alternative theorization of student change on campus, a fractal assemblage theory. Assemblage theory is discussed through a single common language of major assemblage theory concepts across four authors. After exploring these concepts in depth, this paper returns to the stakes of assemblage theory: higher education research not to channel student to predetermined outcomes, but to create student futures in excess of our …

Faith: A Critical Review--What Is Left At The End Of The Day, Lawrence Kimmel

Philosophy Faculty Research

In what follows I will try to set out some of my own rethinking -- fundamental things I believe and believe in – – enduring terms of engagement about the universe, life, death, faith -- in a concern to sort out what we have left at the end of the day.

Living With Moral Schizophrenia, Rachel Hecke

Augustana Center for the Study of Ethics Essay Contest

A response to Michael Stocker's essay titled "The Schizophrenia of Modern Ethical Theories". When attempting to follow an ethical theory, a dilemma is created between one’s justifications for action according to their chosen moral theory such as duties and obligations, and the motivations or desires behind the action. Although this dilemma can lead to a divide in one's psyche, especially in regards to personal relationships, this schizophrenia isn't all that bad to endure.

Minding Morality: Ethical Artificial Societies For Public Policy Modeling, Saikou Y. Diallo, F. Leron Shults, Wesley J. Wildman

VMASC Publications

Public policies are designed to have an impact on particular societies, yet policy-oriented computer models and simulations often focus more on articulating the policies to be applied than on realistically rendering the cultural dynamics of the target society. This approach can lead to policy assessments that ignore crucial social contextual factors. For example, by leaving out distinctive moral and normative dimensions of cultural contexts in artificial societies, estimations of downstream policy effectiveness fail to account for dynamics that are fundamental in human life and central to many public policy challenges. In this paper, we supply evidence that incorporating morally salient …

The Psychosomatic Journey Of Trauma And Its Healing: A Comparative Synthesis Between Scientific And Psycho-Spiritual Perspectives, Isabel Kelly

Pomona Senior Theses

The purpose of this paper is to create a comparative synthesis between scientific perspectives and spiritual perspectives of understanding the psychosomatic (mind-body) nature of trauma. In order to do so we will consider the works of Dr.Bessel van der Kolk, a world-leading psychiatrist in the field of trauma therapy who advocates for the use of body-oriented approaches to healing, and the works of Carl Jung and Donald Kalsched. Jung is considered one of the founding fathers of the field of Transpersonal Psychology, while Kalsched is a Jungian psychoanalyst who specializes in working with trauma patients. We will see that while …

Hannah Gadsby’S Nanette: Connection Through Comedy, Sheila Lintott

Faculty Journal Articles

Hannah Gadsby: Nanette (2018) is a brilliant and masterful work of comedy in which Gadsby announces she is quitting comedy. In this article, I draw on classical and contemporary humor theory to explore the comedic content of Nanette and critique Gadsby’s reasons for quitting. Although I largely agree with Gadsby’s concerns about comedy, I argue that the very show in which she presents them, Nanette, stands as evidence against their universal truth. Gadsby argues that comedy is no longer conducive to her health for at least three related reasons. First, the selfdeprecatory comedy out of which she has built her …

A Comparative Ecofeminist Perspective Of Care For Planetary Family, Jea Sophia Oh

Philosophy Faculty Publications

As a comparative ecofeminist philosopher, I would like to specify two comments on Stephen T. Asma and Rami Gabriel’s book, The Emotional Mind: The Affective Roots of Culture and Cognition (2019). First, an emotional mind is not only had by human beings, but also shared by all primates and probably other creatures. Thus I discovered in this work an expansive understanding of “emotion” as a eld of study. From my ecofeminist perspective, I suggest that a deep ecological expansive thinking through cultures always involves more than mere human artice, and that having deep evolutionary roots for care which are shaped …

2020 Icrcc Proceedings Table Of Contents, Conference Organizers

International Crisis and Risk Communication Conference

These proceedings are a representative sample of the presentations given by professional practitioners and academic scholars at the 2020 International Crisis and Risk Communication Conference (ICRCC) held March 9-11, 2020. The ICRCC is an annual event that takes place the second week in March in beautiful sunny Orlando, Florida. The conference hosts are faculty and staff from the Nicholson School of Communication and Media. The goal of the ICRCC is to bring together prominent professional practitioners and academic scholars that work directly with crisis and risk communication on a daily basis. We define crisis and risk broadly to include, for …

Sympathy For Cecil: Gender, Trophy Hunting, And The Western Environmental Imaginary, Eric S. Godoy

Faculty Publications - Philosophy

This article draws from political ecology and ecofeminism to examine sympathy, expressed by record-breaking donations from North Americans, for the death of Cecil the Lion. The overlapping normative critique offered by these two perspectives together demonstrates how sympathy is disclosive of power relations. Sympathy reveals, relies upon, and reinforces different forms of gender, racial, and neocolonial domination; especially when western sympathy remains ignorant of the power relations, including their politics and histories, that shape attitudes toward non-human animals and grant them status as members of the (western) moral community.