Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Support For The Precautionary Principle, Jennifer Mather

Animal Sentience

The precautionary principle gives the animal the benefit of the doubt when its sentient status is not known. This is necessary for advanced invertebrates such as cephalopods because research and evidence concerning the criteria for sentience are scattered and often insufficient to give us the background for the decision.

Scientific Uncertainty And The Animal Sentience Precautionary Principle, Michael L. Woodruff

Animal Sentience

Jonathan Birch offers the animal sentience precautionary principle (ASPP) as a framework for assigning sentience to animals. In doing this, he defines a BAR which when crossed will lead to action (ACT) and implementation of the ASPP. His effort to create a clear empirical basis for implementation of the precautionary principle in the area of animal welfare regulation is important. I argue, however, that his BAR is so low that the evidence supporting ACT is in danger of being overwhelmed by the problems of induction and the underdetermination of theory by evidence. If this happens, policy makers might well disregard …

Anecdotes Can Be Evidence Too, Heather Browning

Animal Sentience

Birch’s criterion for the precautionary principle imposes a high evidential standard that many cases will fail to meet. Reliable, relevant anecdotal evidence suggestive of animal sentience should also to fall within the scope of the precautionary principle. This would minimize potential suffering (as happened in the case cephalopods) while further evidence is gathered.

The Value Of Bayesian Statistics For Assessing Credible Evidence Of Animal Sentience, Anil K. Seth, Zoltan Dienes

Animal Sentience

Determining what constitutes practically relevant, statistically significant evidence for animal sentience, under the precautionary principle, could be enhanced through Bayesian statistics. A Bayesian approach allows the incorporation of multiple evidence sources through prior probabilities, the tracking of changing evidence across time, and a principled means of adjusting evidentiary bars via Bayes factors.

Fear And Loathing On The Landscape: What Can Foraging Theory Tell Us About Vigilance And Fear?, Burt P. Kotler, Joel S. Brown

Animal Sentience

We discuss fear and vigilance from the perspective of foraging theory. Rather than focusing on proximate indicators of fear, we suggest that fear is an adaptation for assigning a cost to activities that incur a risk of injury or death. We use theory to provide definitions for fear and vigilance and then use that theory to compare them. We agree that there are limits to the reliability of vigilance as an indicator of fear, but we arrive at this conclusion differently.

V.1 2017-2018, Center For Arts & Language, Students Of Risd, Risd Archives

All Student Newspapers

v.1 is a publishing platform for the ongoing work, ideas, discussions, debates, and aspirations of students at the Rhode Island School of Design. The 2017-2018 issue contains articles on the Nature Lab, food and design, the role of writing in architecture, and an interview with the Chilean artist Alfredo Jaar along with the comic "Printer Prosthetics" at NYABF by Elaine Lopez.

Human Rights And Global Justice: A Normative Critique Of Some Rawlsian Approaches., Ndidi Victoria Nwaneri

Dissertations

HUMAN RIGHTS AND GLOBAL JUSTICE: A NORMATIVE CRITIQUE OF

SOME RAWLSIAN APPROACHES

I hold the position that all forms of social injustice (including global injustice), result

from the intentions and actions of persons. Therefore, irrespective of intervening layers of

causation, such injustice must be understood as intersubjective violations. In this project, I

attempt to develop a global justice theory that takes the level of analysis beyond global

institutions and practices to the level of intersubjective relations between moral agents. My

project opens up the following question: How would a global justice theory look if we took the

expression of human …

Intellectual Virtues And Educational Practice, Jason Baehr

Philosophy Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Philosophy And Theology: Physicians, Not Conscripts: Conscientious Objection In Health Care, Christopher Kaczor

Philosophy Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Philosophy And Theology: Better Never To Have Been Born, Christopher Kaczor

Philosophy Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

The Ethics Of Pregnancy, Abortion, And Childbirth: Exploring Moral Choices In Childbearing, Christopher Kaczor

Philosophy Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Philosophy And Theology: Pre-Birth And Post-Birth Abortion, Christopher Kaczor

Philosophy Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Philosophy And Theology: Objection To Conscience: An Argument Against Conscience Exemptions In Healthcare, Christopher Kaczor

Philosophy Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Selfish Genes And Lucky Breaks: Richard Dawkins' And Stephen Jay Gould's Divergent Darwinian Research Agendas, Timothy Shanahan

Philosophy Faculty Works

Darwin expressed alternative theoretical perspectives on a range of issues fundamental to our understanding of evolution, thereby making it possible for his intellectual descendants to develop his ideas in markedly different and even incompatible directions while still promoting their views as authentically “Darwinian.” The long-running and well-publicized scientific rivalry between Richard Dawkins and Stephen Jay Gould is a striking case in point. In elegantly written books and essays spanning the last quarter of the twentieth century, they developed and defended diametrically opposed views on the units of selection, the scope and depth of adaptation, the significance of chance events, and …

Honesty's Threshold, Jason Baehr

Philosophy Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Virtue, Jason Baehr

Philosophy Faculty Works

Intellectual virtues are character traits that facilitate the acquisition and transmission of knowledge and related epistemic goods. This chapter takes up the question of which traits are intellectual virtues in relation to a particular variety of knowledge; namely, knowledge of God. It is argued that moral humility (as distinct from intellectual humility) is an intellectual virtue in this context. This account of moral humility and its epistemically salutary effects is sketched against the backdrop of an account of human pride and the obstacles such pride poses to the acquisition of theistic knowledge. Finally, an objection is considered according to which, …

The Situationist Challenge To Educating For Intellectual Virtues, Jason Baehr

Philosophy Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

The Varieties Of Character And Some Implications For Character Education, Jason Baehr

Philosophy Faculty Works

The moral and civic dimensions of personal character have been widely recognized and explored. Recent work by philosophers, psychologists, and education theorists has drawn attention to two additional dimensions of character: intellectual character and “performance” character. This article sketches a “four-dimensional” conceptual model of personal character and some of the character strengths or “virtues” proper to each dimension. In addition to exploring how the dimensions of character are related to each other, the article also examines the implications of this account for character education undertaken in a youth or adolescent context. It is argued that “intellectual character education,” which emphasizes …

Moral Reasoning: An Intentional Approach To Distinguishing Right From Wrong, Michael Jones

Faculty Publications and Presentations

This book represents a unique contribution to the study of ethics: an introductory textbook that is designed to be very readable while at the same time being deeply philosophical. It leads the reader on an exploration of the major approaches to ethics that have developed in the Western philosophical tradition: Ethical Relativism, Virtue Ethics, Natural Law Ethics, Ethical Egoism, Utilitarianism, Duty Ethics, Social Contract Theory, and Divine Command Theory. It discusses the chief strengths and weaknesses of each and opts for a modified Divine Command Theory while retaining the useful elements of each of the other theories. Written in a …

Defining The Scope Of Practice For Nurse Practitioners In Miam, Samantha Lucero

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Minimally invasive aesthetic medicine (MIAM) is a relatively new field, which lacks a clearly defined scope of practice. The purpose of this project was to clarify the scope of practice for nurse practitioners in MIAM in California. Without a clearly defined scope of practice, nurse practitioners are unable to practice to the full extent of their license which causes them to be underutilized and face liability issues. This project sought to answer the question: What is the scope of practice of the nurse practitioner in MIAM in the state of California? The model of professional nursing practice regulation was the …

The Potential For Sentience In Fishes, Jay R. Stauffer Jr.

Animal Sentience

Balcombe’s book is filled with information on the biology, behavior, and life history of fishes. I do not agree with all his premises. I am still somewhat perplexed about the discussion of whether fish feel pain; I am not sure whether the distinction between nociception and pain makes any difference. Overall, however, his treatment of the principles of both natural and sexual selection is comprehensive and accurate, and has greatly increased my knowledge and awareness of the biology, ethology, and potential for sentience in fishes. In summary, this work has exposed me to new ideas about how to examine fishes …

Śākya Chokden, Yaroslav Komarovski

Department of Classics and Religious Studies: Faculty Publications

During his long writing and teaching career, Śākya Chokden (1428-1507) developed a novel, and in many respects unusual approach to the key systems of Buddhist thought and practice. A recurrent theme given special attention in his numerous works is the question of the relationship between conflicting conceptual models of ultimate reality and the means of its realization on the one hand, and practical outcomes of utilizing those models in contemplative practice on the other. The position he articulates based on critical comparison of several Buddhist systems of thought and practice, is that despite their different, and often conflicting, conceptual approaches …

Indirect Directness, Jennifer Mckitrick

Department of Philosophy: Faculty Publications

In “Teleological Dispositions,” Nick Kroll appeals to teleology to account for the way that dispositions seem to be directed toward their merely possible manifestations. He argues that his teleological account of dispositions (TAD) does a better job of making sense of this directedness than rival approaches that appeal to conditional statements or physical intentionality. In this short critique, I argue that, without satisfactory clarification of a number of issues, TAD does not adequately account for the directedness of dispositions. I focus on two aspects of TAD: the Activation Principle, and the proposed necessary and sufficient conditions for being a dispositional …

Impartiality, Close Friendship And The Confucian Tradition, Andrew Lambert

Publications and Research

This paper explores the relationship between friendship and morality. Two ideas have been influential in the history of moral philosophy: the impartial standpoint and close friendship. These two perspectives on thought and action can conflict, however, and such a case is presented.

In an attempt to resolve this tension, and understand the assumptions that give rise to it, I explore an alternative conception of moral conduct and friendship suggested by early Confucian thought. Within this account, moral conduct is that which aims at harmony, understood as the appropriate blending of different elements. This suggests a conception of friendship, ‘event friendship’, …

Servant Leadership: What Makes It An Effective Leadership Model., Janice Poland Tanno

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Servant leadership (SL), a universal, ethical leadership style, consistently produces high performance and employee engagement. For the last two decades, lack of business ethics in decision making by senior leaders has resulted in many negative outcomes, such as the WorldCom scandal. The purpose of this descriptive phenomenological study was to identify and report the lived experiences of senior leaders in relation to decision making in SL organizations in the southwestern United States. The study's theoretical/conceptual foundations encompassed Maslow's motivation theories, decision theory, spirituality, spiritual intelligence, Cicero's virtue theory of ethics, and Greenleaf's SL. Data collection involved the use of semistructured …

The Veil Of Ignorance In Rawlsian Theory, Jeppe Von Platz

Philosophy Faculty Publications

As part of his effort to answer the question "What is the best conception of justice for a democratic society?" philosopher John Rawls constructed a thought experience called the original position. In the original position, representativs of members of society choose principles of justice for society in light of limited interests and with limited information. Situated behind the veil of ignorance, the parties in the original position have no knowledge about particular facts that could lead them to prefer principles of justice partial to those they represent. The veil of ignorance is thus an important part of Rawls's argument …

Beasts, Sovereigns, Pirates: Melville's "Enchanted Isles" Beyond The Picturesque, Gary Shapiro

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Herman Melville's "The Encantadas, or Enchanted Isles," included in his signature set of shorter narratives The Piazza Tales, remains relatively unvisited by readers and critics. So too was the archipelago generally known as the Galapagos, before becoming a chic destination for natural history excursions and eco-tourism. These ten "sketches" relate a narrator's experiences on the Pacific islands, adding a number of travelers' stories, some extrapolated (more or less accurately) from known records, some creatively transformed. One informative, comprehensive handbook suggests that Melville's description of this volcanic archipelago as Encantadas or "enchanted" in the sense of bewitched-uncanny, weird, their very …

Sources In Legal Positivist Theories, David Lefkowitz

Philosophy Faculty Publications

The debate about positivism in general legal theory or in the international legal scholarship manifests so many different, if not conflicting, meanings of positivism—even among legal positivists themselves—that the debate about legal positivism has proved almost unfathomable and unintelligible.

No other approach to theorizing international law is more closely associated with and dependent upon the development of an account of its sources than is positivism. The explanation for this is a simple and familiar one: if there is any thesis regarding (p. 324) law that we can uncontroversially associate with the label ‘legal positivism’, it is the view that a …

What Makes A Social Order Primitive? In Defense Of Hart’S Take On International Law, David Lefkowitz

Philosophy Faculty Publications

The widespread antipathy to Hart's description of international law as a simple or primitive social order, one that lacks a rule of recognition and therefore does not qualify as a legal system, rests on two misunderstandings. First, the absence of a division of labor in identifying, altering, applying, and enforcing law is as much, if not more, central to Hart's understanding of what makes a society primitive as is the absence of any secondary rules at all. Second, it is primarily in terms of the presence of such a division of labor and the implications it has for the ontology …

ประเด็นทางญาณวิทยาในแนวคิดเรื่องชุมชนแห่งการสืบเสาะของแมทธิว ลิปแมน, ณฐิกา ครองยุทธ

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

เป้าหมายของวิทยานิพนธ์ฉบับนี้ต้องการสนับสนุนแนวคิดชุมชนแห่งการสืบเสาะ(Community of inquiry/ COI) ของแมทธิว ลิปแมน (Matthew Lipman) ในประเด็นทางญาณวิทยา แนวคิดดังกล่าวลิปแมนรับอิทธิพลมาจากปรัชญาการศึกษาของจอห์น ดิวอี้ (John Dewey) ในเรื่องแนวคิดปฏิบัตินิยมและการเรียนรู้ร่วมกันเป็นกลุ่ม ประเด็นทางญาณวิทยาที่จะศึกษาได้แก่ 1) ปัญหาความสามารถในการใช้เหตุผลของเด็กในทฤษฎีพัฒนาการทางการรู้คิด (Theory of Cognitive Development) ของ ฌอง เพียเชต์ (Jean Piaget) และ 2) ข้อถกเถียงในญาณวิทยาสังคมได้แก่ ปัญหาในเรื่องการไตร่ตรองร่วมกันเป็นกลุ่ม(Group deliberation) และ การเรียนร่วมกันเป็นกลุ่ม (Collaborative Learning) ผู้เขียนได้แสดงให้เห็นว่าวิธีชุมชนแห่งการสืบเสาะสามารถหลีกเลี่ยงปัญหาดังกล่าว และผู้เขียนแสดงให้เห็นว่าวิธีชุมชนแห่งการสืบเสาะมีข้อได้เปรียบทางญาณวิทยา ผู้เขียนยังได้เสนอแนวทางใหม่ที่จะช่วยให้วิธีชุมชนแห่งการสืบเสาะมีประสิทธิภาพเพิ่มขึ้นสำหรับการเรียนในชั้นเรียนโดยประยุกต์จากข้อเสนอของแบร์ด เรย์ (Brad Wray) ในเรื่องการค้นคว้าร่วมกันเป็นกลุ่ม