Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Sensorimotor Approach To Color Perception And The Necessity Of Socio-Cultural Considerations For Color Naming, Matthew Watts

Student Research Symposium

In this paper I argue against Kevin O’Regan’s claim that the “biological reflectance function” and its notion of “simple” colors naturally lead to a biologically consistent standard for species wide color naming. Although the simplicity of these colors may allow for easier apprehension, the notion that color simplicity will naturally lead to a consistent standard for the naming of basic color hues across a species is inconsistent with the idea of objective colors in the way that he portrays it. While it fixes many of the traditional explanatory issues surrounding color perception, it opens up new explanatory issues surrounding color. …

Epistemic Problems In Contemporary History, Michael Hollien

Honors Program Theses and Projects

A recent trend in contemporary written history is towards what I term “narrative” history, where the significant events of the past are framed within traditional dramatic structure and told through the personal vignettes of the common people who experienced them. This makes for immersive reading, but the complication in this approach is that history, at least in part, purports to be a true telling of the past. Therein lies the problem. I shall argue that narrative history’s pervasive use of literary technique and witness testimony in order to make truth claims about the past is epistemically unjustified. That does not …

Stop Factory Farming For The Sake Of Humanity!, Alexander V. Dimauro

ENV 434 Environmental Justice

Abstract: The world is being destroyed. We do not care about the mistreatment of animals in factory farms because of our consumeristic taste buds, but this gluttony is even more problematic than we think. It is blinding us from an even larger factor at stake. Our factory farming methods are a leading contributor in the causes of global warming. What this means for us is that our consumption has a direct impact on our destruction. We need to think big, and act. The only way to combat this issue is through taking courses of action that will force people to …

Stimulacra: The Accident And The Identity Crisis, Grant C. Gallo

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

An in-depth analysis and criticism of J.G. Ballards’s 1971 novel, Crash, is conducted. The qualities of the novel that place it within the genre of science fiction are presented and contested. Ballard’s own commentary on his novel is taken into account, as well as that of the French hyperrealist Jean Baudrillard. Both of their positions are then updated and reworked into theory of symbolic exchange for the digital age. Ultimately, the worth of J.G. Ballard’s Crash is weighed against the words of his critics and determined to defy the definitions of the science fiction genre itself.

Scatter 1: The Politics Of Politics In Foucault, Heidegger, And Derrida [Table Of Contents], Geoffrey Bennington

Philosophy & Theory

“Bennington’s Scatter 1 is a sophisticated, detailed, and strikingly original demonstration of the political efficacy of deconstruction. As always with Bennington, to read him is to undergo an education in reading.” —Robert Bernasconi, Pennsylvania State University

The Matter Of Voice: Sensual Soundings [Table Of Contents], Karmen Mackendrick

Philosophy & Theory

“The Matter of Voice is a work of philosophical theology in a multidisciplinary and poetic key. Its central organizing insight is that voice and voicing are productive of corporeality and rhythm in language. As MacKendrick shows, at the heart of the voice is ‘an irreducible and carnal strangeness’ that refuses closure and invites passion back into thinking. The book is a sterling exemplar of the richness that results from attending to the somatic quality of words, yielding a layering of ideas that forms a virtual chorus of multiperspectival thinking.” —Patricia Cox Miller, Syracuse University

I Want To Believe: Kant, The X Files, And Cosmopolitical Unity, Jeremy Knickerbocker

Cinesthesia

Kant’s final chapter of Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View, puts forth certain observations concerning the characteristics of human beings. In order for these observations to have rational validity as a proposed ‘human nature,’ however, Kant admits that it is necessary to compare between humans and another species of rational animal. Thus in an effort not to succumb to a naively anthropocentric thesis of nature, Kant still falls victim to his own anthropocentric privileging of rationality as a strictly human capacity—at least terrestrially speaking. While Kant fails to recognize any other earthly species as a rational animal, he nevertheless …

Humanity’S Capability Of Transcendence Through Artificial Intelligence, Zena Mccartney

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

In the 21st century artificial intelligence (AI) technologies such as robots, mind uploading and cyborgs have probed at these questions:

Who is in control the machine or human?

What is the purpose of autonomous robots to humanity?

If a machine can pass the Turing Test then is it appropriate to be in society acting on free will?

How would a robot understand how to make someone feel loved?

Do their deep expressions of understanding the human condition make them like us?

Once a human has a cyborg technology are they then human or machine?

How and why would we want …

Contract Ethics And The Problem Of Collective Action, Tyler W. Stolt

Philosophy Undergraduate Honors Theses

Collective action problems are a unique family of puzzles in ethics about what people do together. These puzzles pervade our modern and globalized world. In collective harms, individual actions lead to a serious moral wrong; yet, the individual actions themselves do not seem to be moral wrongs. In collective benefits, individuals fail to bring about serious moral good; yet, individual actions do not seem to be morally wrong. In this paper, I will explore three different ways of grounding reasons why we ought not participate in the production of collective harms (or, refrain from producing a collective benefit). I argue …

Physical Aggression And Mindfulness Among College Students: Evidence From China And The United States, Yu Gao, Lu Shi, Kelly C. Smith, Jeffrey B. Kingree, Martie Thompson

Publications

The link between trait mindfulness and several dimensions of aggression (verbal, anger and hostility) has been documented, while the link between physical aggression and trait mindfulness remains less clear. Method: We used two datasets: one United States sample from 300 freshmen males from Clemson University, South Carolina and a Chinese sample of 1516 freshmen students from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. Multiple regressions were conducted to examine the association between mindfulness (measured by Mindful Attention and Awareness Scale (MAAS)) and each of the four subscales of aggression. Results: Among the Clemson sample (N = 286), the …

Veritas Fax Ardens – Truth Is A Flaming Torch, Meret A. Luthi

Senior Theses

Based on the vast amount of truth theories that have been suggested by a myriad of thinkers from various disciplines, it can be inferred that the question of truth has occupied humankind since the beginning of its existence. Even though some of these theories appear more promising than others, it also seems that every suggested answer poses yet further questions about what truth really is. This seemingly endless stream of debates and contradictory theories further indicates that the nature of truth remains an enigma and subject to interpretation. Reflecting on Dominican University’s Latin motto “Veritas Fax Ardens” (Truth Is a …

The Logic Of Concessive Statements, Aharon Grenadir

School for Lifelong Education Publications

Concessive statements appear frequently in everyday reasoning. They are one of the eleven types of statement mentioned in the Ramchal‟s Sefer Derech Tevunos. In addition, in Talmudic discussions, every statement has a presupposition (hava-amina) and a conclusion (ka mashma lan). This goal of this research is to organize the categorizations of concessive statements that are stated in the technical literature. Using the distintinction in lomdus between dechiyah (overriding a law) and hutrah (removal of a law), a novel categorization can be added, according to the type of denial of the expectation by the main clause. That is the subject of …

Deontological Ethical System For Google's Self-Driving Car, Edgard Alejandro Arroliga Jr.

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Google's Self-Driving Car is a revolutionary product that is riddled with ethical conundrums. It is able to accurately scan and drive through densely populated roads without much difficulty. However, there are some situations where the car will likely have to make decisions that affect, maybe even take, the lives of those on the road. Issues such as the Trolley Problem and the Rear-End Dilemma describe situations where there seems to be no single ethical answer as to how the car should act. In order to solve these issues, I propose that a Deontological Ethical System should be implemented because it …

Objectual Attitudes And Intentional Objects: A Theory Of Incomplete Objects, Le Quyen Vu Pham

Philosophy Honors Theses

Searches and desires are examples of intentional attitudes, i.e. acts or states about or directed toward something. While it seems that we can and do look for or desire nothing in particular or things that do not exist, it is not as uncontroversial what the metaphysical status of the objects of such seeking or desiring may be. On antirelationalist views, there is nothing that a person is in a relation to when they are searching for a horse, but none in particular, or for a one-horned horse. On relationalist views, the searcher by virtue of their search enters into a …

Authenticity As Compassionate Being In The World, Rosemary Season

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

This paper will present a thesis on what it means to be authentic in the world and how a person can cultivate an authentic being. I will argue that being authentic leads to a healthier self that lives her life to its fullest potential and how being authentic will result in a more compassionate and ethical self.

A Case For Monistic Idealism: Connecting Idealistic Thoughts From Leibniz To Kant With Support In Quantum Physics, Erik Haynes

Masters Theses

Through the analysis of idealistic arguments and evidence from physics, it will be demonstrated that monistic idealism has a great deal of explanatory power as a metaphysical system for the reality that one experiences. Some of the arguments that support this claim include the inadequateness of Cartesian matter, the seemingly infinite divisibility of atoms, matter being reducible to sensations, the unnecessary aspect of matter, and simplicity. Evidence from quantum physics includes such factors as the necessary role of an observer in the collapse of a quantum wave function and the element of nonlocality. Psychological experiments including nonlocal communication, the power …

The Epistemology Of Enculturation, Joshua D. White

Open Access Dissertations

Is it irrational to believe something when that belief reflects the influence of one's culture or community? Some have argued that it is, especially when it comes to beliefs about controversial matters like religion, morality, and politics. I begin by situating the problem of cultural influence within the broader discussion surrounding irrelevant influences on our beliefs. After clarifying the way in which our beliefs are influenced by our cultures, I argue that neither the fact nor the recognition that one's belief has been influenced by one's culture is sufficient to render that belief unjustified or irrational.

Dorjé Tarchin, The Mélong, And The Tibet Mirror Press: Negotiating Discourse On The Religious And The Secular, Nicole Willock

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Much scholarly attention has been given to the importance of the Mélong, the first Tibetan newspaper, in the discursive formation of Tibetan nationalism; yet in claiming the Mélong as ‘secular’ and ‘modern,’ previous scholarship has also evaded the press’s Christian and colonial roots. This paper investigates the secularization of the Mélong and the Tibet Mirror Press as an historical project, and as a corollary demonstrates the emergence of a vernacular project of secularism that aligned pan-Tibetan national identity with religious pluralism against the threat of communism. As a Tibetan Christian intellectual, the Mélong’s founder Dorjé Tarchin (1890-1976) creatively responded to …

The Principle Of Dong Zhongshu's Omen Discourse And Wang Chong's Criticism Of Heaven's Reprimand In The Chapter “Qian Gao”, Xun Yang

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Omen discourse, the investigation of aberrant natural disasters and miraculous celestial phenomena, provided a sophisticated ideological model that could be exploited to expostulate with the sovereign for his transgressions, and to denounce the misgovernment of the imperial bureaucracy. The first of this political model is the personification of the supreme Heaven and the elevation of Heaven’s status. From the perspective of ru 儒 (Confucians) scholars, the establishment of Heaven’s supreme authority upon the human realm and the restriction of the sovereign in power guarantee the rectification of political mistakes as well as an applicable way for ru scholars to actively …

Principles Of Anti-Discriminatory Design, D. E. Wittkower

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Technical design can produce exclusionary and even discriminatory effects for users. A lack of discriminatory intent is insufficient to avoid discriminatory design, since implicit assumptions about users rarely include all relevant user demographics, and in some cases, designing for all relevant users is actually impossible. To minimize discriminatory effects of technical design, an actively anti-discriminatory design perspective must be adopted. This article provides examples of discriminatory user exclusion, then defining exclusionary design in terms of disaffordances and dysaffordances. Once these definitions are in place, principles of anti-discriminatory design are advanced, drawing upon a method of phenomenological variation employed in the …

A Machiavellian Christian: Analyzing The Political Theology Of 'The Prince', John G. Addison

History Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper attempts to reconsider the role that Christian religion played in the political philosophy of Niccolò Machiavelli, focusing specifically on The Prince. Despite regnant popular and scholastic opinion, this paper posits that Machiavelli's ideological foundation falls squarely into the theological and moral traditions and scripture of Christianity, and is thus an inseparable element of the political theory of Machiavelli. Further, this work seeks to illustrate the presence of orthodox political and religious beliefs contained within The Prince and throughout the Machiavellian corpus, focusing on the socio-political milieu of Renaissance Florence and the broader traditions of humanist thought. In …

Social Enactive Perception: Practices, Experience, And Contents, Alejandro Arango

Philosophy Faculty Scholarship

This dissertation proposes the central elements of a Social Enactive Theory of Perception. According to SEP, perception consists in sensory-based practices of interaction with objects, events, and states of affairs that are socially constituted. I oppose the representational view that perception is an indirect contact with the world, consists of the passive receiving and processing of sensory input, is in need of constant assessment of accuracy, and is a matter of individuals alone. I share the basic enactivist insight that perception is a type of activity, but I depart from standard enactivism on the grounds of its individualistic bias and …

The New Woman In Fiction And History: From Literature To Working Woman, Vicente Edward Clemons

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine who the New Woman was, a figure of British feminism at the end of the Victorian Era. The New Woman presented Victorian Britain with an alternative model of womanhood that differed greatly from the ideal Victorian Woman. The New Woman was conceived in the pages of fiction by women writers who each had their own ideas on feminism. The New Woman triggered a panic over Victorian gender roles that in turn led to the creation by the Victorian media of another New Woman. However, the New Woman in practice did not entirely …

Detaching Democratic Representation From State And National Borders, Avery C. Shell

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Maintaining the essential features of local democracy, representation and contestation, my theory allows for the representation of the interest of subpopulations in the global community by actors such as nongovernmental organization and intergovernmental organizations. I will begin by outlining what features are necessary for a theory’s consideration as democratic in nature. Then, relying upon democracy in a broad sense, it will be my aim to demonstrate that the right to democracy is universal human right. The following stage will provide the backing, by way of the moral progress of human rights, that the right to democracy is expressible by “importantly …

Spaces Of Visibility And Identity, Shelby R. Purdy

Undergraduate Honors Theses

“Spaces of Visibility and Identity” is an exploration on how being immersed in constant visibility has an effect on an individual’s identity. Visibility is not a narrow term meant to signify solely observation; rather, visibility is the state of existing within a world that does not allow for total isolation. To exist within the world is to be visible to others, and this visibility is inescapable. Visibility can be seen as a presentation or a disclosure of oneself to other beings. Existing within the world inevitably implies that one is presenting oneself to others, whether or not the presentation is …

Irving Singer (1925-2015), Tim Madigan

Verbum

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay's first paragraph.

"The noted philosopher and Santayana scholar Irving Singer, author of the magisterial three-volume work The Nature of Love, died on February 1, 2015, aged 89. Singer was born in Brooklyn on December 24, 1925, and served in World War II. He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard in 1948, under the G.I. Bill. The following year he wed Josephine Fisk, an opera singer with whom he had four children. They spent a year at Oxford (1949-1950), during which time Singer read The Last Puritan and in 1950 took a …

Uncertain Rights Against Defense, Bas Van Der Vossen

Philosophy Faculty Articles and Research

In this essay, I defend a theory of liability to defensive force. The theory contains two elements. The first is a dual Lockean-inspired condition. The second aims to make this first condition consistent with problems arising from uncertainty. Drawing on recent work by Michael Zimmerman, I argue that the rights-based condition should be made sensitive to the evidence available to defenders.

The Sustainable Anthropocentrism, Sebastian L. Brana

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

A paper focusing on sustainability and remedying the problem presented by climate change through the unusual approach of Enlightened Anthropocentrism.

Plato's Ethics: An Interdisciplinary Approach, Emmanuelle M. Mckinney

Young Historians Conference

Plato is undeniably one of the most influential men in the history of Western philosophy, and he deeply examined a remarkable number of diverse fields. However, in the attempt to understand his various writings, scholars too often over-categorize Plato’s work without recognizing that there are no partitioning lines between subjects: they are all blended together to form a complex body of thought. This paper summarizes Plato’s philosophy of ethics, with a focus on its inclusion of many contrasting disciplines.

Reframing The Ethics Of Care: Implications For Moral Epistemology In Bioethics, Lukas E. Chandler

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

The paper investigates the challenges of knowledge in the physician-patient relationship, both the patient's lack of expert medical knowledge and understanding of his or her medical condition as well as the physician's ignorance of the patient's values and belief systems. Employing an ethic of care, the aim is to bring attention to this dual epistemological difficulty in the patient-provider relationship. The ethics of care provides a lens for understanding, establishing empathy for the patient,and seeking methods in which the patient may become empowered. Channeling the ideas of Dr. Edmund Pellegrino, the paper explicates the argument advanced by Virginia Ashby Sharpe …