Philosophy Commons^™

The Persuasive Force Of The Ad Baculum, John Casey

Faculty Research and Creative Activities Symposium

Standardly, the ad baculum fallacy consists in using the threat of violence or sanction to solicit agreement to a standpoint. A common informal logical account of its fallaciousness is that the threat is irrelevant to the truth of the conclusion. While this is a compact account, it is hard to find satisfactory cases. More plausibly, a dialogical account locates the error in the subversion of the purpose of a critical discussion. This makes better sense of actual cases, but, I shall argue, it fails to explain what makes the ad baculum an effective and pernicious form of persuasion. While attempting …

“If She Was Great, I Would Have Heard Of Her By Now”: When Trust In Our Sources Of Knowledge Lead Us Astray, Stacey Goguen

Faculty Research and Creative Activities Symposium

Several years ago in graduate school, I was a teaching assistant for a course titled, “Great Philosophers,” which at many universities really means, “Favorite Philosophers of the Professor.” But professors will usually make a case for why their favorites should be considered “great.” In this particular course, we read the work of Ruth Millikan, who wrote a lot of interesting things about language and biology and what it means for a word to ‘stand for’ for something in the world. I hadn’t heard of Millikan before the class, but found her work fascinating. One day, I brought up her inclusion …

Firing Queer Teachers From Catholic Schools: Ethical And Theological Considerations, Ish Ruiz

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Since 2007, there have been over 90 cases of queer employees fired from Catholic institutions – many of which include dismissals of queer educators from Catholic schools. As religious institutions, Catholic schools are constitutionally protected by a ministerial exception that offers legal immunity to Catholic educational institutions that fire queer employees (which are sometimes considered “ministers” by the courts). The ministerial exception is an extension of the institution’s right to religious freedom to promote its doctrine though its schools. Although this right to discriminate is legally protected, from a moral standpoint, one may argue that the exercise of one human …

Facing Human Rights: Theorizing Out Of The Experience Of Suffering, Patrick Ahern

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

In contending that “the freedom of philosophy is nothing but the capacity to lend a voice to unfreedom,” Adorno recognized that the role of philosophy is to illuminate the deformity of that which is deformed in the structures of power and the institutions that preserve the status quo. A critical treatment of those concepts that obfuscate the realization of emancipation led Adorno, along with Horkheimer, to claim that, “the purpose of human rights was to promise happiness even where power is lacking.” In other words, the language of human rights served to stifle the experiences of the oppressed classes under …

The Role Of Stoic Philosophy In Military Leadership And Values, Elliot Witscher

Young Historians Conference

Military leaders have historically relied on different justifications for violence and war, including philosophy. A perennial favorite of the military has been stoic philosophy, often based on the teachings and work of Epictetus. However, a careful examination of the actions of three well known military leaders, Marcus Aurelius, Frederick the Great, and the modern United States military, show that philosophical beliefs, no matter how firmly held, rarely translate into military actions or policy. Many leaders claim to value stoic teachings, however these internal and personal worldview is hard to scale into a specific type of action on the battlefield or …

What's Left Of Gender?: The Metaphysics Of Woman, Man, And Non-Binary Identities, Nina Kamangar

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

There is a gender revolution underway. Progressive movements urge acceptance of transgender and non-binary gender identities apart from the male or female designations assigned at birth. Surrounding this, there has been confusion about what gender is and what it means to identify with one. Some accuse new perspectives on gender to be incoherent. Others support this movement, but acknowledge gender as an inherently restrictive concept to eventually be abolished. Is it true that genders are becoming empty categories, or can something be salvaged? I offer a pro-revolutionary theory of gender that is inclusive of these new identities while remaining intelligible.

Owu's First Asian Horror Film Festival, Kaitie Welch

Student Symposium

Under an apprenticeship with Dr. Sokolsky, I planned and hosted Ohio Wesleyan University's first "Asian Horror Film Festival." The project began after the realization that among OWU's various film festivals, which celebrate diversity and differing cultures, there were no East Asian or Asian film festivals to speak of. Together, Dr. Sokolsky and I prepared a course of action and settled on the horror genre. I spent my winter break watching many Asian horror films via Kanopy and narrowed down films from four different Asian countries and territories through a rubric of criteria that I created. The films I selected were …

Chinese Arts: Visualizing The World Through The Taoist Eye, Harrison Nickels

Student Symposium

Over the centuries of Chinese tradition, abundant art works were created as expressions of people’s views of life and as indications of the way they observed and understood the natural and human world around them. These works, therefore, are of grand importance for scholars today to glean information on the social, cultural, political, and economic environments of the time. Among the schools of the arts, quite a few had been under the influence of the Taoist philosophy. Specifically, the Taoist inherent concern with the passivity of life found its way in the works of artists, which, in a variety of …

The Irrational Appeal Of The Punishment Paradigm: How "Tough On Crime" Subverts Reason And Empathy, Curry Carr

Student Symposium

This investigation will examine the ways of thinking that facilitated the enactment of harsh sentencing laws in the U.S., with a specific focus on truth in sentencing laws in Illinois. Truth in sentencing laws dictate that people convicted of violent crimes must serve 85%-100% of their sentences, basically eliminating their chances for parole for good behavior. In the 1980s and 1990s almost every state enacted truth in sentencing laws after federal funding was promised to those who do. The implementation of these laws, in some ways, seemed to follow reason, especially when states lowered the requisite time served during a …

Study Drugs For Underprivileged Children, Joshua Watkins

Scholars Week

Abstract

The effects of stimulant medication have been beneficial for individuals with Narcolepsy and especially individuals with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Keisha Ray has offered a solution in her academic work that could help also help underprivileged children. The solution she is proposing is to offer stimulant medication to them. In this paper, I assert my thesis, offering stimulant medication to underprivileged children would not be a good, right, and practical solution to helping their social inequalities. The treatment/enhancement distinction in medicine is elaborated between Ray and me. The definition of what is a healthy normal functioning body and a …

Argument For The Absurd, John Dotterweich

Kansas State University Undergraduate Research Conference

Feed, The Society of the Spectacle, and The Myth of Sisyphus help answer the question: how do you live authentically in an inauthentic world? As modernity and trends occupy us in different ways, we must decide how to use our time fruitfully. Keeping up with latest trends, news, and social media not only is exhausting but disjointing from meaningful experience. Total rejection of technology and norms can lead to isolation from those who do keep up with them. In other words, alienating your self from others leads to a lack of socialization, something that makes us happy members of society. …

The Decline Of Tradition & Civilization: Mishima And The West, Suan Sonna

Kansas State University Undergraduate Research Conference

On November 25, 1970, the prolific Japanese author and right-wing nationalist Yukio Mishima performed ritual suicide. His demonstration disturbed the literary, political, and intellectual world of Japan and has had far-reaching implications for the world. In this analysis, I offer a brief biographical sketch of Mishima’s life and how he became one with his philosophy, politics, and literature. My ultimate aim is to show how the hyper-“modernization” and westernization of Japan parallels many of the same conflicts Western Civilization is currently facing with the collapse of both modernity and tradition. To do this, I examine five themes of Mishima’s work …

Greek Music Theory Vs. The Bible, Kearsten M. Kostelnik

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

The great philosophers of Ancient Greece have been studied in depth and are known throughout society. Famous Greek philosophers and writers, such as Plato and Pythagoras, formulated theories on musical philosophy — it’s purpose, use, dangers, power, and importance in society. Greek philosophy of music heavily influenced early European society’s view and development of music, it only partially supports Biblical views and principles of music and worship. Pythagoras introduces the theory that music is more than just entertainment with his notion of Music of the Spheres but fails to align with the biblical view of stars and planets as mere …

Hegelian Political Theater, Cade M. Olmstead

Research in the Capitol

What could politics, theater, and the project of German idealism all hold in common?This research seeks to explore the usage of comedy in modern political discourse through the perspectives of theater and German idealist philosophy.

It begins with an analysis of ancient Greek theater by the philosopher G.W.F. Hegel, applies this reading to the 2013 Turkish Gezi Park protests, and ultimately makes a normative claim about comedy’s use in public discourse and proper democratic politics.

Antiracist Academic Leadership In Wake Of Charlottesville, David S. Owen

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

What obligations do chairpersons have to confront white supremacy when it impacts departmental and campus climates? And, what steps should chairpersons take when white nationalists come to campus? Participants in this session will have an opportunity to discuss these and other questions and explore the requirements of academic leadership that is avowedly antiracist.

How To Solve The Gettier Problem, James Pearce

Faculty Research and Teaching Expo

Epistemology is that part of philosophy which studies knowledge, and tries to answer questions like: What is knowledge? How do we acquire knowledge? How do we know that we do in fact possess knowledge, i.e., how do we know that we know? The longest-standing formulation of the necessary and sufficient conditions for knowledge known to me (pre-dating Plato) is called the Justified True Belief [JTB] theory of knowledge. Gettier’s argument – if it goes through – is a relatively knock-down refutation of the JTB theory of knowledge. Since Gettier’s article was published in 1963, epistemologists have been scrambling either to …

Beauty As Art: Somaesthetic Consumption As Alternative To Docility, Talia Welsh

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

No abstract provided.

Statistcal Mechanics And The Past Hypothesis, Angela Lee

Puget Sound Undergraduate Philosophy Conference

Statistical mechanics is a time invariant explanation of thermodynamic phenomena at a microphysical level. However, given that the laws of thermodynamics are not time-reversal symmetric, it is unclear whether to introduce the asymmetry through boundary conditions (through the past hypothesis) or through the dynamic laws themselves. In this paper, I defend the need of a boundary condition for statistical mechanics against two main objections: that there is no independent knowledge of the past hypothesis, and that the dynamic laws in statistical mechanics should be time-reversal asymmetric. I first introduce core notions of statistical mechanics, explain the past hypothesis and its …

Comments On Jongmin Jerome Baek Paper “How To Solve Moral Conundrums With Computability Theory”, Liam Grantham

Puget Sound Undergraduate Philosophy Conference

“How to Solve Moral Conundrums with Computability Theory”

By Jongmin Jerome Baek (University of California, Berkeley)

Comments by Liam Grantham

Chair: Erland Cain

Comments On Angela Lee’S “Statistical Mechanics And The Past Hypothesis”, Emory Brigden

Puget Sound Undergraduate Philosophy Conference

“Statstcal Mechanics and the Past Hypothesis”

By Angela Lee (University of California, Berkeley)

Comments by Emory Brigden

Chair: James Conley

Ubi As Regular Payment: Egalitarian Safeguard Or Dose Of Paternalism?, Sun Woo Lee

Puget Sound Undergraduate Philosophy Conference

Universal Basic Income is a welfare scheme that deliberately stays agnostic about how it is spent and the type of people it benefits. In this paper, I argue that contrary to its façade of agnosticism, UBI is not as carefree as its proponents say it is or wish it to be. I point out a definitional feature of UBI that is at odds with its commitment to anti-paternalism--its insistence on continuous payment. Drawing on the contest between Basic Income and Basic Capital, the latter of which endorses lump-sum payments as opposed to Basic Income’s periodic ones, I suggest that UBI …

Comments On Sun Woo Lee’S “Ubi As Regular Payment: Egalitarian Safeguard Or Dose Of Paternalism?, Brian Kim

Puget Sound Undergraduate Philosophy Conference

“UBI as Regular Payment: Egalitarian Safeguard or Dose of Paternalism?”

By Sun Woo Lee (Stanford University)

Comments by Brian Kim

Chair: Guillermo Ruiz

Response To “Truth In The Falsification Of Ai”, August Malueg

Puget Sound Undergraduate Philosophy Conference

12:00-12:50: “The Truth in the Falsifcaton of Artfcial Intelligence”

By Mariah Jacobs (Pacifc University)

Comments by August Malueg

Chair: Thalia Barr-Malec

The Truth In The Falsification Of Artificial Intelligence, Mariah Jacobs

Puget Sound Undergraduate Philosophy Conference

The influence Karl Popper’s falsificationist model has had on the scientific method and the demarcation problem is troublesome for the field of artificial intelligence (AI). According to Popper, the falsifiability of a hypothesis is a necessary condition for its scientific validity. Because the falsificationist model has been formative in the development of modern philosophy of science, it has become the primary way in which we demarcate the scientific from the non-scientific. However, as a consequence of our current, limited understanding of mental properties—such as intelligence, thought, and personal identity—I argue that it is unclear whether hypotheses concerning the design of …

Mt. Olympus, Gotham City, And Metropolis: The Power Of Heroism In Shaping Cultures And Futures, Julia French

Puget Sound Undergraduate Philosophy Conference

Stories reflect the cultures they arise from and their heroes help direct the mindset of future generations. From ancient Greece to modern America, the human creativity behind these worlds has allowed us to promote new beliefs and virtues through the adventures of our heroes. “Mt. Olympus, Gotham City, and Metropolis” explores how mythological heroism has changed over time and now conflicts with itself as religious and secular story-tellers alike wrestle with the teleological foundation within heroism.

In America for instance, Batman and Superman are the pillars of our modern pantheon, and their recent movie Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice …

A Response To Julia French’S “Mt. Olympus, Gotham City And The Metropolis: The Power Of Heroism, In Shaping Cultures And Futures”, Sam Place

Puget Sound Undergraduate Philosophy Conference

11:00-11:50: “Mt. Olympus, Gotham City, and Metropolis: The Power of Heroism in Shaping Cultures and Futures”

By Julia French (University of Notre Dame)

Comments by Sam Place

Chair: Madilyn Ivey

Comments On William Perrin’S “The Failure Of Hope As An Epistemic Standard”, Colleen Hanson

Puget Sound Undergraduate Philosophy Conference

10:00-10:50: “The Failure of Hope as an Epistemic Standard”

By William Perrin (Pepperdine University)

Comments by Colleen Hanson

Chair: Samantha Lilly

The Failure Of Hope As An Epistemic Standard, William Perrin

Puget Sound Undergraduate Philosophy Conference

Jonathan Weinberg (2007) attempted to show how to challenge intuitions empirically, without risking skepticism. In this paper, I raise several objections to his project. In the first section I will clarify and explain several terms. Specifically, what I mean when I use intuition in this paper and what Weinberg means by hopefulness. Clarification of these terms is essential to this paper, as both intuition and hopefulness have become somewhat muddled terms in recent literature. In the second section I will reconstruct Weinberg’s argument against philosophers’ appeals to intuition. Weinberg aims to show that philosophers’ appeals to intuitions are epistemically hopeless …

Confucian Role Ethics: Issues Of Naming, Translation, And Interpretation, Sarah Mattice

Showcase of Faculty Scholarly & Creative Activity

This chapter explores the arguments behind considering Confucian ethics as a kind of "role ethics", as articulated by Roger Ames and others. I see at least three sets of concerns that animate the reasoning behind Confucian role ethics: naming, translation, and interpretation. In terms of naming, I discuss this project as an example of zhengming 正名, or proper naming, which is a common Confucian ethical project. Confucian thinkers are often preoccupied with appropriate categorization, one species of which is naming. The naming of Confucian ethics as role ethics, I argue, is not only consistent with but is situated in a …

Comments “Listening To Music: A Philosophical Account”, Sammy Jones

Puget Sound Undergraduate Philosophy Conference

3:30-4:20: “Listening to Music: A Philosophical Account”

By Paskalina Bourbon (Pomona College)

Comments by Sammy Jones

Chair: Colleen Hanson