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Full-Text Articles in Philosophy

Determinism & Free Will: An Exploration On Gender Identity As Evidence For Compatibilism, Daniel Mangandi-Escobar May 2024

Determinism & Free Will: An Exploration On Gender Identity As Evidence For Compatibilism, Daniel Mangandi-Escobar

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Determinism is a philosophical concept asserting that every event and action in the universe has been determined by previous causes, which has caused considerable debate within philosophy. Two critical issues within this discussion are the implications of determinism for human agency and moral responsibility. In this work, I argue that free ill is possible, rejecting hard determinism. Specifically, I will be arguing in favor of compatibilism, which is the view that free will can exist even within a deterministic world. From this perspective, free will is not opposed to determinism. Instead, our choices and actions can still be considered free …


Algorithmic Bias: Causes And Effects On Marginalized Communities, Katrina M. Baha May 2023

Algorithmic Bias: Causes And Effects On Marginalized Communities, Katrina M. Baha

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Individuals from marginalized backgrounds face different healthcare outcomes due to algorithmic bias in the technological healthcare industry. Algorithmic biases, which are the biases that arise from the set of steps used to solve or analyze a problem, are evident when people from marginalized communities use healthcare technology. For example, many pulse oximeters, which are the medical devices used to measure oxygen saturation in the blood, are not able to accurately read people who have darker skin tones. Thus, people with darker skin tones are not able to receive proper health care due to their pulse oximetry data being inaccurate. This …


An Exploration Of Secular And Christian Political Thought, Elizabeth Bradley Jan 2022

An Exploration Of Secular And Christian Political Thought, Elizabeth Bradley

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Through the evaluation and comparison of Machiavellian, Nietzschean, and Christian political thought, this thesis argues that Christian thinkers effectively meet the challenges posed to them by Modern philosophers. Modern philosophers reject the teaching that ethical principles have a transcendent origin in God and instead believe that morality is merely a matter of human convention. Christian philosophy was once dominant in influencing political thought. Modern thinkers such as Machiavelli and Nietzsche wrote with the express purpose of challenging and replacing Christian thought. The Christian political tradition promotes more noble qualities in leaders than the modern philosophies which proposed to challenge it. …


(Un)Becoming Human: The Systemic Exclusion Of Transgender/Gender Nonconforming/Nonbinary Individuals Through Hegemonic Conceptions Of Personhood, Lucy Sloan May 2021

(Un)Becoming Human: The Systemic Exclusion Of Transgender/Gender Nonconforming/Nonbinary Individuals Through Hegemonic Conceptions Of Personhood, Lucy Sloan

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this essay, I explore the issue of transgender/nonbinary/gender nonconforming (henceforth referred to as TNBGNC) oppression and exclusion through a philosophical lens. To do so, I use the notion of personhood. I ask the question: How are TNBGNC individuals excluded from personhood and its associated rights? To be a person is the first qualification for rights such as political involvement and social inclusion. I argue that societal conceptions of personhood are rooted in the gender binary, and that sexual difference and gender performance are essential for recognition as a person worthy of such rights. Therefore, TNBGNC oppression and exclusion is …


Sovereign Authority And Rule Of Law: The Effect Of U.S. Use Of Torture On Political Legitimacy, Sydney Bradley May 2021

Sovereign Authority And Rule Of Law: The Effect Of U.S. Use Of Torture On Political Legitimacy, Sydney Bradley

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Governmental sovereignty is created and maintained by mutual respect for the rule of law by the government and citizens. To maintain legitimacy, a government must act within the bounds of the contract that created it. Otherwise, the relationship founded by said contract would be nullified, as would the duties and obligations that flow from that relationship. Torture exemplifies an ultra vires act used by the United States to show the consequences of over-extended authority on political legitimacy and the rule of law. Founded on the philosophies of Hugo Grotius, Thomas Hobbes, and Christine Korsgaard, this research investigates the nature of …


What Role Should Philosophy Play In The Public Sphere? The Intrinsic Value Of Public Philosophy, Jonathan Engle Mar 2020

What Role Should Philosophy Play In The Public Sphere? The Intrinsic Value Of Public Philosophy, Jonathan Engle

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Public philosophy is a relatively new area of meta-philosophy requiring further development. In this paper I seek to establish a clear definition of public philosophy and clarify what at times has become a muddled term. This is followed by laying a groundwork for how to view philosophical study and its consequences to the students. I primarily address Weinstein’s argument that public philosophy is primarily for entertainment. This is based on one of his points that public philosophy leads to self-knowledge (self-cultivation). Rather than peripheral to public philosophy, I will argue that this is central to public philosophy, establishing it as …


Nietzsche's Genealogy: An Historical Investigation Of The Contingency Of Moral Values, John A. Greene May 2017

Nietzsche's Genealogy: An Historical Investigation Of The Contingency Of Moral Values, John A. Greene

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This work examines how values seem to be contingent on various factors which affect their growth and development. This study is based around the ethical writings of Friedrich Nietzsche. Specifically, On the Genealogy of Morals serves as the foundation for my thesis. This book contains three essays which purport to show how moral values originated as a result of certain human phenomena rather than, as many people take for granted, from moral “truths.” This contribution to ethics is important because it leaves many questions regarding the value of morality untouched. In the Genealogy, there are numerous themes of Nietzsche’s philosophy …


Soren Kierkegaard's Philosophy Of Authentic Existence, John B. Merrell Jan 1969

Soren Kierkegaard's Philosophy Of Authentic Existence, John B. Merrell

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This undergraduate honors thesis discusses the life and philosophical works of Soren Kierkegaard as it relates to the concept of authentic existence.