Philosophy Commons^™

The Disintegration Of Modern Culture. Nietzsche And The Information Age, Edgar Landgraf

German Faculty Publications

The article revisits Nietzsche’s provocative claim that the Enlightenment’s emphasis on education and open exchange of information promotes rather than prevents the “loss of meaning” from a media studies and systems theoretical perspective. Nietzsche in fact ties what he understands as modern culture’s disintegration to information-processing modes of modern society, that is, as effects of the modern educational system and the mass media (at his time, the printing press). The article argues that while Nietzsche is an astute observer of modernity, his call for a return to a more authentic culture (with its daunting political implications) is indicative of Nietzsche’s …

A Comparison Of The Canons Of Science Used In Positivistic Research And Constructivist/Naturalistic Research, Ipek Bozkurt, Andres Sousa-Poza

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

In this paper, the canons of science which are crucial for positivistic, empirical research and constructivist/naturalistic research will be identified, described, compared and discussed. Although there are common canons which are often used in papers throughout literature, it would be beneficial to set a common ground for the identification and use of the canons. The canons used in positivistic research will differ from the canons used in constructivist/ naturalistic research. This paper will analyze major publications (papers, books, etc.) exploring the canons either directly or indirectly, and will provide a link between major characteristics of two different research philosophies and …

The Sources Of Higher States Of Consciousness, Steve Taylor

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

In this paper, it is argued that “higher states of consciousness”–or mystical experiences–have two

main sources: they can be caused by a disruption of the normal homeostasis of the human organism

and also by an intensification of the “consciousness-energy” that constitutes our being.

(These are termed HD and ICE states). The author investigates examples of both types of experience,

and compares and contrasts them. It is concluded that the second type of experience is

the only one which is truly positive and which can become a fully integrated and permanent

higher state of consciousness.

Why Does The Universe Exist? An Advaita Vedantic Perspective, Adam J. Rock

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Debates concerning causal explanations of the universe tend to be based on a priori propositions (e.g., Edwards, 1973; Smith, 1995; Swinburne, 1978). The present paper, however, addresses the metaphysical question, “Why does the universe exist?” from the perspective of a school of Hindu philosophy referred to as advaita vedanta and two of its a posteriori derived creation theories: the theory of simultaneous creation (drishti-srishti vada) and the theory of non-causality (ajata vada). Objections to advaita vedanta are also discussed. It is concluded that advaita vedanta has the potential to make a significant contribution to contemporary metaphysical debate in general and …

Russian Soul: A Report From The European Transpersonal Association 2005 Conference In Moscow, Glenn Hartelius

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

NA

The Arguments Of Their Lives: A Role For Lives In Moral Reflection And Moral Teaching (2005), Peter Shea

Collected Papers of Peter Shea

Moral philosophers and teachers of ethics generally make episodes, cases, and stories the focus of their practical reflection. In this dissertation, I investigate the possible roles of richer accounts or investigations of lives in the research and teaching of practical ethics. By giving a close reading of passages from three central philosophic texts, Mill’s On Liberty, Plato’s Crito, and Descartes’ Discourse on Method, I show how attention to richly described lives is grounded in the tradition of Western philosophic inquiry. These readings also serve as the starting points for arguments about the importance of consideration of lives …

Living Art, Defining Value: Artworks And Mere Real Things, Serge Grigoriev

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

In this essay I examine the conceptual difficulties generated by drawing a distinction between artworks and mere real things. I argue that the distinction is an unfortunate one, requiring for its operation an assumption of possibility of an objective value judgment with regard to aesthetic productions, which, in reality cannot be defensible on purely philosophical grounds. The distinction, in fact, may be useful in describing the interactions between the artworld, qua a cultural institution, and the socio-economic environment in which it is situated; yet, it proves misleading when introduced into discussions about the nature of artworks and the nature of …

Carrying The Jade Tablet: A Consideration Of Confucian Artistry, Eric C. Mullis

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

In this paper I discuss the aesthetic dimension of ritual action. In order to demonstrate how the rites render action aesthetically expressive, I draw on the notion of an "art of context" and further detail the Confucian understanding of artistic practice as an essential component for moral cultivation. In turn, I use John Dewey's account of aesthetic form in order to support and further demonstrate the ability of the rituals and arts to organize action and to thereby render it aesthetically significant. However, Dewey's account entails that we question either conceptual or institutional limitations of aesthetic form as such limitations …

The Evolution And Revolutions Of The Networked Art Aesthetic, Jeanne Marie Kusina

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

Mail art, artist books, artist amps, assemblings, experimental and visual poetry, Email art, video, and performance art have all, at various times, been considered members of the loosely configured classification known as "Networked art". Yet the common thread associating these diverse media is not the manner of their production, but rather the dynamic way in which they are distributed throughout artist networks. Emphasizing communication and generosity, Networked artists attempt to subvert conventional systems of exchange while also maintaining an intimacy of expression. I will discuss these qualities and how they often evolve from subtle attempts to undermine an allegedly flawed …

La Música En Los Cultos Dionisiacos, Adriana Renero

Publications and Research

Para penetrar en el mundo musical griego es preciso alejarnos de nuestras categorías estéticas habituales y pensar en modos, ritmos y armonías diferentes. Al mismo tiempo, es indispensable advertir que en la sociedad griega arcaica la música ocupaba un lugar fundamental, pues mantenía estrechos vínculos con la medicina, la astronomía, la religión, la filosofía, la poesía y la pedagogía, entre otras disciplinas. Lo anterior responde a que la música era considerada un arte peculiar y ambiguo dotado de “poderes especiales” porque actuaba como fuerza capaz de precipitar al hombre a la locura, al mismo tiempo que la curaba, o bien, …

Masochism: A Queer Subjectivity?, Amber Musser

Publications and Research

Judith Butler's Gender Trouble elaborates what may be called a queer subjectivity. Characterized by non-essential, performative identity, her theory has been criticized because, according to its critics, it does not give the subject political agency. Liberal theorists, such as Seyla Benhabib, have been particularly concerned with the political effects of this form of subjectivity on already marginalized social groups while other theorists, such as Susan Stryker and Ed Cohen, have articulated concern that the theory does not sufficiently account for embodiment, affect, and identity. This essay brings Deleuze's theory of masochism in dialogue with Butler's theories of subjectivity in an …

The Bible And Public Schools: Report On The National Council On Bible Curriculum In Public Schools (Ncbcps), Mark A. Chancey

Occasional Papers

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

Quidditas

No abstract provided.

Allen D. Breck Award Winner (2004)

Quidditas

Jennifer McNabb

The Allen D. Breck Award recognizes the most distinguished paper given by a junior scholar at the annual conference.

Getting Your Name Out There: Traveling Acting Companies And Royal And Aristocratic Prestige In Tudor England, James H. Forse

Quidditas

Records published to date concerning early English drama suggest that in the first third of the sixteenth century touring activity by municipal, amateur acting companies exceeded that of royal and aristocratic troupes. But after about 1535, the religious, social, and economic policies of Henry VIII, and Edward VI, severely limited locally based performances. At the same time tours by royal acting troupes substantially increased. Yet of all the Tudors, it was Elizabeth who seems to have realized the potential of her acting troupe representing the monarch's presence throughout the kingdom. From the beginning of her reign the Queen’s Men appeared …

Front Matter

Quidditas

No abstract provided.

Representing A Bigger Middle Ages, Carol Neel

Quidditas

Barbara H. Rosenwein. A Short History of the Middle Ages. Orchard Park, NY: Broadview Press, 2002. 362 pages. $42.95.

Colin McEvedy. The New Penguin Atlas of Medieval History. London: Penguin Books, 1992. 112 pages. $13.95.

Patrick J. Geary. The Myth of Nations: The Medieval Origins of Europe. Princeton: Princeton UP, 2002. 261 pages. $19.95.

Politics, Rights, And The Refugee Problem, Richard Dagger

Political Science Faculty Publications

In The Origins of Totalitarianism, the political philosopher Hannah Arendt pointed to the years between World War I and World War II as the time when the plight of refugees became a pressing political problem.' If Arendt were still alive (she died in 1975), she would no doubt agree that the problem is at least as pressing in the early twenty-first century as it was sixty or more years ago, when she herself was a refugee from Nazi Germany. Who would not agree? According to a report of the U.N. Population Division, 16 million people were refugees at the …

Art And Embodiment: Biological And Phenomenological Contributions To Understanding Beauty And The Aesthetic, Adrienne Dengerink Chaplin

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

Increasing awareness of the crucial and complex role of the body in making and experiencing art has led to a diverse range of biological and phenomenological philosophies of art. The shared emphasis on the role of the body re-connects these contemporary theories of art to aesthetics' pre-Kantian origin as a science of sense-perception (aesthesis) and feeling. Tracing some of the current positions in such diverse thinkers as Dissanayake, Langer, and Merleau-Ponty, this paper will examine their shared interest in art as a pre-reflective, non-discursive mode of knowing, symbolizing, and being-in-the-world. This paper argues that while some biologically based theories have …

Mobility: The Fourth Dimension In The Fine Arts And Architecture, Gerd-Helge Vogel

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

Mobility is a basic behavioural pattern of human beings that has been accelerating in the course of its social development. Especially since the beginnings of the industrial revolution, mobility has caused a fundamental change in human relationships that continues today. This becomes visible when we look at the aesthetic and spiritual impact on architecture and the fine arts. It is my intention to present significant examples in order to give an idea of the different stages of its development today.

Front Matter

1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era

No abstract provided.

Steering Toward Sanity The Compass Points Of Madness In Eighteenth-Century Britain, Allan Ingram

1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era

No abstract provided.

Forgery As Performance Art The Strange Case Of George Psalmanazar, Jack Lynch

1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era

No abstract provided.

Some Aspects Of Jonathan Swift's Perspective On Language, W. K. Percival

1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era

No abstract provided.

Architecture And Nature The Theory Of Imitation In Etienne-Louis Boullee's Essai Sur L'Art, Louis Cellauro

1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era

No abstract provided.

"Rakes, Male And Female, In The Literatures Of The Long Eighteenth Century", Barbel Czennia

1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era

No abstract provided.

The French Abolitionist Treatise In The Late Enlightenment Examples Of A Hybrid Genre, David Williams

1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era

No abstract provided.

Performance, Mobility, And The Domestication Of Female Desire In The Belle's Stratagem, Wendy Arons

1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era

No abstract provided.

Defining '^Defining The French Rake Crebillon Fils And Les Egarements Du Coeur Et De I'Esprit, Megan Conway

1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era

No abstract provided.

Rambler And Cully Rochester's Satire And The Self-Presentation Of The Restoration Rake, John O'Neill

1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era

No abstract provided.