Philosophy Commons^™

Collateral Damage, David Lefkowitz

Philosophy Faculty Publications

The phrase "collateral damage" refers to harm done to persons, animals, or things that agents are not morally permitted to target in the conduct of war, as a side effect of attacks on persons, animals, or things that agents are morally permitted to target in the conduct of war. Call the first category that is, those persons, animals, or things that agents are not morally permitted to target - illegitimate targets of war, and the second category legitimate targets of war. Collateral damage, then, refers to harm done to illegitimate targets of war as a side effect of attacks on …

Assassins And Crusaders: Nietzsche After 9/11, Gary Shapiro

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Nietzsche describes his four Unzeitgemiisse Betrachtungen as Attentate, assassination attempts. The first of these, his self-described "duel" with David Friedrich Strauss, published in 1873, begins with the question of war and time. It is untimely or out of season insofar as it challenges the smugness of the cultural philistines who take Germany's victory in the Franco-Prussian War to be a testament to the superiority of German culture. As those in the United States might have learned after the end of the Cold War and after the first Gulf War, "a great victory is a great danger," and we might …

The Ethical Lacunae In Friedman's Concept Of The Manager, Jonathan B. Wight, Martin Calkins

Economics Faculty Publications

This article challenges along two lines Milton Friedman's injunction that the sole role of the business manager is to maximize profits for shareholders using all legal and ethical means. First, it shows how Friedman overly narrows the manager's moral duties to consequentialist profit maximization and thereby fails to account for a wide range of values and virtues necessary for good management. Second, it illustrates how more oblique approaches to management as well as Adam Smith's virtue-based model better capture the moral imagination and relational aspects of leadership that are critical to good management today. In the end, this article suggests …

Physicalism And Phenomenal Experience, Nicholas Timme '08

Honors Projects

Within this paper a physicalist account of phenomenal experience is presented in a roughly four part process. First, Levine's "explanatory gap" and Kripke's argument against type-identity physicalism are presented as examples of anti-physicalist arguments to be countered. Kripke's arguments request an explanation for the felt contingency of the statement 'pain is C-fiber firing.' Levine's explanatory gap is the inability of statements like 'pain is C-fiber firing' to explain within physicalist theories why C-fiber firing feels like pain. In the second part a physicalist account ofphenomenal experience is presented. This account relies upon a formalization of the mereological structure of events. …

Review Of "Goodness And Justice: A Consequentialist Moral Theory", Brian G. Henning

Philosophy Faculty Scholarship

A review of Joseph Mendola's Goodness and Justice: A Consequentialist Moral Theory, published by Cambridge University Press in 2006.

"The Anchor Of The Soul That Enters Within The Veil": The Ascension Of The "Son" In The Letter To The Hebrews, Felix H. Cortez

Dissertations

Problem
This dissertation studies the nature of Jesus’ ascension to heaven and its role in the argument of Hebrews.

Method
The study consists of an analysis of those passages in which Jesus’ ascension is referred to directly (Heb 1:6; 4:14-16; 6:19-20; 9:11-14, 24; 10:19-22) and a study of the imagery Hebrews uses to couch its theology, giving special attention to the role of this imagery in the progression of the argument. The study is both exegetical and theological in nature, seeking to provide an analysis of specific passages as well as systematization of their import.

Results
The six passages that …

Death And Truth: "Love Is My Religion", Joshua I. Bush

Whittier Scholars Program

There are many questions within the world that we as human beings have not yet found the answer to. These types of issues are often not discussed within mainstream society and have created tremendous debates that produce inconclusive evidence and ideas that cannot be used to create a distinct conclusion. Religious discussions and debates amongst various religious communities undoubtedly exhibit signs of being one of these inconclusive issues. With this in mind, in order to understand how religion was developed, we much first discover the responses of each religion to the unexplainable questions. Death is essentially the ultimate unknown as …

Mad About The Boy, Debra Mayrhofer

Research outputs pre 2011

The media coverage of an out-of-control teenage party in the Melbourne suburb of Narre Warren on 12 January 2008, and its construction of the protagonist who threw the party, has highlighted once again the inequitable treatment of youth, particularly adolescent males, in the Australian media. This paper examines the coverage in terms of the discursive strategies used by the mainstream Australian media to legitimise and naturalise the denigration and humiliation of the boy involved. It will discuss the ongoing demonisation of young males in general, and the concomitant ‘panics’ about their degeneration into moral lassitude, as well as the particular …

Four Varieties Of Character-Based Virtue Epistemology, Jason Baehr

Philosophy Faculty Works

The terrain of character-based or “responsibilist” virtue epistemology has evolved dramatically over the last decade — so much so that it is far from clear what, if anything, unifies the various views put forth in this area. In an attempt to bring some clarity to the overall thrust and structure of this movement, I develop a fourfold classification of character-based virtue epistemologies. I also offer a qualified assessment of each approach, defending a certain account of the probable future of this burgeoning subfield.

Philosophy And Theology: Notes On Infanticide, Christopher Kaczor

Philosophy Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

The Morality Of Palestinian Terrorism, Timothy Shanahan

Philosophy Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Shakespeare And The Interhuman: The Mimetic Chrysalis Of Buber's Between, Elizabeth Burford Lang

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Shakespeare's plays survive and thrive from age to age in large part due to the incomparably mimetic "rightness" of his characters. However, the various schools of post-modern literary criticism - New Historicist, Cultural Materialist, most variations of cultural theory as applied to literature - definitively deny the possibility of an essential humanity, the very concept on which discussions of character and mimesis must stand.

The work of Martin Buber contributes a means of moderating that conversation. Buber, a self-described "believing" humanist, sought and achieved a semantic framework capable of describing the intersection of man, fellow man, and spirit while obviating …

Interpersonal Relationships And Community In Kierkegaard's Thought, J. Michael Tilley

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Kierkegaard is generally regarded as a quintessential individualist who leaves no room for social or political engagement. This interpretation is the dominant lens through which many scholars view Kierkegaard, and it also shapes the way Kierkegaard’s thought has been received by his followers and critics. Many recent works have significantly challenged the traditional interpretation of Kierkegaard, but they have not examined the topic systematically. In order to remedy this deficit, this study provides a holistic account of Kierkegaard’s social thought. First, it challenges the dominant view that society as represented by the crowd is simply a foil for Kierkegaard’s individual …

(Dis)Solving The Chronological Paradox In Customary International Law: A Hartian Approach, David Lefkowitz

Philosophy Faculty Publications

As traditionally conceived, the creation of a new rule of customary international law requires that states believe the law to already require the conduct specified in the rule. Distinguishing the process whereby a customary rule comes to exist from the process whereby that customary rule becomes law dissolves this chronological paradox. Creation of a customary rule requires only that states come to believe that there exists a normative standard to which they ought to adhere, not that this standard is law. What makes the customary rule law is adherence by officials in the international legal system to a rule of …

On The Foundation Of Rights To Political Self-Determination: Secession, Non-Intervention, And Democratic Governance, David Lefkowitz

Philosophy Faculty Publications

From a justificatory standpoint, perhaps the most basic question with respect to secession is what, if anything, provides the moral foundation for a group’s right to secede. My aim here is to make a start to answering this question. I do so, however, by considering a different, albeit closely related, question, namely what is the nature of the wrong done to members of a qualified group denied secession by the state that currently rules them? A compelling answer to this latter question, I suggest, will contribute significantly to a satisfactory answer of the former one.

Jagannath's Saligram: On Bruno Latour And Literary Critique After Postcoloniality, Amit Ray, Evan Selinger

Articles

Bruno Latour has turned to Indian vernacular fiction to illustrate the limits of ideology critique. In examining the method of literary analysis that underlies his appropriation of postcolonial history and culture, we appeal to Edward Said's notion of "traveling theory" in order to discuss critically the aesthetic as well as political stakes of using the technology of the modern novel for the allegorical purposes that Latour has in mind. We argue that Latourian analysis fails to uphold its own rigorous aspirations when it reduces complex literary and cultural representation to universal allegory.

Real Philosophy, Good Teaching, And Academic Freedom, Lou Matz

College of the Pacific Faculty Articles

In its “Statements on the Profession: The Teaching of Philosophy,” the APA exhorts philosophers, philosophy departments, and their institutions to be committed to providing “educational experiences of high quality.”1 To this end, the APA Newsletter on Teaching Philosophy shares pedagogical best practices, giving faculty and departments new ideas and approaches to teaching philosophy more effectively and to improving philosophy curricula. In certain circumstances, it is not enough, however, to use effective teaching methods; one must persuade one’s colleagues and institution that one is, in fact, delivering a quality educational experience. Since teaching skill is determined by others—especially by one’s colleagues …

Adam Smith And His Sources: The Evil Of Independence, Sandra J. Peart, David M. Levy

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

This paper explores the foundations of Adam Smith’s view that the philosopher is the same as the street porter. Despite their innate similarity, Smith recognized that the role of the philosopher, someone who provides useful instruction to fellow humans, is not that of the street porter (Pear and Levy 2005; Schliesser 2005, 2006). He also saw that this potentially useful employment may entail a biased perspective on human conduct. Motivated by matters too distant for ordinary people to notice, the philosopher may come to believe that he is better than those he studies and to regard himself as independent form …

Ethics In Experimentation, Donelson R. Forsyth

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

Experimentation in the social sciences, by its very nature, requires researchers to manipulate and control key aspects of the social setting so as to determine what effect, if any, these manipulations have on the people in that setting. Such studies, although unmatched in terms of their scientific yield, nonetheless raise questions of ethics: Do researchers have the moral right to conduct experiments on their fellow human beings? What practices are unacceptable and what procedures are allowable? Can standards be established to safeguard the rights of participants?

Reconstructing Xunzi's Moral Knowledge, Hok Nam Chan

Lingnan Theses

Reconstructing the content of Xunzi’s (荀子) moral knowledge is the main goal of this thesis. A first main task of this reconstruction is to provide a clarification of the content and functions of li. A second primary goal of the reconstruction is to discuss the roles and functions of the moral sage or morally superior person, junzi (君子), in Xunzi’s account of moral practice. The figure of the sage is important in explaining the rationale of li and exemplifying how to behave in accordance with the rules of proper conduct in different situations. As truth is essential to knowledge, it …

Do Sages Have Emotions?, Alan Kam Leung Chan

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Contemporary discussions of Confucian philosophy may tend to privilege certain key ethical concepts such as “benevolence“ (ren 仁) and “filial piety” (xiao 孝), but in traditional China much of the Confucian hermeneutical and philosophical enterprise revolved around the figure of the ideal “sage” (shengren 聖 人 ). Virtues are neither abstract nor self-existing; they are seen to cohere and find profound expression in the being of the sage. In this context, “sagehood“ thus emerges as a critical concern in Confucian self-understanding. Can sagehood be attained? Can the “average person” (zhongren 中人), indeed, become like Confucius, the sage par excellence, who …

Augustine's Inversion Of 1 John 4:8, Roland Teske

Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Art Without Cultural Borders: Reflections On Qin Feng's Art, Curtis Carter

Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Origin Of Intentionality, Darryl J. Murphy

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The modern origins of intentionality reside in the early work of Franz Brentano—specifically, his Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint (1876) and the notion of the “intentional inexistence” of the object of consciousness presented therein. “Intentional inexistence”, says Brentano, is the fundamental distinguishing characteristic of the objects that occupy our desires, aversions, thoughts, and all of our conscious activities in general. According to Brentano, “Aristotle himself spoke of this mental inexistence. In his book on the soul he says that the sensed object, as such, is in the sensing subject; that the sense contains the sensed object without its matter; that …

The Significance Of Trust For Ethics Critical And Applied: A Critical Account Of Watsuji's Metaethics, Sean Patrick Smith

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Watsuji Tetsuro's philosophy in the early 20th Century presented a view of ethics that was markedly different from the more common theories of the Western philosophical tradition. He viewed ethics as a natural outgrowth of our essential nature as human beings. By investigating what it means to be human, Watsuji argued, one could develop a stronger understanding of our reasons and methods for being ethical. One of his ideas involved trust's importance and inevitability in our ethical palette. Developed by Watsuji, this connection between trust and our nature as human beings was interesting.

It is my claim that how we …

On Human Migration And The Moral Obligations Of Business, Linda H. Harris

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This work addresses to what extent businesses in the United States and the European Union have a moral obligation to participate in social integration processes in areas where they operate with the use of migrant laborers. It begins with the presupposition that a common framework as to what constitutes ethical behavior in business is needed and beneficial. It argues that the very industry that creates a need for migrant labor ought to also be involved in merging this labor successfully into the existing community and specifies that a discourse on business ethics and migration is gravely needed. This must be …

Control, Counter-Examples, And Reasons-Reluctance, Nicolas Michaud

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This work considers the soundness of Henry Frankfurt's argument that the principle of alternative possibilities is false and the implications of his argument for holding agents responsible in a causally determined universe. Frankfurt does seem to be pointing clearly to the fact that many of us do continue to hold agents responsible despite a lack of alternative possibilities. What Frankfurt may be lacking is an adequate account of control which is taken up by John Martin Fischer. What Fischer presents us with is the possibility that the reason why we continue to hold Jones responsible is because of the kind …

Toward A Poeticognosis: Re-Reading Plato's The Republic Via Wallace Stevens' "An Ordinary Evening In New Haven", Dan Disney

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

This article is a language-based re-reading of Plato's exile of the poets via Wallace Stevens' poem-manifesto, "An Ordinary Evening in New Haven." I examine how philosophy and poetry use language differently in order to deconstruct an origin of the speech-acts -- wonder -- that I then identify as a phenomenological difference between philosophers and poets. I contend that the thinking-into-language of philosophers is based in theoria, comprehension, and a resulting closure of wonder. I contrast this with the processes of poets, who I show to be moving thought into language via gnosis, apprehension, and a phenomenology opening onto …

The Relationship Of Preservice Teachers' And Faculty Members' Perceptions Of Critical Thinking And Their Epistemological Beliefs, Meskerem Debele

Graduate Research Papers

The term "critical thinking" has recently been used in the Ethiopian educational policy documents as well as in its teacher education curricula. Even though the concept has been given a central importance by being the central goal of education at all levels, a well established understanding and practice of nurturing critical thinking at school level, as well as at teacher education and training curriculum has not been achieved yet. From the personal experience both as pre-service teacher and then as teacher educator in Bahir Dar university, one of the teacher education institutions in the country, I have observed, especially during …

Stephen James On The Challenge Of Human Rights: Origin, Development And Significance By Jack Mahoney. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2007. 215pp., Stephen James

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

The Challenge of Human Rights: Origin, Development and Significance by Jack Mahoney. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2007. 215pp.