Philosophy Commons^™

Phenomenology As Eschatological Materialism, Neal Deroo

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

No abstract provided.

Cartesian Skepticism As Moral Dilemma, Jennifer Woodward

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

I argue that despite the fact that there can be no strong refutation of skepticism it remains that ignoring skeptical hypotheses and relying on one’s sensory experience are both sound epistemic practices. This argument comes in the form of arguing that we are justified in ignoring skeptical hypotheses on the grounds that (1) they are merely logically possible, and (2) the merely logically possible is rarely relevant in the context of everyday life. I suggest that (2) is true on the grounds that the context of everyday life is one in which our epistemic pursuit of truth is mixed with …

Marx's Concept Of The Transcendence Of Value Production, Peter Hudis

Dissertations

Although the literature produced on Marx's philosophic contribution over the past 100 years is immense, most of it has focused on his analysis of the economic and political structure of capitalism, the "materialist conception of history," and his critique of value production. There has been very little discussion or analysis, however, of his conception of what constitutes an alternative to capitalism. One reason for this is that it has long been assumed that Marx's disdain for utopian socialists and his strictures against inventing "blueprints about the future" meant that his work does not address the possible content of a postcapitalist …

Politics Of Beauty, Ken-Ichi Sasaki

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

I look back at the history of modern aesthetics to grasp its current situation and to propose its possibilities for the future. The early modern period, during which aesthetics came into being, was a great historical turning point for civilization. Our contemporary period shares this character, and it is worthwhile for us to consult its history in order to reflect on our civilization. Aesthetics began with Baumgarten’s proposal, which consisted in a triple subject: sensibility, beauty, and art. His idea was accepted because it responded to the fundamental problems of the period. Sensibility was the only form of cognition of …

Stories In Pictures (And Non-Pictorial Objects): A Narratological And Cognitive Psychological Approach, Michael Ranta

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

Narratological studies have frequently focused upon linguistic structures, considered to be paradigmatic cases of narrativity, while pictorial signs, such as icons and symbols or indices, have received comparably much less attention. In this paper, however, some basic and regularly occurring narrative aspects of pictures and non-pictorial objects will be presented and discussed.

Aura, Self, And Aesthetic Experience, Marshall Battani

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

Aesthetic experiences are generated in encounters with cultural objects and such experiences are marked by the free play of cognitive and numinous experience unstructured by concepts. Kant’s famous three types of pleasure, made infamous in social theory by Pierre Bourdieu, are examined in relation to the critical theoretical concept of aura, the social psychology of “flow,” and cognitive explanations of perception to explain experience in aesthetic fields. Theories of aesthetic experience developed at the crossroad of critical social thought and cognitive science hold promise for a social analysis able to avoid the usual sociological pitfalls of either ignoring aesthetics or …

The Role Of Consensus In The Neutrality/Advocacy Debate, Michael Patrick Bailey

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The debate over the preferred teaching method of ethics is between the methods of neutrality and advocacy. Proponents of each assume that only one method is acceptable. I argue that both methods have acceptable versions and that there are different situations in which one is preferred over the other.

Using both methods throughout an ethics course is preferable to using only one method exclusively. The question then becomes how one decides which method to use with each particular issue. I argue that it depends on whether an ethical issue is controversial or whether or not a consensus exists.

Controversy and …

A Kantian Argument Against Comparatively Advantageous Genetic Modification, David Jensen

Faculty Publications

The genetic modification of children is becoming a more likely possibility given our rapid progress in medical technologies. I argue, from a broadly Kantian point of view, that at least one kind of such modificationdmodification by a parent for the sake of a child’s comparative advantagedis not rationally justified. To argue this, I first characterize a necessary condition on reasons and rational justification: what is a reason for an agent to do an action in one set of circumstances must be a reason for any in those circumstances to do the action. I then show that comparatively advantageous genetic modification …

Decisions, Moral Status, And The Early Fetus, David Jensen

Faculty Publications

In “Creation Ethics: The Moral Status of Early Fetuses and the Ethics of Abortion,” Elizabeth Harman has offered a novel approach to settling the question of the moral status of some fetuses. In the case of an early fetus (one lacking intrinsic properties that convey moral status), Harman maintains that, already lacking intrinsic properties, an early fetus that additionally lacks a future thus lacks moral status. However, Harman argues that this lacking does not figure into rational decision making about aborting one’s fetus since the decision to abort determines the fetus’s having a future and, in turn, its moral status; …

Externalizing Communicative Intentions, Charles Lassiter

Philosophy Faculty Scholarship

In this paper, I argue that an embodied cognition theorist has resources available to her to fulfill the explanatory role of communicative intention without postulating inner, private intentions, as is typically done by cognitivists. I argue for this conclusion by identifying a publicity requirement and a sensitivity requirement that must be satisfied by realizers of communicative intentions a theoretical posit that explains the difference between linguistic meaning, as in John means cats are mammals by his utterance cats are mammals, and other sorts of meaning, as in that bell means the train doors are closing. I then show that a …

Editor's Introduction, Glenn Hartelius

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

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Mindfulness-Based Substance Abuse Treatment For Incarcerated Youth: A Mixed Method Pilot Study, Sam Himelstein

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The current study investigated the effects of an 8-week mindfulness-based substance use intervention

on self-reported impulsiveness, perceived drug risk, and healthy self-regulation in a sample of 60

incarcerated youth. Forty-eight participants completed questionnaires pre and post intervention.

Additionally, 16 participants from two of the final 8-week cohorts were interviewed in focus groups

about their experience of the program immediately following its completion. A mixed-method

embedded model was used, in which qualitative data was used in support of quantitative data. Paired

t-tests revealed a significant decrease (p < .01) in impulsiveness and a significant increase (p < .05)

in perceived risk of drug use from pretest to posttest. No …

Why Altered States Are Not Enough: A Perspective From Buddhism, Igor Berkhin, Glenn Hartelius

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Transpersonal psychology has at times employed Buddhist terminology in ways that do not

reflect distinctions that underlie these tightly defined terms. From a Buddhist perspective,

attempts to equate Buddhist terms with language from other traditions are misdirected, and

produce results that no longer represent Buddhism. For example, it is an error to translate

certain Buddhist terms as referring to a shared universal consciousness; Buddhism explicitly

rejects this idea. Nor is it appropriate to assume that the generic, cross-traditional altered

state of nondual awareness postulated in some transpersonally-related circles is in any way

related to nirvana or other advanced states described …

Rethinking Prayer And Health Research: An Exploratory Inquiry On Prayer’S Psychological Dimension, Adrian Andreescu

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

A brief literature review of cancer survival trials is employed by the author to raise questions

on their design and to bring speculatively into discussion concepts such as “worldview”,

“intentional normative dissociation”, and “psychosomatic plasticity-proneness”. Using prayer’s

psychological dimension as a way to unite such elements opens new fertile perspectives on

the academic study of prayer and health. In this context, it is suggested that a consistent

interdisciplinary research agenda is required in order to understand those biopsychosocial

factors interconnected within the process and outcome of prayer before attempting to

decipher the big answers laying dormant probably within the transpersonal …

On A Physical Scientific Approach To Transperson Al Psychology, Alan Haas

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Transpersonal psychology involves an approach to behavior and the self that transcends

ordinary states of mind as well as extends to the larger environment as a whole. Treating

the individual, their mind, and behavior in relation to others and the larger natural system

utilizing properly developed and practically applicable concepts from physics, chemistry, and

biology may provide a successful interpretation that may be more powerful than the standard

views of psychology. For instance, basic concepts such as charge pair attraction‑repulsion,

bonding, and synchronous behavior may be transformed into highly effective and even

“spiritual” concepts that can add sophistication to human …

The Indigenous Healing Tradition In Calabria, Italy, Stanley Krippner, Ashwin Budden, Roberto Gallante, Michael Bova

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

In 2003, the four of us spent several weeks in Calabria, Italy. We interviewed local people about folk

healing remedies, attended a Feast Day honoring St. Cosma and St. Damian, and paid two visits

to the Shrine of Madonna dello Scoglio, where we interviewed its founder, Fratel Cosimo. In this

essay, we have provided our impressions of Calabria and the ways in which its native people have

developed indigenous practices and beliefs around medicine and healing. Although it is one of the

poorest areas in Italy, Calabria is one of the richest in its folk traditions and alternative modes of …

Connectedness And Environmental Behavior: Sense Of Interconnectedness And Pro-Environmental Behavior, Robert E. Hoot, Harris Friedman

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The expansion of one’s sense of identity to include various aspects of the world, both human

and non-human, may relate to how one treats the world. This sense of interconnectedness

can be domain specific, as through identification with nature and the future, or very

general, as through an expanded transpersonal identification with all of reality unlimited

by time and space. This study explored the relationship between these two specific and

the more general type of interconnectedness on environmental beliefs and behavior. A

sample of 210 participants completed a battery of interconnectedness measures, including

two specific measures, the Connectedness to Nature …

The Deep Ecology Movement: Origins, Development, And Future Prospects (Toward A Transpersonal Ecosophy), Alan Drengson, Bill Devall, Mark A. Schroll

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The deep ecology movement, which began with Arne Naess’ introduction of the term in

1972, is compared with other movements for social responsibility that developed in the

20th century. The paper discusses Naess’ cross-cultural approach to characterizing grassroots

movements via platform principles that can be supported from a diversity of cultures,

worldviews, and personal philosophies, and explains his use of “ecosophy.” The deep ecology

movement’s relationship with ecopsychology, ecocriticism, and humanistic and transpersonal

psychology is described as part of an emerging synthesis referred to as transpersonal ecosophy.

The inquiry concludes with a technical discussion of Naess’ Apron Diagram and reflections …

Ecopsychology, Transpersonal Psychology, And Nonduality, John V. Davis

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Nonduality is at the core of both transpersonal psychology and ecopsychology and provides a

means of finding common ground between these approaches. However, misunderstandings

and the lack of an adequate conceptual language for nonduality have limited the value

of this concept for ecopsychology. Nonduality is presented as a range of experiences and

stages of development in which particulars are perceived and understood as part of an allencompassing

totality. Specifically, nonduality is understood in terms of a self-identity

in which separating boundaries no longer isolate one from other expressions of Being. A

description of nondual dimensions of Being based on the …

Yamato Kotoba: The Language Of The Flesh, Yukari Kunisue, Judy Schavrien

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This inquiry builds on the work of such thinkers as David Abram and Maurice Merleau-

Ponty; like their work, it addresses the fact that people in the Western developed world,

through their acculturations, sacrifice intimacy with the natural world. The article explores

one remedial measure: the Yamato Kotoba language of the Japanese. This is a language

before the Chinese injection of spoken and written words, one that preserves the earlier

words better suited, the authors propose, to expressing the interpenetrating experience of

the person with—in this case the Japanese—natural setting. Such an intimacy appears, for

instance, in Basho’s Haiku. In …

Modern Materialism Through The Lens Of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Alan Pope

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The suffering that gives rise to and is perpetuated by contemporary culture’s addiction to

materialistic consumption is described surprisingly well by the ancient tradition of Indo-

Tibetan Buddhism. From this perspective, modern human beings exemplify hungry ghosts

trapped in a state of incessant greed and insatiability, which at its core reflects a desperate

attempt to maintain a sense of self that is out of accord with basic reality. The rich Tibetan

Buddhist understanding of the unfolding process by which the hungry ghost negotiates its

project, including its attempts to avoid greater suffering and to seek bliss, serves to elucidate

our …

Singing To The Plants: A Guide To Mestizo Shamanism In The Upper Amazon, John Harrison

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

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Introduction To Special Topic Section: Ecopsychology’S Roots In Humanistic And Transpersonal Psychology, The Deep Ecology Movement, And Ecocriticism, Mark Schroll, Glenn Hartelius

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

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The Cognitive Neuroscience Of Consciousness, Mysticism And Psi, Les Lancaster

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The greatest contemporary challenge in the arena of cognitive neuroscience concerns the

relation between consciousness and the brain. Over recent years the focus of work in this

area has switched from the analysis of diverse spatial regions of the brain to that of the

timing of neural events. It appears that two conditions are necessary in order for neural

events to become correlated with conscious experience. First, the firing of assemblies of

neurones must achieve a degree of coherence, and, second, reflexive (i.e. top-down, or reentrant)

neural pathways must be activated. It does not, of course, follow that such neural …

Reflections On The Need For A More Complete History Of The Deep Ecology Movement And Related Disciplines, Michael E. Zimmerman

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

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Clearing Up Rollo May’S Views Of Transpersonal Psychology And Acknowledging May As An Early Supporter Of Ecopsychology, Mark A. Schroll, John Rowan, Oliver Robinson

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This paper explores Rollo May’s 1992 reassessment of transpersonal psychology, in which he reverses

his 1986 and 1989 arguments against transpersonal psychology. Equally relevant, this paper shows

that May was actually interested in supporting what is now called ecopsychology. Schroll (following

Alan Drengson and Arne Naess) now refers to ecopsychology as transpersonal ecosophy. This paper

offers a thorough examination of several key concerns that May had regarding his reservations

toward accepting transpersonal psychology’s legitimacy, and includes May’s vigorous discussion with

Ken Wilber. Wilber’s discussion with Kirk Schneider’s 1987 and 1989 critique of transpersonal

psychology is also examined. Likewise Albert Ellis’ …

Jung At The Foot Of Mount Kailash: A Transpersonal Synthesis Of Depth Psychology, Tibetan Tantra, And The Sacred Mythic Imagery Of East And West, Judson Davis

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Tibetan Buddhist Tantra and Jungian depth psychology represent two of the world’s more

dynamic psycho-spiritual traditions. This comparative study explores their respective

insights, cosmologies, and often striking similarities, with particular emphasis on the

manner in which mythic imagery is employed in both disciplines as a powerful agent

of healing and transformation. The ontological status of Tibetan deities and archetypal

entities is also given careful consideration, especially in relation to the phenomena of

psychic projection and autonomous spiritual dimensions.

Giving Voice To The Vulnerable: Discourse Ethics And Amnesty For Undocumented Immigration, Kyle Thomsen

Dissertations

The purpose of my dissertation is to explore the unique challenges facing undocumented migrants, and the claims to amnesty they can make. I take a discourse theoretic approach to this issue, following in the footsteps of Jürgen Habermas and Seyla Benhabib, among others. My thesis consists of the following claims. First, a rights-based approach to amnesty does not clearly distinguish between different types of immigrants (i.e. undocumented and potential immigrants). Second, the relevant distinguishing factor between undocumented and potential immigrants is what I refer to as rooted residency, a category which captures factors such as time spent in a nation, …

Contemplation And The Human Animal In The Philosophy Of St. Thomas Aquinas, Edyta M. Imai

Dissertations

This dissertation explores how, according to Thomas Aquinas, the operations of the sensitive soul are necessary for ordinary (i.e., not mystical) human contemplation, and for the acquisition of knowledge which precedes contemplation.

The sensitive soul is the soul possessed by all sentient beings, that is, animals, and thus, in examining the role of the sensitive soul in human contemplation we learn about the way the animal side of our nature participates in contemplation.

According to Aquinas, we possess natural inclinations, which direct us to our proper ends, our proper good. Knowledge of truth is also a good to which we …