Philosophy Commons^™

The Deception Of Perception: Browning, Childe Roland, And Supersensory Belief, Catherine Blass

All Theses

Browning's fascination with the senses and the mind as determiners of reality floods his work. 'Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came,' in particular, offers a more complicated, sincere exploration of this topic that had become central to Victorian debate. As Browning acknowledges repeatedly through his poetry, the debate between sensory data (empiricism) and supersensory belief (idealism) could not be understood in clear-cut categories. In much of his poetry, however, he grounds these questions in deceptively simple discussions of mesmerism or the Victorian philosophy of the mind. Although those two topics may seem disparate to twenty-first century readers, Victorian belief …

Using Stable Isotope Analysis To Study Altitudinal And Latitudinal Bat Migration, Lily Arias

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The general lack of knowledge on basic aspects of the biology of temperate and tropical bats, their low reproductive rates, and threats such as white-nose syndrome, wind farms, and habitat loss, make them very susceptible to population declines. My research uses an innovative technique, the analysis of stable isotopes, to study the ecology of bat migration with the main goals of contributing significantly to the understanding of bat biology and assessing the conservation status and susceptibility of bats. In the first chapter, I measured the content of hydrogen isotopes in fur samples of migratory bat species killed at a wind …

The Incompatibility Of Freedom Of The Will And Anthropological Physicalism, Ariel Gonzalez

HIM 1990-2015

Many contemporary naturalistic philosophers have taken it for granted that a robust theory of free will, one which would afford us with an agency substantial enough to render us morally responsible for our actions, is itself not conceptually compatible with the philosophical theory of naturalism. I attempt to account for why it is that free will (in its most substantial form) cannot be plausibly located within a naturalistic understanding of the world. I consider the issues surrounding an acceptance of a robust theory of free will within a naturalistic framework. Timothy O’Connor’s reconciliatory effort in maintaining both a scientifically naturalist …

Positive Individualism, Rebecca Perdomo

HIM 1990-2015

I will present and defend the notion of what I call Positive Individualism. Its purpose is to set forth a standard by which people are to treat others and themselves. I consider a common conception of individualism, its flaws, and a process of refining it. I formulate Positive Individualism, an idea in which every individual is valuable and therefore ought to be treated with respect and dignity by others. If this conception and the standards set forth were to be applied, communities would be able to function successfully and without compromising the individual since, as I argue, the individual is …

Levinas On The 'Origin' Of Justice: Kant, Heidegger, And A Communal Structure Of Difference, Olga Tomasello

HIM 1990-2015

The way we understand community fundamentally structures the way we approach justice. In opposition to totalizing structures of justice founded upon an ontological conception of community, Emmanuel Levinas conceives the possibility of a political or social structure of difference. I argue that the conceptions of community presented by Kant and Heidegger, either as a harmonious, unified being in common, or as a common-identity disclosed beneath the ontological horizon of being-with, necessarily leads to violence. This violence is reflected in the forms of justice instantiated by these philosophies, which privilege the ‘light’ of the universal over the particularity of individuals in …

The Immortality Of The Soul In Plato's Phaedo, Julie Stayton

Philosophy Honors Theses

Plato gives an account of the immortality of the soul in his dialogue, the Phaedo. The dialogue consists of three so-called arguments, followed by the final argument for the immortality of the soul. The final argument is able to stand on its own as a conclusive argument for the soul's immortality. However, several key concepts, namely the Principle of Opposites and the positioning of the soul in Plato's ontology, are introduced and developed in the first three arguments. My thesis contains two parts: first, I argue for an interpretation of Plato's dialogue and an ontology that presents itself through the …

Killing And Letting Die: The Irrelevant Distinction, Sarah Beth Shaw

Honors College Theses

The object of this essay is to explain why the distinctions made in euthanasia between killing vs. letting die and willingness to kill vs. unwillingness to kill are not relevant to real life euthanasia cases. The specific purpose of the research is to isolate the relevant factor for debate when discussing the morality of euthanasia. It begins with a brief examination of some vocabulary that is commonly used when discussing euthanasia. Following this is a quick overview of what the word euthanasia meant in the ancient Greco-Roman world compared to what it means in the modern vernacular. I use an …

Individual And Social Ontologies Of The Self: Analyzing The Spectrums Of Selfhood, Evan Alexander Ferguson

Senior Theses

I propose to engage in a survey and critical evaluation of various fundamental understandings of selfhood. I will organize my analysis along two ontological dimensions. The first considers the difference between individualist and communalist understandings of the self. The second considers the difference between essentialist and non-essentialist (or socially constructed) understandings of the self. My intention is to argue for a view that is conducive to human flourishing by providing greater understanding of the self in relation to certain aspects of one’s existence through which one can create meaning, and live a life directed towards the good as an individual …

Effects Of Light Brushing On Clinical Pain Intensity And Experimental Pain Sensitivity In Fibromyalgia Patients, Melissa Wassink

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Comparison Of Lower Trapezius Muscle Thickness In Patients With And Without Scapular Dyskinesis Measured With Diagnostic Ultrasound, Alex Vandeusen

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Context: Dyskinesis has been linked to deficits in muscular strength and neuromuscular control of the scapular stabilizers. Often, when treating overhead athletes with pathological shoulders, Athletic Trainers focus on rotator cuff and scapular muscle strength to find resolution, yet the role of the lower trapezius strength in scapular dyskinesis is not well understood. Objective: To identify differences among varying levels of scapular dyskinesis on lower trapezius muscle thickness and strength. To identify the relationship between lower trapezius muscle thickness and strength with varying levels of scapular dyskinesis . To identify the relationship between pain and function within varying levels of …

Perceived Vs Actual Clinical Performance Of Athletic Training Students, Joseph C. Rosauer

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Context: Research has suggested a knowledge gap exist within the healthcare community. Identifying potential knowledge gaps and the use of self-reflection can be used to decrease these gaps can affect patient outcomes. Objective: To determine if knowledge gaps do exist within athletic training student’s (ATS) clinical education. Design: Longitudinal non-experimental retrospective study. Subjects: 141 mid semester evaluations of sophomore ATS over a four year period. Main Outcome Measures: We assessed potential knowledge gaps of ATS in the clinical setting. We calculated the difference between a preceptor evaluation of the student and student’s self-evaluation using a One-way ANOVA. We also looked …

Factors Affecting The Probability Of Acoustic Detection And Site Occupancy Of Bats In Central Indiana, Zachary David Epping Kaiser

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Documenting the presence of rare bat species can be difficult. The current summer survey protocol for the federally endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) requires passive acoustic sampling with directional microphones (e.g., Anabats), but there are still questions about best practices for choosing survey sites and appropriate detector models. Indiana bats are capable of foraging in an array of cover types, including structurally-complex, interior forests. Further, data acquisition among different commercially available bat detectors is likely highly variable, due to the use of proprietary microphones with different frequency responses, sensitivities, and directionality. We paired omnidirectional Wildlife Acoustic SM2BAT+ (SM2) and directional …

The Ecology And Morphology Of Deep-Sea Benthic Foraminifera: The Australian Margin And Epifaunal Pore Characteristics, Jake Willingham

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The distribution and abundance patterns of modern benthic foraminifera are used by paleoceanographers to assess changes in ocean conditions over geologic time. Examination of modern foraminiferal analogs provides the means to determine how these single-celled protists record clues about ambient conditions in their morphology and abundance/distribution patterns. Abundance and vertical distribution patterns of deep-sea benthic foraminifera were examined along the South Australian Margin and Tasman Sea of Australia. This was one of the first studies to examine microhabitat preferences of living (Rose Bengal stained) deep-sea benthic foraminifera within the region. A total of 11 sediment cores were collected via multicorer. …

Narrating Gender: A Feminist Approach To The Narratives Of The Transgender Experience, Jamie K. Lange

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Gender and identity are complex and often ubiquitous in nature. This is a study about gender and identity and the ways in which they manifest through the narratives of five transgender individuals, who all transitioned after the age of 45, who now live as women. This study about the transgender experience adds a significant and important perspective on gender, identity, identification, and the relationship between gender and identity. The most important conclusions are the lengths to which these people go to support gender social constructs, reinforcing the immense strength of the social construction of gender. The idea that social constructs …

Language, Technology And The “They Self”: How Linguistic Manipulation Of Mass And Social Media Distract From The Authentic Self, Edith M. Talley

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis examines German philosopher Martin Heidegger’s concepts of being and time, the role of language in being, and ways of authentic being through the lens of modern media practices in the Information Age. It relates Heidegger’s philosophy to the media ecology theory introduced by Marshall McLuhan in the 1960s by exploring McLuhan’s themes of tribal, typographical and electronic man. In addition, this thesis considers the role of mass media in information dissemination. The goal of this report is to explicate the shaping effects of mass media, especially social media, on individual perceptions and societal culture and identify ways in …

A Semantic Conception Of Truth, Jonathan Lumpkin

Senior Honors Theses

I explore three main points in Alfred Tarski’s Semantic Conception of Truth and the Foundation of Theoretical Semantics: (1) his physicalist program, (2) a general theory of truth, and (3) the necessity of a metalanguage when defining truth. Hartry Field argued that Tarski’s theory of truth failed to accomplish what it set out to do, which was to ground truth and semantics in physicalist terms. I argue that Tarski has been adequately defended by Richard Kirkham. Development of logic in the past three decades has created a shift away from Fregean and Russellian understandings of quantification to an independent conception …

Time, History, And Providence In The Philosophy Of Nicholas Of Cusa, Jason Aleksander

Faculty Publications

Although Nicholas of Cusa occasionally discussed how the universe must be understood as the unfolding of the absolutely infinite in time, he left open questions about any distinction between natural time and historical time, how either notion of time might depend upon the nature of divine providence, and how his understanding of divine providence relates to other traditional philosophical views. From texts in which Cusanus discussed these questions, this paper will attempt to make explicit how Cusanus understood divine providence. The paper will also discuss how Nicholas of Cusa’s view of the question of providence might shed light on Renaissance …

Measuring The Effects Of An American Physiological Society’S Phun Week Activity On 2nd Grade Students, James Edelman

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the last few years the United States has been on the decline in the fields of science and technology. The American Physiological Society (APS) has developed a program to engage young minds with scientists. Physiology Understanding Week (PhUn) is the APS initiative to use interactive experiments to engage school-age children with science and physiology. Even though PhUn Week has been going on since 2005, systematic assessment of the activities effects is rare. Here, we sought to assess if an APS PhUn Week activity enhances physiology understanding and interest in science in second grade children form a rural area. The …

Behind His Father's Saying: Robert Frost's Wisdom Tradition, James H. Altman

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

It is no coincidence that Robert Frost draws on the European/American aphoristic wisdom tradition. From the fables of Aesop, to the esotericism of pre-Socratic Greek philosophers such as Pythagoras and Empedocles, to the works of moralists like Blaise Pascal and Michel De Montaigne, to Erasmus, Frederick Nietzsche and others, Robert Frost weaves diverse wisdom into his work. He does not, however, as much take verbatim the words or sentiments of those who inspire him. Rather he adapts the spirit of their thoughts for his own purposes. Why and how does he do this? What are those purposes, and their subsequent …

Against Self-Defense, Stephen Blake Hereth

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Absolute Pacifism (or AP) is the thesis that no act of assault is morally permissible. This entails that all acts of self-defensive assault are impermissible. This essay defends AP against non-eliminativist theories of justified self-defensive assault - that is, theories of self-defensive assault which, contrary to AP, claim that at least some instances of self-defensive assault are morally permissible. Chapter 1 begins by defining assault and AP and subsequently exploring a species of AP wedded to the Doctrine of Double Effect (or DDE). Chapter 2 defends AP against the thesis that self-defensive assault is morally permissible but not morally obligatory. …

N, N-Dimethyltryptamine And Biological Reductive Accounts For Religious And Spiritual Experiences, Shaun Smith

2014-2016 Graduate

There is unquestionably a plethora of details and mysteries regarding the mind and the body. However, with the advent of psychopharmacology (the study of how psychedelics inform or alter brain states), there are more issues at hand. Do psychedelics allow us to access deeper areas of our consciousness? Are we having a spiritual experience under the influence of psychedelics? Dr. Rick Strassman does not want to continue asking these rather conspiratorial-like questions. Instead, Dr. Strassman believes that there is one special, endogenous psychedelic, synthesized within the human physiological framework: N, N-Dymthethyltryptamine. Dr. Strassman concludes that this chemical is produced within …

Humanity Hyper-Externalized, Josh Gloe

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduation requirement for the BSU Honors Program.

Richey, Ish Harden, 1905-1985 (Sc 1485), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 1485. Book manuscript titled "Some Philosophical Aspects of Christianity, History, Literature and Education." The material was published by Richey in 1979.

Toward A Deweyan Theory Of Ethical And Aesthetic Performing Arts Practice, Aili W. Bresnahan

Philosophy Faculty Publications

This paper formulates a Deweyan theory of performing arts practice that relies for its support on two main things:

1. The unity Dewey ascribed to all intelligent practices (including artistic practice) and
2. The observation that many aspects of the work of performing artists of Dewey’s time include features (“dramatic rehearsal,” action, interaction and habit development) that are part of Dewey’s characterization of the moral life.

This does not deny the deep import that Dewey ascribed to aesthetic experience (both in art and in life), but it does suggest that we might use his theory of ethical practice in conjunction with his …

(Im)Partiality, Compassion, And Cross-Cultural Change: Re-Envisioning Political Decision-Making And Free Expression, Emily Wade

Philosophy Honors Projects

Past justifications of free expression rely on the crucial role speech plays in deliberative democracies and respecting persons. Beneath each of these justifications lies the common goal of creating greater justice for individuals and groups. Yet 20th century political liberalism limits the kinds of arguments that ought to motivate political decisions. In this paper I explore how an inclusive political decision-making process can bring about a more just world. By relying on personal views and compassion rather than impartiality and reasonability, political actors can engage in a discourse that results in greater understanding among persons and lasting community change.

The Virtues Of Justice, John Thrasher, David Schmidtz

Philosophy Faculty Books and Book Chapters

"This essay considers (and endorses) three complementary conceptions of justice as virtue. To the two senses of justice just mentioned-justice as a virtue of the soul and of the polis-we add a third that bridges these two. Virtue can be a kind of outreach rather than a kind of internal harmony, because we are talking about essentially social beings. The harmony that is this virtue's object is harmony with a community. Thus, a person who is just in this sense is disposed to respect (play within the rules of) institutions that command respect by virtue of actually working-that is, actually …

A Schizocartography Of The University Of Leeds: Cognitively Mapping The Campus, Tina Richardson

disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory

Since 2009 I have been walking and mapping the University of Leeds (United Kingdom) campus as part of the research for my thesis which I shall be submitting shortly. While not a cartographer, nor artist, I am a psychogeographer: someone who studies and critiques the urban environment using walking as part of the methodology.While this mapping aspect of my thesis sits within a larger project of critiquing the historical use and acquisition of campus space by the university, the cartographical part stands in its own right. Some of the examples provided in this essay are created as a response to …

Contesting Faith, Truth, And Religious Language At The Creation Museum: A Historical-Theological Reflection, Brent A. R. Hege

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

The Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, attempts to demonstrate the flaws in contemporary science and to offer an alternative explanation of human origins and biological complexity rooted in a specific reading of the biblical narrative. This effort, however, is paradoxically rooted in the worldview of modern science and the Enlightenment. This article will examine the Creation Museum’s definitions of faith, truth, and religious language and will compare these definitions to those of mainline Protestant Christianity to uncover the historical and theological presuppositions of Creationist and mainline Protestant engagements with contemporary science.

The Truth About Honesty: An Interdisciplinary Analysis Of The Trait Of Honesty, Jared Talley, Lauren Stevens, Drew Lindgren, Sara Couture, Amanda Lynch, Kyle Brasil, Trevor Adams, Kim Hayes

College of Arts and Sciences Presentations

In both the psychological and philosophical literature, there is little time devoted to a robust understanding of the character trait of honesty. The trait of honesty is often used as an example of a beneficial or good character trait, yet the gap in the literature raises a vexing question: what is honesty? This poster reports ongoing work aimed at identifying folk theories of honesty. We argue that an understanding of these theories can illuminate a principled understanding of this character trait in both psychology and philosophy.

Currently, we are using qualitative surveys to develop an operational definition of honesty. This …

Experimental Philosophy--An Emerging Discipline, Lauren Stevens, Kyle Brasil, Travis Bundy, Sara Couture, Kim Hayes, Drew Lindgren, Amanda Lynch, Jared Talley, Patrick Beach, Stephen Crowley, Kimberly Mcadams

College of Arts and Sciences Presentations

This poster will explain the nature of a newly emerging field in philosophy called experimental philosophy (“X-phi”) and its presence on Boise State’s campus. BSU’s X-phi group operates via gathering data from “everyday” people, sorting and statistically analyzing the data, then reviewing trends identified people’s intuitions about certain concepts (e.g. know-how, intentional action, moral correctness, etc.). We are exploring the concept of Honesty—a concept that has, to date, not been adequately analyzed. To distinguish theories developed as a result of this research, X-phi employs the term “folk theory”, literally referring to the theory that the majority of people are found …