Philosophy Commons^™

Structuralist Qualia, Lucas Jon Van Houten

CMC Senior Theses

Structuralist theories of properties state that properties are individuated by their nomological or causal roles. It has previously been suggested that structuralism is incompatible with robust conceptions of qualia. In this paper, I argue that structuralism should be taken as a theory of de re representation, and under this formulation it is able to accommodate qualia as intrinsic, introspectable properties of experiences. I then turn to various thought experiments used by qualia theorists to expand the notion of qualia, and find the majority of these compatible with structuralism as well. I conclude that the structuralists and qualia theorists need not …

The Artist's Dilemma; A Philosophical Analysis Of “Selling Out” And Its Impacts On Well-Being In The Music Industry, Jenson R. Tuomi

CMC Senior Theses

Beginning with a discussion of a concept referred to as “The Artist’s Dilemma,” my thesis discusses the common criticism of artists in the music industry that they can “sell out” by changing their sound, appearance, and jeopardizing their artistic integrity in exchange for financial or celebrity gain. Furthermore, it attempts to search for a universal guide by which artists in the music industry could circumnavigate this “artist’s dilemma” in order to ensure a meaningful career without over-playing their role as a celebrity, nor under-playing their role as a musician. In order to evaluate this topic, I consider multiple “real world” …

John Pecham On Life And Mind, Caleb G. Colley

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Political Perfectionism And Aesthetic Experience, Michael R. Spicher

Theses and Dissertations

Many people share the belief that the state can lend support to the arts and the natural environment for their cultural and aesthetic qualities. However, the question remains open as to what justifies this support. This question hinges on whether the state must be neutral in reference to judgment of values. The political anti-perfectionist positions of Rawls and Dworkin are inadequate to justify this kind of state support because the funding of art necessarily involves a judgment of value in two ways. First, the fact that the state funds any art requires that, in general, art is valuable. Second, determining …

Critically Developing Real Capabilities, Christopher Byron

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Critical Realism, the Capabilities Approach, and Marxism, all have underdeveloped theoretical problems. For Critical Realism, the ceteris paribus clause, which is used to asses an ideological critique, does not properly specify what other things warrant the dismissal or acceptance of said critique. For the Capabilities Approach, a proper ontology or metaphysics is missing, and the claim that the Capabilities Approach can be metaphysically neutral is false. Finally, Marxism is good at describing the more onerous aspects of capitalism (e.g., alienation, exploitation, crisis), but it does not provide normative force for seeing these descriptions as bad. I argue that these three …

David Hume And Arguments For Design, Devon Young

2014 Symposium

The 18th century Scottish philosopher David Hume is famous for his destructive critique of natural religion, as found in his book, the Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion. David Hume addresses six potentially fatal flaws with natural religion that originate from his radical skepticism of what can be known as true knowledge. This paper seeks to explain and offer potential refutations of two arguments in depth; namely, can we know of design a priori (before experiencing it) and can we know that kind A always causes kind B?

The Alchemical Heart: A Jungian Approach To The Heart Center In The Upanisads And In Eastern Christian Prayer, David M. Odorisio

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The heart is a rich symbol in religious traditions both East and West. When interpreted through a Jungian alchemical lens, the heart emerges as a symbol of psychospiritual

transformation, integration, and healing. This article re-visions the metaphor of the heart in the Upanisads and in Eastern Christian prayer through the use of Jung’s lectures on the heart cakra, his transcendent function theory, and as Spirit Mercurius. Each facet of this lens offers a variegated approach through which to explore the heart as mediating center of psychic polarities, what Jung referred to as the union of opposites. When …

Introduction To Special Topic Section: Toward A Transpersonal Medicine, Randy Fauver

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

NA

Walking Between Worlds: Holding Multiple Worldviews As A Key For Ecological Transformation, Jeanine M. Canty

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The current ecological, social, and personal crises spark the need for radical transformation

to shift from one world that is mechanistic, destructive, and egocentric to another that is

relational, life affirming, and embedded in the widest understandings of interconnected

selves. The author employed an organic research inquiry to depict the patterns of people

making this shift, identified six qualities, and found that embracing these crises provides

opportunity to enlarge individual and collective perspectives in a way that aligns with larger

systems of life opening one up to what has been called the multicultural self, the ecological

self, or the self-transforming …

Spontaneous/Radical Remission Of Cancer: Transpersonal Results From A Grounded Theory Study, Kelly A. Turner

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This grounded theory study aimed to collect hypotheses for spontaneous or radical remission (RR) of cancer, which is a remission that occurs without medical treatment, or with medical treatment considered inadequate to produce the remission. Interviews were conducted with 20 RR survivors and 50 non-conventional healers from 11 countries. Results showed that three underlying beliefs emerged: 1. Cancer thrives under certain conditions; 2. Illness represents blockage; and 3. A body-mind-spirit interaction exists. Six factors believed to be possible causes of RR also emerged: 1. Diet change; 2. Deepening spirituality; 3. Increasing happiness; 4. Releasing suppressed emotions; 5. Taking supplements; and …

Results Of A Transpersonal, Narrative, And Phenomenological Psychotherapy For Psychosis, Lewis Mehl-Madrona, Erik Jul, Barbara Mainguy

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

In our academically based, psychiatric outpatient practice, we have encountered those who wish to avoid medications for treatment for psychosis. This study is a qualitative/quantitative study in progress of a patient population diagnosed with psychosis and managed primarily without medication. We reflect upon the transpersonal foundations of an approach in which voices and visions are accepted as real, given full ontological status, and addressed within a dialogical framework. We present interim data on a series of 51 patients over 20 years old who presented with psychosis and who remained with us for at least six months in their effort to …

An Anatomical, Biochemical, Biophysical And Quantum Basis For The Unconscious Mind, James L. Oschman, Maurie D. Pressman

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This article suggests that it may now be possible to develop some theoretical and experimental bases for organic substructures involved in psychological phenomena including the unconscious. Our inquiry arose from mutual interest in the mechanisms involved in peak athletic and artistic performances and in deep therapeutic encounters. We are referring to a state of consciousness is often described by performers as “the zone.” This is a state in which individuals or groups function at an extraordinary level of perception and coordination; or a state in which therapists develop a deep connection with their clients’ repressed feelings or traumatic memories. Here …

Transpersonal Healing: Assessing The Evidence From Laboratory And Clinical Trials, Marilyn Schlitz

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Transpersonal or distant healing intention (DHI) is one of the most commonly used forms of complementary and alternative healing. While it is popular, its efficacy is uncertain and the mechanism of action unclear. This article provides an overview of both the laboratory research and clinical trials of DHI, summarizing the state of the field. There appears to be support, based on controlled laboratory studies, for a transpersonal dimension to DHI. Results of randomized, controlled clinical trials are more equivocal. While results do not offer clear evidence to support DHI as an evidence-based modality, this provocative field reveals important epistemological and …

What Constitutes Evidence In An Evidence-Based Psychology Of The Whole Person?, Glenn Hartelius

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

NA

The Seasons Of Wellbeing As An Evolutionary Map For Transpersonal Medicine, Donald M. Epstein, Simon A. Senzon, Dan Lemberger

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The four Seasons of Wellbeing (Discover, Transform, Awaken, and Integrate) refer to distinct rhythms, periods, and factors that influence the accessibility of an individual’s resources during the journey of life. Each season is explicitly and implicitly related to an individual’s experience, focus, and capacity for self-organizational states. Each can be used to understand, organize, and foster behavior change, positive growth, transformation, and human development. A genealogy of the seasons is described, emphasizing the empirical and theoretical foundations of Reorganizational Healing and its roots in models such as Grof ’s Systems of Condensed Experiences (or COEX Systems) and Wilber’s Integral Theory …

A Possible Mechanism Of Action For The Placebo Response: Human Biofield Activation Via Therapeutic Ritual, Marie G. Brook, Randy Fauver

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The lack of an identified mechanism of action for the placebo response contributes to its perception as clinically unimportant in Western medicine and minimizes its value as a contributing factor to the effectiveness of both conventional and alternative medical treatments. The therapeutic ritual is one of the principle contributors to the placebo response. Two key elements predicting salutogenic outcomes in both the placebo response and therapeutic ritual are patient meaning making and the patient/healer relationship. A detailed examination of human biofield dynamics shows its role in storing, communicating, and regulating the flow of information associated with healing in Western and …

Ayurvedic Psychology: Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Science, Daniel Rhoda

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Ayurveda is a holistic medical system based on ancient Indian texts that utilizes natural treatments, botanical medicines, and lifestyle and dietary practices to promote healing of the body, mind, senses, and spirit. Interest in Ayurveda has grown in the United States over the last two decades, as consumers, therapists, scientists, and health regulators have recognized its holistic and preventative benefits. According to Ayurveda, every human being is composed of a unique proportion of these elemental energies, a foundational theory in Ayurveda known as tridosha. The three doshas (vata, pitta, kapha) represent three psychobiological constitutional types that govern …

Advanced Spiritual Intimacy: The Yoga Of Deep Tantric Sensuality, Paul Ambrose

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

NA

A Brief History Of Mind-Body Medicine, Elliot S. Dacher

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

From its earliest sources the medical tradition has recognized the causal role of the interface of mind and body in health and disease. Cultural and historical circumstances have determined the degree to which each of these two key factors are emphasized. In modern times we are emerging from an exclusive materialistic emphasis on biology to a renewed acceptance and understanding of the role of the mind and consciousness in health and disease. This re-balancing of the two great forces of healing can be traced to a progressive expansion of knowledge in the fields of stress, past-traumatic stress, biofeedback, cognitive and …

Deconstructing Presence: Rethinking The Intentionality Of The Subject On The Basis Of The Existentiality Of Dasein, Edgar Diaz

HIM 1990-2015

Having begun from the assumption that our most fundamental way to relate to the world stems from an #I think# and that consciousness is at the center of this act, Edmund Husserl sets himself up for a very narrow and specialized view of human experience. In the end, such assumptions in the philosophical tradition and their terms often remain unquestioned and ingrained in a paradigm of discourse. My aim is to move beneath these assumptions-using Heidegger's and Merleau-Ponty's phenomenological work-so as to, first, explicitly undermine the scope of Husserlian intentionality at its foundation and, second, decenter the subject in contemporary …

Clarifying The Gettier Objection To Plantinga’S Theory Of Knowledge, Scott J. Woods

Global Tides

In “The Inescapability of Gettier Problems,” Linda Zagzebski provides a specific Gettier case to Plantinga’s proper function theory of knowledge. However, her objection fails to understand Plantinga’s cognitive environment criterion. Specifically, a cognitive environment must be assessed alongside the faculties being used in the formation a belief. Zagzebski’s example is then adapted accordingly. This paper ends with a dilemma: either Plantinga’s theory adopts a dangerously strong condition for warrant, or admits that it cannot escape Gettier cases.

Formal Properties As The Basis For Value In Music, Thomas B. Yee

Global Tides

This paper defends the thesis that value in a piece of music is based in its formal properties rather than its non-formal properties. Two arguments are presented to support this conclusion. The first argument shows that if value in music is to be objective, then it must be grounded in a piece's formal properties rather than its non-formal properties. In the second argument, a number of alternate possibilities for grounding value in music are considered and shown to miss the mark or be inadequate. Finally, a number of possible objections against the arguments and conclusion are considered and possible responses …

Persimals, Steven Luper

Philosophy Faculty Research

What sort of thing, fundamentally, are you and I? For convenience, I use the term persimal to refer to the kind of thing we are, whatever that kind turns out to be. Accordingly, the question is, what are persimals? One possible answer is that persimalhood consists in being a human animal, but many theorists, including Derek Parfit and Jeff McMahan, not to mention John Locke, reject this idea in favor of a radically different view, according to which persimalhood consists in having certain sorts of mental or psychological features. In this essay, I try to show that the animalist approach …

Husserl's Dyadic Semantics, Jesse Delaney

Theses and Dissertations--Philosophy

Husserl’s Logical Investigations contain an apparent discrepancy in their account of meaning. They first present meanings, contra psychologism, as commonly available, reiterable, invariant, possibly valid, and independent of our “acts of meaning”. They then present meaning, almost psychologistically, as a kind of intentional experience on which all truths and other transcendent meanings depend. I offer a critical developmental study of this problem within Husserl’s semantics. I argue (1) that Husserl had reason to adopt his dyadic account of signification, (2) that this “two-sided” account shaped, and was reciprocally informed by, the two-step phenomenological method, and (3) that Husserl’s proposed resolution …

Truth And Falsehood In Plato's Sophist, Michael Oliver Wiitala

Theses and Dissertations--Philosophy

This dissertation is a study of the ontological foundations of true and false speech in Plato’s Sophist. Unlike most contemporary scholarship on the Sophist, my dissertation offers a wholistic account of the dialogue, demonstrating that the ontological theory of the “communing” of forms and the theory of true and false speech later in the dialogue entail one another.

As I interpret it, the account of true and false speech in the Sophist is primarily concerned with true and false speech about the forms. As Plato sees it, we can only make true statements about spatio-temporal beings if it …

Joseph Margolis, Aili W. Bresnahan

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Margolis’s methodology is best located in the pragmatic tradition, broadly construed. His pragmatism lies in his commitment to understanding the world as part of collective and consensual human practice and situated interaction; his embracing of the changing nature of history and science; and his approach to human knowledge as constructed.

In particular this pragmatic bent is evidenced by his affinity for Charles Sanders Peirce’s semeiotics, by which thought shows us the real world through the interpretation of signs and symbols, the existence of mind legitimated as “objective” and “real.” Margolis also uses Peirce’s theory of predicative generals (as constructed but …

Censorship As Catalyst For Artistic Innovation, Aili W. Bresnahan

Philosophy Faculty Publications

One kind of government-supported censorship of the arts targets not the expressive content of any particular artwork but instead seeks to suppress the activity of a group of people based on some feature of the group’s human identity such as race, gender or class. Using examples from the history of the development of black music in the United States that followed from the legal oppression of slavery and from evidence of changes in the Punjabi theater in Pakistan following state-sanctioned suppressions of women, this paper demonstrates that human identity-related arts censorship can actually serve to spur and enhance, rather than …

Morris Weitz, Aili W. Bresnahan

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Morris Weitz’s initial theory of art was provided in his book Philosophy of the Arts (1950). Here Weitz calls his theory of art “empirical” and “organic,” and he defined “art” as “an organic complex or integration of expressive elements embodied in a sensuous medium." By “empirical” he means that his theory answers to the evidence provided by actual works of art. “Organic,” for Weitz, means that each element is to be considered in relation to the others in a living and not merely mechanical way. Weitz also has a broad understanding of “expressive,” which refers to an artistic property that …

Books And Our Human Stories, Paul H. Benson

Philosophy Faculty Publications

An essay on the impact of the works in the Imprints and Impressions: Milestones in Human Progress, an exhibition of rare books from the collection of Stuart Rose. Exhibition was held Sept. 29-Nov. 9, 2014, at the University of Dayton.

Fictional Emotions: Genuineness Of Emotions In Fictions, Lorien Giles

CMC Senior Theses

The common position in philosophy calls into question the ability of our emotions that derive from fictions to be genuine. In this paper I analyze this view, its motivating examples, and some unconsidered positions. In doing this I hope to offer a good defense of why our emotions that derive from fictions are in fact genuine and why the Paradox of Fiction is too broad.