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2016

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Articles 661 - 690 of 1021

Full-Text Articles in Philosophy

The Confluence Of Philosophy And Biology: An Excavation Of Philosophical Issues In Molecular And Developmental Biology, Patrick Johnson Mendie, Emmanuel Bassey Eyo (Ph.D) Jan 2016

The Confluence Of Philosophy And Biology: An Excavation Of Philosophical Issues In Molecular And Developmental Biology, Patrick Johnson Mendie, Emmanuel Bassey Eyo (Ph.D)

Journal of Health Ethics

Philosophical evaluations have played an influential role in the growth and development of molecular and developmental biology to ensure that every individual is born healthy, born wanted and has the privilege to fulfil his or her potentials for a life free from disease and disability. This is why it becomes necessary for biologists to carefully understand human genes, evolution, cells and general human anatomy to fulfil this project. During this process, they are faced with challenges where they also lack the foundation on how to solve them. This challenge gave birth to a philosophical excavation of molecular and developmental biology. …


The Entanglement Of Anzaldúan Materiality As Bodily Knowing: Matter, Meaning, And Interrelatedness, Robyn Henderson-Espinoza Jan 2016

The Entanglement Of Anzaldúan Materiality As Bodily Knowing: Matter, Meaning, And Interrelatedness, Robyn Henderson-Espinoza

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project weaves together the theoretically rich and diverse work of ancient materialist philosophers, modern philosophy which advanced a theory of monism, and contemporary philosophies that further extends monism into new terrain, including 'new materialism.' While monism is a strand of this project, the core features of this project are materiality and bodies; these two concepts create the particular entanglement and central thrust of this project, which is becoming. While this project is conceptually organized around matter and bodies, and a particular notion of becoming traced from ancient through contemporary thought, this project, also, introduces the importance of Gloria Anzaldúa …


Phenomenology And Blindness: Merleau-Ponty, Levinas, And An Alternative Metaphysical Vision, Jesse Younger Workman Jan 2016

Phenomenology And Blindness: Merleau-Ponty, Levinas, And An Alternative Metaphysical Vision, Jesse Younger Workman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project addresses the problem of an "ocularcentric" bias in philosophy, with a focus on phenomenological and continental thought. Being a blind phenomenologist, I noticed an ocularcentric tendency dominating philosophers' perspectives, including their arguments, use of metaphors, and choices of examples. As a blind reader I found that such ocularcentrism prevented me from understanding their claims. This made me wonder whether ocularcentric biases might be leading them to unbalanced or invalid arguments and world-views. The questions raised are: Can there be philosophy that is not reliant on vision above all other senses? Is it possible for philosophy to not be …


The Impact Of Philanthropy, Jonathan F. Denzler Jan 2016

The Impact Of Philanthropy, Jonathan F. Denzler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Forwarding a narrative framework of philanthropic impact this thesis problematizes the evaluation methods used by social engagement organizations to measure the impact or change that they are contributing to in a community. By focusing on the example of food access, and the corresponding language of the "food desert", this project locates the power to control the framing of social issues in the hands of funders as opposed to those who experience the real life effects of living in poverty or resource-poor communities. This process then lets the philanthropists set a goal and meet that goal without ever truly communicating or …


Revolutionary Technologies: Praxical Time As A Way Of Overcoming Reification, RóIsíN Lally Jan 2016

Revolutionary Technologies: Praxical Time As A Way Of Overcoming Reification, RóIsíN Lally

Leadership Studies Faculty Scholarship

This article argues that by recognizing the fundamental relationship between praxical time and dwelling as a matrix of interweaving modes of being, society can subvert the potential reification of humanity by technology. This can only be achieved through a democratic process that involves participatory agents not only at the design level but also in the event of naming future innovations. By looking at the work of Alain Badiou, it is shown how a fusion of Heideggerian-inspired phenomenology and speculative ontology is critical for the advancement of social theory, as revolutionary technologies become increasingly immersive.


Reference Magnetism As A Solution To The Moral Twin Earth Problem, William Dunaway Jan 2016

Reference Magnetism As A Solution To The Moral Twin Earth Problem, William Dunaway

Philosophy Faculty Works

‘Moral Twin Earth’ thought experiments constitute a central semantic challenge to naturalistic normative realism. This paper first outlines a general framework for understanding the challenge, according to which (i) central normative terms are semantically stable in ways that contrast with many other paradigmatic descriptive terms, and (ii) realists should expect to have a unified meta-semantic theory that explains the difference in stability between the normative and descriptive terms in question. The most attractive way of meeting this challenge, we argue, appeals to the idea of reference magnetism. According to this influential idea, some properties are reference magnets, which (roughly) means …


Noetic Propaedeutic Pedagogy As A Panacea To The Problem Of Abortion, Peter B. Bisong Jan 2016

Noetic Propaedeutic Pedagogy As A Panacea To The Problem Of Abortion, Peter B. Bisong

Journal of Health Ethics

This work is instigated by the increase in the number of countries that have legalized abortion and the ones debating over the issue. Even most countries where abortion is illegal like Nigeria are experiencing increase in cases of abortion. The author is worried that the danger of abortion is seemingly not taken note of by stakeholders, thereby leading him to believe alongside Asouzu that the constraining mechanisms have clouded the minds of men, and impeding them from seeing reality in a complementary way. The noetic propaedeutic pedagogy as propounded by Asouzu is the self-conscious retraining of the mind to overcome …


Existence In Black: Understanding My Situation, Chazz Higginbotham Jan 2016

Existence In Black: Understanding My Situation, Chazz Higginbotham

Philosophy Honors Papers

No abstract provided.


Animals & Ethics 101: Thinking Critically About Animal Rights, Nathan Nobis Jan 2016

Animals & Ethics 101: Thinking Critically About Animal Rights, Nathan Nobis

eBooks

This book provides an overview of the current debates about the nature and extent of our moral obligations to animals. Which, if any, uses of animals are morally wrong, which are morally permissible (i.e., not wrong) and why? What, if any, moral obligations do we, individually and as a society (and a global community), have towards animals and why? How should animals be treated? Why? We will explore the most influential and most developed answers to these questions – given by philosophers, scientists, and animal advocates and their critics – to try to determine which positions are supported by the …


Introduction To Making Futures, Pelle Ehn Jan 2016

Introduction To Making Futures, Pelle Ehn

Articles

No abstract provided.


Double Or Nothing: Reflections On Bridge Design, Hillary Brown Jan 2016

Double Or Nothing: Reflections On Bridge Design, Hillary Brown

Articles

No abstract provided.


Positive Sum Design And The Economics Of Sharing, Ian Gonsher Jan 2016

Positive Sum Design And The Economics Of Sharing, Ian Gonsher

Articles

No abstract provided.


Mechanistic Abstraction, Worth Boone, Gualtiero Piccinini Jan 2016

Mechanistic Abstraction, Worth Boone, Gualtiero Piccinini

Philosophy Faculty Works

We provide an explicit taxonomy of legitimate kinds of abstraction within constitutive explanation. We argue that abstraction is an inherent aspect of adequate mechanistic explanation. Mechanistic explanations—even ideally complete ones—typically involve many kinds of abstraction and therefore do not require maximal detail. Some kinds of abstraction play the ontic role of identifying the specific complex components, subsets of causal powers, and organizational relations that produce a suitably general phenomenon. Therefore, abstract constitutive explanations are both legitimate and mechanistic.


The Snowman’S Imagination, Amy Kind Jan 2016

The Snowman’S Imagination, Amy Kind

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

Not all imaginings are successful; sometimes when an imaginer sets out to imagine some target, her imagining involves some kind of mistake. The error can be diagnosed in two ways: (1) the imaginer imagines her target in a way that mischaracterizes it, or (2) the imaginer fails to imagine her target at all and rather imagines something else that is similar in some ways to that target. In ordinary day-to-day imaginings, explanations of type (1) seem most natural, but in discussions of philosophical imaginings, philosophers tend to adopt explanations of type (2). This paper argues against this tendency.


Philosophy For Children Meets The Art Of Living: A Holistic Approach To An Education For Life, L D'Olimpio, C Teschers Jan 2016

Philosophy For Children Meets The Art Of Living: A Holistic Approach To An Education For Life, L D'Olimpio, C Teschers

Philosophy Papers and Journal Articles

This article explores the meeting of two approaches towards philosophy and education: the philosophy for children (P4C) approach advocated by Lipman and others, and Schmid’s (2000a) philosophical concept of Lebenskunst (the art of living). Schmid explores the concept of the beautiful or good life by asking what is necessary for each individual to be able to develop their own art of living and which aspects of life are significant when shaping a good and beautiful life. One element of Schmid’s theory is the practical application of philosophy through the notions of Bildung, (self) reflection, prudence and practical wisdom, as well …


Wilderness, The Wild, And Aesthetic Appreciation, Nicole Hassoun Jan 2016

Wilderness, The Wild, And Aesthetic Appreciation, Nicole Hassoun

Philosophy Faculty Scholarship

Wild nature is a source of wonder and inspiration in part because of its aesthetic value. This paper gives an account of the aesthetic value of wilderness and argues that wild nature is especially likely to give rise to what it will call the transformative aesthetic experience. This account satisfies three criteria John Fisher suggests for a good account of nature’s aesthetic value that might provide reasons for preservation. First, it retains a credible connection with canonical aesthetic theory. Second, it allows us to make a general distinction between our appreciation of nature and art. Third, it avoids the ‘the …


Missed Appropriations: Uncovering Heidegger's Debt To Kierkegaard In Being And Time, Kenneth David Geter Jan 2016

Missed Appropriations: Uncovering Heidegger's Debt To Kierkegaard In Being And Time, Kenneth David Geter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

It is widely held that Martin Heidegger appropriated several existential concepts from Søren Kierkegaard in his 1927 work, Being and Time. Most scholars agree that Heidegger did not sufficiently credit Kierkegaard. What was the extent of the appropriation, and why did Heidegger not duly cite Kierkegaard? This work will focus on the concept of anxiety which appears throughout Being and Time and which was influenced by the concept of the same name presented in Kierkegaard's 1844 work The Concept of Anxiety. It will also be seen how the structure of Being and Time closely resembles that of Concept …


Animals & Ethics 101: Thinking Critically About Animal Rights, Nathan Nobis Jan 2016

Animals & Ethics 101: Thinking Critically About Animal Rights, Nathan Nobis

Moral Standing and Animal Rights Collection

This book provides an overview of the current debates about the nature and extent of our moral obligations to animals. Which, if any, uses of animals are morally wrong, which are morally permissible (i.e., not wrong) and why? What, if any, moral obligations do we, individually and as a society (and a global community), have towards animals and why? How should animals be treated? Why? We will explore the most influential and most developed answers to these questions – given by philosophers, scientists, and animal advocates and their critics – to try to determine which positions are supported by the …


The Limits Of Human Flourishing: Reconstructing Theological Anthropology In Light Of Cognitive Disability, David N. Scott Jan 2016

The Limits Of Human Flourishing: Reconstructing Theological Anthropology In Light Of Cognitive Disability, David N. Scott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The concept of human flourishing currently holds a position of prominence within Christian theology. Numerous theologies assert that a person enjoys the fullness of humanity, not through conformity to an essential nature, but through being a living demonstration of what human being can become. This approach to theological anthropology has proven especially useful for advocacy on behalf of marginalized groups. Nevertheless, because this approach identifies human being with the capacity for purposive agency, it remains incapable of affirming the full humanity of persons with profound cognitive disabilities. These persons lack abilities that purposive agency presupposes, such as self-representation, language, and …


Mbiti And Achebe On The Forward Movement Through The Past, Chima Anyadike Jan 2016

Mbiti And Achebe On The Forward Movement Through The Past, Chima Anyadike

The Journal of Traditions & Beliefs

No abstract provided.


The Significance Of John S. Mbiti's Works In The Study Of Pan-African Literature, Babacar Mbaye Jan 2016

The Significance Of John S. Mbiti's Works In The Study Of Pan-African Literature, Babacar Mbaye

The Journal of Traditions & Beliefs

No abstract provided.


The Living Dead: Anthropological Interpretation Of Rites Of Passage In Umuahia And Emure Ekiti, Oladosu O. Adebolu Jan 2016

The Living Dead: Anthropological Interpretation Of Rites Of Passage In Umuahia And Emure Ekiti, Oladosu O. Adebolu

The Journal of Traditions & Beliefs

No abstract provided.


Aristotle's Clivus Naturae, John Thorp Jan 2016

Aristotle's Clivus Naturae, John Thorp

Philosophy Presentations

It is usually thought that Aristotle's understanding of the soul sees it has having four distinct parts, cumulatively arranged, resulting in a kind of scala or ladder: all living things have the nutritive and reproductive soul; animals have, in addition, the sensitive soul, and most of them also the locomotive soul; only humans have all these plus the intellective soul. This ladder-like picture emerges from his theoretical work de Anima. In his more empirical studies, though, the discreteness of these levels is softened, and the image is more that of a clivus or slope, rather than a scala or ladder …


Cuasi Factivos, Axel Barcelo Aspeitia, Robert Stainton Jan 2016

Cuasi Factivos, Axel Barcelo Aspeitia, Robert Stainton

Philosophy Publications

We introduce a construction which we label 'quasi-factive'. They are heard like factives, in that we immediately take the complement to be true. Yet they aren't really factive at all. Examples include: 'It's not widely known that Marta was born in Canada' (because she was born in Uruguay); 'Don't tell anyone that Carlos will run as a candidate' (because he won't); 'Did it bother Jane that Miguel came?' (no, because Miguel didn't come). We identify sub-categories of our quasi-factives, and then tentatively explore a pragmatic explanation of how they work their magic.


A Deranged Argument Against Public Languages, Robert Stainton Jan 2016

A Deranged Argument Against Public Languages, Robert Stainton

Philosophy Publications

My focus is Q: Are there really such things as public languages? I address an argument for a negative answer, extracted from Davidson’s “A Derangement of Epitaphs”. The argument appeals to an empirically attested phenomena, namely novelty and speech errors in successful conversational interactions, to show that knowledge of public language is neither necessary nor sufficient. Thus public languages have no explanatory role. Continues the idea, one should substitute in place of the convention-centric public language picture an alternative, with Prior and Passing theories. My first rebuttal is that there are senses in which knowledge of public language is necessary, …


Alien Affects: Movement, Migration, And Landscapes Of Citizenship, Michael Andrew Lechuga Jan 2016

Alien Affects: Movement, Migration, And Landscapes Of Citizenship, Michael Andrew Lechuga

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Alien Affects is a materialist examination of the ways citizenship landscapes are shaped by three mechanisms of control - extraterrestrial film, border security, and the legal apparatuses of the State - that accelerate flows of dominant national citizenship and hinder the movements of migrants. As bodies move through borders and through communities in the US, they are subjected to techniques of citizenship control that divide citizens from aliens. This political division maximizes the State's capacity to benefit from the mobility of its preferred citizen groups while subjugating its alien groups - those who might be characterized as such because they …


Aristotle On The Moral Status Of Animals, Devin Henry Jan 2016

Aristotle On The Moral Status Of Animals, Devin Henry

Data and Test Instruments

No abstract provided.


Fundamentally Incompetent: Homophobia, Religion And The Right To Parent, Samantha Brennan, Colin Mcleod Jan 2016

Fundamentally Incompetent: Homophobia, Religion And The Right To Parent, Samantha Brennan, Colin Mcleod

Data and Test Instruments

What happens when the expression of parental values in child rearing runs contrary to the claim of children to be loved and respected by parents? This chapter asks whether parents who hold, and seek to express, attitudes and beliefs that are contemptuous of sexual minorities are competent parents. We argue that homophobic views held by parents can pose a serious threat to the well-being of children and that adults who harbour such views fall below the threshold of competency requisite to acquiring and maintaining the moral right to parent. We explore this issue by considering whether conservative religious fundamentalists who …


Review Of: Suárez On Aristotelian Causality. Investigating Medieval Philosophy, Vol. 9 By Jakob Leth Fink, Benjamin Hill Jan 2016

Review Of: Suárez On Aristotelian Causality. Investigating Medieval Philosophy, Vol. 9 By Jakob Leth Fink, Benjamin Hill

Philosophy Publications

No abstract provided.


Visual Perception As Patterning: Cavendish Against Hobbes On Sensation, Marcus P. Adams Jan 2016

Visual Perception As Patterning: Cavendish Against Hobbes On Sensation, Marcus P. Adams

Philosophy Faculty Scholarship

In Margaret Cavendish's view, her Philosophical Letters are the "building" (1664, preface; hereafter Letters) that rests upon the foundation already laid in her Philosophical and Physical Opinions (first edition 1655; second edition 1663; hereafter Opinions). In the Letters, she criticizes Descartes, Hobbes, More, van Helmont, and others by arguing for the superiority of her philosophical system in its ability to explain various phenomena and to avoid the objections she highlights.