Philosophy Commons^™

Does Reproductive Justice Demand Insurance Coverage For Ivf?, Carolyn Mcleod

Philosophy Publications

This paper comes out of a panel honoring the work of Anne Donchin (1940-2014), which took place at the 2016 Congress of the International Network on Feminist Approaches to Bioethics (FAB) in Edinburgh. My general aim is to highlight the contributions Anne made to feminist bioethics, and to feminist reproductive ethics in particular. My more specific aim, however, is to have a kind of conversation with Anne, through her work, about whether reproductive justice could demand insurance coverage for in vitro fertilization. I quote liberally from Anne’s work for this purpose, but also to shower the reader with her words, …

Oral History Conversation With Najah Abdelkader, Evan Bui, Eric Hoster, Jesseca Bates

Philosophy 111: Philosophy of Human Nature

Najah Abdelkader, Professor of Philosophy at San Diego City College and Southwestern College, share stories and memories from her homeland of Iraq and her experiences of adapting to her new life in the US. This oral history conversation is part of an oral history project entitled "From Cradle to Cradle". In this project, students in a Philosophy of Human Nature course invites Iraqis and Syrians who have migrated to the US to share the stories and memories they have carried with them from their homelands and to explain how those stories and memories continue to shape and enrich the lives …

The Varieties Of Place-Based Education, Laureen Park

Publications and Research

Traditionally, the predominant focus of Place-based educational (PBE) theories and practices has been the natural environment. The focus of this chapter will be on urban and digital environments as incubators of the PBE goals of experiential learning, interdisciplinarity, critical thinking, ethical reflection, and other goals. The framework used to interpret and analyze the various senses of place is based on the notions of the lifeworld, personalistic attitude, noesis and noema, all concepts found in Edmund Husserl’s Ideas I and II. Urban and virtual places share the characteristic of being built, which has resonances for the interactivity and engagement …

Oral History Conversation With Rabea Jouja, Luree Scott, Chloe Naquin

Philosophy 111: Philosophy of Human Nature

No abstract provided.

Speaking Of Genocide: Double Binds And Political Discourse, Benjamin Meiches

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Genocide scholars have always argued over the best definition of genocide. However, recent genocide studies have begun to emphasize both the ‘contestable’ nature of genocide and, paradoxically, call for clear or rigid definitions of the term. This article evaluates this tension by examining the act of defining genocide as a type of epistemological practice. Placing the act of definition in the context of a complex socio-linguistic system, the article shows how genocide discourse is subject to a variety of demands and pressures. These pressures, internal to genocide discourse, inadvertently promote restrictive and paradoxical formulations of the concept. To illustrate this …

Tracking Privilege-Preserving Epistemic Pushback In Feminist And Critical Race Philosophy Classes, Alison Bailey

Faculty Publications - Philosophy

Classrooms are unlevel knowing fields, contested terrains where knowledge and ignorance are produced and circulate with equal vigor, and where members of dominant groups are accustomed to having an epistemic home-terrain advantage. My project focuses on one form of resistance that regularly surfaces in discussions with social-justice content. Privilege-preserving epistemic pushback is a variety of willful ignorance that many members of dominant groups engage in when asked to consider both the lived and structural injustices that members of marginalized groups experience daily. I argue that this dominant form of resistance is neither an expression of skepticism nor a critical-thinking practice. …

Slathered, Zapped, Nipped, And Tucked: An Ethical Analysis Of Cosmetic Dermatology, Barbara Lowe

Philosophy and Classical Studies Faculty/Staff Publications

It has become common practice for dermatologists to offer cosmetic enhancing products and procedures and to do so alongside the medically required services offered (e.g., annual skin checks, treatment of rashes, removal of pre-cancerous moles, etc.). As a patient, it is likely that a visit to the dermatologist will include exposure to advertisements for these cosmetic products and procedures. Advertisements are found in the waiting area, examination room, and, in some cases, even at checkout in the form of a coupon for future use, all situated where the patient is a captive audience. This practice may not be the cause …

Formalizing The Panarchy Adaptive Cycle With The Cusp Catastrophe, Martin Zwick, Joshua Hughes

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

The panarchy adaptive cycle, a general model for change in natural and human systems, can be formalized by the cusp catastrophe of René Thom's topological theory. Both the adaptive cycle and the cusp catastrophe have been used to model ecological, economic, and social systems in which slow and small continuous changes in two control variables produce fast and large discontinuous changes in system behavior. The panarchy adaptive cycle, the more recent of the two models, has been used so far only for qualitative descriptions of typical dynamics of such systems. The cusp catastrophe, while also often employed qualitatively, is a …

Horror Fiction, Aljoša Mršović

Student Publications

Horror is a relatively new emotion. It is based on the subversion of a scientific account of the world. Therefore, it could not have existed prior to the establishment of such an account. Furthermore, it is unique because it can only be experienced through a fictional medium, as only a fictional medium allows the violation of the scientific, or natural, account of the world. There are several schools of thought that attempt to explain the phenomenon of fictional emotions, but 'irrationality' appears to be the most in touch with the scientific understanding of how the brain processes fictional emotions. Ultimately, …

The Necessary Right Of Choice For Physician-Assisted Suicide, Kerry E. Ullman

Student Publications

Research-based paper on the importance of the right for terminally ill patients facing a painful death to be able to choose how they end their life

The Possibility Of An Afterlife As Examined Through Near-Death Experiences, Anastasia N. Semenov

Student Publications

Approximately five percent of the world’s population has dealt with a near-death experience, which is the unusual phenomenon after temporarily dying or coming close to death, where people feel like they have left their body and see an afterlife. Millions of accounts from people around the world who have experienced this occurrence tell of seeing an afterlife, which should allow for the possibility of a life after death. Although peoples’ experiences in another realm differ, they all have similar features such as travelling in a fast tunnel and encountering loving light beings. These experiences are so intense that they form …

Toward A Buddhist Theory Of Conflict Transformation: From Simple Actor-Oriented Conflict To Complex Structural Conflict, Tatsushi Arai

Peace and Conflict Studies

This paper presents a working theory of conflict transformation informed by Buddhist teachings. It argues that a Buddhist approach to conflict transformation consists of an integrated process of self-reflection on the roots and transformation of suffering (dukkha), on the one hand, and active relationship-building between parties, on the other. To overcome a deeply structural conflict in which parties are unaware of the very existence of the conflict-generating system in which they are embedded, however, Buddhist-inspired practice of conflict transformation requires building structural awareness, which is defined as educated consciousness capable of perceiving a complex web of cause and effect relationships …

For Philosophers, Art Is Also In The Mind, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

Many college professors start with a broad range of interests, but often it’s the example of a gifted teacher that shows them the way. That was the case with Dr. Jonathan Gilmore. “I was a pre-med student taking hard science courses, but I had to take a philosophy course as well, and I had an extraordinarily dynamic art history professor. And then I thought, ‘This is what I want to do.’ So I shifted career plans, moved to New York right after college, enrolled at Columbia and did a PhD in Philosophy, but also studied for the PhD in art …

Loyalty To Nature: Royce's Latent Environmental Philosophy, Albert R. Spencer

Philosophy Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article surveys recent attempts to articulate the latent environmental philosophy of Josiah Royce (Selk; Oppenheim; Price; Bell; Minteer; Brunson) and to assess the merits and flaws of these attempts. It will then orient Royce's latent environmental philosophy within the context of contemporary methodologies of environmental ethics in the hopes of demonstrating Royce's relevance and potential to these engagements of current ecological crises. It will conclude by articulating a unique perspective of loyalty to nature founded on a Roycean appeal to moral perfectionism, his response to the egoism of Friedrich Nietzsche, and a blending of the sources presented at the …

Fortifying The Self-Defense Justification Of Punishment, Zac Cogley

Journal Articles

David Boonin has recently advanced several challenges to the self-defense justification of punishment. Boonin argues that the self-defense justification of punishment justifies punishing the innocent, justifies disproportionate punishment, cannot account for mitigating excuses, and does not justify intentionally harming offenders as we do when we punish them. In this paper, I argue that the self-defense justification, suitably understood, can avoid all of these problems. To help demonstrate the self-defense theory’s attraction, I also develop some contrasts between the self-defense justification, Warren Quinn’s better known ‘auto-retaliator’ argument, and desert-based justifications of punishment. In sum, I show that the self-defense justification of …

Scorsese’S Silence: Film As Practical Theodicy, Ian Deweese-Boyd

Journal of Religion & Film

Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of Shusaku Endo’s novel Silence takes up the anguished experience of God’s silence in the face of human suffering. The main character, the Jesuit priest Sabastião Rodrigues, finds his faith gutted by the appalling silence of God as he witnesses the horrific persecution of Christians in seventeenth century Japan. Yujin Nagasawa calls the particularly intense combination of the problems of divine hiddenness and evil the problem of divine absence that resists resolution through explanations that have typically characterized the theodicies offered by philosophers. Drawing on the thought of Ignatius of Loyola, this essay explores the way …

The Little Hours, Frederick Ruf, Kathryn Wade

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of The Little Hours (2017), directed by Jeff Baena.

Scientifically Responsible Metaphysics: A Program For The Naturalization Of Metaphysics, Amanda Bryant

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

There has been much recent work calling for the naturalization of metaphysics, including most famously James Ladyman and Don Ross’ polemic, Every Thing Must Go. But much work remains to adequately articulate and motivate the call to naturalize metaphysics. My dissertation contributes to that work. Its central questions are: What relationship should metaphysics have to current science? Must good metaphysics be responsive to current science, and if so, how? Why should metaphysics be naturalized and what should its naturalization consist in?

I argue, first, that for that for epistemic purposes, as opposed to heuristic or pragmatic purposes, theories should …

Evil And The Ontological Disproof, Carl J. Brownson Iii

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is a revival of the ontological disproof, an ontological argument against the existence of God. The ontological disproof, in its original form, argues that God is impossible, because if God exists, he must exist necessarily, and necessary existence is impossible. The notion of necessary existence has been largely rehabilitated since this argument was first offered in 1948, and the argument has accordingly lost much of its force. I argue that the ontological disproof ought to be combined with the problem of evil, and that the resulting synthesis of the two arguments is far more powerful than either …

Syntax And Semantics Of Perceptual Representation, James K. Quilty-Dunn

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is a defense of perceptual pluralism, the thesis that perceptual systems deliver multiple types of representations including those used in thought. In particular, it argues that perceptual systems output iconic (i.e., image-like, analog) representations as well as discursive (i.e., language-like, digital) states. A central thesis is that perceptual representations of objects are propositional and composed of concepts. It also develops a compositional syntax of iconic representation called the coordination model, according to which icons are sets of primitive parts, each of which determines values along multiple analog feature dimensions simultaneously. The dissertation supports the conclusion that perceptual …

W.E.B. Du Bois: Freedom, Race, And American Modernity, Elvira Basevich

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

My dissertation defends W.E.B. Du Bois’s philosophy of modern freedom, which he grounds in the historical reconstruction of the American civic community on the moral basis of free and equal citizenship. Rather than ascribe to him an elitist politics of racial ‘uplift’ and assimilation to Anglo- American folkways, I instead argue that he defends black moral and political autonomy for securing state power and civic equality. Additionally, he challenges both historical and the contemporary political philosophers, including John Rawls, Axel Honneth, and Philip Pettit, to articulate the racial dimension of the development of a social order that actualizes the moral …

The Broadsheet September 29, 2017, Students Of Risd, Risd Archives

All Student Newspapers

The Broadsheet was a short-lived student newspaper published in 2017. The September 29, 2017 issue features articles on an "ethical consciousness post-Trump," improving critiques, the US pulling out of the Paris Climate Accords, the Social Equity and Inclusion Action Plan, the smoking ban at Kennedy Plaza, statue conservation, new programming at the library, an offensive incident involving a graphic designer and a sign language interpreter, and other items of interest.

Harming (Respectfully) Some To Benefit Others: Animal Rights And The Moral Imperative Of Trap-Neuter-Release Programs, Cheryl E. Abbate

Between the Species

Because spaying/neutering animals involves the harming of some animals in order to prevent harm to others, some ethicists, like David Boonin, argue that the philosophy of animal rights is committed to the view that spaying/neutering animals violates the respect principle and that Trap Neuter Release (TNR) programs are thus impermissible. In response, I demonstrate that the philosophy of animal rights holds that, under certain conditions, it is justified, and sometimes even obligatory, to cause harm to some animals (human or nonhuman) in order to prevent greater harm to others. As I will argue, causing lesser harm to some animals in …

The Philosopher's Stone Vs. The Self, Philosophical Discussion Group, Armstrong State University

The Philosopher's Stone

No abstract provided.

Culturally Competent Communication, Tara Thomas, Stephanie Mohorne

Ethics Conference

Culturally-competent communication is necessary to engage all community stakeholders. Tara Thomas and Stephanie Mohorne will explain in a one-hour, interactive session how Waterloo Schools applies this strategy to effectively reach its audience—students, staff, families and the community in the 7th largest, and one of the most diverse, school districts in Iowa. Thomas, a former television news anchor and reporter, will give specific examples of how sharing messages with the media and, in turn, the public needs to be a carefully-guided process based on factors like race and socio-economic status. Mohorne, a longtime educational leader and bi-racial daughter of a single …

Addressing Wicked Problems In Practical Ways: Empowering Ethical Action In Higher Ed And Beyond, Cara B. Stone, Anne Marie Gruber

Ethics Conference

This discussion-based workshop will engage faculty and students alike in identifying problem areas related to social responsibility and action. Using a “Wicked Problems” framework, the presenters will provide examples of and opportunities for participants to reflect on challenges they observe in their disciplines/professional lives and on their campuses. Wicked Problems are complex and multifaceted, do not have a simple description or solution, and “are different because traditional processes can’t resolve them” (Camillus, 2008). In a higher education context, faculty and students can address these problems but this will require “new ways of learning, new ways of working together, and new …

The Inconvenient Truth About Thinking Chickens, Lori Marino

Animal Sentience

Original Abstract: Domestic chickens are members of an order, Aves, which has been the focus of a revolution in our understanding of neuroanatomical, cognitive, and social complexity. Some birds are now known to be on a par with many mammals in their intelligence, emotional sophistication, and social interaction. Yet views of chickens have largely remained unrevised in light of this new evidence. In this paper, I examine the data on cognition, emotions, personality, and sociality in chickens, exploring such areas as self-awareness, cognitive bias, social learning and self-control, and comparing their abilities with other birds and other vertebrates, particularly …

El Arte De "Lágrimas En La Lluvia", Todd K. Mack

Alambique. Revista académica de ciencia ficción y fantasía / Jornal acadêmico de ficção científica e fantasía

Uno de los elementos destacados de Lágrimas en la lluvia, la excelente novela de ciencia ficción de la madrileña Rosa Montero, es la genial inclusión de obras de arte con fines simbólicos dentro de la obra. Entre estas obras de arte se incluye el famoso cuadro de Johannes Vermeer, Una señora escribiendo una carta con su criada. En este artículo, el dr. Todd Mack muestra cómo este cuadro presagia el principal dilema de la protagonista de la novela. Bruna Husky es una replicante, y por eso sabe exactamente cuánto tiempo vivirá. El conocimiento de su inescapable fin hace …

Peer Punishment Promotes Enforcement Of Bad Social Norms, Klaus Abbink, Lata Gangadharan, Toby Handfield, John Thrasher

Philosophy Faculty Articles and Research

Social norms are an important element in explaining how humans achieve very high levels of cooperative activity. It is widely observed that, when norms can be enforced by peer punishment, groups are able to resolve social dilemmas in prosocial, cooperative ways. Here we show that punishment can also encourage participation in destructive behaviours that are harmful to group welfare, and that this phenomenon is mediated by a social norm. In a variation of a public goods game, in which the return to investment is negative for both group and individual, we find that the opportunity to punish led to higher …

Hindu Students And Their Missionary Teachers: Debating The Relevance Of Rebirth In The Colonial Indian Academy, Nalini Bhushan

Philosophy: Faculty Publications

This essay provides a meta-narrative for the philosophical dialogues that took place in colonial India between Scottish missionary philosophers and philosophers of Veda ̄nta on the topic of karma and rebirth. In particular, it offers a reconstruction and analysis of the context and strategy that shaped the content of discussions that were initiated in the pages of the Madras Christian College Magazine in 1909 between Subrahmanya Sastri and AG Hogg and that inspired Radhakrishnan’s response in his dissertation entitled “The Ethics of Vedanta and its Metaphysical Suppositions”. The broad context is provided by a history of missionary presence in India. …