Philosophy Commons^™

The Trolley Problem In Virtual Reality, Jungsu Pak, Ariane Guirguis, Nicholas Mirchandani, Scott Cummings, Uri Maoz

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Would people react to the Trolley problem differently based on the medium? Immersive Virtual Reality Driving Simulator was used to examine participants respond to the trolley problem in a realistic and controlled simulated environment.

Radical Botany: Plants And Speculative Fiction [Table Of Contents], Natania Meeker, Antónia Szabari

Literature

No abstract provided.

Introduction, David Ingram

Philosophy: Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

Asian-American Visibility: Movement Toward Authenticity And Exposing The White Gaze, Nora Tsou

Senior Theses

Asian-Americans have a historical legacy and a multiplicity of narratives that are often rendered absent in American culture. Our oppression is not commonly spoken about, but it is relevant. By decentering Eurocentric thought as the only valid philosophy, herein this study I perform Asian-American philosophy through an analysis of philosophical and sociological texts on race. I continuously echo George Yancy and Gloria Anzaldua, philosophers of race, respectively, on the African-American and Latin-American experience, for their philosophy has greatly lead me to understanding my own. In order to conceptualize what oppressive struggles Asian-Americans face, I delve into research that exposes these …

Managing The Effects Of Wireless Sensors On Vehicle Ad Hoc Network (Vanet) Safety, Melvin Hayes

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper proposes to conduct research on the vehicular ad hoc networks (VANET) area of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) with a focus on investigating safety methods that will significantly reduce passenger vehicle collisions which ultimately will help to save lives and reduce property losses. Key areas of this ITS research will include highway infrastructure or wireless sensor networks (WSN) to the cloud (web service) and the cloud (web service) to highway infrastructure or wireless sensor network (WSN). In turn, the cloud (web service) will communicate with passenger vehicles as components of a highway infrastructure (WSN) to vehicle (I2V) systems and …

Weatherlessness: Affect, Mood, Temperament, The Death Of The Will, And Politics, John J. Stuhr

disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory

First, I develop an account of the nature of moods and the relation of mood to emotion and temperament. This account stresses that social and individual moods are marked by four features: They are transactional - neither wholly subjective nor objective; in experience they shade into and blur back and forth with feeling and temperament; they are ambient and atmospheric, a habit of living ·in the world more expansive than a habit of mind; and, whether conscious or not, moods have causes that, if known, may be manipulated to advance both personal and political ends. Second, I focus …

Affect And Immediation: An Interview With Brian Massumi, Brian Massumi, Jacob Ferrington, Alina Hechler, Jannell Parsons

disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory

Brian Massumi is the author of numerous works across philosophy, political theory, and art theory. His publications include 99 Theses on the Revaluation of Value: A Postcapitalist Manifesto (University of Minnesota Press, 2018), Semblance and Event: Activist Philosophy and the Occurrent Arts (MIT Press, 2011) and Parables for the Virtual: Movement, Affect, Sensation (Duke University Press, 2002).

Managed Engagement; Considering A Space For Policy In Aesthetics, Connell Vaughan

Conference papers

Aesthetics and the philosophy of art is routinely faced with a problem of a binary opposition of two silos, namely: Theory and Practice. For want of a better word, these domains are often reluctant to “engage” each other. Philosophers of aesthetics are often unable to connect the aesthetic enquires of Kant et al, which almost ignore the world of art practice, with sustained philosophical reflection on the artworld itself. As a way of thinking through the connections between aesthetic theory and art practice, I propose to consider another domain as intermediate, namely, policy.

Gut Feelings: Race And The Embodied Self: An Interview With Shannon Sullivan, Shannon Sullivan, Shannon Branfield, Ruwen Chang, J. D. Saperstein

disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory

Shannon Sullivan is Chair of Philosophy and Professor of Philosophy and Health Psychology at UNC Charlotte. She specializes in feminist philosophy, critical philosophy of race, American philosophy (especially pragmatism), . and continental philosophy. She is the author of four books, most recently, Good White People: The Problem with Middle-Class White Anti-Racism (2014) and The Physiology of Sexist and Racist Oppression (2015). She also is co-editor of four books, including Race and Epistemologies of Ignorance (2007) and Feminist Interpretations of William James (2015).

Denis Diderot: A Secular Hero, Ben Scott-Brandt

Honors Projects

My Honors Senior Project is a biography of Denis Diderot in the form of a children's song. MY understanding of Diderot's life is based on Andrew Curran's book, Diderot and the Art of Thinking Freely.

Songs help us memorize and retain information about the world, and singing songs together strengthens cultural and religious connections. Secular (nonreligious) people need songs, too. Diderot was a philosopher who didn't believe in God. He was an editor of L'Encyclopédie, one of the first encyclopedias, and he snuck in articles that challenged how people think. This was an important moment -- knowledge about the world …

Pilosopiyang Pinoy: Uso Pa Ba? (The Relevance Of Filipino Philosophy In Social Renewal), Romualdo E. Abulad

Philosophy Department Faculty Publications

This paper evaluates the titular question and features a summative evaluation and critique of the works and contributions of Leonardo Mercado, Dionisio Miranda, Albert Alejo, Rolando Gripaldo (1947-2017), and Florentino Timbreza to the anthropological and cultural approaches that form a significant part of the discourses on Filipino philosophy. In this piece, Abulad maintains, as in his other writings, that any strict emphasis with regard to methodology restricts the true potential of Filipino philosophy. He buttresses this assertion by invoking postmodernism's 'incredulity towards metanarratives' We should be skeptical about the metanarrative of Filipino identity for it is precisely our rootlessness that …

Filipino Postmodernity: Quo Vadis?, Romualdo E. Abulad

Philosophy Department Faculty Publications

In this paper, Romualdo Abulad initially presents variations of postmodernity as distinct historical breaks which feature paradigmatic shifts that lead us to a new beginning. Postmodernity, as Abulad shows, is characterized by a radical openness; this leads him to argue that postmodernity as an event occurred in different moments in the history of thought, from ancient to contemporary. In what seems to be a dialectical description of history, he maintains that an opportunity for a break occurs when the inherent limitations and deficiencies of the prevailing status quo emerge, and as a result, ignite the tensions between the preservation of …

Comparing Functions, Costs And Rewards Of Quality Engineers And Six Sigma Black Belts, C. Grant Short

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The respective Bodies of Knowledge (BoKs) as described by the American Society for Quality (ASQ) for Certified Quality Engineers (ASQ, 2015a) and Certified Six Sigma Black Belts (ASQ, 2015b) are quite similar, yet anecdotally, six sigma black belts are recognized and consequently rewarded more highly than are quality engineers. While Quality Engineering work is typically regarded as preventive in nature, work performed by six sigma black belts is in the realm of improvement, hence is reactive in nature. Consequently, a dichotomy exists in that preventive actions, which are less costly by their nature, are not rewarded as well as costlier …

O My Neighbors, There Is No Neighbor, Harris B. Bechtol

All Faculty Scholarship (Archived)

This article meditates on the Christian command to love the neighbor as yourself by focusing on how both Jacques Derrida and Søren Kierkegaard have read this command. I argue that Derrida, failing in his faithfulness to Kierkegaard, makes a mistake when he includes this command in the Greek model of the politics of friendship in his Politics of Friendship. Such a mistake is illumined by Kierkegaard’s understanding of the neighbor in this command from Works of Love because this understanding helps to develop Derrida’s vision of a democracy and politics that resists the hegemony of the masculine and remains …

In Search Of Work-Life Balance: Organizational And Economic Challenges Confronting Women In Banking And Management Consulting Firms In Southwest Nigeria, Oluwafisayo Ogundoro

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Married women in the banking and management consulting firms in Nigeria encounter challenges that affect their commitment to their families while working long hours in demanding jobs. This study explores the challenges married women encounter and the impacts they have on women’s family lives, social lives, and health. I analyze primary and secondary sources to understand how organizational work culture such as long working hours, work competitiveness, and Nigeria’s unstable economy negatively affect the work-life balance of married women in banking and management consulting firms. Although participants shared the belief that their workplaces practiced “equality,” their descriptions of daily life …

The Anonymous Web In Adichie’S Americanah, Michelle Jude Gibeault

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adichie’s Americanah is a novel that elevates anonymous blogging into black cultural performance. The novel follows a young Nigerian, Ifemelu, who arrives in the United States on a student visa and depicts her stressful confrontation with racism in post-slavery America. Through beginning a blog, Ifemelu voices her experiences as a black woman and immigrant in ways that renew the concerns of James Baldwin, an author whom she studies closely. Like Baldwin, her style blends humor and techniques of persuasion that trace to traditional oral folklore. Ifemelu’s success rests partly on Adichie’s construction of her as a character of good ethos, …

Response To My Commentators, David Ingram

Philosophy: Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

John Stuart Mill's 'On Liberty', Dale E. Miller, Nico Perrino

Philosophy Faculty Publications

On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, we are joined by professor Dale E. Miller to discuss the life and philosophy of the English philosopher John Stuart Mill, whose 1859 essay “On Liberty” is a classic text — maybe the classic text — defending the principles of free expression.

Miller is a professor and associate dean for research and graduate studies at Old Dominion University. He is the author of J.S. Mill: Moral, Social, and Political Thought.

The Shapes Of Solidarity Through Difference, Bella Brown

Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy

The following paper will track the subtle and not-so-subtle differences between various forms of feminism, specifically the differences between Indigenous and white feminism. Though the differences can outnumber the similarities, I do not see this as a discouragement for forming intercultural bonds for a peaceful coexistence, in fact this is the opportunity for solidarity to change the perception and reach of feminism as a movement. Feminism has the potential for reaching a broader audience without minimizing the differences of separate groups. This paper does not call for the aggregation of different groups in order to further the goals of white …

Value-Laden Free Will, Lixing Miao

Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy

In this paper, I deliver a value-laden concept of free will. This concept of free will depends on an insight into agential psychology: we generally act in light of the desire of the good and the conception of a good life. Since our actions are performed in relation to the motivational final end—a good human life, the value-laden concept of free will defines that an agent has free will in x-ing only if the agent is motivated in such a way that x-ing is genuinely conducive to a good life. The value-laden concept of free will does not aim at …

Ozturk's Disanalogies, Lauren Williams

Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy

In this essay I will argue that Burkay Ozturk fails to adequately defend his negotiative theory of identity in his article, “The Negotiative Theory of Gender and Identity and the Limits of First- Person Authority.” I argue that the analogies he presents to support his theory and problematize first person authority fall short of doing so because there are significant differences between the cases he presents to elucidate intuitive acceptance or rejection of another’s self-identity. The aim of this essay is to elucidate disanalogies in Ozturk’s series of cases that could explain why the cases should be treated differently, address …

The Possibility Of Moral Action In A Kantian Epistemological Metaphysics, Sarah E. Minnich

Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy

Immanuel Kant was an Enlightenment philosopher who strove to clarify the foundations of human knowledge and morality. Kant began his cosmopolitan efforts by establishing the metaphysical basis for all human cognition. His theories developed from an analysis of the writings of empiricist David Hume and classical metaphysical thought. Causality was a paradigmatic metaphysical concept that was assumed to be necessary and outside of the experiential world. Hume criticized the role of causality as understood by classical metaphysicians and argued that knowledge can only be gained from experience. His argument was based on the foregoing understanding of possible judgements and necessity, …

Political Obligation And Lockean Contract Theory, Samantha Fritz

Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy

In John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government, he presents his notion of social contract theory: individuals come together, leave the state of perfect freedom, and consent to give up certain rights to the State so the State can protect its members. He grounds duties and obligations to the government on the basis of consent. Because one consents to the State, either tacitly or expressly, one has consented to taking on political obligations owed to the State. Locke also notes that individuals can withdraw consent and leave the State. This paper challenges the view that political obligation can exist under …

Humility's Inner Dimension - A Search For Intrinsic Value, David King

Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy

In their paper, “Humility and Epistemic Goods,” Robert C. Roberts and W. Jay Wood classify the intellectual virtue of humility in terms of its instrumental value such that humility becomes a component promoting truth and other epistemic goods. Roberts and Wood see humility as a good that is always working insofar as it relates epistemic knowers to each other and facilitates the pursuit of truth. Essentially, Roberts and Wood envision a kind of humility that aims towards certain intellectual ends. Central to their argument is a two-tier structure of epistemic humility, where humility helps the individual who possesses it, as …

Rawls, Climate Change, And Essential Goods, Gloria Li

Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy

Climate change is one of the most important social and environmental justice issues of the 21st century. As such, it deserves serious treatment by John Rawls, perhaps the most important social justice theorist of the 20th century. In this paper, I first discuss Rawls’ conception of a well-ordered society presented in A Theory of Justice and how climate change may be incorporated in his principles of justice as an intergenerational savings problem. Then, I present a characterization of environmental goods like clean air and clean water as a special kind of good in Rawlsian justice and argue that this is …

Letter From The Editor, C. Áine Keefer

Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy

No abstract provided.

Cover Art, Katherine Penrose

Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy

Growth, by Katharine Penrose
Colored pencil and ink on paper, 8.5” x 10”

Acta Cogitata - Volume 7, C. Áine Keefer, W. John Koolage

Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy

No abstract provided.

The Theory Of Disasters In The Letter Of Mara Bar Serapion: Competition Within Philosophical And Religious Doctrines Of Disaster, Ilaria Ramelli

Journal of Religious Competition in Antiquity

This essay investigates an aspect of religious competition in antiquity: theories of disasters, individual and collective, elaborated by religious and philosophical movements. This investigation intends to contribute to enlightening popular philosophical and religious theories of disasters in Roman imperial times through the case study of a Stoicizing document of (apparently) a Syrian Hellenized author of the Roman imperial times: the Letter of Mara Bar Serapion (or Sarapion) to his son, from the Roman imperial period. This will be examined in a systematic comparison with Stoic theories of disasters and within the larger issue of the Stoicizing ideas that this Letter …

A Means To An End: Adding Value To The Preference Debate, Laura Miller

Theses

Helping disadvantaged people involves trusting them to make the best possible choices. Under scrutiny, however, it seems that the disadvantaged often fail to make the best choices for themselves. In this paper, I oppose both the traditional philosophical view that some choices of the disadvantaged are deformed or adaptive, and the view of preference utilitarians, who favor aiming to satisfy all preferences.

My rejection of the traditional views of preference is founded on my identification of two distinct kinds of preferences and their relationship to each other: means preferences and end preferences. Means preferences are those choices that are made …