Philosophy Commons^™

At The Intersection Of Due Process And Equal Protection: Expanding The Range Of Protected Interests, Vincent J. Samar

Philosophy: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Are the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses interconnected? Justice Kennedy in Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court case holding the fundamental right to marry includes the right to a same-sex marriage, stated that they are profoundly connected in that each clause “may be instructive as to the meaning and reach of the other.” But exactly what instruction each doctrine might afford the other, Justice Kennedy did not say. An earlier Supreme Court decision, Plyler v. Doe, also suggested a connection, when the Court held unconstitutional a Texas statute baring funding for the education of undocumented children. But …

Reply To Beata Stawarska, Johanna K. Oksala

Philosophy: Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

Crossed Tracks: Mesolimulus, Archaeopteryx, And The Nature Of Fossils, Leonard Finkelman

Faculty Publications

Organisms leave a variety of traces in the fossil record. Among these traces, vertebrate and invertebrate paleontologists conventionally recognize a distinction between the remains of an organism’s phenotype (body fossils) and the remains of an organism’s life activities (trace fossils). The same convention recognizes body fossils as biological structures and trace fossils as geological objects. This convention explains some curious practices in the classification, as with the distinction between taxa for trace fossils and for tracemakers. I consider the distinction between “parallel taxonomies,” or parataxonomies, which privileges some kinds of fossil taxa as “natural” and others as “artificial.” The motivations …

Betting & Hierarchy In Paleontology, Leonard Finkelman

Faculty Publications

In his Rock, Bone, and Ruin: An Optimist’s Guide to the Historical Sciences, Adrian Currie argues that historical scientists should be optimistic about success in reconstructing the past on the basis of future research. This optimism follows in part from examples of success in paleontology. I argue that paleontologists’ success in these cases is underwritten by the hierarchical nature of biological information: extinct organisms have extant analogues at various levels of taxonomic, ecological, and physiological hierarchies, and paleontologists are adept at exploiting analogies within one informational hierarchy to infer information in another. On this account, fossils serve the role …

From Outside Of Ethics: Moss, Sarah. Probabilistic Knowledge, Timothy Smartt

Philosophy Papers and Journal Articles

Book Review published in the "From Outside of Ethics" section of Ethics: An International Journal of Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy.

Moss, Sarah. Probabilistic Knowledge. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. Pp. 288. $54.00 (cloth).

God’S Stumbler: On Being A Martyr In The World, Glenn J. Morrison

Philosophy Papers and Journal Articles

The martyrs of the faith and charity reveal a dramatic narrative of Christian experience. Like Mary, the martyr’s soul magnifies God rejoicing in the glory of God’s salvation. Testifying to the Gospel, martyrs unearth the trauma of existence with the radiance and splendour of dying and rising with Christ. Equally, the Gospel calls the faithful to journey through the turbulence and stumbling of life towards the Kingdom of God. The Gospel life of the martyr provides an insight into the affectivity and otherness of Christian experience. For encountering people’s suffering, we stumble at the gravity of their pain and outrage, …

Why Analyze A Sonnet? Avoiding Presumption Through Close Reading, Devon Madon

Faculty Publications & Research

In the first session of my Introduction to Shakespeare course, I always teach one of Shakespeare's best-known sonnets: Sonnet 130, "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun:' I open with this sonnet because students frequently think that they know what the poem is about. W hen I ask the class, someone will usually give me the most common misreading of the sonnet: the speaker tells his mistress that she does not look like other women, but he loves her all the same. Rather than dismissing this reading, I ask many questions. How did you reach this conclusion? What do …

In Memoriam: Richard L. Harp

Quidditas

This volume is dedicated to Professor Richard L. Harp who died at the age of 73 on 7 March 2019. Richard and his spouse Margaret Harp, Professor of French at UNLV have been active members of the Rocky Mountain Medieval and Renaissance Association. Richard served on the Association’s Executive Board, presented papers and chaired sessions at several conferences, and Margaret served as Treasurer, and organized RMMRA’s 2018 Las Vegas conference.

Full Issue

Quidditas

No abstract provided.

Ecopedagogy: Learning How To Participate In Ecological Consciousness, Peterson, Eric

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

This paper is the result of an inquiry into ecological consciousness through a participatory paradigm. The dialectical relationship between institutionalized education and consciousness is central to this inquiry’s focus. This exploration into ecological consciousness has lead to the following question: How can institutionalized education be designed, delivered, and experienced in a way that nurtures ecological intelligence, ecological consciousness, and more importantly, ecological activism? The ‘sense of self ‘is a central theme within the paper, and led to the conception of intraearthal and interearthal relationships as a way of communicating our need to identify as being in Earth. The author utilizes …

Climate Change Mitigation And The U.N. Security Council: A Just War Analysis, Harry Van Der Linden

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Should the U.N. Security Council (unsc) use its coercive powers to bring about effective climate change mitigation? This question remains relevant considering the inadequate mitigation goals set by the signatories of the Paris Climate Accord and the ramifications of U.S. withdrawal from the Accord. This paper argues that the option of the unsc coercing climate change mitigation through military action, or the threat thereof, is morally flawed and ultimately antithetical to effectively addressing climate change. This assessment is based significantly on the application of jus ad bellum principles of just war theory, incorporating some feminist critiques of this theory.

Adoção De Medidas De Precaução Diante Dos Riscos No Uso Das Inovações Tecnocientíficas, Hugh Lacey

Philosophy Faculty Works

Identifico medidas de precaução que devem ser adotadas para prevenir ou reduzir o risco dos efeitos danosos possivelmente ocasionados pelos usos das inovações científicas. Meu argumento se vale em especial de situações em que há incerteza a respeito dos riscos envolvidos. Sustenta que medidas eticamente adequadas precisam ser informadas pelos resultados das pesquisas científicas empreendidas (sob as estratégias metodológicas apropriadas) com o fim de identificar, tanto quanto possível, os efeitos danosos possíveis e a variedade dos mecanismos que levem à sua efetiva ocorrência, bem como as condições em que eles atualmente ocorreriam, e com qual magnitude e probabilidade, bem como …

What’S So Authentic About Restoration?, Remei Capdevila-Werning, Sue Spaid

Philosophy Faculty Publications

When shown two identical works of art, and told that one is the original and the other an artist-sanctioned copy, most viewers claim that they prefer the ‘original’, precisely because they imagine that something of the artist’s hand remains. Knowing full well that most everything that is old, yet still exists, has undergone some form of restoration, we are surprised that some philosophers still share viewers’ preference for some original over its sanctioned copy, as if they too believe that something of the artist’s hand remains, even if paint molecules have chipped off or surfaces have been (unbeknownst to them) …

From Fallibility To Fragility: How The Theory Of Narrative Transformed The Notion Of Character Of Fallible Man, Pol Vandevelde

Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Racism As Self-Love, Grant J. Silva

Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications

In the United States today, much interpersonal racism is driven by corrupt forms of self-preservation. Drawing from Jean-Jacques Rousseau, I refer to this as self-love racism. The byproduct of socially-induced racial anxieties and perceived threats to one’s physical or social wellbeing, self-love racism is the protective at­tachment to the racialized dimensions of one’s social status, wealth, privilege, and/or identity. Examples include police officer related shootings of unarmed Black Americans, anti-immigrant sentiment, and the resurgence of unabashed white supremacy. This form of racism is defined less by the introduction of racism into the world and more on the perpetuation of racially …

Criticism As A Form Of Cognition (Journal Article), Curtis L. Carter

Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Religious F Aith In The Unjust Meantime: The Spiritual Violence Of Clergy Sexual Abuse, Theresa W. Tobin

Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications

Clergy sexual abuse is both sexual and psychological violence, but it is also a paradigmatic case of spiritual violence that rises to the level of religious trauma. In this paper I argue that the spiritual violence of clergy sexual abuse diminishes, and in some cases may even destroy, a survivor’s capacities for religious faith or other forms of spiritual engagement. I use and illustrate the value of feminist methodology, as developed and advanced by Alison Jaggar, for generating and pursuing philosophical questions about religious experience. Feminist methodology’s sensitivity to theorizing situated subjects who stand to each other in relations of …

Self-Control And Moral Security, Jeanette Kennett, Jessica Wolfendale

Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications

Self-control is integral to successful human agency. But the capacity for self-control requires external support. This paper explores the connections between social conditions, self-control, agency, and the self. Part one offers a taxonomy of self-control. Part two examines the external conditions that support successful agency and self-control, and argues that moral security is a critical foundation for agency. Moral security refers to the degree to which an agent believes that her welfare and her projects are valued by others and by her society. Parts three and four explore how narratives about racism and poverty undermine moral security, and limit and …

Human-Wildlife Conflict And Coexistence In A More-Than-Human World: A Multiple Case Study Exploring The Human-Elephant-Conservation Nexus In Namibia And Sri Lanka, Cynthia Castaldo-Walsh

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative multiple case study explored human-elephant conflict-coexistence relationships and issues of conservation in Namibia (Damaraland) and Sri Lanka (Wasgamuwa) from a posthumanist, multispecies perspective. Within each region, conflict between humans and elephants is considered high, elephants are considered endangered and are of high conservation priority, the human population has grown significantly, and community-based organizations are implementing holistic approaches to increase positive relations between humans and elephants. This study was guided by research questions that explored the current landscape of the human-elephant-conservation nexus within each region, the shared histories between humans and elephants over time, and the value in utilizing …

Thomas Hobbes's Belief Concerning Human Nature And The Government, Devron B. Unrugh

A with Honors Projects

Thomas Hobbes was a English philosopher, born 1588 and died 1679. He was considered to be one of the founders of modem political philosophy, the other being John Locke. Best known for his book "The Leviathan," Hobbes was interested in many aspects of philosophy, even as a child, but none more than his idea of the perfect kind of governing system. His ideas of government made him unpopular with people, as he favored a monarchy, and as such he was exiled. Despite the fact he was exiled, his thoughts on the matter might be true. Monarchy, as long as not …

Gillick Competence: An Unnecessary Burden, Nigel Zimmermann

Arts Papers and Journal Articles

This study of the implications of Gillick competence argues it is an unnecessary burden with an unethical foundation. The ethics of adolescent medical decision-making is a fraught area for medical ethics because it deals with the threshold boundaries between childhood and adulthood and Gillick adds a burden upon children and adolescent patients that is unwarranted and through which damage is done to integral human relationships. In light of Gillick, it can be seen that the context of adolescent decision-making and childhood, is a neglected topic of ethical reflection.

Collective Nobility: Spinoza And The Politics Of Emotion, Ethan K. Uhlig

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The intent of this thesis is to examine Spinoza's philosophy of emotion as it relates to groups of individuals, or collectives. These groups, especially political collectives such as nation-states, are evaluated through Spinozist understandings of virtue, nobility, and blessedness. From this analysis, a novel concept of "collective nobility" is used to create philosophical guidance for the emotional dimensions of politics and state action. Drug policy is used as a case study to understand how emotion influences policymaking and vice versa, both negatively (as in the United States) and positively (as in Portugal).

The Metaphysics Of The Collective Unconscious, Oscar B. Jablon

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis shows how the metaphysical features of the Jungian collective unconscious can be demystified by viewing the collective unconscious through the lens of functionalism. The features of the collective unconscious that will be investigated in this thesis are the possibility of the collective unconscious being present in every person, the archetypes as being the formal feature of some of our modes of perception, psychic energy, and synchronicity. By admitting functionalism, Jung doesn't need to posit synchronicity to explain how it is possible for the archetypes to interact with the body. This is because functionalism can view mental states as …

An Ecofeminist Analysis Of The Ready-Made Garment Industry In Bangladesh, Yasmin Fakhoury

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Bangladesh's ready-made garment industry and its harsh working conditions have been the center of intense scrutiny for the past decade, especially following the massive death tolls of the Tazreen Fashions factory fire in 2012 and the Rana Plaza building collapse in 2013. While lauded by many for its tremendous contributions to the Bangladeshi economy and its employment of primarily women, the garment industry is responsible for causing harm both to the women who work there and the local environment. Women workers are physically and verbally abused in the workplace for little pay, while the factories emit pollutants that contaminate the …

Culture, Power, And Control: A Discussion Of Autonomy And Responsibility, Loren A. Alonso

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to explore how power, control, autonomy, and responsibility are active participants in culture and daily human life. First, I discuss two understandings of power, structured and diffused. I examine some different techniques of power that help support and reproduce the current power systems in place and how historically, these systems have been predominantly unjust. I then discuss an alternative view of power that incorporates both structured and diffused forms of power. I explain why this new understanding of power could be more useful in actively shifting the current unjust power structures present in the …

Spinoza On Miracles, Charles H. Smith

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Baruch Spinoza's approach to the subject of miracles was distinctly naturalistic. Instead of believing that God and nature consisted of separate domains (and that miracles represented supra-natural phenomena), he argued that they were one and the same. Thus, "miracle" is a pseudo-category, and those occurrences that we label with that word are actually natural phenomena whose rational causes are not yet understood.

Doxastic Voluntarism And Religious Diversity, Naomi Smith

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The reality of religious diversity raises questions about belief-formation, rationality, and epistemic peerhood. Doxastic voluntarism, the view that we can choose to form certain beliefs, is one proposed account of how we form beliefs in the absence of empirical evidence or conclusive reasoning, which is generally the case with religious beliefs. Direct doxastic voluntarism is the view that in some cases, we exercise immediate control over the beliefs we form. Indirect doxastic voluntarism is the view that we can only exercise control over some factors surrounding the belief-formation process but that this control nonetheless constitutes a choice of belief. I …

Inevitably Dying: The Role Of Ideological Legacy-Derived Death Anxieties In Subverting Mortality Salience, Christina Fuleihan

Honors Program Theses

Existential debates – regarding life, death, and the states which potentially succeed existence – have widespread spiritual and ethical implications for general society. Rather than aimlessly questioning the metaphysical value of death on life, there are clear bioethical applications to exploring exaggerated human death anxieties. These fears are unique to our species and have wide-spread societal repercussions. By and large, discomfort with the notion of mortality permeates unequivocally throughout our species’ histories. We become our own worst enemies when we fail to admit and confront the inevitability of death. The lack of mortality salience encouraged by our trepidations fuels an …

Inviting Others In: How Oppression Affects The Self, Mylo Apollo Parker-Emerson

Senior Independent Study Theses

Broadly, the focus of this thesis is to consider how oppression affects the self. More specifically, this project supports the claim that there is a conflicting imposition (by being oppression) placed on queer folk in black (American) Christian spaces that affects the self. The position is elucidated through a four-chapter structure. In the first chapter, I provide a charitable reading to Mead’s theory of the self. I end the chapter by considering how a dissonance may occur. In chapter two, I define identity through a hermeneutical lens and supplement this theory by considering the ways identity can be imposed and …

Says Who? A Feminist Challenge Of Moral And Epistemic Authority In Advocacy, Coral Ciupak

Senior Independent Study Theses

This Independent Study thesis is divided into three chapters. The first chapter, “The Challenge of Feminist Ethics,” describes the project of feminist ethics to respond to patterns of inclusion and exclusion within the dominant tradition of moral thought and practice. I then highlight several features of consideration in feminist ethics that are useful in its response and subsequent development of alternative representations of moral life. My second chapter, “The Moral and Epistemic Commitment of Advocacy,” discusses the field of advocacy as morally and epistemically engaged through practices of speaking for others. I give reasons to believe that the commitment underpinning …