Philosophy Commons^™

The Psychology Of Dystopian And Post-Apocalyptic Stories: The Proverbial Question Of Whether Life Will Imitate Art, Donna Roberts

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

Dystopian and Post-Apocalyptic genres challenge our notions of Aristotelian mimesis vs Anti-mimesis – i.e., In the study of the human condition, does life imitate art or art imitate life? Popular culture, then and now, provides us with examples to depict the circularity of these notions and the psychological importance of exploring this aspect of human nature, particularly the contemplation of our own collective demise. While we recoil in horror at the images these genres portray, we are also morbidly fascinated by them, and we can’t help but ask ourselves . . . Could that really happen? Will that happen?

Comment …

Sounding The Nile: River Politics, Environment And Nubian Musical Expression, Regan L. Homeyer

Music ETDs

ABSTRACT

In the mid 1960s, almost 100,000 Egyptian Nubians, people Indigenous to the Nile River Valley, were removed from their ancestral homeland due to the creation of the Aswan High Dam. In the years surrounding their displacement, Nubian musicians in Cairo and villages in new settlement areas gathered traditional Nubian songs and composed new songs to form a distinctive Nubian musical repertoire. This thesis addresses contemporary Nubian musical performance and the role of these reclaimed and newly-written songs in maintaining and revitalizing not only Nubian languages and culture, but especially senses of self in relation to place and, above all, …

Free Speech And The Internet, John Huebler

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

This is a two-part project on freedom of speech and the internet. The first analyzes methodological approaches to the free speech debate. John Stuart Mill’s theory of free speech outlined in his book, On Liberty, is summarized. After establishing his idea of the “marketplace of ideas,” several objections to Mill’s theory are explored, focusing on various types of speech that undermine the principles of truth-seeking. The part concludes that, despite these objections, an open dialogue where actors seek truth is a worthy goal and limiting the effects of the objections presented should be pursued The second part analyzes contemporary …

Proceeding Without Consent: The Ethics Of Disregarding Patient Preference For Paternalistic Reasons, Nicholas Munsey

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Within the last few decades, modern medical regulations have brought the practicing medical community to an unprecedented level of accountability. Laws and regulations governing the practice of medicine were once, at best, loosely enforced guidelines; practices such as experimental surgeries, dangerous health testing, end of life care, and treatment of mental illness were left comparatively unregulated. The introduction of patient rights and new standards for practicing have left the medical community with a novel dilemma: how might one approach a patient who, according to medical advice, is in need of treatment if that patient is unable to express preference or …

No Hope For Rousseau In Tomorrowland: Limits Of Civil Religion In E.L. Doctorow’S The Book Of Daniel: A Novel (1971), Gabrielle R. Johnson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Current scholarly work on E.L. Doctorow’s (1931-2015) novel The Book of Daniel: A Novel (1971) often ignores the narrator Daniel Isaacson’s implicit critique of Rousseau’s civil religion. This paper will show the importance of civil religion within the novel despite its being overlooked by most scholars. In The Book of Daniel, Daniel frequently examines instances of American civil religion and even goes as far as to describe it as inevitable and intrusive on freedom. Daniel implies throughout the novel that the American government models their civil religion on Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s (1712-1778) conception as described in his treatise The Social …

George Berkeley's Idealism: An Examination Of The Idealist Metaphysics And Its Connection To Philosophy Of Mind, Joshua L. Powell

Honors Theses

The prominent 18th century empirical philosopher George Berkeley espoused a philosophy known as “idealism.” This thesis aims to show that George Berkeley’s idealism is a formidable player in philosophy of mind. The present research unfolds his arguments for idealism as they appear in A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, turning at several points to The Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous for clarification. This research further explores the fundamentals of idealism in light of philosophy of mind, highlighting idealism’s intrinsic connection to this discipline. While this work is far from exhaustive, it provides the reader with essential information …

Elucidation And The Solipsism Of The Tractatus, Jacob Phillips

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

In Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (TLP) of 1921, Ludwig Wittgenstein presents his metaphysical account of the logical structure of the world and language. He aims to establish the possibility of the connection between “pictures” of the world—including linguistic constructions as sentences—and the constituent elements of the world. The account Wittgenstein promotes yields, by his own admission, a form of solipsism. Underlying the difficulties in interpreting the details of Wittgenstein’s solipsism (which he does little to explicate), there is a fundamental tension between solipsism of any sort and a metaphysical account that relies on language, something which seems essentially shared and …

Critical Veganism: A Posthuman Understanding Of ‘Becoming With’ Others, Kensey Dressler

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

This thesis lays the groundwork for a critical vegan orientation to posthuman communication research. Critical veganism attempts to do the least amount of harm to nonhuman beings, a shift that decenters the human in scholarship and focuses on the material realities of nonhuman beings. This orientation helps create a praxis for posthuman research that is in line with a new materialist approach to ontology, is anti-capitalist, and strives to do the least harm. Previous research methods tend to be anthropocentric in nature, thus leaving out nonhuman experiences from communication research. Using both autoethnography and multi-species ethnography as my methods, I …

Afrosonic Noise: A Transnational Black Feminist Musicological Study Of Global Black Joy In Black North American Rock Music And Afro Argentinian Music Performance., Jerika M Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

I have decided that my academic mission, at this juncture at least, is to find common links between 2 groups of people that have come to know themselves through paralleling but colonially different environments. Perhaps it is wise for me to explore the similarities between Afro Argentine Black Music and African North American Music in closer ethnomusicological detail using feminist praxis—after all both communities are part of the African Diaspora and producing Black music. I do this by reconstructing a very limited genealogy of Black Femme’s and their contribution to their respective musical communities. I draw parallels between the global …

Unjust Food Systems And Applied Mereology, Shane Ray Epting

Arts, Languages and Philosophy Faculty Research & Creative Works

Conventional food systems are highly complex entities with numerous components that span the globe. Having an overabundance of parts creates 'globalized opacity', a condition wherein the sheer number of parts makes it incredibly challenging to see how these parts fit together. In turn, people cannot see how these systems help create and perpetuate social injustices in select instances. With this notion in mind, it should be no surprise that numerous issues require mitigation. Gaining a clear view of the nature of such problems could improve how food-justice researchers understand the complexity involved in the issues that plague food systems, which …

Reconciling Flourishing Egoism With Common Morality, Mark Lamb

Honors Theses

It is a common critique of moral theories focused on the agent that they are selfish and immoral. Selfish here typically carries a negative connotation. Morality is supposed to show how we ought to treat people outside of ourselves; and this is true to a degree. But so often it seems, at least to me, that the more “selfless” moral theories seem to forget that the agent is as deserving of the good as those that the agent interacts with are. Egoism, broadly, reverses this and places the agent at the forefront of ethical decision-making. Unfortunately, this has historically led …

A Study Of Quality Requirement Conveyance For Assignments In Technology And Engineering Master’S Degree Programs, Heather J. Mccain

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Quality requirements are not easy to define. In higher education, defining quality requirements and communicating those requirements to students may be accomplished through a variety of mechanisms. Students still may not know what it takes to get a good grade on an assignment and may have to wait for an instructor to clarify the assignment. This study was conducted because students and instructors may have different opinions as to which forms of feedforward and what technology are best to convey assignment requirements. The purpose of this study was to determine effective feedforward mechanisms as well as the technology used to …

Ethical Tensions Of Library And Information Science Profession: Theoretical Perspective, Navneet Kaur Deol, Amandeep Kaur

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The present paper focuses on the issue of professional ethics and related problems in the field of Library and Information Science. The study, to begin with, reveals the dichotomy of professional ethics from the general social ethics through visible boundaries and jurisdictions. Further, some most general and universally found issues and reasons of ethical tensions are discussed. The study argues that unawareness about professional ethics, lack of universal patterns of ethics as well as universal mechanism for the implementation and the dilemma of social ethics versus professional ethics are the issues, which result in ethical tensions. Besides these, in certain …

The Analysis Of Honor Killings In Pakistan And How It Is Related To The Notion Of “What Will Other People Say?", Mahum Nazar

Undergraduate Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Natural Law In Mencius And Aquinas, Richard Kim

Philosophy: Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

A Search For Aristotelian Political Friendship In Thomas Jefferson’S Ideal American Regime, Christopher Hiatt O'Connor

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

In this project, I elucidate the presence of Aristotelian political friendship within Thomas Jefferson's ideal American regime. The project considers the aspects of Aristotle's political thought that are relevant to political friendship, and draws parallels to Jefferson's political philosophy through: (1) the organization of the regime and its citizens (the constitution and construction of the regime, the class demographics of its citizens, etc.); and (2) the philosophical principles that inform the aim(s) and end (telē) of the regime.

Despite notable differences between their political philosophies--such as Jefferson's inclusion of Christian moral philosophy in his thought--I conclude that Jefferson's attempts to …

Human Nature In The Natural World, Alexandra Sawasciuk

Montserrat Annual Writing Prize

This paper compares the utopian perspectives and critical societal analysis of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Henry David Thoreau.

Benefits Of The Waldorf Educational Model On Students' Academic Success, Tyler J. Curry

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

As traditionally ran public schools have focused more on testing in the past few decades, alternative methods of education have been rising in relevance. One model of alternative education, the Waldorf method, has an emphasis on developmental stages and the arts in a way that has been shown to increase test scores and reduce behavioral problems in their students. This capstone project examines the academic benefits of the Waldorf model of education and whether their curriculum is equitable for all students in one of the schools in the Monterey Bay area.

New Perspectives On Promoting Efl Teaching And Learning In Oman, Jihan Sulaiman Al Naabi

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio is an accumulation of work that the author accomplished during her study in the program of Master of Second Language Teaching at Utah State University. It is an outcome of the author’s personal teaching experiences, insights gained from her master’s study, and several class observations as well.

The portfolio comprises three primary portions: (1) teaching perspectives, (2) research perspectives, and (3) an annotated bibliography. The teaching perspectives revolve around the author’s beliefs on the role of both teachers and students in L2 classrooms, the communicative teaching of grammar, and the value of a positive learning environment. The research …

An Actor's Process In Bridging The Gap Between First-Generation And Multi-Generational African-American Identities., Mutiyat Ade-Salu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis reflects my process assimilating into the role of Chelle in the production of Detroit '67 at the University of Louisville. Although there have been instances of actors crossing lines of gender, nationality, race, and even sexuality, to perform roles in contemporary theatre, discussion about generational differences is almost non-existent. Through historical research, first-hand interviews, and conventional acting methods, I explore the world of my role, searching for spirituality, authenticity, and identity. Additionally, I explain my use of The WAY Method ®, a process I began creating in 2014 to help actors be clear with who they are before …

Curating Digital Pedagogy In The Humanities, Katherine Harris, Matthew Gold, Rebecca Frost Davis

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

This is the published introduction to the born-digital, open-access, peer-reviewed *Digital Pedagogy in the Humanities*. More a rationale and scholarly study of both Digital Pedagogy and DPiH in general, this introduces articulates the uses, theory, rationale about digital pedagogy as it has been shaped in U.S. institutions since the explosion of Digital Humanities in 2009. As a separate field now, Digital Pedagogy is built on the generosity of its practitioners, but saving the *stuff* of teaching and pedagogy is difficult. The introduction historicizes this now-published project, its open peer review process, and its development in the early years (starting in …

The Moral Agency Of The State: What Does A Virtuous State Look Like And Is Allowing Capitalism Virtuous?, Austin Cable

Undergraduate Honors Theses

It has become quite noticeable that modern world politics across the globe has lacked a guiding morality in which we can hold states morally accountable in both the international and domestic spheres. This can be seen in the never-ending wars and occupations across the Middle East, South-East Asia, and many other places around the world. Now, attempting to implement such guiding moral principles seems to be an impossible task mainly because of the massive difficulties that one would face in trying to get the 195 countries around the world to agree on such principles. Because of this, most will probably …

Perceptual Characterization: On Perceptual Learning And Perspectival Sedimentation, Anthony Holdier

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In her analysis of perspectival effects on perception, Susanna Siegel has argued that perceptual experience is directly rationally assessable and can thereby justify perceptual beliefs, save for in cases of epistemic downgrade or perceptual hijacking; I contend that the recalcitrance of known illusions poses an insurmountable problem for Siegel’s thesis. In its place, I argue that a model of perceptual learning informed by the dual-aspect framework of base-level cognitive architecture proposed by Elisabeth Camp successfully answers the questions motivating Siegel’s project in a manner that avoids such issues.

The Criterion Collection, Mackenna Finley

Honors Projects

The Criterion Collection is an examination of truth in fiction and poetry. The goal of this project is not to create truth that is absolute, but instead to allow for the experience of its subjectivity. The interplay between fiction and poetry, reader and author illuminates the subtle warping of truth through human experience.

Telling And Testimony, Sam Filby

Theses

A central question in the epistemology of testimony concerns whether a

speaker’s testimony should count as a reason for a hearer to believe the

content of the speaker’s assertion. Proponents of the interpersonal view of

testimony (IVTs) contend that it is the interpersonal relationship between

speaker and hearer that provides the hearer with a reason to believe what

the speaker says. In contrast, critics of IVTs argue that the interpersonal

relationship between speaker and hearer is epistemically superfluous. Call

this the superfluity objection to IVTs. In the following paper, I defend

an IVT against the superfluity objection. I argue that …

Probability Of Naturalism And Metanormative Realism, Curtis Howd

Theses

Darwin’s Theory of Evolution can be mobilized to provide epistemological challenges to metanormative realism. It is argued that, since natural selection selects for behaviors adequate for survival and fecundity, our psychologies must be shaped by this same process. A-type challenges point to the improbability of the vast number of true normative beliefs given that they evolved to track survival and fecundity, not truth. B-type debunking arguments point to the improbability of the hypothesis that evolution would track truth given that there are a multitude of defeaters for this hypothesis. I will argue that both a-type and b-type arguments fail to …

Plato's Ban: Why The Poets Are Exiled, Seth J. Gerberding

Honors Thesis

This thesis examines Plato’s ban of poetry in the Republic. In particular, I draw a link between Plato’s method for finding the truth, dialectic, and his banishment of the poets. There are three parts to this thesis. First, I analyze dialectic as a process, understanding what the science searches for and how it does so. Second, I analyze poetry and its metaphysical standing and how that influences psychology. Finally, I argue that the design of dialectic has an inherent weakness, a weakness that allows poets and rhetoricians to corrupt former students of dialectic. In Plato’s perfect state, there is no …

Pemberontakan Komunis Silungkang 1926–1927 Sebuah Gerakan Islam Revolusioner, Amri Marzali

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

This article discusses what was called by the Dutch Colonial Government as ‘The Communist Uprisings of 1926-1927’. Instead of ‘the communist uprisings’, the writer tends to call this people’s resistance as ‘the Revolutionary Islamic Movement’. The writer finds the facts in which the dominant organization involved in the uprising was Sarekat Islam, a spilt faction of Sarekat Islam. The correction is based on different documents and reports, namely the resources issued by the colonial government, books written by political researchers of the West and by a local historian such as Mestika Zed, books and articles written by the local Silungkang’s …

Konstruksi Maskulinitas Dalam Penari Balian Bawo Dayak Deah, Tri Sulapmi Dolina Ikeh, Aquarini Priyatna, Muhammad Adji

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

Balian Bawo dancer is an important figure in the traditional ceremony of the Dayak Deah tribe. A Balian Bawo is believed to be the link between humans and spirits. This dance should only be performed by a man. One representation of Dayak life is presented in the body of the dancer. This study has a qualitative design and examines the representation of masculinity that is manifested in the body of Balian Bawo dancers. Data collection was conducted by compiling photo and video documentation which was then analyzed using the theory of denotation semiotics and Roland Barthes connotations. The results of …

Kajian Sosio-Historis Tentang Pandangan Dunia Atoni Pah Meto Dalam Ritus Poitan Liana, Kristian E.Y.M Afi, Maglon F. Banamtuan

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

This article describes the world view of the people of South Central Timor Regency regarding Atoni Pah Meto in the Poitan Liana Rite. With qualitative descriptive methods, the paper formulated (1) Poitan Liana Rite means the kinship displayed in the role of Atoin Amaf in belief in Uis Neno, Uis Pah, and the ancestors through symbolic actions and speech; (2) Timorese view their life as an integral part of supernatural life, and the continuation of people’s lives in harmony between social order and cosmic order. Uis Neno, Uis Pah, and Ancestors are believed to be a supernatural power involved in …