Philosophy Commons^™

“Imbedded” Belonging And Black Being: A Critical Analysis Of Blackness In Kendrick Lamar’S 2016 Grammy Awards Performance, Anwar Uhuru

Journal of Hip Hop Studies

This article argues that in a space of artistic performance Black people can fully imbed themselves in the space, despite the temporality of the performance itself. Therefore, in the act of performing, Black people are able to fully be recognized as a human whole. The goal of this article is to think of a Hip Hop beingness that fuses the temporal/body, consciousness/beyond the body, and the ancestral connections of orality and genetic memory. I do so by looking at how black performance disrupts dominant narratives of black bodies as being just flesh. This article brings together, Hip Hop studies, Africana …

Making Emotions Trustworthy, Xiaoyu Ke

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

I investigate ways by which agents can make their emotions more trustworthy from a perspective that’s informed by recent psychological research on the nature of emotion regulation. This dissertation is a collection of three articles, each addressing one type of cases of untrustworthy emotions in a particular context. Chapter one (Developing Appropriate Emotions) concerns emotions that are untrustworthy because they are irrelevant to the moral or epistemic judgements at hand. By situating the problem in the context of a situationist challenge to neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics, I argue that we can address this problem by developing ameliorative abilities such as emotion …

Death Spaces And Distant Skies (Every Day We Say Goodbye), Renee Estee

Theses and Dissertations

Linking ideas and imagery of the Australian Outback, Hauntology and Orphism, my practice highlights myth-making and rituals surrounding mourning, celebration and commemoration. Operating as visual love letters and epitaphs, my paintings coalesce figuration and abstraction to conjure spaces where I can commune with the deceased and contend with future loss.

Perceptual Experience, Representation, And The Environment, James Gulledge

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Recent cognitive science suggests that the system responsible for perceptual experience is flexible, can learn, and is robustly affected by information stored in subjects’ minds. My dissertation is about the account of the mind and subjective awareness that emerges if this picture of perceptual experience is true. Whether perceptual experience is affected by stored information is usually tied to discussions of so-called ‘cognitive penetration’ (what I call cognitive ‘permeation’). I consider the focus on cognitive permeation largely as a red herring, instead holding that we should view the relevant epistemic issue more broadly: as that of whether changing stores of …

Resonance And Atmosphere In Architectural Aesthetics, Joona Markus Hulmi

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

The present paper is concerned with the experience of architecture as analyzed through the concepts of atmosphere and resonance. I suggest that the experience of architecture occurs by means of atmospheres that consist of numerous factors, including architectural qualities, interpersonal aspects, and the subject’s individual mind. Architecture may generate or foster atmospheres that are emotionally moving or meaningful, but also ones that are bland, indifferent, meaningless, or at least less meaningful than others. In particular, I examine how we understand atmospheres that are experienced as meaningful and emotionally moving in regard to the so-called resonance theory, as formulated by Hartmut …

Theorizing, Bounded Rationality, And Expertise: Cognitive Sociology And The Quasi-Realism Of Problem-Solving As A Course Of Activity, Michael W. Raphael

Publications and Research

The question facing sociology is whether it is a field or a discipline. If it is a field, then there is no need for theorizing. However, if sociology is a discipline, then problem-solving cannot be disentangled from theorizing without a loss of intelligibility – the inability to explain the social as the concept of the discipline. Through the quasi-realism of problem-solving as a course of activity, this chapter presents cognitive sociology as a paradigm appropriate to the concept of the social understood as an ongoing course of activity. In doing so, it is shown how bounded rationality and expertise play …

Interdisciplinary Convergence To God: A Supplement To The Big Bang & God– An Astro-Theology, Theodore Walker

Perkins Faculty Research and Special Events

Here is a December 2022 supplement to the 2015 book—The Big Bang and God: An Astro-Theology wherein an astronomer and a theologian offer a study of interdisciplinary convergences with natural theology both in the scientific researches of Sir Fred Hoyle and in the philosophical researches of Charles Hartshorne and Alfred North Whitehead, thereby illustrating a constructive postmodern trend (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015) by Theodore Walker Jr. and Chandra Wickramasinghe, with editing and co-authoring by Alexander Vishio.

Biology, astronomy, astrobiology, cosmology, and theology converge when the word “God” refers to “that than which none greater can conceived” (St. Anselm), …

Determinism Beyond Time Evolution, Emily Adlam

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Physicists are increasingly beginning to take seriously the possibility of laws outside the traditional time-evolution paradigm; yet many popular definitions of determinism are still predicated on a time-evolution picture, making them manifestly unsuited to the diverse range of research programmes in modern physics. In this article, we use a constraint-based framework to set out a generalization of determinism which does not presuppose temporal evolution, distinguishing between strong, weak and delocalised holistic determinism. We discuss some interesting consequences of these generalized notions of determinism, and we show that this approach sheds new light on the long-standing debate surrounding the nature of …

Imposed Food And Its Challenges To Food Security, Zachary Tobias

Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) declares that food security exists when all people have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food. This is taken to understand food security in four measures: availability, access, utilization, and stability. The focus of this paper will be on access which concerns the affordability and allocation of the food supply (Ahteensuu & Siipi, 2016). I argue that social pressures on food choice, which I call food impositions, limit one's access to sufficient and safe foods by encouraging undereating in women and unhealthily high volumes of meat consumption in men. People …

Justice And Autonomy In Islamic Bioethics, Sarah Khaleefah

Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy

Islamic bioethics acts as a normative guide to issues in the medical and scientific fields based on the religious perspective of Islam. In this paper, I will discuss one of the principles of Western biomedical ethics using this perspective. In particular, I will demonstrate how this principle should be reformulated, by Islamic understanding, into the principle of respect for justice. The principle of respect for justice can be viewed in the same way as the principle of respect for autonomy, composed of the negative obligation to refrain from actions that destabilize justice (such as causing harm to others), and the …

A Conversion To A Flourishing-Based Ethical Egoism: Discovering Morality’S Prudential Rationality, Carson Johnston

Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy

How do we live a moral life while also living a life of value to us? A life filled with passions, interests, and relationships? This paper tackles a possible reconciliation between morality and rational prudence that ensures a moral way of life is valuable for the agent that lives it. The author is motivated to build a moral theory that is “good for” the moral agent—an individual that has a capacity to understand the moral value and impact of their actions in relation to others. It is a theory that recognizes the human tendency to follow partial, self-interested, and typically …

On The Truth Values Of Definite Descriptions: Examining The Russell-Strawson Dialectic, Ibrahim Dagher

Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy

A well-known critique of Russell’s Theory of Descriptions, offered by P.F. Strawson, is that a central tenet of Russell’s theory, the claim that any particular utterance of a sentence with a non-referring definite description will be either true or false, is mistaken. Strawson provides a similarly well-known argument in support of this claim which at least in part rests on an analysis of such utterances as implying or presupposing, rather than asserting, parts of the logically existential proposition that Russell takes such sentences to be. For Strawson, propositions such as ‘the x is p’ instead presuppose ‘there is an x’ …

The Advancement Of Surrealism: Navigating The Logical Implications Of Surrealism In Poetry Through Time, Brandon Hemsworth

Honors Projects

Surrealism is a complex medium of artistic expression that has persisted through the modern and postmodern time periods and into the contemporary. This project attempts to shine light on the importance of Surrealism by researching the rational implications of its irrational nature. I approached this question in two separate manners: One in a research perspective and one in a creative perspective. This project includes my research on the advancement of Surrealism and 15 poems that I have composed in reflection of Surrealism, Modernism, Postmodernism, the contemporary, and Anti-Realism. The conclusions of this project have important implications that have a common …

Religious Education: Necessary For Perfection, Daniel Skinner

Aristos

No abstract provided.

The Introduction To Being And Time, David Good

Aristos

The clearest summary of Heidegger’s thought in the Introduction to Being and Time is provided by Thomas Sheehan, who says:

Heidegger made the point by pressing his students on what it is they first encounter in their lived experience. Is it things? Objects? Values? No, he insisted, it is:

the meaningful [das Bedeutsame] – that’s what is primary, that’s what is immediately in your face without any detour through a mental grasp of the thing. When you live in the world of first-hand experience, everything comes at you loaded with meaning, all over the place and all the time. Everything …

“The Inner Form Of The Church:” The Mariology And Ecclesiology Of Erich Przywara, Danijel Uremovic

Aristos

In this paper, we will explore the link between the Mariology and ecclesiology of Polish-German theologian Erich Przywara, paying special attention to his designation of Mary as the “inner form of the Church.” Following a brief introduction to his doctrine of analogy, we will examine Przywara’s understanding of Mary’s formal-causal role in shaping the Church. To this end, we will consider three specific sites of his Mary-Church link, namely, Christ’s passion, Mary’s motherhood, and her nuptiality. We will then explore the implications of this three-fold link, and what it means for Przywara’s understanding of the Church. Finally, we will conclude …

Logos Ii Ethical Case Study: Virtue Ethics And The Cheating Partner, Rebecca Saleme

Aristos

No abstract provided.

Logos I Major Essay: In Defence Of Alasdair Macintyre On The Importance Of Catholic University Education, Laurel Hooper

Aristos

No abstract provided.

Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi: Eschatological Teachings In The Prayers Of A Funeral Mass, Carolyn Lewis

Aristos

In light of twenty-first century secularization, and with the liturgical revisions following the Second Vatican Council, some lament that the true eschatological doctrines of the Catholic faith are no longer evident in the Funeral Mass. This would then miscarry the axiom Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, exposing significant shortcomings within these liturgical revisions. This paper analyses the propers of the Funeral Mass, in order to assess which eschatological teachings are evident in those prayers. Examined first are the Christocentric salvific teachings, considering the hopeful Paschal focus of the Funeral Mass. Representations of the nature of the afterlife are then analysed, …

What Roles Do Reason And Revelation Play In The Knowledge Of The Trinity, According To St Thomas Aquinas?, Matthew Anslow

Aristos

The Holy Trinity is viewed, within the Catholic tradition, as “the central mystery of the Christian faith and life.” Given the importance of the doctrine, this paper explores to what extent, and by what means, humans are capable of knowledge of the Trinity. It summarises Thomas Aquinas’ account of the knowledge of the Trinity, beginning with an outline of Aquinas’ understanding of the place of revelation and reason in the knowledge of God in general. From there, the paper notes Aquinas’ denial of the ability of human reason to discern the Trinity before turning to his primary reason for this …

The Church As Lumen Christi Et Sal Terrae, Harry Mcclifty

Aristos

No abstract provided.

Reparations For The Wrongly Convicted, Gillian Trost

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

Wrongly convicted persons should be offered reparations in instances where they have suffered or faced harm as a result of their wrong conviction. Harms can include, but are not limited to, losing physical time, mental health damages, monetary harm, and damages to the person’s reputation. Harms are anything that has diminished a person's quality of life throughout the conviction process and even after exoneration. Failure to offer reparations to these persons is unethical and reparations are a necessary consequence when the judicial system convicts the wrong person. Failure to offer reparations also lessens the judicial system’s accuracy and reliability when …

Reparations For The Wrongly Convicted, Gillian Trost

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Wrongly convicted persons should be offered reparations in instances where they have suffered or faced harm as a result of their wrong conviction. Harms can include, but are not limited to, losing physical time, mental health damages, monetary harm, and damages to the person’s reputation. Harms are anything that has diminished a person's quality of life throughout the conviction process and even after exoneration. Failure to offer reparations to these persons is unethical and reparations are a necessary consequence when the judicial system convicts the wrong person. Failure to offer reparations also lessens the judicial system’s accuracy and reliability when …

The Ins And Outs Of Undergraduate Research And Leadership: A Student's Perspective, Regina F. Hockert

Kinesiology and Public Health

This manuscript is a reflective write-up of Regina Hockert’s experience in completing KINE 462, Honors Kinesiology Senior Project, during the 2022 Fall Quarter. It describes their experience as an undergraduate research leader, including specific milestones and artifacts related to a broader replication study and the daily activities of Dr. Jafrā Thomas’ lab. This essay was designed to be a written reflection around their senior project presentation and the insights shared through that medium about the senior project experience. It is created to showcase lessons learned in relationship with the tasks and responsibilities required of working in-depth on student-led research. …

"Introduction" To Varieties Of Context-Sensitivity In A Pluri-Propositionalist Reflexive Semantic Framework, Robert Stainton, Arthur Sullivan

Philosophy Publications

This brief introduction to a special issue of Disputatio succinctly summarizes John Perry’s pluri-propositionalist reflexive framework and notes some potential applications to varieties of context-sensitivity.

First-Person Plural Indexicals, Robert Stainton, Arthur Sullivan

Philosophy Publications

This is a study of an under-developed topic in philosophy of language, namely first-person plural pronouns (‘we’, ‘us’, etc.) Richard Vallee has made very important progress by identifying crucial desiderata and putting forward an ingenious proposal about ‘we’ which addresses them. We contend that, despite this impressive progress, he makes some missteps, both omissions and errors; furthermore, his proposal appears implausible as a personal-level psychological story. We thus sketch an alternative approach to the semantics of the first-person plural indexical which, though it builds on Vallee’s important work, departs substantially from it.

Philosophers Of Catastrophe: Early 20th Century Jewish Proponents And Opponents Of Objectivity In Science, Steven Gimbel, Stephen J. Stern

Philosophy Faculty Publications

The Second World War ended with the exposure of the Nazi death camps and the threat of global nuclear annihilation. The former disclosed the depths of human depravity and the latter warned us about the severity of the consequences that could await us as a result. The grimness of each, much less both, had the effect of shielding from our collective consciousness the equally dire warnings from the First World War that had occurred only a couple of decades earlier. [excerpt]

Seeing Beyond: A Feminist Psychoanalytic Approach To The Politics Of The Cinematic Gaze, Sofia Koukia

Masters Theses

This essay presents a feminist psychoanalytic approach to the cinematic gaze which employs late Lacanian film theory in order to construct a conception of the gaze that allows for its political significance to emerge. The gaze is hereby understood as something that the subject (the spectator) encounters in the object (the film) and, also, as what constitutes the epitome of the cinematic experience. It is regarded as being inherently political, existing within the realm of the Lacanian real in the form of an objet petit a (or object-cause of desire), and exhibiting itself in the world(s) of fantasy and/or desire. …

Computer Ethics In Curriculum, Tiya Williams

Publications and Research

Ethics specifically in Computer Curriculum is a growing problem that has yet to be widely addressed. Although, start of computer ethics being taught has been traced back to the early 1940’s it has not been standardized or implemented in all computer curriculum. The objective of this research is to diagnose the reasons why ethics is so crucial in computer curriculum at all levels. I used surveys to investigate whether students were taught ethics in their computer curriculum. I also conducted surveys for professors at universities and colleges if they were taught ethics while obtaining their degree, as well as if …

Traveling Epistemology, Or An Intersection Between Ethics And Epistemology Through The Philosophy Of Pragmatism., Pablo Patricio Olivas

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The concept of traditional epistemology carries with it values and expectations that are rarely talked about. Based on the critiques of traditional epistemology by the pragmatist tradition, there is an opportunity to think of an alternative to the traditional view of epistemology as solely a theory of knowledge based on theories like the correspondence theory of truth. The concept of traveling epistemology serves as an alternative that questions the values of traditional epistemology, where things like certainty, and authority are expected in conjunction with a view of knowledge that rests on a mind-independent reality. Traveling epistemology offers a view that …