Philosophy Commons^™

Simple Is As Simple Does: Plantinga And Ghazālī On Divine Simplicity, Jon Mcginnis

Philosophy Faculty Works

This study considers the notion of divine simplicity, the idea that God is not a composite of more basic features, and the criticisms by al-Ghazālī (d. 1111) and Alvin Plantinga of that doctrine. What is shown is that most of the argumentation against divine simplicity frequently credited to Plantinga had been nearly perfectly anticipated by al-Ghazālī. Moreover, in responding to a stronger form of divine simplicity, which Avicenna (d. 1037) had presented, than the Thomistic version that Plantinga attacks, Ghazālī develops ‘new’ arguments and moves that are still valuable and informative to the discussion of divine simplicity today.

Charles Peirce And The Community Of Philosophical Inquiry, Maughn Rollins Gregory

Department of Educational Foundations Scholarship and Creative Works

Introduction: "We individually cannot reasonably hope to attain the ultimate philosophy which we pursue; we can only seek it, therefore, for the community of philosophers." Charles S.Peirce, 1868 (5.265).

Since the American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914) originated the idea of a ‘community of inquiry’ to describe and promote the norms of scientific inquiry, that idea has been used to characterize a wide variety of educational programs, academic disciplines, and institutional, governmental, and political practices. The first purpose of this essay is to establish that the precise phrase ‘community of inquiry’—which does not occur in Peirce’s writings—was coined in 1978 …

Philosophizing With Children’S Literature: A Response To Turgeon And Wartenberg, Darren Chetty, Maughn Rollins Gregory, Megan Jane Laverty

Department of Educational Foundations Scholarship and Creative Works

Introduction: With the maturation of a field comes the opportunity and the responsibility to reflect on its sources, its areas and directions of development, debates among its proponents, and critiques originating from inside and outside the field. While early proponents of philosophy for children supported each other in the face of misunderstanding and misapprehension, differences inevitably arose among them, not only concerning materials and methods, but also concerning the very meanings of philosophy, childhood and education. These differences remain among contemporary scholars, educators and practitioners, who continue to engage in robust debates about how to research and practice philosophy with …

Assembling Ideal Actualization In Viennese Social Housing, Jack Day

Honors Theses

The central aims of this paper are to create a potential concept for what an ideal social housing program could look like and then to determine the extent to which the social housing program in Vienna, Austria has brought this ideal to reality. The social housing program in Vienna was chosen due to its popularity as a program and its generally positive reputation. The paper proceeds by first offering potential definitions for social housing, its ideals, and potential indicators for ideal fulfillment. Then, I take influence from the frameworks of assemblage theory and path-dependency theory to analyze the material, temporal, …

Marcello Musto, The Last Years Of Karl Marx, 1881-1883: An Intellectual Biography. Translated By Patrick Camiller. Stanford, Ca: Stanford University Press, 2020. Isbn 9781503612525., Sean Sayers

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

In the final years of his life, Marx suffered repeated attacks of bronchitis and other illnesses. On doctor’s orders, he spent weeks on end convalescing by the sea, forbidden to exert himself. In the past, most biographers have passed over this period of Marx’s life very briefly, treating it as barren and unproductive. They can be forgiven for doing so, they had little to go on. Marx published very little in these years, and only a few of his letters were known. This situation has changed dramatically in recent years.

Expecting Blows: Sylvia Wynter, Sociogeny, And Exceeding Marxist Social Form, Sara-Maria Sorentino

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

This article examines the relationship between Sylvia Wynter’s sociogenic principle and the question of “social form” in the critique of political economy. Despite their diverging emphases (the symbolic over the material, the slave over the laborer, sociogeny over social form), both Wynter and Marx pursue theoretical modes of inquiry that account for how empty reality principles reside over the reproduction of historical content and consciousness. In turning to the disavowed terms that heterodox Marxism, from value-form to world-systems theory, seeks to resuscitate, Wynter retains elements of Marxism’s interest in social forms reimagines the terms through which Marx’s critique can be …

Slavery, Work, And History: Du Bois’S Black Marxism, Amy Allen

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

No abstract provided.

​​​​From Repression To Appropriation: Soviet Religious Policy And Reform, 1917-1943, Andriy Dyachenko

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyses the dynamics of religious reform in the USSR from 1917 to 1943. It argues that the early Bolshevik policy of persecution was increasingly substituted by state co-optation. This dynamic was shaped primarily by Stalinist concerns with state security and problems of ideology.

The Dream Of The Common Good: Not A Nightmare, Jackson Gregory Dellinger

Honors Theses

This paper examines an emerging position in the philosophy of law, common-good constitutionalism. In the first two parts of the paper, I explain the position and constitutionalism more generally, examining how common-good constitutionalism fits within the definition of constitutionalism providing by a neutral scholar. In the next five parts, I attempt to show that common-good constitutionalism’s preference for explicit adherence to the common good does not violate constitutionalism. In doing so, I provide an examination of common-good constitutionalism’s relationship with three important constitutional principles and the separability of common-good constitutionalism as a whole and the infamous views of its most …

“Paint What You Hate”: Philip Guston’S Hooded Figures And The Postponement Of The Exhibition Philip Guston Now, Thomas Baldwin

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis interrogates the postponement of the Philip Guston Now exhibition, examining the justification for the postponement, the actions taken by the National Gallery of Art, and the effects of the postponement. My research examines the museum’s choice to cite social justice as the main context for understanding Philip Guston.

Strong Linguistic Relativity: A Continental Sense Of Language And Being, Ava Totah, Brian Treanor

Honors Thesis

The theory of linguistic relativity can be divided into two hypotheses: the strong argument and the weak argument. The strong argument, often called linguistic determinism, posits that one’s native language determines one’s thought in an inescapable manner. The so-called “Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis” demonstrates this, though many modern linguists now believe this principle – and linguistic determinism in general – to be implausible. The weak argument for linguistic relativity states that one’s native language merely influences their worldview, such that it struggles to maintain a connection that is more than trivial. In this work, I seek a “third option” that is both …

Constructing Consciouness: Reverse Engineering The Architecture Of The Mind, Scott K. Clarke

Honors Capstone Projects and Theses

No abstract provided.

Property, Bas Van Der Vossen

Philosophy Faculty Books and Book Chapters

"This chapter discusses the nature and value of property rights. It will explain (1) what property rights are, (2) the relationship between private property and economic development, and (3) some objections to structuring societies around such rights. This discussion throughout focuses on the decentralizing nature of private property rights, asking what implications it has from a philosophical, but also social and political, point of view."

Counter-Archival Surplus: Remembering The Partisan Rupture In Post-Socialist Times, Gal Kirn

Artl@s Bulletin

The article departs critically from the postsocialist condition in Yugoslavia marked by conservative revisionism that transformed the memorial landscape. The nation-building process took a clearly negative attitude towards the Yugoslav, socialist and partisan/antifascist past. The first part of the text will shortly present the notion of »counter-archive« and the central features of the method. The second part of the text will offer a short analysis of four case studies: A short partisan poem written by Iztok, a drawing by Dore Klemenčič, a partisan dance by Marta Paulin and a partisan film by Rudi Omota.

Creativity And Spirituality: The Undeniable Connection Between The Two, Elizabeth A. Vesneske

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

Exploring the Spiritual Nature of Creativity

As a deeply spiritual person I began to notice that as I developed my spiritual practices and grew deeper in my spirituality my creativity started to flourish. Ironically enough, I had chosen a master’s program that focused solely on creativity. This is something I would later call a synchronicity, where things in your life magically happen to align. My spirituality, something I am so passionate about started to work its way into my graduate studies. Finding the Center for Applied Imagination through Buffalo State College has not only allowed me to strengthen my creativity …

Furthering Philosophy For The Future: An Exploration Of The Benefits Of High School Philosophy Education And The Barriers It Faces, Alexander Spencer '22

Honor Scholar Theses

In this paper, I will present a picture of how philosophy education should be integrated into American high schools, I will build a case for the benefits of this integration, and I will respond to some challenges to the process of bringing philosophy into the classroom. I hope to show that expanding philosophy education and encouraging critical thinking is important. American high schools are in need of new methods of instruction in this era of misinformation and fruitless political discourse. I hope to show that philosophy education is one tool in the project of improving education, and thus society in …

A Two-Part Rebuttal Of Probability-Based Arguments Against Christian Theism, David Keith Wilson

Masters Theses

This thesis addresses probability-based arguments (PA) from atheism against theism. This popular form of atheistic argument, rather than arguing that there is no such being as God, instead argues that God’s existence is very improbable. This would imply that the theist is unjustified in their belief, and therefore epistemically obligated to forsake their belief. By pairing a cumulative warrant with Alvin Plantinga’s inside straight argument, it is shown that the theist is under no such obligation. As there are many things that are unlikely as well as true, it can be that theism is both unlikely and true. Therefore, the …

Climate Change: The Final Crisis Of Capital, Walker Daniel Peatross

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

As the body of scientific research on climate change continues to grow it has become undeniable that we live in the midst of an ecological crisis; however, this leaves us with a myriad of secondary questions whose answers are more contentious. In this project, I use a mixture of Marxist and Phenomenological analysis to explore these uncertainties. In chapter one, I will detail Marx's description of capitalism both to demonstrate the inherent irrationality of the system and also to represent the ecological critique implicit in Marxist Theory. In chapter two, I will examine how the ideology of neoliberal political theory …

Genres, Communities, And Practices, Evan Malone

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

In this dissertation, I defend a communitarian, practice-based, theory of genre and aesthetic value. I argue that theories of aesthetic value and art ontology within analytic philosophy have been too focused on the intentions of individual artists, the features of individual works, and the aesthetic experience of individual audience members. Accordingly, philosophical accounts of genre also follow this model. However, taking genre seriously means recognizing that they are social categories. If this is right, then philosophy of art ought to pay closer attention to the ways in which genres (as social categories) mediate aesthetic practices, values, and concepts. By thinking …

The Brain Scan As Ideograph, Paige Welsh

English (MA) Theses

Medical imaging devices have enabled doctors to render images of the brain without cutting into the body. These images are colloquially called “brain scans.” Through journalism and mass dissemination online, brain scans have become an example of Michael Calvin McGee’s “ideograph,” a language term that subtly takes on outsized political and symbolic meaning to enforce state power. In conversation with theories of new materialism, I situate the brain scan as an ideograph within Jenny Edbauer’s model of rhetorical ecologies. The rhetorical force of the brain scan comes out of a collision between René Descarte’s mind/body dualism, the medical model of …

Early Intervention And Prediction Of Risk Management Issues In Law Enforcement: A Phenomenological Study, Pamela Lynn Smith

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to research the Early Intervention Systems (EIS) and prediction of risk management issues in law enforcement. The following questions guided the study:

1. How do law enforcement personnel describe their experience with EIS programs as an intervention for officers with behavioral or conduct issues?
2. How do EIS programs affect law enforcement agencies as a whole?
3. What indicators could law enforcement supervisors look for in officers to circumvent misconduct (on or off duty)?
4. What interventions have been observed personally or with other officers regarding discipline, counseling, additional training, etc.?

The setting for this study was …

A Lesson In Mourning: The Evolution Of The English Anti-Elegy, K. Matthew Bennett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the evolution of the anti-elegy originating with Thomas Hardy’s elegiac sequence in memory of his wife Emma; Poems of 1912-1913. Using French post-structuralist Georges Bataille’s The Accursed Share as a theoretical lens, Hardy’s anti-elegies are analyzed and rhetorically connected to English war poet Siegfried Sassoon’s anti-elegies. Hardy’s anti-sentimentality, fatalistic outlook on death, and rejection of the Christian afterlife seeps into the language of Sassoon’s war poems which serve as a protest to the dehumanizing effects of late capitalism witnessed during the First World War. Hardy and Sassoon’s anti-elegies, with their hyper-focus on the elegized body, are …

Searching For Hades In Archaic Greek Literature, Daniel Stoll

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No single volume of mythological or philological research exists for Hades. In the one moment Hades appears in archaic Greek literature, speaking for only ten lines, Hermes stands nearby. Thus, to understand and journey to Hades is to reckon with Hermes’ close presence. As I synthesize research by writers from several different disciplines, may some light be brought into the depths. May we analyze Hades’ brief appearance in archaic Greek literature, examining how what I define as the “Hermetic” emits from his breath in the one moment he physically appears and speaks.

Operatic Mysticisms: Mountains, Deserts, Waterscapes, Andrew Demczuk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Operatic Mysticisms: Mountains, Deserts, Waterscapes examines the ways we encounter environments as readers/viewers of operas, literature, film, and sound recordings, and how each medium requires different detail-gathering techniques. Respective to the previously mentioned mediums, Sun & Sea (2017), Mount Analogue (1952), El Mar La Mar (2017), and Energy Field (2010) are analyzed by engaging with environmental media studies and invention. Reflecting the nature of each landscape—summits of mountains, aporias of deserts, and mysteries of waterscapes—an elemental approach is taken in investigating how these spaces may be noticed, internalized, recorded, and traversed by both the artist and viewer. …

An Argument For Sensuous Revolution And Its Manifestation In The Food System, Anna Smith

Honors Theses

In this food system, we witness issues such as health disparities, social injustice, and environmental injustice, which all flow within one another. When seeking to address such issues it is essential to recognize their inherent interconnectedness and root causes; otherwise, intended solutions can perpetuate the issues they aim to solve when they do not encompass full-seeing. The greatest barrier to full-seeing is disconnection with experience, which occurs when what we are experiencing is obscured by static conceptions. This inhibition of holistic understanding, when occurring through such limited perspectives, makes solving issues such as health disparities, social injustice, and environmental injustice …

La Mutación Del Pensamiento: Las Repercusiones Filosóficas Y Literarias De Friedrich Nietzsche En La Obra De Miguel De Unamuno., Raúl E. Garriga

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The first two chapters of the thesis contain a detailed study about the appropriations of two 19th century philosophical concepts that Miguel de Unamuno took from Nietzsche. The first chapter covers the idea of expulsion interna that the Basque philosopher attributes to Nietzsche and how that indication is systematized in a literary theory about writing that eventually will end up altering both of Unamuno’s essays and novels during this period. The second chapter also starts in the final years of the 19th century but is focused entirely on the dynamic concept of the “sobre-hombre” that Unamuno has used since 1896. …

The Ethics Of Masking During A Pandemic, Mason Bennett

Philosophy Undergraduate Honors Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic has been disastrous, approaching a million deaths in the United States alone, and has demonstrated the world’s lack of preparation for a severe airborne virus. Countermeasures to infection are important to implement in order to lessen loss of life, but also must be justified and shown to be ethical. A countermeasure which is especially viable is wearing masks because of their high efficacy in preventing disease transmission compared to their relatively low restriction of liberty; studies have shown that mask wearing effectively impairs the spread of airborne pathogens and creates little physical or social harm. I argue …

Being Creative: Not An Act But A Habit, Matthew William Smith

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This project explores what it means to be creative, how to practice creativity, and how a creative practice can be used to bring about the change one wants to see in the world. Many theories and ideas from historical and modern scholars influenced the work. The literature review findings were synthesized to produce a practical and tangible creative practice prototype and a strategic action plan.

Down The Misinformation Rabbit Hole: Falling Or Jumping In?, Alex Siebenmorgen

Philosophy Undergraduate Honors Theses

The primary goal of this paper is to determine in which cases, if any, an individual is culpable for adopting, expressing, or acting upon a misinformed belief. To determine this, it is necessary to understand the mechanisms by which individuals select beliefs and the biases or mistakes that lead them to adopt false ones. I will compare and evaluate the views of Neil Levy and Dan Kahan, who offer opposing viewpoints on the source of misinformed beliefs. I will also consider the attempts to model belief adoption and expression through signaling theory. Finally, I will propose a particular standard to …

Understanding Appalachian Deaths Of Despair Through A Perspective Of Marxism And Intersectionality, Mackenzie Boughner

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Uneducated working-class individuals in the United States are dying from suicide, drug overdose, and alcoholic-related liver disease at unprecedented rates; a phenomenon economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton describe as deaths of despair. This paper focuses on deaths of despair in the Appalachian region, where mortality rates from these types of deaths are disproportionately higher than the rest of the country. Marxism and intersectionality are two philosophical frameworks that I will apply to Appalachian despair to test the adequacy of their explanatory power. By placing Marxism and intersectionality in the context of the data surrounding deaths of despair, I can …