Philosophy Commons^™

Early Conceptual Sketches Of Blended Reality And The Precursor To The Bbs Quad (2022), David Smith

Publications and Research

This document contains two original hand-drawn conceptual sketches created in early 2022, representing the earliest visual formulations of what would later evolve into the Balanced Blended Space (BBS) framework. The drawings predate my first conversations with ChatGPT and were produced as part of my independent sabbatical research into blended environments, mediated performance, and human–machine interaction.

The first drawing examines human–computational mediation, perception, and internal mapping. The second sketch—later referred to informally as the “BBS Quad”—extends this idea by reconciling cognition–computation symmetry with physical–virtual spatial relationships. Published together, these images document the conceptual foundations of the BBS framework prior to its …

Ai-Facilitated Abuse & Misogyny: A Feminist Response To Non-Consensual Intimate Image Deepfakes, Lizbeth Carmona

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The creation of non-consensual intimate images utilizing AI deepfake technology has been demonstrated to overwhelmingly target women. The harms of non-consensual intimate image deepfakes are similar to other forms of misogynistic abuse, including intimate image abuse and online objectification. This project seeks to contextualize this phenomenon within feminist accounts of misogyny and its role in regulating women's behavior. In particular, this project highlights that the accessibility of this technology has lowered the threshold of abuse, despite the individual woman's preventive measures. Furthermore, this project argues that the dissemination of non-consensual intimate image deepfakes is a morally problematic situation because it …

On Consciousness And Death: In Conversation With Allan Leslie Combs—A Posthumous Study Of An Influential Thinker’S Perspectives, Leila A. Kincaid

Journal of Conscious Evolution

The following is a summary of key findings from my analysis of the unconventional interviews that I posthumously conducted with Dr. Allan Leslie Combs in a creative take on qualitative interviews. This study is based on my viewing of several of his recorded interviews and talks and on reading two of his books, The Radiance of Being and Consciousness Explained Better. From these sources, I created a synthesis of theoretical responses from Combs to my interview questions for the purposes of this study. These findings include insights gained from my textual coding process and their relationship to emergent themes in …

Relational Perception, Ecological Transition, And Artisanal Intelligence: Towards An Aesthetics For The Future, Nicola Perullo

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

In this essay, I address the issue of future generations according to relational aesthetics. Specifically, I propose a way of feeling and thinking about the future based on a particular mode of perception that stems from relational aesthetics: relational perception. Within this broad context, I propose a perspective that challenges assumptions in expressions such as ‘digital innovation’ and ‘ecological transition.’ Since I believe that relational perception needs to focus on the continuity of becoming, I emphasize the importance of the analogical dimension of thinking, which is currently overshadowed by the digital mindset. Finally, I suggest qualifying the potential of such …

Martial Arts Studies: A Commentary On The Exploration Of Consciousness In Modern Martial Arts, James H. Sutton

Journal of Conscious Evolution

The rapid globalization of martial arts has reconditioned how the beliefs, customs, and philosophies of traditionally based systems are interpreted and applied in modern practice. As contemporary scholarship struggles to accommodate the cultural histories, myths, and traditions that permeate the perception of martial arts in modern contexts, the focus of inquiry has shifted towards explaining cultural variations in practice rather than understanding the nature of self-awareness derived from self-practice. Consequently, the deeper meanings of martial arts as pathways to personal and transpersonal awareness are often invalidated in favor of objective and verifiable explications. In short, the role of consciousness is …

Both Studying And Protecting Octopuses “On Their Own Terms”, Jennifer Jacquet, Janelle Kaz, Becca Franks, Christine Webb

Animal Sentience

Cephalopods – indeed, all animals – “must be seen on their own terms,” with respect for their autonomy and their ecological imperatives. This will provide greater scientific insight along with a more ethical and accurate understanding of minds beyond our own.

Mortality And Immortality: Reconsidering Anglo-American Perspectives In Light Of Kierkegaard, Heidegger, And Jonas, Mehrzad Ali Moin

Dissertations (1934 -)

This dissertation addresses fundamental questions surrounding mortality and does so existentially. Of central concern is what it means to be mortal, the value of mortality, how we ought to relate to it, whether immortality is preferable to mortality, and what moral obligations can be derived from our mortality. By engaging thinkers such as Heidegger, Kierkegaard, Jonas, Epicurus, and contemporary anglophone philosophers, this project seeks to challenge prevailing attitudes towards death. Through a meta-philosophical lens, I argue for the value of mortality as a shaper of the meaningfulness of existence, and for the cultivation of what I call ‘genuine mortality consciousness’ …

Simone De Beauvoir’S Influence On “The Handmaid’S Tale”, Hailee Jones

Fall Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

Using the theories that Simone de Beauvoir presents in The Second Sex, this paper will analyze Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. Discussing how Gilead reflects the oppression women face, and the idea of women as “other,” and Beauvoir describes. She spends much time discussing the Hegelian master-slave dialectic, which is seen in The Handmaid’s Tale through Gilead’s laws. Forcing the Handmaids to not only be an incubator for the commander, but also forcing them to do the shopping for the household, and not allowing them basic human rights such as reading. Mussett analyzes this and gives further analysis on women …

Passive Listening: Exploring Interpassivity In Ambient Music, David Chechelashvili, Alan Brown

Staff Scholarship - New Zealand

The landscape of ambient music presents unique challenges for critique and classification due to its wide range of subgenres, functions and goals. Often defined by its atmospheric and immersive qualities, ambient music is traditionally seen as providing a backdrop for relaxation or as a means to block out the harsh reality of the outside world. This dominant theory, while valuable in certain contexts, tends to oversimplify the multifaceted nature of ambient music and ignores the potential for more nuanced listening experiences. The proposed alternative theory of interpassivity challenges existing understandings of ambient music production and consumption modes. Drawing on psychoanalytic …

In Defense Of Racebending, Cathleen Muller

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

In an effort to diversify fictions, many creators use racebending, changing the race of a character from an original fictional work or person from history and incorporating the altered character into a new fictional work. While racebending has been used across many forms of popular media, from comics to musicals, there has been little philosophical attention devoted to it. In what follows, I attempt to fill that gap by discussing the aesthetic value of racebending, its moral value, and how it can be understood on several prominent metaphysical views.

Cephalopod Consciousness On “Their Own Terms”: Who Are “They”?, Willa M. Lane, Victor Ajuwon, Nicola S. Clayton

Animal Sentience

Mather’s call to consider cephalopods’ consciousness “on their own terms” raises the question of the extent to which cephalopods can be considered a homogenous group. While coloeoid cephalopods share traits that strongly distinguish them from other molluscs and invertebrates, they show vast ecological and morphological diversity, with implications for the design of empirical investigations of consciousness. Extending Mather’s argument, we apply Birch et al.’s (2020) five-dimensional model to compare octopus, cuttlefish, squid, and nautilus. This comparison shows that even within a graded rather than categorical framework, putative consciousness profiles depend on which taxa are included in discussions of “cephalopod consciousness.” …

The Symposium On Arnold Berleant's Works, Editorial Office

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

This symposium publishes all the contributions presented at the XVIth Summer Conference of the international Institute of Applied Aesthetics held in Lahti, Finland, June 2025. We thank the contributors for preparing their presentation for publication.

Arnold Berleant And The International Institute Of Applied Aesthetics: Introduction To The Panel Discussion, Arto Haapala

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

No abstract provided.

Berleant’S Critique Of Aesthetic Disinterestedness Revisited, Again, Harri Mäcklin

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

No abstract provided.

Descriptive Aesthetics, Max Ryynänen

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

No abstract provided.

Arnold Berleant’S Engagement With The Aesthetics Of Engagement, Fotini Vassiliou, Katerina Bantinaki

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

No abstract provided.

Aesthetic Engagement, Descriptive Aesthetics, And The Reformation Of Aesthetics: Responses To Mäcklin, Ryynänen, And Vassiliou, Arnold Berleant

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

No abstract provided.

Bibliography

Episteme

No abstract provided.

On The Indispensability Of Natural Law On The Moral Theory Of The State, David W. Bolton

Liberty University Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy

Natural Law is widely regarded as a set of universal moral standards in which the acknowledgement of the differences between right and wrong are inherent in people, not created by society or lawmakers. It is based on the consistent nature of man as opposed to varying cultural standards and is unchanged by time or circumstance. Many thinkers throughout history have offered their educated opinions on the matter of Natural Law and the moral theory of the State. The Social Contract theory of the Modern Secular thinkers of the 17^th century was considered a break with classical and traditional Christian …

Edgar Wright’S The World’S End: What Really Matters?, Sophie Guthrie

Episteme

No abstract provided.

Unearthing The Undead Prejudice: How ‘Feminist Science’ Creates A More Empirically Accurate Scientific Framework By Revealing The Inherent Bias In All Investigate Methodologies, Horatio Holloway

Episteme

No abstract provided.

The Structuralist Semiotics Of Hidden Places, Alexander Shin

Episteme

No abstract provided.

Superintelligence And The Burden Of Intelligence: A Zapffean Critique Of Ai, James (Xiaolong) Wang

Episteme

No abstract provided.

Protecting Particularity: An Ecumenical Theory Of Gender, Taika Sorensen

Episteme

No abstract provided.

Editor's Note, Benjamin Cohen, Landon James

Episteme

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

Episteme

No abstract provided.

Episteme Vol. 36

Episteme

No abstract provided.

Pedagogical Escapism And Western Performativity: A Psycho-Aesthetic Critique Of Belly-Dance Adaption Symbolics, Maryam Farahani

Comparative Woman

This paper addresses positionality misreading in Western pedagogical adaptions of belly dancing. Raqs Sharqi, known in the West as belly dancing, is a predominantly West Asian and North African discipline and performance art with multimodal varieties, globally taught and practiced while crossing sport, narratology, and story-telling boundaries. As a unique performance activity, it portrays a dynamic entertainment space to connect one’s multiple identities. I argue that Raqs Sharqi, not only as an aesthetic-educational art form but also, perhaps unwittingly, reiterated as an Orientalist communication trope in belly dancing, has forged East-West performativity models. However, the historical education-literature for Western women …

From Sensibility To Critical Engagement: Sympathy, Animality, And Subjecthood In Wollstonecraft’S Maria And Vindication, Yingnan Shang

Comparative Woman

This paper examines Mary Wollstonecraft’s strategic use of sentimental animal tropes alongside rationalist critique in Maria, or The Wrongs of Woman (1798) and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), arguing that she mobilizes sensibility not as an end in itself, but as a pedagogical instrument within a broader project of aesthetic education—one intended to move readers from affective sympathy toward political and philosophical judgment. Focusing in particular on animal metaphors—especially in the character of Jemima, who repeatedly figures herself as a domesticated and brutalized creature—I trace how Wollstonecraft employs tropes of animality to illuminate the processes by which …

The Game Of Chance, Alieth Caceres

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

Through my first semester at college, I was faced with the capability of not coming back due to being from a low-income family. Being a first-gen, I didn’t have anyone to guide me and I went from place to place begging for something to hold on to. My biggest goal for my family and I is to graduate from college and it is unfair that this opportunity will come short only because of financial problems. In some moments I felt all was lost, some telling me that I couldn’t and should just give up. All the connections I had reached …