Philosophy Commons^™

Questioning Combatant’S Privilege In Unjust Wars, Harry Van Der Linden

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Following international humanitarian law, soldiers who are authorized by their states to fight wars of aggression have a legal right to kill enemy soldiers, and (indirectly) even enemy civilians, as long as they respect such jus in bello norms as discrimination and proportionality. I criticize a variety of arguments in support of this “combatant’s privilege” of aggressor soldiers that maintain that these soldiers have a moral right to kill or are not culpable for their wrongful killing. I also contest some arguments in support of the view that even though soldiers executing wars of aggression may be morally liable for …

Reason In Motion, Luke Francis

Student Works

This essay will explain the historical models of the solar system, which was the known universe for most of human history. There is far more to each model than simply positioning different celestial bodies at the center of the system, and the stories of the astronomers who derived the controversial theories are not discussed often enough. The creation of these theories is part of a much broader revolution in scientific thought and marked the start of a series of observational discoveries that would change the the philosophy of science for centuries to come.

Introduction To Philosophy (Ghc), Kencho Tenzin, J. Sean Callahan

Philosophy and Religion Grants Collections

This Grants Collection for Introduction to Philosophy was created under a Round Eleven ALG Textbook Transformation Grant.

Affordable Learning Georgia Grants Collections are intended to provide faculty with the frameworks to quickly implement or revise the same materials as a Textbook Transformation Grants team, along with the aims and lessons learned from project teams during the implementation process.

Documents are in .pdf format, with a separate .docx (Word) version available for download. Each collection contains the following materials:

• Linked Syllabus
• Initial Proposal
• Final Report

Personality, Psychological Profiling, And Philosophy Of Science: The Insider Threat And Betrayers Of Trust, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes philosophical challenges to the utility of profiling personality, especially with security and intelligence implications.

Confronting The Nihilism Of Our Day With Thomas Nagel’S Ethical Objectivity, Kristoffer Bolaños

Mabini Review

There are few scholars today who are challenging the notion "nothing is objectively right or wrong because nothing objectively matters," one such scholar is Thomas Nagel; we will pursue in this essay a keener understanding of the possibilities of ethical objectivity in the face of the popularity of the position mentioned above (often understood as "nihilism"). We will attempt to articulate Nagel's alternative, a "view from nowhere," as a way out of the rather relativistic and reductionistic tendencies of moral philosophies today.

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Phi 1600 (Logic And Moral Reasoning), Andreea Prichea

Open Educational Resources

The goal of the course is for students to familiarize themselves with the structure of an argument. Identify and iterate the difference between inductive and deductive, valid and invalid arguments. Learn methods to determine if an argument is valid or invalid, and be able to identify faulty arguments based on the argument's structure. The core of the course will focus on deductive arguments as they relate to moral arguments. . The student throughout the course will be exposed to arguments in natural language, and try to analyze them through the methods learned.

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Phi 1600 (Logic And Moral Reasoning), Alexander Steers-Mccrum

Open Educational Resources

The goal of this class is to familiarize students with formal and informal logic. Logic illustrates and explores the connections between ideas. It can help us evaluate our beliefs and make and understand arguments. Aside from its use in philosophy, logic is of particular importance in mathematics and law, and is foundational for computer science.

Kant, Neo-Kantianism, And Phenomenology, Sebastian Luft

Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications

This chapter offers a reassessment of the relationship between Kant, the Kantian tradition, and phenomenology, here focusing mainly on Husserl and Heidegger. Part of this reassessment concerns those philosophers who, during the lives of Husserl and Heidegger, sought to defend an updated version of Kant’s philosophy, the neo-Kantians. The chapter shows where the phenomenologists were able to benefit from some of the insights on the part of Kant and the neo-Kantians, but also clearly points to the differences. The aim of this chapter is to offer a fair evaluation of the relation of the main phenomenologists to Kant and to …

"A Self-Propelling Wheel": Prefigured Recurrence In Nietzsche's The Birth Of Tragedy, Jared R. Mcswain

Oglethorpe Journal of Undergraduate Research

One of Friedrich Nietzsche’s central doctrines, the doctrine of eternal recurrence, asks us to consider how we would feel if we had to repeat our lives exactly as we have lived them. Rather than despair at this possibility, Nietzsche describes the kind of attitude we would adopt if we desired nothing more. He labels such an attitude as “Dionysian”: we rejoice in every pain and every joy that has colored our lives and use them as creative fodder for the future. This identification links the doctrine to Nietzsche’s earlier work on aesthetics, The Birth of Tragedy, where he describes the …

Ethics And Moral Issues Oral Inquiry And Problem Solving Research Project: Oral Presentation (Step 3) [Philosophy], Cheri Carr

Open Educational Resources

This Ethics and Moral Issues (HUP 104) assignment incorporates the main elements of the rubrics for both Inquiry and Problem Solving (IPS) Core Competency as well as the Oral Communication Ability. It deposits Capstone Oral/IPS. The emphasis on the organization of the student’s speech, evaluation of research that represents diverse points of view on the problem chosen, and emphasis on building an argument from true premises to well-supported conclusions all speak to the IPS rubric. The emphasis on communicating clearly the stakes of the problem and the student’s solutions, the credibility and diversity of the research sources, as well as …

Justice In The Laws, A Restatement: Why Plato Endorses Public Reason, Samuel Director

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

In the Laws, Plato argues that the legislator should attempt to persuade people to obey the laws voluntarily. This persuasion is accomplished through use of legislative preludes. In this essay, I argue that Plato's use of persuasive preludes shows that he endorses the core features of a public reason theory of political justification.

Bodies On The Margins: A Multitude Of Voices, Kevin Timpe

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Kevin Timpe Reviews Elizabeth Barnes’ The Minority Body: A Theory of Disability

What Is The Experience Of Creating My Own Dance Style?, Jesse Bodony

Senior Theses

Through processes of self-inquiry and external inquiry, this heuristic project rigorously investigates the question: What is the experience of creating my own dance style? In exploring the phenomenon of creation, in understanding my own movement with increasing depth and awareness, in articulating my processes and procedures, I hope to create new knowledge both for myself and those with whom it resonates.

Experience Bobo Experience, Sara Smith

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Experience Bobo Experience -by Sara Marie Smith (Artist Statements and Images of work)

Spring 2018-CSUMB Undergraduate Capstone Project/ Visual Public Arts Department

My Senior Capstone is about using inspirational wisdom from acknowledged sources to address the quandaries of our human experiences. I have chosen a cognitive clown, named Bobo, to investigate Henry David Thoreau, Jack Kerouac, and Allen Watts. Bobo, my character, goes on a journey of learning. Bobo is a line drawing, rendered in marker, with a circular head, two dot eyes, three puffs of hair with a clown smile and clown clothing. Experience Bobo Experience speaks to …

Mercy Vs. Justice - Blood Of The Lamb, Ryan Murphy

Honors Projects

How did Christ's death save us? The Atonement is a Christian doctrine which has been heavily debated in how it should be understood since the beginnings of Christianity. This analysis covers the theological theories of the Atonement, narrates a Catholic layman's personal understanding that is based on scholarly research and is kept within the bounds of Catholic doctrine, and summarizes the thoughts and feelings of surveyed college-age Christians on the subject.

Constraints And Explanation, Alexander Bolano

Theses

For the past 40 years, causal-mechanical approaches to explanation in science have been the received view. In this paper, I will argue that causal-mechanical approaches to explanation are not the whole story; there is a notable class of explanations that I call constraining explanation. Constraining explanation do not work by describing some causal structure; rather they work by highlighting mathematical constraints on what kinds of structure there can be. Constraining explanations are different that causal explanations because they give a kind of modal knowledge that causal-mechanical explanation alone cannot give.

Where Literature And Philosophy Meet And Diverge, Clare C. Hagan

Undergraduate Theses

Many writers and philosophers have asked “What is art?” or “What is philosophy?” but it is difficult to encounter a text where these questions are set beside each other. Many works of philosophy appear very literary in form and content, just as there are many literary works that are very philosophical in nature. This essay examines the intersection of literature and philosophy, using Kant’s Critique of Judgement as a way into analyzing Plato’s Phaedo, as an example of literary philosophy; and Shakespeare’s Hamlet, as an example of philosophical literature. The first section deals with literature and philosophy as texts, looking …

Owen Barfield: Philosophy, Poetry, And Theology. Michael Vincent Di Fuccia, Tiffany Brooke Martin

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.

Sounding The Congregational Voice, Marissa Glynias Moore

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

Congregational singing is a participatory vocal practice undertaken by Christians across a wide range of denominations, yet the specific qualities and active capacities of the congregational voice have yet to be investigated. Drawing on recent musicological and philosophical perspectives on voice, I theorize the congregational voice as an active practice, illuminating its abilities to do something in worship through sound.

Taking Brian Kane’s model of the voice as a circulation of content (logos), sound (echos), and source (topos), I explore how these categories are redefined through an active-based theorization of congregational singing. I argue that …

Learning From The Pine And The Bamboo: Bashō As A Resource In Teaching Japanese Philosophy, Stephen C. Leach

Philosophy Faculty Publications

In American universities, even Asian Philosophy is still often taught following methods adapted from European universities of the nineteenth century. Whether or not this approach is well-suited to philosophy as it was conceived in that era, it is inadequate if the aim is to develop a deep appreciation of Japanese philosophy. To limit what we consider Japanese philosophy to only what bears a distinct resemblance to academic Western philosophy, and accordingly to approach Japanese philosophy purely theoretically, is to risk missing the greater part. Much of Japanese philosophy is applied philosophy, or in other words, what Pierre Hadot calls a …

Conceptions Of Nietzsche In Popular Film And Television, Jeffrey Willicut

Senior Theses

There are few faces or names in the field of philosophy more recognizable than Friedrich Nietzsche’s. His cartoonish, bushy mustache and stern, unwelcoming brow appear in posters on the walls of angsty teens, in the street art and murals of trendy and upcoming urban neighborhoods, and even in the punishingly glossy pages of every high school history textbook. More recognizable still are his ideas, which have found their way into the ears or eyes of just about everyone in the Western world, whether they know it or not. His concept of the Übermensch, or his notion that God is dead, …

Imaginative Geographies: Visualising The Poetics Of History And Space, Clive Barstow

Landscapes: the Journal of the International Centre for Landscape and Language

This essay presents a visual dialogue about our relationship to place. I adopt Henri Lefebvre’s model of cumulative trialectics (1991) as a new thirdspace that more accurately represents the complexities of modern day geographies and hybrid communities by extending the binary analysis of the past and present and beyond the real and the imagined. Trialectics expand our understanding beyond physical geographies by suggesting a cerebral space that searches for new meaning and is therefore more radically open to additional otherness and toward a continuing expansion of [human] spatial knowledge and imagination.

Julia Lossau describes thirdspace as a space that ‘…tends …

Of Levinas And Shakespeare: "To See Another Thus", Sandor Goodhart, Moshe Gold, Kent Lehnhof

Purdue University Press Book Previews

Scholars have used Levinas as a lens through which to view many authors and texts, fields of endeavor, and works of art. Yet no book-length work or dedicated volume has brought this thoughtful lens to bear in a sustained discussion of the works of Shakespeare. It should not surprise anyone that Levinas identified his own thinking as Shakespearean. "The play’s the thing" for both, or put differently, the observation of intersubjectivity is. What may surprise and indeed delight all learned readers is to consider what we might yet gain from considering each in light of the other.

Comprising leading scholars …

Book Review: The Failures Of Ethics: Confronting The Holocaust, Genocide, And Other Mass Atrocities, James J. Snow 4995784

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Review: John K. Roth, The Failures of Ethics: Confronting the Holocaust, Genocide, and Other Mass Atrocities

Footnotes To Footnotes: Whitehead's Plato, Nathan Oglesby

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines the presence of Plato in the philosophical expressions of Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947). It was Whitehead who issued the well-known remark that “the safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists in a series of footnotes to Plato" -- the purpose of this project is to examine the manner in which Whitehead positioned himself as one such footnote, with respect to his thought itself, and its origins, presentation and reception.

This examination involves: first, an explication of Whitehead’s cosmology and metaphysics and their ostensibly Platonic elements (consisting chiefly in the Timaeus); second, investigation …

Justifying A Standard Of Death, Michael Milhim

Honors Projects

There are three major positions in the legal definition of death debate: the cardio-pulmonary standard, the whole-brain standard, and the higher-brain standard. Prominent arguments for each standard appeal to a theory of human persistence. I’ll contend that these arguments fail for two reasons: the metaphysical underpinnings of the arguments are not decisive, and even if they are decisive, they may not be the right policy to enact. The later of these is more practically important than the former.

Thinking Between Deleuze And Merleau-Ponty, Judith Wambacq

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

Thinking between Deleuze and Merleau-Ponty is the first book-length examination of the relation between these two major thinkers of the twentieth century. Questioning the dominant view that the two have little of substance in common, Judith Wambacq brings them into a compelling dialogue to reveal a shared, historically grounded concern with the transcendental conditions of thought. Both Merleau-Ponty and Deleuze propose an immanent ontology, differing more in style than in substance. Wambacq’s synthetic treatment is nevertheless critical; she identifies the limitations of each thinker’s approach to immanent transcendental philosophy and traces its implications—through their respective relationships with Bergson, Proust, Cézanne, …

Selections From Bouwsma's Commonplace Book From 'The Blue Book' On: "The Meaning Of A Word", Ronald E. Hustwit Sr., O.K. Bouwsma

O.K. Bouwsma Collection

Notes for graduate seminars in 1970-71 on Wittgenstein’s Blue Book.

The notes collected here were written for students in Wittgenstein seminars at the University of Texas in the academic year 1970-71. The typed notes from those seminars all focus on the opening sentences of The Blue Book: "What is the meaning of a word?" As was Bouwsma's practice, he wrote in his commonplace book preparing for the weekly seminar meeting. Some students in the class would volunteer to transcribe these preparatory notes and the department secretary would mimeograph them for distribution to the graduate students in the seminar. The …

The Ethics Of Narrative Art: Philosophy In Schools, Compassion And Learning From Stories, Laura D'Olimpio, Andrew Peterson

Philosophy Papers and Journal Articles

Following neo-Aristotelians Alasdair MacIntyre and Martha Nussbaum, we claim that humans are story-telling animals who learn from the stories of diverse others. Moral agents use rational emotions, such as compassion, which is our focus here, to imaginatively reconstruct others’ thoughts, feelings and goals. In turn, this imaginative reconstruction plays a crucial role in deliberating and discerning how to act. A body of literature has developed in support of the role narrative artworks (i.e. novels and films) can play in allowing us the opportunity to engage imaginatively and sympathetically with diverse characters and scenarios in a safe protected space that is …

De-Extinction And The Conception Of Species, Leonard Finkelman

Faculty Publications

Developments in genetic engineering may soon allow biologists to clone organisms from extinct species. The process, dubbed “de-extinction,” has been publicized as a means to bring extinct species back to life. For theorists and philosophers of biology, the process also suggests a thought experiment for the ongoing “species problem”: given a species concept, would a clone be classified in the extinct species? Previous analyses have answered this question in the context of specific de-extinction technologies or particular species concepts. The thought experiment is given more comprehensive treatment here. Given the products of three de-extinction technologies, twenty-two species concepts are “tested” …