Philosophy Commons^™

Nietzsche's Genealogy: An Historical Investigation Of The Contingency Of Moral Values, John A. Greene

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This work examines how values seem to be contingent on various factors which affect their growth and development. This study is based around the ethical writings of Friedrich Nietzsche. Specifically, On the Genealogy of Morals serves as the foundation for my thesis. This book contains three essays which purport to show how moral values originated as a result of certain human phenomena rather than, as many people take for granted, from moral “truths.” This contribution to ethics is important because it leaves many questions regarding the value of morality untouched. In the Genealogy, there are numerous themes of Nietzsche’s philosophy …

Tempered Experience: The Educational Foundation Of Democratic Ideology, Nicholas J. Schwarm

The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research

Democracy is a political ideology, one that requires a person to believe in that ideology for it to exist. The contemporary political landscape is dominated by democracies, and for this reason we need to understand how to build and sustain them. There needs to be a well-educated populace of citizens, who are able to engage in democratic actions, and aid the community. What they need is tempered experience, experience that is understood though the knowledge that a citizen already has.

Contextual Beliefs: A Creative Interpretation Of The Fictional Emotion Paradox, Amelia Richards

Conspectus Borealis

No abstract provided.

Soldier, Officer, Citizen: Applying Just War Theory To Police Use Of Force, Benjamin N. Wisniewski

Theses

A police officer's badge is the emblem of a shield, meant to protect and serve citizens from violence and crime. Yet today, so many citizens feel their shield is absent, if not weaponized against them. This perception of malfeasance has become evident in the waves of outrage and protest that followed high profile applications of coercive and lethal force by the police in recent years. One need only look at the armor and munitions police deploy in the searches of citizens and on perimeters of protests as evidence that the tools of the police mission are converging with those of …

Is Having Children An Essential Part Of A Good Human Life?, Bethany Blinsky

Undergraduate Distinction Papers

Is being a parent part of living a good human life? In this paper I argue, contra Rosalind Hursthouse, that the answer is no. However, I make the case that something very much like this is essential to living a good human life. I get at this by borrowing Claudia Mills’ account of the value of unchosen relationships. I argue that unconditional and unchosen love is an essential component of a good human life, and while we can get this by having children, we can also get it in other ways.

Whose Motivation? Which Good?, James K.A. Smith

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Review of Christian Smith's To Flourish or Destruct

Knowing How: A Computational Approach, Joseph A. Roman

Student Publications

With advances in Artificial Intelligences being achieved through the use of Artificial Neural Networks, we are now at the point where computers are able to do tasks that were previously only able to be accomplished by humans. These advancements must cause us to reconsider our previous understanding of how people come to know how to do a particular task. In order to unpack this question, I will first look to an account of knowing how presented by Jason Stanley in his book Know How. I will then look towards criticisms of this view before using evidence presented by the existence …

What Is Philosophy?, Howard S. Ruttenberg

Publications and Research

The speaker relates philosophy to and distinguishes it from all the arts and sciences in terms of its breadth and depth. Philosophy thinks about things, and thoughts, and words and actions (“words and deeds”, in Cicero’s phrase). There are examples of philosophers who have reduced all three of them to one and of philosophers who have kept them distinct. There have been revolutions in philosophy, responsive to great changes in cultural life, in science and politics, and in reaction against established traditions within philosophy. In modern times, there has been a metaphysical revolution against the Aristotelian schoolmen, an epistemological revolution …

A Narrative Approach To Forgiveness Amidst Disagreement, Christopher Bengtson

Library Research Prize Student Works

While not always the case, there are instances where parties involved disagree on the nature of a particular offense. Personal conflict can lead to rifts in personal relationships or moral trust of the larger community; disagreement over the nature of the offense can lead to greater conflict and prevent forgiveness. The goal of this paper is to examine the reasons disagreement over the nature of offenses occurs, how to resolve these disagreements, and how this affects the process of forgiveness. In order to do so effectively, first a survey of models of forgiveness will be given to establish a clear …

The Future Is Now: Leopoldo Zea’S Hegelianism And The Liberation Of The Mexican Past, Carlos Alberto Sánchez

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Quantitative Literacy For The Future Flourishing Of Our Students: A Guiding Aim For Mathematics Education, Samuel L. Tunstall

Numeracy

In this essay, I examine the extent to which mathematics education and education for quantitative literacy support students’ present and future flourishing, a concept that entails realizing objective goods in a life lived from the inside. This perspective requires disentangling philosophical assumptions about the aims of mathematics education, which—in the context of flourishing—I take to be a hybrid of those that have informed curricular discussions over the past two centuries. In the process, I problematize ("make strange") many of the common reasons given for students learning mathematics, including: learning it for one’s career, for one’s logical reasoning skills, or …

Index Of O.K. Bouwsma Collection At Humanities Research Center, University Of Texas At Austin, Ronald E. Hustwit Sr.

O.K. Bouwsma Collection

An index of O.K. Bouwsma Collection at Humanities Research Center, at the University of Texas, Austin. This index was compiled by Dr. Ronald E. Hustwit.

Logos-Sophia, Pittsburg State University Philosophical Society

LOGOS-SOPHIA: The Journal of the PSU Philosophical Society

Logos-Sophia, Volume 14, Spring 2017. The Journal of the Pittsburg State University Philosophical Society has largely been a student publication with occasional faculty contributions.

“Why (Not) Philosophy Of Stand-Up Comedy?”, Sheila Lintott

Faculty Contributions to Books

Stand-up comedy has been largely ignored by analytic philosophers of art, including those interested in comedy and humor. This is somewhat surprising, given the immense popularity of stand-up comedy and the rock star status enjoyed by some comedians today. I suspect that philosophers are just as likely to enjoy stand-up comedy as anyone else; in some cases (i.e. for some philosophers and some comedians), probably more likely. Here I offer some reasons philosophers of art should take the time to consider stand-up comedy and possible explanation for why philosophers of art have paid far less attention to stand-up comedy than …

The Philosophy And Physics Of Time Travel: The Possibility Of Time Travel, Ramitha Rupasinghe

Honors Capstone Projects

Time travel to the past is an alluring subject for many science fiction writers but is it really science fiction or is there a way to make it happen, possibly in the distant future? In the world of physics, time travel to the future has already been accomplished but time travel to the past seems to be a subject of controversy. Similarly, both philosophers and physicists cannot completely agree on one fundamental question about time: what is it? In this interdisciplinary project, I will explore the fundamental nature of time as a building block to help me understand time travel. …

Entangled: Romantic Love And Philosophy, Sydney E. Thorp

Departmental Honors Projects

In order to do philosophy, one must understand what it is. Often one has to develop this understanding on their own, since the philosophical canon has such a range of attitudes, styles, and objects. In this paper, philosophy is a dialogue, a conversation spanning space and time, as well as the inside of one's own head. Philosophy is not something that can provide an absolute truth about reality; rather, philosophy is a means of describing how the philosopher thinks reality ought to be.

To exemplify this understanding of philosophy, this paper is written as fiction. It follows two people as …

Being The Other Woman: Watanabe’S Unrequited Love For Naoko In Norwegian Wood, Giselle Carter

Audre Lorde Prize

Taking a look at the philosophical Other, the object of one's life that would lead to self-actualization- something that des not exist, I reflect on Naoko and Watanabe's relationship, in particular the one-sidedness of it.

Beasts, Sovereigns, Pirates: Melville's "Enchanted Isles" Beyond The Picturesque, Gary Shapiro

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Herman Melville's "The Encantadas, or Enchanted Isles," included in his signature set of shorter narratives The Piazza Tales, remains relatively unvisited by readers and critics. So too was the archipelago generally known as the Galapagos, before becoming a chic destination for natural history excursions and eco-tourism. These ten "sketches" relate a narrator's experiences on the Pacific islands, adding a number of travelers' stories, some extrapolated (more or less accurately) from known records, some creatively transformed. One informative, comprehensive handbook suggests that Melville's description of this volcanic archipelago as Encantadas or "enchanted" in the sense of bewitched-uncanny, weird, their very …

Allowing Animal Rights: Contra Natural Law Arguments, Rachel Tobias

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Natural Law theories dominate the way in which humans view their relationships with other animals. Natural Law theories, commenced by Aristotle, claim that rationality is the morally relevant feature that differentiates humans from other animals. As a result, human beings often use non-human animals at their disposal, which has propelled factory farming and the mistreatment of animals. The term, "Speciesism" describes unjustified mistreatment of a species based on species membership. This essay examines the origin of Speciesism, as it relates to Natural Law theories. Additionally, the text discusses the negative consequences of Speciesism and the arbitrariness of omitting non-human animals …

D Is For The Most Cherished Sense (Whence It Comes And Wither It Goes), Hallie S. Mcneill

Theses and Dissertations

A transcript of the audio that constitutes the work by the same title, along with an introduction and relevant bibliography.

Philosophy Club Papers, 1996-2017, University Libraries, Lane Library

Finding Aids

The collection includes founding documents, fiscal records, student and faculty publications and periodicals, social fliers, photographs, and letters of Armstrong State University’s Philosophy Club. The records are divided into five binders; binder one (1996-1997)) includes the club’s constitution, newsletters, mailing lists, meeting calendars, fundraiser information, fiscal records, and issues of The Philosopher's Stone from various years; binder two (1996-1997) includes photographs, social fliers, and issues of The Philosopher’s Stone; binder three (1997-1998) includes letters, event fliers, and issues of The Philosopher’s Stone; binder four (2003-2004) includes magazine and newspaper articles and pictures, and issues of The Philosopher’s stone; binder five …

Husserl And Community, Sean Stephen Petranovich

Dissertations

This dissertation is on Edmund Husserl's concept of personal community. I argue that Husserl's concept of community is based on his formal theory of parts and wholes. More specifically, it is argued that the terms Husserl uses to describe features of community in his later writings are already established early in his philosophical career. The first three chapters of the dissertation focus on Husserl's unique conception of community in general. The final two chapters turn to political communities from a Husserlian standpoint.

In the first chapter, I investigate how Husserl's account of the ontological structure of community is tied to …

How Should We Conceptualize Moral Disagreements About Animals?, Kristian Cantens

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

I intend this paper as a sort of philosophical reflection on my experiences as an animal activist. In my three years of doing outreach on college campuses, I came to an increasing appreciation for what Murdoch referred to as “the difficulty and complexity of the moral life and the opacity of persons” (Murdoch 1998d, 293). This appreciation came in turn at the cost of an increasing disappointment with many of the philosophers I admired at the time – namely, Peter Singer and Tom Regan. What I came to understand is that many of these contemporary moral theories were in fact …

Tempered Experience: The Educational Foundation Of Democratic Ideology, Nicholas J. Schwarm

Philosophy Undergraduate

Democracy is a political ideology, one that requires a person to believe in that ideology for it to exist. The contemporary political landscape is dominated by democracies, and for this reason we need to understand how to build and sustain Them. There needs to be a well educated populace of citizens, who are able to engage in democratic actions, and aid the community. What they need is tempered experience, experience that is understood though the knowledge that a citizen already has.

Grounding Deliberative Contractualism, Michael Hogan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Contractualism is often seen as a kind of self-interested bargaining in which individuals engage to preserve their own desired outcome. If individuals are only out for themselves, then no one achieves his or her desired end. Yet, if individuals constrain some of their desires and are assured that others will do the same, then, the contractors can avoid mutual destruction. It is not hard to see why Contractualism is often viewed as a way to explain the origins of morality within civil society. In this paper, I take up a version of Contractualism espoused by Nicholas Southwood called Deliberative Contractualism. …

An Investigation Into Hybrid Models Of Mindreading: A Dual Type Theory Account, Alexandra Jewell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mindreading, or attributing mental states to others, involves instances of simulation and theory; but there is controversy over which one of these methods is the primary, or default, mechanism. I propose that mindreading is a theory-based process, such that we utilize theory over simulation when both are available and reliable. To argue my position, I suggest that theory has been inaccurately portrayed in past discussion and that we possess two types: a connectionist network (tt1) and a traditional, conceptual folk-psychology (tt2). By dividing theory in this way, we can explain common phenomena of mindreading that other theory-based accounts do not …

Modern Politics And The Passions, David Bradshaw

Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise Working Papers

Why is our society today so sharply divided—politically, socially and morally?

Professor Bradshaw argues that the answer can be found in two of the foundational philosophers of the modern era, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Although they are sharply opposed in many ways, they share some common features that set the pattern for modern politics.

Perceived Patient Control Over Personal Health Information In The Presence Of Context-Specific Concerns, Prabhashi A. Nanayakkara

Doctoral Dissertations

Information privacy issues have plagued the world of electronic media since its inception. This research focused mainly on factors that increase or decrease perceived patient control over personal health information (CTL) in the presence of context-specific concerns. Control agency theory was used for the paper's theoretical contributions. Personal and proxy control agencies acted as the independent variables, and context-specific concerns for information privacy (CFIP) were used as the moderator between proxy control agency, healthcare provider, and CTL. Demographic data and three control variables— the desire for information control, privacy experience, and trust propensity—were also included in the model to gauge …

The Influence Of Consumer Freeloading Behavior On An Observer's And Perpetrator's Affective Commitment, Mohamad A. Darrat

Doctoral Dissertations

The dissertation explores the relationship between customer affective commitment and freeloading behavior. Consumer freeloading results when a consumer takes advantage of a system or market procedures in a way that allows him or her to obtain benefits from a value proposition with no or reduced monetary costs. Thus, the freeloading consumer works the value equation in his/her favor at the expense of the marketer and/or other consumers. In addition to examining the point of view of the consumer performing the unethical behavior, the dissertation also examines the impact of such behavior on a third party observer. How do loyal consumers …

18th And 19th Century European Philosophy And The Justification Of Colonial And Economic Exploits, Danielle Platt, Ian Nell

Honors Papers and Posters

The theories and philosophies that have evolved over the course of human history have each influenced and affected the politics and the behaviors of the societies where they are popularized. We wish to study the sorts of relationships that may exist between popular European philosophies of the 18th and 19th centuries, and the political ideologies of the time, and why they still bear relevance in global politics today’s globalized international community.