Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons^™

Extractivism And The Defense Of Life And Territories: An Account Of Latin American Environmental Thought, Pedro Monque

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

We are living today through an environmental crisis of planetary proportions. Recent decades have seen the proliferation of distinct environmentalisms around the world. In Latin America, a unique environmental vocabulary is being born out of resistance to northern framings of the environmental crisis whose proposed solutions often deepen environmental injustice vis-à-vis the global south.In this dissertation, I provide an account of the key themes in this lively but undertheorized tradition that I call Latin American environmental thought.

The conceptual core of Latin American environmental thought, I argue, are the concepts of extractivism, the defense of life and territories, and alternatives. …

Wuwei Praxis, Zachary L. Gelnaw-Rubin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The question of how to change the world is answered in the concept of praxis. For structural change to occur a “revolution in motivation or feeling,” - a paradigm shift - is needed. I argue that this requires the adoption of feminist liberation praxis, which involves a negativistic political stance, nonideal theorizing, and an openness to self-transformation. This entails a transformation of the concept of praxis itself within the Leftist idiom, a transformation which could be the linchpin of the needed paradigm shift in the larger culture.

The three parts of this thesis elaborate upon the different aspects of this …

Towards An Ethics Of Difference: Constructing A Post-Structuralist Ethics, Cameron H. Carsten

Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

With Love, ; An Interdisciplinary And Intersectional Look At Why Creativity Is Essential, Theo Starr Gardner

Whittier Scholars Program

My Whittier Scholars Program self-designed major, Teaching Creativity, is a mixture of Art, Literature, and Education classes. My research and praxis classes have been focused on the ‘how?’s and 'why?’s of creativity, so it felt only right that my project should be a constructivist, generative project. The project I have been working on throughout my time at Whittier, and that has just fully come to fruition on April 11th, 2024, was a solo art gallery/open mic event entitled ‘With Love,’. With Love, was conceptually inspired by the research I’ve conducted on creativity and creative arts education over the past few …

Liberation Chronicles: Reformulating Black Liberation In The Face Of Persistent Oppression, Nia P. Gadson

Honors College Theses

Liberation movements for Black people have been prominent throughout American history. Chattel slavery and Jim Crow laws caused centuries of anti-black oppression. They continuously evolved into other anti-black structures – mass incarceration, predatory loan companies, and healthcare inequalities, to name a few – that require us to address these issues still today. The most recent Black liberation movement, Black Lives Matter, experienced a brief uptick in support after George Floyd’s murder but, overall, failed to address these issues. This thesis outlines three approaches to Black liberation in the U.S. to determine the most effective. First, drawing on Frederick Douglass’ autobiographies, …

Powering Justice: Sketches For A New Ethos In Energy Policy, Erin Rizzato Devlin

Green Humanities: A Journal of Ecological Thought in Literature, Philosophy & the Arts

Energy politics lie at the heart of human activity. In a time of ecological and energy crisis, it is fundamental to realise that our reality systems are always open to change and that, in order to respond to the challenges of a changing energy landscape, we must explore the full possibilities of technology in a radical way. This research aims to consider the ethical implications of energy and technology, presenting an urgent case for cosmotechnical pluralism, that is the diversification of world-views, knowledges, technologies in the pursuit of energy justice in global politics. To reconstruct the world and its politics …

Civil Disobedience Of Social Workers In Hospice, Jamie Leigh Roper

Poster Presentations

What is civil disobedience? Civil disobedience is often thought of as peaceful protesting or non-violent law breaking. However, the textbook definition is “the refusal to obey the demands or commands of a government or occupying power, without resorting to violence or active measures of opposition” (Britannica). Peaceful protesting has been an integral part of American history. Henry David Thoreau, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King Jr. were all civilly disobedient citizens who altered the course of history. Any and all protests, however, cannot be considered civil disobedience, since there are some requirements of this category.

Desire, Motivation, And Reasons: A Defense Of Humean Theory, Benton Anderson

Philosophy Undergraduate Honors Theses

The issue of motivation is vital to contemporary debates in metaethics. In this paper, I defend the Humean theory of motivation and one version of the Humean theory of reasons. First, I defend Michael Smith's direction of fit argument for the necessity of desire and Neil Sinhababu's inference that the Humean theory of motivation is the best explanation against objections. Then, I defend a telic desire theory of reasons by arguing against belief-based theories and noting problems with various desire-based, or Humean, theories of reasons. I conclude with optimism for the compatibility of moral reasons and the telic desire theory.

Griz Give-And-Get: Understanding The Context, Philosophy, And Logistics Behind A Project To Reduce Waste At The University Of Montana, Sam Sullivan

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

Griz Give-and-Get is an online platform at the University of Montana that aims to reduce consumer waste. It attempts to do this by providing students and staff with a place to give away their used items. The first objective of this essay is to describe the process behind Griz Give-and-Get’s early development. The second objective is to relate concepts from environmental philosophy to Griz Give-and-Get’s mission. Although part of Griz Give-and-Get’s mission is to build community and to mitigate the effects of student poverty, this essay will narrow its focus to explore the first issue that Griz Give-and-Get concerns itself …

Developing More Useful Equity Measurements For Flood-Risk Management, Adam Pollack, Casey Helgeson, Carolyn Kousky, Klaus Keller

Dartmouth Scholarship

Decision-makers increasingly invoke equity to motivate, design, implement and evaluate strategies for managing flood risks. Unfortunately, there is little guidance on how analysts can develop measurements that support these tasks. Here we analyse how equity can be defined and measured by surveying 167 peer-reviewed publications that explicitly state an interest in equity in the context of flood-risk management. Our main result is a taxonomy that systematizes how equity has been, and can be, defined and measured in flood-risk research. The taxonomy embodies how equity is a pluralistic and unavoidably ethical concept. Despite this, we find that most quantitative studies fail …

Craft And Conscience: Writing And Social Justice, Janelle Adsit

Journal of Creative Writing Studies

Review of Kavita Das. Craft and Conscience: How to Write About Social Issues. Beacon, 2022. 320 pages.

The Dependent Nature Of Enlightenment And Capitalism: Discourse On How Civilization Needs Capitalism To Curb The Effects Of Enlightenment, Katriel Lee

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

This paper examines the interplay between the intellectual movements of enlightenment, the economic system of capitalism, and the manifestation of violent racist ideologies like antisemitism and anti-black racism. The core argument is that while the enlightenment ideals of reason, universality, and human dominance over nature inherently set the stage for categorizing and objectifying groups seen as deviating from the desired uniformity, the emergence of extreme racist violence like the Holocaust requires the additional factors of a failing capitalist economy and the rise of totalitarian governments. In the modern American context, racist thought persists in the more covert form of color-blindness. …

Incorporating Institutions And Ideology: Why Covid Didn't Change Anything, Cullen Kendrick

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

In this paper, I investigate the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic through an economic and philosophical lens to try and understand why government aid was removed. Looking at the problem as solely a structural issue, with Jurgen Habermas’ Between Facts and Norms and Douglas North’s Institutions, Institutional Change, and Economic Performance guiding my understanding, provides useful insights. Namely, how the informal and formal structures of society interact, and their cyclical nature. However, that perspective does not provide a complete picture. And so, I developed an understanding of ideology to investigate the origins of informal societal structures. To do this I …

The Drivers Of Academic Novelty In Digital Capitalism: Job Insecurity, Mental Illness And Time Poverty, Adalberto Fernandes

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

The present-day digital capitalist academy increases novel academic results by leveraging factors such as precarious academic employment, time poverty, and mental illness. This paradigm reveals a confluence that turns seemingly negative aspects into productive elements. The consequence of this hypothesis is that by enhancing work, time and mental health conditions, there may be a reduction in the number of novelties, with an enhancement of academic's role as producers of truth.

The Contradiction Between Use-Value And Exchange-Value: Ecology, Imperialism, And The Telos Of Production, Larry Alan Busk, Elizabeth Portella

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

This article elaborates and defends a critique of capitalism which, despite its appearance in various bodies of work, has not been named or systematically differentiated. The critique locates a contradiction between production for use-value and production for exchange-value, or a contradiction in what we call “the telos of production.” While maintaining that it has some basis in Marx’s work, we defend this model as preferable to the critique of capitalism based strictly on the exploitation of labor (which we call the “exploitation-exclusive critique”). We attempt to show this by applying the two approaches to the empirical realities of the ecological …

Charge The Cockpit Or Die: An Anatomy Of Fear-Driven Political Rhetoric In American Conservatism, Daniel Hostetter

Senior Honors Theses

Subthreshold negative emotions have superseded conscious reason as the initial and strongest motivators of political behavior. Political neuroscience uses the concepts of negativity bias and terror management theory to explore why fear-driven rhetoric plays such an outsized role in determining human political actions. These mechanisms of human anthropology are explored by competing explanations from biblical and evolutionary scholars who attempt to understand their contribution to human vulnerabilities to fear. When these mechanisms are observed in fear-driven political rhetoric, three common characteristics emerge: exaggerated threat, tribal combat, and religious apocalypse, which provide a new framework for explaining how modern populist leaders …

Biblical Duty And Government, Katherine Musgrove

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

Christian duty toward government and what it entails has been debated many times. There are arguments that say the church’s main focus should be on influencing and being involved in governmental affairs, and there are arguments that Christians should just stay out of politics. However, from a Biblical perspective, what does the relationship truly look like between a Christian and the government? Is there a Biblical obligation to be involved in government? Looking at the Bible as well as other primary and scholarly sources, most evidence leads to a more balanced opinion that it is wise for people to be …

Addressing Conspiracy Theories Through Media And Data Literacy Education. An Exploratory Case Study, Francesco Fabbro, Elena Gabbi

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Lately conspiracy theories (CT) are increasingly hovering over Education Studies, mostly as problems in search of a solution. This paper problematizes this educational solutionist discourse by reflecting critically on different framing of CT (i.e. epistemological and ethico-political) and some related educational responses, ranging from pre/debunking strategies to democratic discussion. In addition, Media Data Literacy Education (MDLE) is presented as a viable educational approach to address CT circulating onlife. The approach is empirically explored through an online workshop with a small group of social workers attending a course for socio-pedagogical educators at the University of Florence. A qualitative mixed methodology is …

The Normativity Of Social Role Concepts, Robert Laurent Iii

Theses

This paper argues that social role concepts are both descriptive and normative. A "social role concept" is any concept that describes a person’s station in life from the point of view of society as a whole. Social roles are usually positions into which one is born and which are difficult if not impossible to renounce from within the conceptual system. Social roles are therefore not mere jobs or descriptions. They place certain obligations upon a person that are meant to apply absolutely. This paper first discusses the normativity of rule-governed practices and the rules involved in concept use. The paper …

Privileged Logics: Interrogating Foundations And Practices In Research Ethics, Sandra Borden, David Hartmann, Susan R. Stapleton

Privileged Logics: Interrogating Foundations and Practices in Research Ethics

This one-day conference was held on February 25, 2024, at the end of the APPE Annual Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio. The conference consisted of a keynote presentation, three workshop sessions, a working lunch focused on discussion of barriers to change, and a concluding session prompting participants to identify one action drawing on the day’s conversations that they could try at their own institutions or organizations.

The three co-investigators wrote a descriptive summary of the day’s events, and this report is an effort to combine those into a single synthetic account. Two main principles were operative: 1) description rather than interpretation …

The Ethical Motive As Counter To Benatar’S Anti-Natalism, Eliot Cox

Global Tides

In multiple works, David Benatar defends the view that it is immoral for parents to have children under any circumstance due to the suffering inherent in human life. This essay argues that Benatar’s anti-natalist argument is not successful because of its misidentification of the proper motive humans should have if they are to exist. Instead, I argue, the benefits of an ethical motive, if such a motive is properly instilled within a child by their parents or guardians, can surmount the suffering caused by existence. An ethical motive is characterized by the goal of alleviating suffering for others before oneself. …

Gaza War: Too Many Citizens Being Killed, Sheraz Yaqub, Bjørn Edwin, Zane Hammoud, Gabriel Herrera-Almario, Buthaina Jabir, Kristoffer Lassen, Pål Dag Line, Miguel Angel Lopez-Gonzalez, Michael Puttick, Mohammed Ahmed Idrees Saadelnour, José Sampaio-Neto, Raghuram Sampath, Konstantin V. Sementsov, Ajith K. Siriwardena, Ernesto Sparrelid, Alberto Büge Stein, Robert Sutcliffe, Helena Taflin, Hany Takla, Silvio Valdec, Cherisse N. Vinoya, Waleed Zaid, Stephen J. Wigmore

School of Dentistry Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Actions Of A Lonely Woman And The Effects Of Online Incel Communities On Society, Antara Dabral

Richard T. Schellhase Essay Prize in Ethics

In recent years, the resistance to women’s rights movements has started to shift from only being based on gender roles and has started to take root in insecurity and anxiety surrounding a dating life. This phenomenon has been further exacerbated with the advent and growth of the internet, where ideas are allowed to spread across the world rapidly which has created online forums where people known as incels gather.

In this paper, I ascertain that these online forums have a broad incel culture and community founded on victimhood and frustration and how they were formed as a consequence of a …

Abortion: Analysis Of The Bioethical And Metaphysical Standpoint, Lauren Kovarick

Richard T. Schellhase Essay Prize in Ethics

The antagonistic relationship between a mother and their unborn child creates the controversial topic of abortion. With massive moral implications and consequences associated, education on the laws and reasoning is significant to determine the direction of society. To analyze the ethics of abortion, the bioethical and metaphysical debate must be considered. With the former, the four principles of bioethics are used in healthcare practice to break down an ethical concern. On the metaphysical side, the life-status and rights of the fetus are acknowledged. With this topic, it is important not to argue in favor of one position, but instead have …

Predictive Policing, Emily Musgrove

Richard T. Schellhase Essay Prize in Ethics

Currently, machine learning and artificial intelligence are still somewhat new to the world of law enforcement, however, they appear to be rapidly gaining traction for their usefulness in a variety of manners. In this paper, I will examine how technically useful machine learning-based predictive policing is, the ethical conundrums that come with its practical uses, and how to mitigate the risks of its use.

Capital Punishment: Analyzing The Demise Of The Death Penalty's Usefulness, Emma Reyes

Richard T. Schellhase Essay Prize in Ethics

As there are evident flaws within the practice of capital punishment, I urge the United States federal government to question ways in which they should change how the death penalty is implemented into law. I propose that lawmakers consider fully abolishing the death penalty as a means of eliminating ethical and economic concerns within our judicial system. However, if this option does not seem possible, I instead propose the federal government act in revising the current practices used within the capital trial process. Previous research has found that the continued use of the death penalty can cause risk of economic …

Refugees And The Eu: A Study Of The Preferential Treatment Of Ukrainian Refugees, Madelyn Cooper

Richard T. Schellhase Essay Prize in Ethics

The war in Ukraine created one of the largest refugee crises in the world today, and the European Union has played a significant role in accepting these individuals into various Member States. The protection of Ukrainian refugees, or any refugee for the record, is important. However, the European Union has been more accepting and welcoming to Ukrainian refugees compared to refugees coming from other places, indicating potential biases of European Union policies and the othering of non-Ukrainian refugees. To study this, this paper will utilize a comparative case study of Ukrainian and Syrian refugees. The paper will compare these two …

Bearing The Benefit: An Evolution Of Passing To Trespassing & How We Got Here, Kennedi J. Williams

Honors College Theses

In recent years, we have seen a shift in the social treatment of white people in America. The desire to be politically correct at all times, in hopes of avoiding becoming the next viral “Karen” or racist has become imperative. The following thesis will explore the latest trend of white women buying racial capital by producing mixed-race children. At first glance, this idea can be a bit problematic. How can we assume the reasoning behind a woman choosing to bear a child? With this in mind, I would like to emphasize that individuals do not have to consciously be racist …

Accounting For The Gift: Theology And Ethics In Accounting, Daniel Sebastian

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

Accounting is often assumed to be a neutral presentation of the facts of economic activities and actions. Its double-entry system means that it is always in balance and comports to the rigor of mathematical formulas, and it is taken to be a matter of empirical counting that lends it certainty as well. The dissertation argues that this description of accounting is inadequate. Accounting is better seen as a political tool and technology for producing trust that can help resolve social conflicts. As such, accounting is not value-neutral but carries within it a particular sociality that has moral implications. These moral …

The Lawgiver And "The Progress Of Evil", Andre Chang

Senior Theses

The study advances a reinterpretation of Madison’s concept of “constitutional liquidation,” presenting it not merely as a theory of legal interpretation but as a broader political strategy for preserving republican government amid recurring crises. Through an analysis of Madison’s responses to the Alien and Sedition Acts, the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, and the nullification controversy, the thesis demonstrates how Madison sought to balance constitutional stability with principled conflict, allowing fundamental questions of authority, justice, and union to be resolved through disciplined public deliberation rather than force or procedural formalism.

Finally, the thesis contends that Madison’s commitment to national supremacy and …