History of Philosophy Commons^™

Modes Of Argumentation In Aristotle's Natural Science, Adam W. Woodcox

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Through a detailed analysis of the various modes of argumentation employed by Aristotle throughout his natural scientific works, I aim to contribute to the growing scholarship on the relation between Aristotle’s theory of science and his actual scientific practice. I challenge the standard reading of Aristotle as a methodological empiricist and show that he permits a variety of non-empirical arguments to support controversial theses in properly scientific contexts. Specifically, I examine his use of logical (logikôs) argumentation in the discussion of mule sterility in Generation of Animals II 8, rational (kata ton logon) argumentation in his discussion of cardiocentrism throughout …

In Search Of Psychiatric Kinds: Natural Kinds And Natural Classification In Psychiatry, Nicholas Slothouber

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In recent years both philosophers and scientists have asked whether or not our current kinds of mental disorder—e.g., schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder—are natural kinds; and, moreover, whether or not the search for natural kinds of mental disorder is a realistic desideratum for psychiatry. In this dissertation I clarify the sense in which a kind can be said to be “natural” or “real” and argue that, despite a few notable exceptions, kinds of mental disorder cannot be considered natural kinds. Furthermore, I contend that psychopathological phenomena do not cluster together into kinds in the way that paradigmatic natural kinds (e.g., chemical …

A Deleuzean Poststructural Deconstruction, Adam Nadir Mohamed

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This project seeks to reconceive a poststructural form of deconstructive criticism as a Deleuzean deconstructive commentary. I first explore the way Derrida’s concept of différance is confined to a deconstructive criticism which solely traces it in order to critique metaphysical concepts. As an alternative to the confined use of différance in deconstructive criticism, I develop a deconstructive commentary which deconstructs the primacy of a commentated text. Instead of using différance solely to trace the limitations of philosophical concepts (Hegelian in particular), it can serve as a plane of immanence that track a multitude of differently configured philosophical concepts in their …

What Rome Really Adopted From Ancient Greece, Christian J. Vella

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The Roman conquest of the Greek city-states and the appropriation of many aspects of its culture, especially architecture and art, is well known. But what of the many great philosophies that began in the various city-states of Ancient Greece? This piece is made in attempt to answer this question. The scope of these sources will start with the beginning of the Western Philosophical Tradition, with Thales of Miletus and the Milesian, all the way up to, but not including, the foundation of the Christian Philosophical Tradition. After the year 146 BC if a philosopher is born in a Greek-City state, …

A Critical Analysis Of The Metaphysics Of Limit And Unlimited In Plato's Philebus, Ashley Lascano

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This paper examines several key passages within Plato’s Philebus and analyses the underlying metaphysics that exists at the heart of the dialogue. Plato implements the metaphysics in the dialogue by utilizing the terminology of “the limit” and “the unlimited”. This paper examines the Pythagorean origins of the limit and unlimited and depicts how Plato has adapted the terms from their original intent. The Philebus is examined to show the metaphysical importance of the limit and unlimited. The dialogue displays an example of the metaphysics of the limit and the unlimited through the debate between pleasure and intelligence, which is a …

The Poetic Function Of Imagination: The Parallel Process Of Poiêsis, Angela Carlson

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

In the advent of Postmodernism, modern approaches to understanding the nature of things is being put into question. As the gap between objective and subjective realms of experiences is narrowing, there is an increased need for a more artful approach to science. This paper serves as my attempt to promote the field of Expressive Arts Therapy (ExATh) as a mode of poetic science for understanding the experience of ‘Being’ in the world. Through a critical review of the semantic development of the ancient Greek concepts poiêsis, noêsis, and aisthêsis, the imagination is identified as a function of alêthaic revealing, …

The Idea Of Absolute Ethical Life: Hegel’S Account Of Freedom And Natural Law In His Early Philosophical Works, Tim Fitzjohn

Theses and Dissertations--Philosophy

This dissertation project focuses on G.W.F. Hegel’s early philosophical writings, though primarily on the Natural Law essay (1802/3), and how, through those writings, Hegel positions himself in relation to other thinkers, such as Fichte. Broadly, the modern period saw with it the rise of accounts of what is called natural law. Philosophers prior to Hegel argued that the proper account of natural law must be rooted in some kind of universal framework: either the basis of law must be the shared empirical facts of human nature (empiricism), or the basis of law must be found in the universal demands on …

Being And Structure In Plato’S Sophist, Colin C. Smith

Theses and Dissertations--Philosophy

Being and Structure in Plato’s Sophist is a study of the metaphysical notion of being as it is at play in Plato’s dialogue the Sophist, and the senses in which Plato’s conception of being entails further accounts of ontological structure and goodness. While modern metaphysics primarily concerns existence, ancient metaphysics primarily concerns what grounds what, and in this dissertation I consider the nature and value of Plato’s understanding of being as a notion of ground rather than a principle of existence. I argue that Plato conceives of being in the fundamentally unified sense of participation, which entails a self-and-other …

Los Atributos Divinos Y El Problema De La Unicidad De Dios En La Obra De Averroes, Joen Laureth Delgado Gómez

Filosofía y Letras

El trabajo de grado aborda el problema de la esencia de Dios y los atributos divinos en el pensamiento de Averroes (1126-1198). Esta cuestión, que hunde sus raíces en el Corán como Revelación y en la tradición profética, forma parte del desarrollo del monoteísmo semita en el Mundo Mediterráneo y Oriente Medio.

Se busca analizar la manera en la que Averroes se aproxima al debate desde la falsafa y el kalam, intentando desarrollar un modelo de lo Divino que fuera compatible con el Islam, a la vez que legitimaba la filosofía como vía válida para intentar comprender la naturaleza de …