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Civilization Dialogue : A Comparison Between Al-Ghazzali And Mencius On The Concept Of A Perfect Man, Kuek Chee Wee Florence

Student Works (2000-2009)

This dissertation seeks to compare between Al-Ghazzali and Mencius on the concept of a perfect man. It is on the ground of comparing one of the most profound and original philosophical thoughts in Islam and Chinese Civilization respectively on the concept of perfect man that the pair is chosen. Both have left behind extensive literature expounding on man as their subject of study and both suggested that man have a perfectible nature. The dissertation traces the lives of Al-Ghazzali and Mencius in their respective historical background. The readers will be informed of the social and political climax as well as …

Suatu Kajian Pemikiran Politik Pra-Qin : Konfusious, Meng Zi, Dan Zun Zi, Liong Ngo Ling

Student Works (2000-2009)

The Pre-Qin Era refers to the period before the Qin Dynasty and the Era of Xia (1), Shang, Zhou, Chun Qiu and the Warring States. There was no concrete political thoughts yet during the era of Xia and Shang whereby the people still believed in Heaven and the many gods who governed their lives. Since Chun Qiu, the importance of God had been replaced gradually by the importance of the "Human's Self' after the introduction of Confucianism by Confucius and further expansion by Meng Zi and Xun Zi whereby the humanitarian aspects of the government and administration were stressed.

The Socratic Fallacy In The Early Dialogues, Priscilla Sakezles

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

In ‘Plato’s Euthyphro: An Analysis and Commentary’ (33), Peter Geach attributes two assumptions to Socrates which he calls the ‘Socratic Fallacy’ since its locus classicus is the early Socratic dialogues:

(A) if you know you are correctly predicating a given term ‘T,’ you must ‘know what it is to be T’ in the sense of being able to give a general criterion for a thing’s being T;

(B) it is no use to try and arrive at the meaning of‘T’ by giving examples of things that are T.

Geach claims that (B) follows from (A) because assuming (A) is true, …

The ‘Digression’ In Plato’S Theaetetus: A New Interpretation, David Levy

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

In this paper I argue that the “digression” (Tht. 172D-177C) plays a central role in Plato’s overall critique of Protagoras’s measure doctrine. Properly understood, the digression itself constitutes an argument against accepting a particular interpretation of the measure doctrine. This argument is based upon the unacceptable moral and political consequences that result from an institutional validation of extreme conventionalism. Commentators, such as Robin Waterfield and Gilbert Ryle, who dismiss this passage as pointless, and translators, such as Gwynneth Matthews, who omit the passage entirely, fail to draw the important connections among the measure doctrine, the Athenian legal system …

The Transformation Of The Investigation Of F In Plato's Dramas Of Definition, David Wolfsdorf

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

In this paper I consider which formal characteristics, if any, occur in the investigations. In addition, I am interested in whether there is a transformation of formal characteristics among the dramas of definition.

Methodologically, the paper focuses on what I call the surface claims and arguments of the text. By that I mean the explicit claims and arguments Socrates and his interlocutors make about the identity of F. This aspect of the texts is distinguished from their literary or dramatic aspects as well as any indirect claims and arguments about F, however these might occur. The neglect of the literary …

Sagp Newsletter 1999-2000.2 November, Anthony Preus

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Announcement of the SAGP panels with the Eastern Division of the American Philosophical Association in Boston, December 28, 1999, and with the American Philological Association in Dallas, December 28, 1999.

Bonjour, Kant, And The 'A Priori', Kurt Mosser

Philosophy Faculty Publications

In his 1985 The Structure of Empirical Knowledge, Laurence BonJour presented a compelling and articulate defense of a coherence theory of knowledge. Following what he called a “dialectical” strategy, he began by indicating the central issue at stake: the justification of empirical knowledge claims. He then argued that no available foundationalist or coherentist account could provide that justification, and that all such attempts either end in sheer dogmatism, or succumb to skepticism. After a lengthy critical discussion, he turned to developing a argument for his own view, combining a correspondence theory of truth with a coherence theory of justification. He …

Theistic Ethics : Toward A Christian Solution, David J. Baggett

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Eros And Transgression In An Age Of Immanence: Georges Bataille’S (Religious) Critique Of Kinsey, James Mark Shields

Faculty Journal Articles

This paper explores the religious implications of eroticism in Western culture since the Sexual Revolution, a period at once applauded for its open and immanent view of sexuality and denounced for its shamelessness and promiscuity. After discussing the work and effects of Alfred C. Kinsey, the father of the Sexual Revolution, I focus on a critical appraisal of Kinsey written by French theorist Georges Bataille (“Kinsey, the Underworld and Work,” in L’Erotisme, 1957). Bataille situates contemporary Western sexuality within a larger historical movement towards the “desacralization” of all aspects of human life: sex, under the scientific gaze of the Kinsey …

Review: Systematic Theology: An Introduction To Biblical Doctrine, James A. Borland

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Development And The African Philosophical Debate, Messay Kebede

Philosophy Faculty Publications

The split of African philosophical thinking between the schools of ethnophilosophy and professional philosophy shows the involvement of philosophical issues in the African development process. Indeed, the philosophical debate does no more than revive the entrenched paradigm of development theories, namely the conflict between tradition and modernity. While ethnophilosophy thinks that the rehabilitation of African traditions conditions the drive to successful modernization, especially after the disparaging discourse of colonialism, professional philosophy is of the opinion that success depends on the exchange of the traditional culture for modern ideas and institutions. The article exposes and evaluates the major arguments developed by …

Sagp Newsletter 1999-2000.1 July, Anthony Preus

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Announcement of the program for the 1999 SAGP/SSIPS conference in Binghamton, October 22, 23, 24, 1999.

Evangelical Christianity And The Philosophy Of Interreligious Dialogue, Michael S. Jones

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this essay, the author, an evangelical Christian, seeks to analyze the arguments for and against evangelical participation in interreligious dialogue. He finds that, while the arguments against evangelical participation in dialogue suggest some important boundaries for dialogue, they do not completely militate against it. Conversely, the arguments for dialogue form a persuasive case for evangelical participation

Is There A Focal Meaning Of Being In Aristotle?, Jiyuan Yu

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

At the beginning of Metaphysics Γ Aristotle claims that there is a science which is concerned with being qua being. 'Being’ is said in many senses. Different beings are not said to be purely homonymous, but rather to be “related to one thing (πρόσ ἕν)”(1003a33- 4). G.E.L Owen translates this ττρός ἕν formula as "focal meaning", and in his paraphrase, it means that all the “senses [of ‘being’] have one focus, one common element”, or “a central sense”, so that “all its senses can be explained in terms of substance and of the sense of ‘being’ that is appropriate to …

Fred Bartenstein: The Right Place At The Right Time, Kurt Mosser

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Fred Bartenstein has always seemed to find himself perfectly situated to pursue his life-long interest in bluegrass music – as he puts it, “I’ve always seemed to be in the right place at the right time.” This luck has allowed him to find bluegrass in the most surprising places, whether at a private day school in New Jersey, or at Harvard University in the late 1960s. It has also meant that, among other things, he found himself attending the first bluegrass festival in Fincastle, Va., becoming a bluegrass DJ at the age of 16, starting Muleskinner News magazine, and playing …

Animal Perception In Early Stoicism: A Response To Richard Sorabji, Scott Rubarth

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

The Stoics cannot deny that animals perceive things in relation to each other things (e.g. the scent coming from that direction). The dog must minimally connect the scent a direct if we are to explain the animal following an animal's trail. And it is also true that if the animal is to act on a stimulus it must connect the stimulus with a desire or experience. The dog must connect the scent with its desire or hunger. However, I do not agree that the animal must believe that the scent is coming from a given direction or even believe that …

Review: Jesus And The Logic Of History, Gary R. Habermas

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

A review of Jesus and the Logic of History by Paul Barnett (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997.)

Memorials 1999, James A. Borland

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

On Separating The Intellect From The Body: Aristotle's De Anima Iii.4, 429a10-B5, John E. Sisko

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Aristotle is clearly aware that the theory of separable intellect is not without its own difficulties. One difficulty is that of how intellect is to come to possess its objects. These objects first exist (potentially) in material things, but material things (it would seem) share no underlying generic sameness with separable (immaterial) intellect. So, upon consideration of his own account of agency and patiency, which requires that agent and patient hold something in common (see Generation and Corruption 1.7), it becomes unclear to Aristotle how it is that separable intellect, having nothing in common with anything else, is to ever …

The Nature Of Science: A Perspective From The Philosophy Of Science, Juli T. Eflin, Stuart Glennan, George Reisch

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

In a recent article in this journal, Brian Alters (1997) argued that, given the many ways in which the nature of science (NOS) is described and poor student responses to NOS instruments such as Nature of Scientific Knowledge Scale (NSKS), Nature of Science Scale (NOSS), Test on Understanding Science (TOUS), and others, it is time for science educators to reconsider the standard lists of tenets for the NOS. Alters suggested that philosophers of science are authorities on the NOS and that consequently, it would be wise to investigate their views of current NOS tenets. To that end, he conducted a …

Religious Women, Medical Settings, And Moral Risk, Peggy Desautels

Philosophy Faculty Publications

As we think about the ethical issues surrounding women and aging, it is important to ask the following questions. What do women in our society actually experience at various stages of their life cycle? Which of these I experiences put women at moral risk? In what situations are women's senses of moral value and selfhood likely to be ignored or discounted? I, along with a number of feminist philosophers, advocate approaching feminist ethics by starting with women's actual situations and experiences.¹ No doubt, a wide variety of aging women's experiences call for moral analysis. I focus here on the …

Christian Science, Rational Choice, And Alternative World Views, Peggy Desautels

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Book abstract: A chief aim of this resource is to rekindle interest in seeing health care not solely as a set of practices so problematic as to require ethical analysis by philosophers and other scholars, but as a field whose scrutiny is richly rewarding for the traditional concerns of philosophy.

Chapter abstract: The health-related choices made by Christian Scientists are often criticized as being irrational. It is difficult for those who turn to medical means for healing to understand how Christian Scientists can rationally justify avoiding those medical treatments known to be effective. What is especially confusing to the observer …

Praying For A Cure: When Medical And Religious Practices Conflict, Peggy Desautels, Margaret P. Battin, Larry May

Philosophy Faculty Publications

When the children of Christian Scientists die from a treatable illness, are their parents guilty of murder for withholding that treatment? How should the rights of children, the authority of the medical community, and religious freedom be balanced? Is it possible for those adhering to a medical model of health and disease and for those adhering to the Christian Science model to enter into a meaningful dialogue, or are the two models incommensurable? DesAutels, Battin, and May engage in a lucid and candid debate of the issues of who is ultimately responsible for deciding these questions and how to accommodate …

Kant And Feminism, Kurt Mosser

Philosophy Faculty Publications

The juxtaposition of Kant's name with "feminism" seems almost designed to invite scorn and indignation. As we will soon see, throughout his career Kant made a variety of noxious and distasteful comments about women. As we will also see, Kant has been regarded, with Descartes, as the philosopher chiefly responsible for providing modern Western philosophy with a picture of reason that has been employed in a variety of ways oppressive to women. Yet the reader of Kant's works in practical philosophy, specifically the Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals and the Critique of Practical Reason, could very well harbor a …

Are Ends Subject To Deliberation In Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics? A Reply To David Wiggins, Anthony Crifasi

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

We focus upon the difficulties involved in Wiggin's interpretation of deliberation, since these form the basis for his later analyses. Wiggins grounds his thesis that ends are subject to deliberation upon the view that the various virtues are constituents of happiness. As constituents of the ultimate end itself, they would not be ordered to any higher end. Consequently, the virtues would be incommensurable with one another, since conflicts between virtues would not be resolvable in terms of any common end. It is perfectly understandable that under this view the sole arbiter of such conflicts would be “situational appreciation,” as Wiggins …

Are Ends Subject To Deliberation In Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics? A Reply To David Wiggins, Anthony Crifasi

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Conflicts between virtues would not result in the radical incommensurability described by Wiggins (having no common end at all). Such a highest end would by no means be a “universal rule” in the sense criticized by Wiggins in his reply to Allan, since particular circumstances could, as always, affect or prevent altogether the manner and means by which the end would be actualized. The “situational appreciation” of practical wisdom would therefore still play a vital role in the practical actualization of any virtue. Since the benefits of this interpretation include the elimination of radical incommensurability without appeal to universal Kantian …

Aristotle On Existential Import And Nonreferring Subjects, Scott Carson

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Much contemporary philosophy o f language has shown considerable interest in the relation between our linguistic practice and our metaphysical commitments, and this interest has begun to influence work in the history of philosophy as well. In his Categories and De interpretatione, Aristotle presents an analysis of language that can be read as intended to illustrate an isomorphism between the ontology of the real world and how we talk about that world. Our understanding of language is at least in part dependent upon our understanding of the relationships that exist among the enduring πράγματα that we come across in our …

Epicurus, Sententia Vaticana Xxiii, Eric A. Brown

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Sententia Vaticana 23, as usually emended, says that every friendship is choiceworthy for its own sake. I argue that this sentence should not be attributed to Epicurus. No other evidence supports the attribution of this view to Epicurus, and much other evidence counts strongly against it. It would be better to reject the emendation, so that the sentence says, in somewhat awkward but not entirely unprecedented Greek, that every friendship is by itself a virtue, or to attribute the emended sentence not to Epicurus but to the later, more timid Epicureans who, according to Cicero, conceded more value to friendship …

Sagp Newsletter 1998-99.3 November, Anthony Preus

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Announcement of the SAGP panels with the Eastern Division of the American Philosophical Association in Washington DC December 28 and with the American Philological Association, also in DC, December 30.

The Expository Sermon - Cultural Or Biblical?, Robert A. Allen

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.