Matching Items (15)
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- All Subjects: philosophy
- Creators: School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies
Description
Nietzsche’s aphoristic style and affinity for rhetorical ‘masks’ raise an acute interpretive problem. The problem is that his fragmented style might be taken to reflect a deeper fragmentation in his thought. For instance, philosopher Raymond Geuss argues that we should not read Nietzsche’s thought as being unified. Against Geuss, I argue that we should. To make my case, I appeal to Nietzsche’s meta-philosophy, which gives us plenty of evidence for attributing unity to his thought. I conclude by reflecting on why this result is important for interpreting different aspects of Nietzsche’s work.
ContributorsMartin, Jacob Samuel (Author) / Suk, Mina (Thesis director) / Ramsey, Ramsey Eric (Committee member) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
This essay explores the role of religion, science, and the secular in contemporary society by showing their connection to social and political legitimacy as a result of historical processes. In Chapter One, the essay presents historical arguments, particularly linguistic, which confirm science and religion as historically created categories without timeless or essential differences. Additionally, the current institutional separation of science and religion was politically motivated by the changing power structures following the Protestant Reformation. In Chapter Two, the essay employs the concept of the modern social imaginary to show how our modern concept of the political and the secular subtly reproduce the objectified territories of science and religion and thus the boundary maintenance dialectic which dominates science-religion discourse. Chapter Three argues that ‘religious’ worldviews contain genuine metaphysical claims which do not recognizably fit into these modern social categories. Given the destabilizing forces of globalization and information technology upon the political authority of the nation-state, the way many conceptualize of these objects religion, science, and the secular will change as well.
ContributorsBianchi, Joseph Anthony (Author) / Bennett, Gaymon (Thesis director) / Wetmore, Jameson (Committee member) / School of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies (Contributor) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
One of humanity's perpetual endeavors has been to come to an understanding of its nature so as to maximize the ability of persons to acquire happiness in this lifetime as well as to live in harmony with the cosmos. This philosophic work seeks to contribute to that perpetual mission by delving into the nature of desire and seeks to make the findings of this project relevant to society by identifying contemporary ills that are related to a deficient understanding of desire. This work not only seeks to help society achieve balance in the present but also seeks to help it maintain that balance through the provision of insights and teachings that are timeless in nature, for they have relevance to all ages through their illumination of the nature of humans. This project does so by turning to the Chinese Daoists and the Roman Stoics for their wisdom in regards to desire and how to relate to it. Additionally, this project turns to Paul Tillich to help preserve whatever balance this project helps achieve as he provides a remedy to modern ills by illuminating the course that was taken to bring it to its current predicament. Passages from the Daoist text the Dao-de-jing, the diary of the Roman Emperor and Stoic Marcus Aurelius, and the correspondences of the Roman Stoic Seneca the Younger found in On the Shortness of Life are interpreted in the hopes of not only providing advice on how to co-exist with desire but also in the hopes of establishing or contributing to an existing bridge that links Eastern and Western thought so that both hemispheres can cooperatively contribute to the development of humanity. This project also seeks to cultivate a desire amongst the populace to engage with philosophic works by showing that the insights they provide can be practically applied so as to develop one's characteristics that are conducive to finding that which helps one feel personally fulfilled and to achieving success in one's endeavors.
ContributorsGonzalez, Gabriel Vicente (Author) / Ramsey, Ramsey Eric (Thesis director) / Gaffney, Cynthia (Committee member) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12
Description
Personal identity stands at the heart of many practical practices such as paying individuals for their work or holding people responsible for their actions. As such, it seems important that theories of personal identity are able to account for the practical implications of personal identity. Mindful of the practical importance of personal identity, Marya Schechtman argues that the only accounts of personal identity that can capture this practical importance are those that address the characterization question \u2014 the question of what makes some feature attributable to a person. She then posits her narrative self-constitution view as an account of personal identity she feels answers the characterization question and is capable of explaining the link between personal identity and certain features of persons. In this paper, I argue that her account ultimately does not serve her purposes as it only focuses on attribution of features and does not, in fact, account for personal identity. Given that her view is exclusively about attribution, I explain, it is not relevant to the conversation on personal identity. Upon making this argument, I describe how the narrative self constitution view may nevertheless be useful as a tool for understanding the phenomenological notion of a sense of self or a self conception. Here I argue against Galen Strawson who holds that a narrative self conception is oftentimes problematic and unnecessary for several practical human functions. I argue that having a narrative sense of self is useful for personal growth insofar as it involves placing emphasis on certain life events, placing those events in context, and seeing one's life as having direction. Ultimately, I argue that a narrative self conception is not as problematic as Strawson thinks and may often be a useful tool for self-improvement.
ContributorsMoga, Radu (Author) / Watson, Jeffrey (Thesis director) / Khoury, Andrew (Committee member) / Botham, Thad (Committee member) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
Philippa Foot's theory of Natural Goodness provides a theoretical ethical framework that encompasses Aristotelian notions of flourishing and practical rationality. Foot's text provides a clear path to self-fulfillment, and her argument suggests that for a human being to flourish, they must experience happiness, actively enjoy good things, encompass human goodness, and exercise practical rationality. This thesis aims to evolve Foot's project of Natural Goodness from a theoretical model into a configuration that may be applied to everyday practical living. This project begins by detailing Philippa Foot's theory, walking through each step of the argument Foot provides in support for her ethical framework. Following, the merits of the theory are compared to other renowned ethical theories, and the intuitive nature of Natural Goodness is highlighted. It is argued that although Foot's ethical framework is praiseworthy, the theory is too open-ended in its discussion of happiness for individuals lacking human goodness to confidently apply the account in a practical setting. Due to this, I explore Foot's notion of happiness, defined as the enjoyment of good things, and I focus on the subjective aspect of enjoyment. By applying research from the field of positive psychology, the definition becomes guided into a more practical form, allowing for Foot's framework of Natural Goodness to become an applicable theory within contemporary society. Once this is achieved, and interrogatories are answered, I delve into ramifications of this new framework, and ways that individuals may increase the quality of their own lives.
ContributorsWoods, Tyler (Author) / Watson, Jeffrey (Thesis director) / Klein, Shawn (Committee member) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12