Matching Items (28)
Description
I present in this dissertation a theory of moral disillusion. In chapter 1 I explain moral innocence and its loss. I show that becoming morally responsible requires shattering the illusion that one is not an appropriate candidate for the reactive attitudes. The morally responsible individual must understand that she can be an agent of wrongdoing. In chapter 2 I explore the nature of the understanding that accompanies the different phases of disillusion. I show that moral disillusion is an ability, not to follow moral principles, but to question them. In chapter 3 I argue that another phase of disillusion involves an acquaintance with evil. One shatters the illusion that only malicious individuals can be evildoers. Morally good people can also bring about evil. I conclude that evil is the exploitation of the extremely vulnerable. In chapters 4 and 5, I analyze more complex phases of moral disillusion. These stages are characterized by an understanding that one can be an agent of unchosen evil, that one might bring about evil even when pursuing the morally best course of action, and that one can be morally responsible for doing so. In order to understand unchosen evil and the tragedy of inescapable moral wrongdoing, the individual sees that moral responsibility ought to track what we care about, rather than what we believe. In chapter 6 I show that Kierkegaard's conception of the self is a philosophy of moral disillusion. I argue that his prescription that we shatter moral illusions is congruent with Harry Frankfurt's prescription that we ought to care about some things and not others. From this discussion emerges the explicit distinction between moral disillusion and moral goodness. Moreover, I conclude that the morally disillusioned are morally accountable for more than those still harboring moral illusions. Although moral disillusion does not entail becoming morally good, by acquiring the ability to raise questions about moral principles and to affect the content of one's cares, one acquires the ability to take responsibility for, and potentially minimize, evil. To have and understand these abilities, but not to care about them, increases one's moral accountability.
ContributorsGoldberg, Zachary J. (Author) / French, Peter A. (Thesis advisor) / Calhoun, Cheshire (Committee member) / Matustik, Martin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Guantánamo: The Amen Temple of Empire connects the fetishization of the trauma of nine/eleven with the co-constitution of subjects at Guantánamo—that of the contained Muslim terrorist prisoner silhouetted against the ideal nationalistic military body—circulated as ‘afterimages’ that carry ideological narratives about U.S. Empire. These narratives in turn religiously and racially charge the new normative practices of the security state and its historically haunted symbolic order. As individuals with complex subjectivities, the prisoners and guards are, of course, not reducible to the standardizing imprimatur of the state or its narratives. Despite the circulation of these ‘afterimages’ as fixed currency, the prisoners and guards produce their own metanarratives, through their para-ethnographic accounts of containment and of self. From within the panopticon of the prison, they seek sight lines, and gaze back at the state. This dissertation is thus a meditation on US militarism, violence, torture, race, and carceral practices, revealed thematically through metaphors of hungry ghosts, nature, journey and death, liminality, time, space, community, and salvage. Based on a multi-sited, empirical and imaginary ethnography, as well as textual and discourse analysis, I draw on the writing and testimony of prisoners, and military and intelligence personnel, whom I consider insightful para-ethnographers of the haunting valence of this fetishized historical event.
ContributorsColeman, Diana (Diana Murtaugh) (Author) / Talebi, Shahla (Thesis advisor) / Matustik, Martin (Committee member) / Fessenden, Tracy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
It is no secret that humans at some point in their lives will endure some sort of immense pain or suffering that continues, making life difficult to live in such a way. The question then becomes how a sufferer goes about dealing with their distress and whether or not they choose to deal with it or continue to live a life that is detrimental to them. This is a topic in which I will discuss in the terms of modern day psychology and how people who suffer from psychological disorders can embrace a new path to recovery through words and being able to rewrite their stories. Throughout this thesis, I shall argue, with the assistance of various philosophic works, that everyone is born into a story and responsibility lies within a person either to continue with a story to which they have become accustomed or choose to embark on a new journey all together. When the decision is rendered to rewrite the path one has taken, it is essential to look at what is driving the story or the goals one has been pursuing. The person suffering can then go to treatment based upon the exchange of words between them and their psychoanalyst in hopes of regaining a sense of responsibility in their lives.
ContributorsWilson, Bailey Rachelle (Author) / Ramsey, Ramsey Eric (Thesis director) / Piemonte, Nicole (Committee member) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12
Description
My thesis argues Romanticism and feminism are utopian allies, and Romanticism, understood as a philosophical movement, should be recognized as an essential aspect of critical feminist theory. I claim feminism must be understood as holding an undischarged utopian potential, liberated and inspired by a dynamic neo-Romanticism. This critical discourse gives birth to Romantic-feminism, which reinterprets Romantic works and rereads feminist theory, cultivating their shared revolutionary aspirations. While the claim that feminism buoys Romanticism—potentially creating a space for a singularly genuine kind of Romantic thought—is fairly bold, the core of this project rests upon an argument of even greater magnitude: feminism is as in need of Romanticism as Romanticism is in need of feminism. In fact, feminism is in desperate want of the revolutionary, aesthetic, and utopian vision of Romanticism, and a reinvented, reinvigorated feminism capable of confronting grave contemporary issues will not be possible without philosophical and artistic Romantic influence. A dynamic and progressive feminism not only betters Romantic texts, but provides the only possible condition for the realization of genuine revolution within Romanticism as a whole . As such, the second half of this project focuses on close readings of three poems by 19th-century women: “On Being Cautioned Against Walking on an Headland Overlooking the Sea because it was Frequented by a Lunatic” by Charlotte Smith, “The Lily” by Mary Tighe, and “Lines of Life” by Letitia Elizabeth Landon. Approaching these Romantic works will necessitate an openness and welcoming of both tradition and the strange, a critical emphasis on intersectional feminist concerns, an innovative critique of modernity informed by Marxist and socialist thought, a willingness to transform (the text, the self, and the world), and revolutionary and utopian desires.
ContributorsGosse, Raelynn (Author) / Ramsey, Ramsey Eric (Thesis director) / Mann, Annika (Committee member) / School of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies (Contributor) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
This Barrett, the Honors College senior thesis connects the experiences of cosplay with public speaking confidence. “Cosplay, abbreviated from the word ‘costume play,’ is a performance art in which the participant masquerades as a character from a selected film, television, video game, or comic book” (Gn, 2011, p. 583). The ability to “cosplay” in front of other relies on performing in front of an audience much like public speaking. When students speak with confidence, students will know their ideas are being expressed with conviction and assurance. Having the ability to speak professionally and publicly, is a highly valued skill in the workforce and key to success in all types of employment. Communication skills are frequently a top factor in determining whether a college student will obtain employment (Beebe & Beebe, 2006, p. 275-276). Despite their different definitions, there are multiple connections between cosplay and public speaking. This thesis explores the connection between peer support and belief in one’s self in both cosplay and public speaking. Now those who have direct support become self-reliant and confident as a result of these connections. This projects highlights Goffman’s identity theory, the Pygmalion effect, theories of fashion and identity, role-play, narrative paradigm, dramatism, and non-verbal communication, and explores how cosplay can contribute to the formation of one’s public speaking persona. The issue of anxiety is also included in the conversation as it is central to both cosplay and public speaking. Ultimately, this thesis explores the questions: Can cosplay help students become empowered public speakers?
ContributorsGallardo Rojas, Lizette (Author) / Ramsey, Ramsey Eric (Thesis director) / Wentzel, Bonnie (Committee member) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
It seems that we are incessantly scolded about the importance of the American political process and its virtue of practicality in contemporary society. Whether through the accumulation of the so-called facts about the issues that inform the veneration of the contest between candidates, the stern and noble duty of becoming an activist performing dreary tasks, or the religious fervor surrounding the sacred obligation of voting, we are assured and reassured that our system is sound and that we must only confront problems of implementation rather than structural ones. From here, the narrative goes that if we subscribe to the doctrine of exclusively employing the efficient, strictly rational, and the immediately realistic, we will almost assuredly succeed in persuading others toward producing the resolutions required to solve our shared challenges. Admittedly, these ideas serve a role in addressing the issues we face. However, when unaided by sophisticated and nuanced notions and applications of the fantastic, the beautiful, the ideal, the possible, the playful, the useless, in a word, dreaming, we foreclose the possibility of building a future that can qualitatively improve society and more meaningfully elevate our being-with-one-another in the world. Therefore, this work aims to validate the aforementioned claim by engaging in a critical, political, and hermeneutic exploration of what it means to dream against the backdrop of present-day American politics. It will honestly seek to analyze the prevailing notions of contemporary western thought and action to work on the way toward a new, yet latent, way of understanding. This understanding would fundamentally revolutionize the task of civilization as being grounded upon the appropriate channeling of our desires and dissatisfactions toward actualizing the projections of our imagination. Simply put, this project seeks to repudiate the mandate of work as toil and order as oppression to clear the way for envisioning a more suitable alternative.
ContributorsGoldsmith, Adam Jay (Author) / Ramsey, Ramsey Eric (Thesis director) / Gruber, Diane (Committee member) / School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences (Contributor) / School of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Techno-scientific thinking, which has become firmly grounded in modern medicine, moves towards reifying medicine as a science, losing all aspects of what it means to heal beyond curing a patient’s physical malady. A blueprint has been made on how best to interact with patients, a formulaic way of approaching medicine that seeks to get to the bottom of the patient’s biological disease. But this blueprint is the very reason doctors and patients misrecognize the potential befriending suffering has to heal the psychological dis-ease the patient feels when confronted by suffering. Thus, the process of treating patients is in need of reform. To do this, we must recover the dimension of depth that has been seemingly lost in the medical field. Doctors and patients alike should be critical of this systematic way of thinking about the doctor-patient relationship, a way of thinking that has far more implications than typically recognized. Science itself is not the problem; rather, it is thinking that says science is the only way one ought to approach and understand medicine and the only way to cure patients when there is much more to healing than curing.
In befriending suffering, one has the opportunity to re-understand herself and reorient herself to the world. Through dialogue, one can befriend her suffering and attempt to hear what it might be saying to her. Furthermore, by being a virtuous friend to her suffering, being one who is sincere, reverent, tender, and effortful, one can discover the generative aspects of suffering. By turning toward suffering together, the doctor and patient can connect in a way that better helps them understand themselves and each other. By understanding themselves and their individual suffering, each has the possibility of becoming a more authentic person and living more meaningfully in their daily lives. In understanding each other, the doctor has the potential to heal her patients—and patients, one could say, have the potential to heal their doctors as well. To do this, both must enter into conversation openly and with the virtues of friendship in mind. It may be difficult, but each one’s worldview might expand and new insights gleaned. By coming together, each has the possibility of living better individually.
In befriending suffering, one has the opportunity to re-understand herself and reorient herself to the world. Through dialogue, one can befriend her suffering and attempt to hear what it might be saying to her. Furthermore, by being a virtuous friend to her suffering, being one who is sincere, reverent, tender, and effortful, one can discover the generative aspects of suffering. By turning toward suffering together, the doctor and patient can connect in a way that better helps them understand themselves and each other. By understanding themselves and their individual suffering, each has the possibility of becoming a more authentic person and living more meaningfully in their daily lives. In understanding each other, the doctor has the potential to heal her patients—and patients, one could say, have the potential to heal their doctors as well. To do this, both must enter into conversation openly and with the virtues of friendship in mind. It may be difficult, but each one’s worldview might expand and new insights gleaned. By coming together, each has the possibility of living better individually.
ContributorsAdcock, Preston Michael (Author) / Piemonte, Nicole (Thesis director) / Ramsey, Ramsey Eric (Committee member) / School of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
I will examine the relation between techne and virtue as it appears in Plato‘s dialogues and suggest that in order to adequately confront our greatest political and social challenges our understanding must move beyond mere scientific and technical knowledge and our practices must move beyond the political art taught by Gorgias and Protagoras. It is my belief that the Platonic conception of virtue and the political art that aims toward that conception of virtue offer a paradigm that can help remedy today‘s arguably technocratic political condition. I begin this work by exploring the nature of techne as it was understood in ancient Greece, and arguing (contra Irwin) that Plato did not hold a technical conception of justice. Whereas each techne establishes an eidos (idea, form, blueprint) in advance, which can be clearly known and uniformly applied in each particular case, I argue that Plato‘s conception of justice leaves all substantive content to be filled out in each concrete situation, precluding the possibility of the anticipatory disposition that techne affords and demanding a certain degree of deliberation in each situation, with attention paid to the unique aspects of each particular set of circumstances. I argue that this conception of justice informs Plato's notion of a "political art" and suggest that this art requires constant attention to the unique attributes of each particular situation in which we find ourselves, and that the pre-interpretive prejudice of many modern ideologies and political-economic perspectives hinders our ability to see the particularity in each situation and thereby reduces our capacity for achieving justice in the historically-situated, concrete moment within which we always must act.
ContributorsOlsen, Tyler (Author) / Crittenden, Jack (Thesis director) / Ramsey, Ramsey Eric (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Impostor Phenomenon (IP) is defined as an occurrence in individuals who have difficulty internalizing success, and live in constant fear of the "mask being unveiled," or being exposed as a fraud (Clance, 1985). It is estimated that 70% of the population will experience at least one episode of Impostor Phenomenon in their lifetime. (Gravois, 2007) This study surveyed 120 first-time freshmyn at Arizona State University West campus to gain access to demographic information, first-year programming attendance, and their Impostor Phenomenon scores using the Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale. After the data was analyzed, it was determined that there were no significant findings between Impostor Phenomenon scores, honors status, and generational status, nor were there statistically significant findings when compared against age, gender, and first-year programming attendance. The average score for all students surveyed ranged in the "frequent bouts" of Impostor Phenomenon, which is the third-highest level of Impostor Phenomenon. Although there are no statistical differences between the identified groups, it is important to note that the average scores are high, and that changes can be made to first-year programming to help lower the average Impostor Phenomenon scores. Teaching students self-compassion is one way to address the common symptoms of Impostor Phenomenon. In addition to background on self-compassion, this thesis offers suggestions on how self-compassion teachings could be incorporated into first-year programming to make students more comfortable and confident during their first year at Arizona State University.
ContributorsStifano, Natalia Alexandra (Author) / Ramsey, Ramsey Eric (Thesis director) / Koch, Drew (Committee member) / Isbell, Dennis (Committee member) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Caring for others is hard work, it takes time, it takes emotional labor, and ultimately it is not immediately apparent how caring for others helps ourselves, so why should we do it? In caring for others, we become an active participant in the world of another, and we must take this active role because we already have an emotional investment in the wellbeing of the other. We must care for others because we already care about them. This concept of caring for others is addressed in Art as an invitation to world-traveling: a psycho-analytic approach to Understanding neuro-atypicality as well as a corresponding gallery featuring the artwork analyzed within the written work. In this work the act of World-Sharing is discussed, an idea brought to us by the philosopher Maria Lugones. The idea is that we create worlds by having relationships with others. We have worlds that we live in with our family, our workplace, our circles of friends, and smaller worlds between us and those we are closest to and ourselves. We are world-travelers, evidenced by our ability to empathize with others, and through this thesis we can become able to use art as a means of world-traveling. Art has a unique way of creating a way with which we can understand the other without the use of words, as verbal language isn't the only path to world-traveling. In the first section of this work, there is an introduction. In sections two through four the philosophical importance of expressive and empathetic communication, the psychological standpoint including how neuro-atypical people are already attempting to share their world with others by utilizing therapy, and an analysis of artwork by neuro-atypical artists are discussed. Section two utilizes the concept of world-sharing brought to us by Maria Lugones, the concept of therapy as a way to care for others and develop relationships, as well as the importance of love as it related to caring by Carol Gilligan, the way that language can be used to form these relationships by Hans-Georg Gadamer, and the way that language lends itself to communication and the creation of worlds by Georges Gusdorf. In this section the importance of the social majority, or those who hold social power, to travel to the world to the minority, because the minority in order to exist in society already travels to the world of the majority is discussed. In the third section how neuro-atypical people attempt to travel to the world of the majority by utilizing therapy and at times the importance of artwork in that therapy is discussed as well as the art therapy called SEAT which utilizes viewing the patients as artists first in order to have a more dynamic and influential intervention.
ContributorsSyfritt, Autumn Amber-Nicole (Author) / Ramsey, Ramsey Eric (Thesis director) / Sandoval, Mathew (Committee member) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05