Browsing Philosophy by Issue Date
Now showing items 1-20 of 45
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A study in the originality of Hobbes' political theories
(1938)These comments of W. R. Sorley asserting the originality of Hobbes arein conformity with the statements made by Hobbes himself; and togetherwith many others of similar purport, they interested me in the problemof Hobbes' ... -
The priority of being to truth according to Aristotle
(1969)There appears to be a difficulty in the account which Aristotle offers of being and truth in the Categories and De Interpretatione. In general terms, Aristotle's position is the "realist" one that "propositions are true ... -
Dharmakīrti's concept of the Svalakṣaṇa
(1980)Dharmak(')irti's philosophy is a synthesis of two schools of Indian Buddhism, the Sautrantika and the Yogacara. To the extent that Dharmak(')irti was a Sautrantika and the Yogacara. To the extent that Dharmak(')irti was a ... -
Aristotle's theory of perception: physiology and psychology
(1992)The topic of my dissertation is Aristotle's doctrine that the faculty of perception receives the forms of sensible things without the matter. Whether his doctrine is an account of a physiological process or an account of ... -
Metaphysical realism and antirealism: an analysis of the contemporary debate
(1996)The metaphysical realist asserts, while the metaphysical antirealist denies, that there are individuals that exist independently of the existence and workings of any mind or minds. I begin by distinguishing the thesis of ... -
Inferential justification
(1997)I aim to construct a partial account of inferential epistemic justification, the process by which epistemic justification is "transferred" from an evidentiary belief (or a set of such beliefs) to some further belief via ... -
Expanding the child's range of open futures: a proposed basis for the ethical assessment of parental genetic trait selections
(2004)This dissertation considers the bases upon which ethical assessments of parental genetic trait selections for their children can be made. It argues that if parents engage in genetic trait selections, they must act to expand ... -
Perceptual knowledge: explorations and extensions of the Sellarsian framework
(2004)The aim of my thesis is to outline a theory of epistemic justification for beliefs formed by sense perception. The project takes as its starting point the philosophical framework of Wilfrid Sellars. I begin with a discussion ... -
Toward a linguistic conception of thought
(2006)The traditional, and still most common, view of the relationship between language and thought is that language is merely a tool for expressing thoughts. I argue that this view is mistaken and that language is the very thing ... -
Feeling Proud and Being Proud: An Investigation Into the Moral Psychology of Personal Ideals
(2012-09-13)I argue that there are two sorts of pride--the emotion of pride and the character trait of pride--and defend descriptive and normative accounts of each sort of pride. The emotion of pride involves an evaluation that one ... -
The Significance of Unintentional Omission: Moral Responsibility for the Failure to Act
(2012-09-13)Many people, if asked, would probably say that we are morally responsible only for actions we voluntarily and intentionally choose to perform. But the phenomenon of unintentional omission poses a special problem for this ... -
Beyond the Basic/Nonbasic Interests Distinction: A Feminist Approach to Inter-Species Moral Conflict and Moral Repair
(2012-09-13)There is no longer a dearth of well-reasoned argumentation for taking animals seriously and thus for questioning our exploitative relationships with them. It is over-determined that animals warrant moral attention. ... -
Troubling Others and Tormenting Ourselves: The Nature and Moral Significance of Jealousy
(2013-02-25)Jealousy is an emotion that arises in diverse circumstances and is experienced in phenomenologically diverse ways. In part because of this diversity, evaluations of jealous subjects tend to be conflicting and ambiguous. ... -
A Leap into Darkness: Domination and the Normative Structure of International Politics
(2013-11-14)Philosophers have developed sophisticated theories of domestic legitimacy that discuss how a coercive state could be justified to its citizens. Yet, theorizing about global justice is characterized by a pervasive methodological ... -
Seduced Into Caring: Virtue and the Life of the Reader
(2013-11-14)Can reading novels and watching films make you a morally better person? In my dissertation I argue that living a life in which the experience of fictional narrative artworks occupies a significant role--what I call the ... -
The Aesthetic Appreciation of Ruins
It is the goal of my dissertation to explain our peculiar aesthetic fascination with architectural ruins and to show why ruins are worthy of our time and aesthetic appreciation. I propose a model of aesthetic appreciation ... -
Toward a Pragmatic Ontology of Scientific Concepts
I argue that current projects in 'naturalized metaphysics' fail to be properly naturalistic, and thereby fail in their stated aim to take one's metaphysics from science. I argue that naturalism must involve the idea of ... -
Blaming Appropriately
I argue for an account of blame as a reactive attitude, claiming that respectful blaming attitudes are affective, evaluative attitudes of disapproval directed at the wrongdoer, and are primarily about the wrongness of the ... -
Modal Truth: Integrating the Metaphysics, Epistemology, and Semantics of the Necessary and the Possible
The integration challenge for modality states that metaphysical theories of modality tend to fail in one of two ways: either they render the meanings of modal sentences mysterious, or they render modal knowledge mysterious. ... -
Intelligent Automaticity in Moral Judgment and Decision-Making
Is conscious reflection necessary for good moral judgment and decision-making? Philosophical attention to this question has increased in the last decade due to recent empirical work in moral psychology. I conclude that ...