Undergraduate Philosophy Conference
Abstracts
Daniel Bristol
The Paradigm of Emptiness: A Commentary on the
Diamond
Sutra
SUNY - Oneonta
One of the most important texts of Mahayana Buddhism is the Diamond Sutra. It belongs to a cycle of texts known collectively as the Prajnaparamita Sutra, the scriptures of Transcendental Wisdom. The Diamond Sutra is an exposition of one of the most important doctrines of Mahayana philosophy -- that of sunyata (Sanskrit, "emptiness"). This sutra (which is the oldest printed text in human history) is a dialogue between Shakyamuni Buddha and one of his disciples, Subhuti. As the dialogue progresses, the reader develops a sense of an emerging "paradigm of emptiness": a view of reality that is not merely based on the doctrine of emptiness, but is emptiness. This paradigm has been given a wide variety of poetic names, ranging from "the path of seeing" to "the king of views." In its simplest form, the paradigm is none other than enlightenment. The Diamond Sutra not only explains this view, but illustrates in various ways how the enlightenment of emptiness may be attained.
Ian Cashman
The Two Meanings of "Good" in Aristotle's Ethics
Marymount University
This essay explores the essence of Aristotle's notion of "good". I argue that Aristotle constructs a fundamentally descriptive and analytic definition of "good" while his notion of moral "good" is synthetic and implicitly normative. I further argue that this distinction creates an untenable foundation for the use of "good" in a moral sense; Aristotle's moral meaning of "good" does not follow from the fundamental grounding he sets up to define it.
Albert Castelo
Understanding Consciousness
Hunter College (CUNY)
Thomas Nagel has argued that the subjective experience of a bat cannot be described in terms of its observable behavior and that it is therefore inherently impossible for humans to apprehend. More recently, David Chalmers noted that the mechanism whereby physical processes in the brain give rise to subjective experience has not been discovered. Recognizing the explanatory impotence of reductive analyses, Nagel offers a proposal to bridge the gap between subjective and objective experience, while Chalmers suggests a theory to bridge the explanatory gap between physical processes and consciousness. Their conclusions, however, underestimate the potential of science and the expanded roles of language and imagination in the search of a solution to the mind-body problem. With time, such tools should enable us to understand the objective and subjective nature of consciousness, as well as to create conscious non-human entities.
Jeffrey F. Dueck
Existence Communication and the Arbitrary Nature
of Language
Nyack College
The arbitrary nature of language has been one of the most influential ideas on the philosophical and literary communities in recent times. Finding strong skeptical roots in empirical and existential areas of philosophy, this notion has led to numerous theoretical and practical consequences. The theoretical side of the argument has resulted in literary fields like Semiotics and Deconstruction. However, critics and philosophers sometimes forget the practical questions that arise from the subjective inadequacies of language. Although texts may suffer from the nature of language, communication must (and does) occur, and it is through techniques advocated by existential communicators such as Soren Kierkegaard that the subjective message can be maintained, despite the problems with language. In practicing communication through existence-forms, personal and passionate decisions can still be made by both speakers and hearers.
Kevin Goetz
Discussing an Education, as Found in the Phaedrus
SUNY - Oneonta
Using Plato's Phaedrus, this paper will attempt an explanation of the communication of ideas, focusing on communication used for the purpose of education. Three of the myths presented in the Phaedrus -- the myths of the chariot, of Theuth, and of the cicadas -- will be discussed and briefly interpreted, through a metaphor of reading and writing. Since all of these myths are presented in the form of a dialogue, the communication discussed will be of the same type. Used to help explain the structure of Plato's dialogue will be Jacques Derrida's proposal of a doubled reading and writing. A blending of this dual action with Plato's ideas will serve to help build a more complete concept of educational communication.
David Miguel Gray
An Alternative Trope Theory of Events
Columbia University
In Events and Their Names, Jonathan Bennett has held a conditional supervenience thesis concerning the ontological dependencies of events: "events are supervenient on substances and properties, unless the supervenience runs the other way because tropes are more fundamental than substances and properties (16)." I propose that we can have it both ways: we can maintain a supervenience thesis of events where events are dependent on objects and properties and still maintain a basic ontology of tropes. I propose this on what I consider to be a more "rounded" understanding of what tropes and concrete particulars are. I will conclude by suggesting that such a theory will aid us in event explanations by not having to bring facts into our ontology, as Bennett does.
John R. Hartmann
Between Eastern and Western Thought: Individuation
in a Western Setting
Alfred University
There exists a recurring motif within the various works of C.G. Jung concerning the startling difference in the psychic self between Eastern and Western man. Jung contends that the main difference between the two "types" lies in the disassociation of the conscious and unconscious in Western man, as compared to the rather harmonious co-existence of the two in the Eastern mind. In this paper, I will examine Jung's conception of individuation -- the bringing together of the conscious and unconscious in Western man. I will argue that Jung, in various texts, differentiates between the paths to the self available to the Eastern and the Western man, and that Jung realizes some of the pitfalls that await Western man should he blindly follow Eastern teachings and dogmas. Finally, I shall examine in detail some of the consequences and applications of this outlook on the individuation process through a decidedly post-modern lens.
David Hodge
Inversion of Fate: Boethius' Philosophy From
Within
SUNY - Buffalo
While being imprisoned Boethius wrote his most endearing work: The Consolation of Philosophy. In this brief, but brilliant work, Boethius introduces us to his most noble vision: Lady Philosophy and her methods of therapy. In this paper I investigate some of the structural elements of the text and discuss ways in which those elements relate to issues like freedom, evil, poetry, isolation, conversation, imprisonment, and personification. With reference to the imagery of Boethius' creation I endeavor to give an account of some of the important and lasting attributes of the Consolation. Boethius shines as an example of a man undeterred by the vices and misunderstandings of others. Though in mortal danger he remained composed enough to write this magnificent piece of prison literature. What comes through the work, and the actual events of Boethius' life while writing it, is a profound message about the existential character of human beings, the nature of hope, faith, reason, will, and imagination.
Justin Mandel
Parallels Between Near-Death Experiences and
Mystical Experiences
SUNY - Oneonta
There are many parallels between near-death experiences and mystical experiences. All of these parallels dance around the edges of the topic of near-death experiences, but that is all it is; it is only a dance. Since the experience of nearly any dance is only an experience, it cannot be scientifically valid -- and this is where Western society runs into the conceptual brick wall. After all it was only a dream. Or was it? In this paper I shall attempt to parallel several different dances into a ballroom gala and onto a piece of paper. It is in this fiesta that I will meet other dancers' experiences and beliefs; I shall try to flow while all the time having myself rooted into the dance floor of a macrocosm of infinite possibility. Please realize that anything is possible and it is on this possibility that I do my best tango.
Paul Nguyen
The Possibility of Permissible Suicide Within
Kant's Ethical Theory
Harvard University
Kant's ethical theory is generally regarded as prohibiting acts of suicide. However, many of us may feel that there are certain situations in which suicide should be a permissible option. I believe that a person who is suffering from extreme, unavoidable, and continuous pain is in such a situation. In this paper, I attempt to show that there is a way of reading Kant so that his theory will allow for suicide in this case. I first define our problem by discussing Kant's objections to suicide and outlining more clearly the circumstances of the casuistical situation in question. I then suggest a possible approach to the problem and subsequently reject it as one that Kant himself could not accept. Finally, I appeal to the Rawlsian notion of a "double-level theory" in an attempt to put forth a possible reading of Kant that is both consistent with his views and sympathetic to the idea that suicide should be permissible in our case.
Christopher O'Callahan
Surface Spectral Reflectance and Color Objectivism
Rutgers University
Various attempts have been made to reduce color to an objective, perceiver-independent property of objects. David Hilbert (1987) identifies an object's color with its surface spectral reflectance (SSR) -- its characteristic way of interacting with light of various wavelengths. If color is SSR, then it is a completely objective property and objects are colored independently of any perceptions of their color. However, I argue that color is not surface spectral reflectance, since no formulation of what SSR is allows for its identification with color. If we are to offer an account of color consistent with our "pre-theoretic intuitions," as Hilbert claims to do, color is not simply surface spectral reflectance; and if color is to be an objective property of objects, some other physical property must be invoked.
Emily D. Porter
Emotions, Gender, and Kantian Morality
Vassar College
Kantian moral theory establishes a dichotomy between inclinations and reason. Kant argues that inclinations, including emotions, ought to be subordinated to moral maxims based on the Categorical Imperative. He especially emphasizes the harmonizing of these maxims with our own Kingdom of Ends. However, the restrictions he places on the formulation of our Kingdom of Ends and his treatment of emotions as threats to moral law reveal potentially dangerous assumptions underlying his moral theory. This paper begins by examining these assumptions and their dangerous effects on the individual and morality. More specifically we will consider, in light of recent feminist scholarship on women and emotions, how the Kantian view of morality is particularly damaging to women as a result of the way that Kant views the relationship between the noumenal and phenomenal worlds. In the final analysis, three possible solutions will be offered to some of the tensions that exist between Kantian morality and feminist theory.
Anna Christina Ribeiro
The Nature of Rhetoric in Plato's Gorgias
Hunter College (CUNY)
Is speech ever without a moral content? If not, can this moral content be imparted as the speech is made? If the job of a politician principally involves speech-making, how does that relate to a given political system, e.g. democracy? In my paper I investigate these questions as they are discussed in Plato's Gorgias. After a brief background introduction, I delineate Socrates' discussion with each of his three interlocutors. During the course of that discussion a definition of oratory and its assessment as it relates to the imparting of justice and virtue is endeavored, and rhetoric is contrasted with dialectics. As I closely analyze the dialogue, the issues of art (or technique) and "knack" are examined in connection with the definition of rhetoric, as are the question of punishment for unjust acts and the distinction between the pleasant and the good. As regards democracy, I argue that the practice of rhetoric turns out to be a paradox, inasmuch as it cannot exist under an anti-democratic regime but by its nature it fosters anti-democratic ambitions. I see the way of the philosopher, who engages in dialogue rather than speech-making, as equally problematic given the evidence that some of Socrates' own pupils became corrupt. He does not, however, claim to impart virtue but seeks to engage with an interlocutor in the quest of a definition for it. I defend and conclude with the claim that speech is never morally neutral, and thus that the way life should be lived is inextricably bound with language and speech.
David Schaaf
Evolution of the One During the Early Medieval
Period: Plotinus to Proclus
SUNY - Oneonta
The concept of the One may have attained its highest development and most popular expression in the Neoplatonism of Plotinus, Saint Augustine, and Proclus. This paper shows how the idea of the One grew out of Platonic thought, then evolved during early medieval times. I must stress, however, that by using the term "evolution" I do not mean to imply drastic differences, for the fundamental characteristics of the One must remain intact to support the claim that different philosophers believed in the same idea. Despite some degree of difference in their views, all three of these Neoplatonic philosophers adhered to, and believed in, the essential, fundamental characteristics of the One.
Nathan Smith and Tiffany Streeter
The Destruction of the Death Star: An Ethical
Argument
SUNY - Oneonta
The Star Wars Trilogy is a story which binds us all. It is an important part of the American popular culture. Yet, underlying the tale of heroism lies a basic philosophical issue: Is the Rebel Alliance's act of destroying the second Death star (as seen in Return of the Jedi) an ethical act or one of unnecessary hostility? The authors of this paper, who hold opposing views in the matter, offer arguments for both sides. The argument for the Alliance sees the action in Utilitarian terms, the Empire in Machiavellian terms. Rebuttals are offered, but no resolution is attempted. The audience will be invited to engage the debate.
Darin Somma
On the Priority of the Epistemic Issues to the
Metaphysical Issues of Realism
Virginia Tech
Michael Devitt, in his Realism and Truth, has urged to settle the metaphysical issues of realism prior to the epistemic issues of realism. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the inherent impossibility of attempting to do so, and to establish that the epistemic issues are necessarily strictly prior to the metaphysical issues. This is accomplished by demonstrating that a resolution of the metaphysical issues is dependent on a resolution of the epistemic; and this entails the priority of the epistemic to the metaphysical. The argument turns largely on the pragmatic uses of the words "knowledge" and "truth" in everyday society, aided by an appeal to methodological concerns. Implications and topics of further research are given attention.
David Morgan Svolba
Nietzsche and the Eternal Recurrence
Salisbury State University
Nietzsche's doctrine of Eternal Recurrence has proven to be a particularly elusive aspect of his thought. Early interpreters of Nietzsche's philosophy often dismissed the Eternal Recurrence altogether, as unessential to an understanding of Nietzsche's "major themes." This position has since been radically revised, however, and there is today a consensus in Nietzsche scholarship that the Eternal Recurrence is of central importance to Nietzsche's overall thought. Although the importance of the Eternal Recurrence has come to be recognized, the "doctrine" has proven difficult to interpret. There exists a fundamental disagreement regarding whether the Eternal Recurrence is to be understood as a "metaphysical thesis" or "existential imperative." In my essay, I consider the strengths and weaknesses of the metaphysical and existential interpretations, and in the process attempt to disclose the dark profundity of Nietzsche's "most abysmal thought." I conclude my essay by arguing that the Eternal Recurrence should be understood as both metaphysical and existential, such that Nietzsche's "metaphysical thesis" is also an "existential imperative."
John F. Velona
Rational Systematic Thought: Aristotle and Ancient
Cultures
Marymount University
There is a standard position regarding the history of philosophy and the history of human cognition. This standard position claims that with the advent of Greek Classical philosophy, human thought underwent a paradigm shift from a mythopoeic perspective to a world-view characterized as "rational." In this paper I will briefly examine this standard position. Two criteria will be chosen as limited representatives of "rational" thought. I will then closely read selections from three texts (one mythic text, one wisdom text, and one from Aristotle) for evidence of commonalities of the limited criteria. From my readings, I will seek conclusions which support the suggestion that the standard position's claim of a radical paradigm shift may possibly be an overstatement. I will also offer speculation regarding the valuative position of the three texts.
Justina Williams
Brave New World: The Use of Novel Language in
Creating the Gender-Freed Utopian Culture of Feminist Science Fiction
SUNY - Oneonta
This paper concerns the effects of language on our perceptions of reality and explores ways in which the medium of science fiction acts as a testing site for new realities. Unfortunate nuances in our present terminology tend to distort our conscious and unconscious impressions. Traditional male science fiction often focuses on technological advancement as the apex of futuristic fantasy. Feminist science fiction instead pronounces interior cultural alteration to be the harbinger of a new world. These authors extrapolate beneficial aspects of past cultures' communication, intermingling them with imagined ideas, to create a synthesis of holistic existence. They promote a positive psychological shift, rather than exterior technological growth. This internal alteration is enabled through their creation of new means of communication, fostering entirely different modes of emotional and intellectual impression.
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