|
Society for Philosophy 1997 Annual Conference |
1997 Annual CONFERENCE PROGRAMSUNDAY, AUGUST 10TH4:00pm - 5:30pm Registration MONDAY, AUGUST 11THSession I Chair: J. Craig Hanks 9:00am - 11:00amPeter Mehl, Matters of Meaning: Authenticity, Autonomy and Authority in Kierkegaard Charles Harvey, Authority, Autonomy, Authenticity: An Etiological Understanding 11:00am - 12:30pm LUNCH Session II Chair: Erin Wilkes
12:30pm - 2:30pm Michael McKenna, A Speaker-Meaning Theory of Moral Responsibility James
Sauer,
Language, Ethics and Meaning: A Phenomenological Correlation of Morality and
Self-Conscious Signification 2:30pm - 2:45pm BREAK Session III Chair: Jack Weir
2:45pm - 4:45pm Jeff Jordon, A New Argument for Vegetarianism Forrest
Wood,
Hunting: Three Views 4:45:pm - 7:30pm DINNER 7:30pm BUSINESS MEETING TUESDAY, AUGUST 12TH Session IVChair: Richard Cohen
9:00am - 11:00am Jack Weir, Utilitarianism, Animals and the Environment John
Clark, Social
Ecology Session V Time: TBA TAKE YOUR PICK! Philosophy on the Mount - We will hike to a summit in the OR Environmental Education for the Twenty-first Century - Patricia Thompson will lead a
discussion group on her recently edited book, Environmental Education for
the Twenty-first Century. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13TH Session VI Chair: James Sauer
9:00am - 11:00am M. Carmela Epright, Freedom and Ambiguity: The Ethics of Simone de Beauvoir Patricia Thompson, Hestianeutics: A Challenge for Feminist Standpoint Theory 11:00am - 12:30pm LUNCH Session VII Chair: Sharon E. Hartline
12:30pm - 2:30pm Lani Roberts, One Oppression or Many Virginia De Oliveira-Alves, Race, Culture and Justice: Separatism or Integration? 2:30pm - 2:45pm BREAK Session VIII Chair: Robert Paul Churchill
2:45pm - 4:45pm Gail
Presbey, Akan Chiefs and Queen Mothers
in Contemporary Jennifer
Stiff, The
Question of National Autonomy: The Case of 4:45pm - 7:30pm DINNER Session IX
7:30pm Louisa
Moon and Alex
Kukas, Eco-Marxist Feminism and the Cuban Agricultural
THURSDAY, AUGUST 14TH Session XChair: J. Craig Hanks
9:00am - 11:30am Lucas Introna, Being-in Cyberspace: Self and Hyperreality Michael
Krauz and Joe
Frank Jones III, Interpretation and Its Objects 11:30pm - 12:30pm LUNCH Session XI Chair: Lani Roberts
12:30pm - 3:30pm Andrew Eshleman, Identification and Responsibility for Character Stephanie Bauer, Taking Responsibility: A Study of Authority and Self-Transformation Richard DeTar, Just Following Orders: Revisited 3:30pm - 3:45pm BREAK Session XII Chair: Joe F. Jones
3:45pm - 5:45pm Noel Boulting, Autonomy, Attention and Decreation Michael Barnhart "Authenticity, Freedom and the Ethics of Moral Neutrality 5:45pm - 7:30pm DINNER Session XIII
7:30pm Sharon
Hartline, Improvisations: Ahimsa and the Authentic Self FRIDAY, AUGUST 15th 7am - 10am FALL'S Session XIV
10:00am - 12:00pm Michael Eldridge, Toward a Deweyan Political Technology Jada Prane, Homelessness Considerations on Redirecting
the Blame 12:00pm - 1:30pm LUNCH Session XV 1:30pm - 4:30pm Bentley Davis, Why the Private Sphere Andrew Fiala, Liberal Capitalism and the Dissolution of the Public/Private Distinction Joe
Wagner, A
Hollow Core: The Poverty of Conservatism as Political Philosophy SATURDAY, AUGUST 16th Session XVI
9:00am - 11:00am Trudy Conway, Cultural Authority and Autonomy: The Role of the Philosopher in the Contemporary World Erin McKenna and Craig Hanks, The Culture of Suburbanization, Housework, and the Fragmentation of Identity 11:00am - 12:30pm LUNCH Session XVII
12:30pm - 3:30pm Angela Bolte, Anger, Love and Autonomy Kevin Magill, "Free Will as Doing What You Want Bill Rowe, The Metaphysics of Freedom: Reid's Theory of Agent Causation SUNDAY, AUGUST 17TH SAFE TRAVELS! MICHAEL BARNHART Authenticity, Freedom, and the Ethics of Moral Neutrality The present paper is part of a much larger examination of the contrast between Confucianism and Buddhist social philosophies in order to ascertain their respective implications for democratic politics. In this context, I examine the concepts of release and freedom (moksa and nirvana) in the Buddhist tradition, particularly as understood in a contemporary setting. These concepts suggest a form of autonomy that contrast interestingly with J. S. Mill's version of liberty and J. L. Mackie's concept of rights in a rights-based moral theory. BIO NOT AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME ******************************************* <slbauer@artsci.wustl.edu> Taking Responsibility: A Study of Authority and Self-Transformation In both philosophical and political arenas we are bombarded with the call for individuals to take greater responsibility for themselves. Yet, what does this mean? Are there limits to what we should take responsibility for? Are there criteria for how we should take responsibility? Current political rhetoric appears to indicate that there is no end to the good that can be done by individuals taking responsibility for their lives. Philosophical literature has also provided a largely positive view of this activity and remains unhelpful in understanding the conditions of its appropriateness. This paper attempts to begin such a task by examining particular ways that taking responsibility functions in our lives. I consider this approach to be pragmatic. It assumes that the criteria for a practice can only be determined by investigating the purposes and the consequences of that practice in our communities. This paper argues that taking responsibility in Western societies is, in part, a claim to and an assertion of a particular type of authority. It is an authority that is intimately related to the possibility of self-transformation, and claiming this authority can do potential harm to both oneself and to others. I will only have time to point towards possible criteria for taking responsibility that emerge at the end of this paper, but I believe this discussion is one step in that direction. BIO NOT AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME ******************************************* ANGELA BOLTE Anger, Love, and Autonomy Harry Frankfurt
has recently moved away from a split-level conception of autonomy and has
begun to grant love a significant role in autonomy. While Angela Bolte is a
Ph.D. candidate in Philosophy at *******************************************
Autonomy, Attention and Decreation For those thinkers
for whom the intellectual bankruptcy of Stalinism did not lead to the
abandonment of socialism, the notion of Autonomy has enjoyed a good press.
For Habermas, a contemporary neo-representative of
the explained?" and "How far is her alternative a coherent one?" It tries to do this by distinguishing the different epistemic levels she constructs in her reworking of Plato's philosophy. Noel Boulting
studied under Richard S. Peters as the London Institute of Education to
obtain his Academic Diploma in the Philosophy of Education; under David
Hamlyn and Stuart Brown at Birbeck College, London,
to obtain his first degree in Philosophy; and under Imre
Lakatos and John Watkins at the London School of
Economics to obtain his mastership in the Philosophy of Science. He has
taught Philosophy for the Extra-Mural Department, ******************************************* JOHN CLARK The Future of Social Ecology Social ecology is (with deep ecology and ecofeminism) one of the most important new "radical ecologies" to emerge in the field of ecophilosophy. I interpret social ecology as a rich and expansive tradition with roots in holistic, communitarian and dialectical philosophy and social theory. I argue for a social ecology that is philosophically a form of dialectical holism and suggest that this theoretical perspective has far-reaching implications for ontology, ecophilosophy, ethics and value theory, and social and political thought. I present a vision of a social ecology that is more radically dialectical, dialogical, open, and self-transformative than the more systematic, programatic and sectarian social position that has been defended by social ecologist Murray Bookchin. John P. Clark is Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the
Environmental Studies Program at ******************************************* TRUDY Cultural Autonomy: The Role of the Philosopher in the Contemporary World Among the fragments published in Zettel, one finds one of Wittgenstein's most enigmatic comments, namely, that "The philosopher is not a citizen of any community of ideas. That is what makes him into a philosopher." The paper attempts to make sense of this statement in the context of Wittgenstein's work and current philosophical debate regarding cultural pluralism. It explores the role of the philosopher in relation to the authority of cultural tradition and cultural pluralism. Trudy Conway is presently Professor of Philosophy at Mount Saint
Mary's College in ******************************************* BENTLEY DAVIS Why the Private Sphere? Since the first rumblings of the second-wave of feminism, writers have examined the private sphere. Many feminist writers have argued that the private sphere has harmful effects and therefore have called for its dissolution or deconstruction. While it may be the case that some interpretations of the private sphere allow for harmful activities, it is not the case that the notion of the private sphere is in and of itself harmful. In fact, given our current political and legal systems, I feel that the only way to create positive change is, at least temporarily, to bolster the notion of the private sphere. In this paper, I will address the following three questions: (1) What is the private sphere? (2) Is the notion of the private sphere harmful? Finally, (3) should we maintain the notion of the private sphere? Bentley Davis is a graduate student pursuing her Ph.D. in
Philosophy at ******************************************* VIRGINIA DE OLIVEIRA-ALVES Race, Culture, and Justice: Separatism or Integration? This paper addresses the separatism-versus-integration debate within the problematic of race and race relations. I argue in favor of integration, showing that racial minorities are disadvantaged by institutions or the normal practices of society. My position is that, since disadvantage is structural, that is, since it is an effect of social practices, it cannot be addressed adequately by separatist approaches. A solution to this problem must involve structural transformations, which affect both the disadvantaged and the privileged. As such, it also promotes integration. But integration can be respectful of cultural difference nonetheless, precisely by being directed at the political domain: by enabling racial minorities to exercise equal citizenship and thus making it possible for them to preserve their cultural traditions themselves, if they so desire. I draw on Jurgen Habermas's model of rights to clarify how, given the requirement for equal treatment, an integrationist solution can address structural inequality, while leaving it up to those concerned whether to preserve cultural styles, and the manner in which these are to be preserved. Virginia de
Oliveira-Alves is a graduate student in Philosophy at ******************************************* RICHARD DeTAR Just Following Orders: Revisited In this paper, I argue that the practice of "just following orders" is not the definition or quintessence of evil in the twentieth century but is, rather, ethically neutral. Its goodness and evil depends largely on the nature of the orders themselves which are being followed. Richard DeTar is from
rural Carbondale and is
writing his dissertation, entitled "Scientific Materialism and the Roman
Catholic Religion in the Early Santayana" which he expects to finish
this year. He currently lives in *******************************************
Toward a Deweyan Political Technology John Dewey's proposal to intelligize our common practices has often been criticized for being unworkable: In the partisan, power-driven society in which we live one's approach must be much more realistic and tougher than Dewey's mushy proposal to identify common problems, develop possible resolutions, and then choose collectively the solution that survives a collaborative, experimental process. While Deweyan educators are talking things over, the power players will be dividing up the spoils -- and underfunding education. I expand on this criticism, then use a recent book by an activist lawyer, Randy Shaw, to supply enough of the needed political technology to suggest that Dewey's proposal is feasible at the local level. I also draw from Shaw's book and a history of neighborhood organizing by Robert Fisher a hybrid organizational model--social service-plus-political education--that provides what is needed to sustain the activism Shaw describes. My aim, then, is to contribute to the rounding out of the Deweyan project of social intelligence by exploiting Shaw and Fisher's work and situating the resulting political technology in the Deweyan philosophical context. Michael
Eldridge teaches philosophy at the ******************************************* M. CARMELA EPRIGHT Freedom and Ambiguity: The Ethics of Simone de Beauvoir Until very recently, studies of Simone de Beauvoir have presented her either as the lifelong confidant, editor, and companion of Jean-Paul Sartre, or as an early (and, some argue, dated and privileged) feminist and author of The Second Sex. Beauvoir's significance is thought to stem primarily (if not exclusively) from the exemplary nature of her struggle to free herself from the constraints of a class-bound, restrictive upbringing; from her ability to write compellingly about the situation of the middle-class women of her own time; and finally, from her dedication to the principles of existentialist philosophy -- as those principles were dictated by her lover, Sartre. Although Beauvoir's own philosophical writings include two monographs and numerous essays, articles, and letters, her contribution to the discipline has largely been ignored or dismissed as a mere footnote to Sartrean existentialism. This paper seeks to reverse this trend by examining Beauvoir's contribution to philosophical ethics through a consideration of two of her essays, "Pyrrhus et Cineas" and "The Ethics of Ambiguity." While Beauvoir's ethical approach is clearly existentialist, it differs in important ways from that offered by Sartre. By closely comparing Sartre and Beauvoir's writing on such key issues as intersubjectivity, freedom and one's moral obligation to others, I will outline the specific ways in which Beauvoir departed from Sartrean existentialism, and argue that ultimately, it was Beauvoir ideas that influenced Sartre's thought with regard to ethics. Carmela Epright is STILL a graduate student at Loyola University of Chicago, although this paper stems from the final chapter of her dissertation (Hurrah!). Her areas of specialization include, contemporary ethical theory, applied ethics, social and political philosophy and feminist theory. Her recent work has included papers on the Impartialism/Contextualism debate in ethics; traditional medical ethics approaches and the moral self; and social justice and care ethics. ******************************************* ANDREW ESHLEMAN Identification and Responsibility for Character In this paper I seek to develop the suggestion that one is responsible for one's character traits, not in virtue of being the original author of those traits, but insofar as one takes responsibility for them. One takes responsibility for one's character when one identifies oneself with those motivations which constitute one's dispositions thereby making them more genuinely one's own. I borrow the notion of identification from proponents of the "split-level" account of motivation. According to such an account, persons have the unique capacity, not only to desire various courses of action (at the first-order level), but also to care (at the second-order level) about which desires lead them to act. On this view, one identifies with a first-order motivation when one forms a second-order desire to have, or be moved to act by, some first-order desire. I first argue that the notion of identification employed in split-level accounts has typically been understood either too weakly or too robustly. When understood weakly, it simply marks the absence of conflict in one's highest-order preferences and this fails to capture an important sense in which making a motivation one's own requires that one be active in relation to the motivation. When interpreted more robustly, one's identifications result from critical reflection on one's conception of the good. This would entail that only the most reflective of persons could identify with and thereby take responsibility for their character traits. Alternatively, I propose that to identify with a dispositional trait in the relevant sense is to make a second-order judgment that it is acceptable or good to lead one's life so disposed. I next argue that certain split-level theorists have been wrong to associate an agent's responsibility for her character with her present identifications, maintaining instead that responsibility for one's character traits rests on the exercise of one's capacity for judgment in the course of their development. Andrew Eshleman is
currently completing his doctoral degree at the ******************************************* ANDREW FIALA Liberal Capitalism and the Dissolution of the Public/Private Distinction ABSTRACT AND BIO NOT AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME ******************************************* J. CRAIG HANKS The Culture of Suburbanization, Housework, and the Fragmentation of Identity ABSTRACT AND BIO NOT AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME ******************************************* SHARON HARTLINE Improvisations: Ahimsa and The Authentic Self The Ghandian concept of Ahimsa involves both positive and negative dimensions. On the one hand, it is the negative injunction to do no harm and the positive injunction to love. I will examine the concepts of nobility and detachment in order to explicate these two dimensions of Ghandi's principle. My aim will be to uncover the conception of the authentic human self that underlies Ghandi's viewpoint. In order to better understand this conception of the authentic self and the associated principle of Ahimsa, it is helpful to imagine oneself confronted by certain situations in which issues of violence and non-violence are central. Toward this end, I will invite members of the conference to participate in a series of improvisations involving role playing in conflict situations and conclude with a discussion of the improvisations. Sharon Hartline is Assistant Professor in the Department of
Philosophy and Religious Studies at *******************************************
Authority, Autonomy, Authenticity: An Etiological Understanding In this essay I attempt to understand the search for authenticity in terms of the breakdown of authority in the modern world. The sense of autonomy, I argue, emerges from the need to choose the authorities one will accept. The ever-increasing difficulty of choosing from among authorities is internalized and experienced as a difficulty of choosing (or "finding") oneself. (The shattered authorities on the outside, become a fragmented self on the inside.) The search for the (authentic) self, then, is the search for an authority on the inside that has been broken and lost on the outside. I offer a sketch of what the authentic self would be (if only it could be). Charles Harvey is Professor of Philosophy at the Self," in Philosophy in the Contemporary World, v. 1, No. 1., "The Malice of Inanimates," in Phenomenological Inquiry, and "Liberal Indoctrination and the Problem of Community," in Synthese. He is interested in problems of the self and social life and using personal narrative to access philosophical problems. *******************************************
Being-In-Cyberspace: Self and Hyperreality Can I be in cyberspace? Is cyberspace a new frontier for the realization of self? For Taylor and Saarinen, and the psychologist Turkle, cyberspace is the practical manifestation of postmodern reality, or rather, hyperreality (Baudrillard). In hyperreal cyberspace I can 'change my self as easily as I change my clothes.' This paper will argue using the work of Martin Heidegger, that our being is being-in-the-world. To be-in-the-world means to be involved in the world; to have an involvement whole that is the always already present sense of what I do. The paper will argue that cyberspace as a hyperreal world will always, to a greater or lesser extent, be occurrent (ready-at-hand). It will argue that as an already present-at-hand world cyberspace cannot function as an involvement whole, it will always be inauthentic. This inauthenticity cannot be escaped. Any cyber-traveller will eventually have to deal with the fact of being in the world. BIO NOT AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME ******************************************* JOE F. JONES, III Interpretation and Its Objects This will be a selective review of Michael Krausz's recent work as it relates to the issue of realism versus conventionalism. Michael's position is conventionalist, but with some recent compromises which make for an interesting and thoughtful position. Joe Jones is a realist, with interpretational compromises toward conventionalism. The question is whether epistemology takes priority over ontology, or ontology over epistemology. Do we construct the world in which we live, or find it? Are there examples which challenge decisions either way? The format will be for Joe to present an overview and criticism of Michael's position, and for Michael to respond, with free discussion and commentary following. Joe Frank
Jones, III is Associate Professor
of Religion and Philosophy at ******************************************* JEFFREY JORDON A New Argument for Vegetarianism ABSTRACT AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME Jeffrey Jordon is an associate professor at the ******************************************* MICHAEL KRAUSZ Interpretation and Its Objects This will be a selective review of Michael Krausz's recent work as it relates to the issue of realism versus conventionalism. Michael's position is conventionalist, but with some recent compromises which make for an interesting and thoughtful position. Joe Jones is a realist, with interpretational compromises toward conventionalism. The question is whether epistemology takes priority over ontology, or ontology over epistemology. Do we construct the world in which we live, or find it? Are there examples which challenge decisions either way? The format will be for Joe to present an overview and criticism of Michael's position, and for Michael to respond, with free discussion and commentary following. Michael Krausz is the
Milton C. Nahm Professor and Chair of the
Department of Philosophy at *******************************************
EcoMarxist-Feminism and the Cuban Agricultural Collective
In this
presentation we would like to talk about one Cuban agricultural collective,
the UBPC's, from an Ecofeminist
interpretive stance, as it is informed by our research and our recent
experience in BIO NOT AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME ******************************************* KEVIN MAGILL Free Will as Doing What You Want ABSTRACT AND BIO NOT AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME ******************************************* ERIN MCKENNA The Culture of Suburbanization, Housework, and the Fragmentation of Identity ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME Erin McKenna is Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Chair of
Women's Studies at *******************************************
A Speaker Meaning Theory of Moral Responsibility Theories of moral responsibility have traditionally attempted to show that some metaphysical fact about an agent obtains in order to show that a person is a morally responsible agent. As an alternative to this approach, many philosophers have sought refuge in P.F. Strawson's account of responsibility by appeal to the reactive attitudes. Recently, many have acknowledged problems with Strawson's account and have tried to advance Strawson's thesis by appeal to various theoretical conditions which an agent must satisfy in order to be an "appropriate object of the morally reactive attitudes." In this paper, I argue that the alternatives explored as a means of advancing Strawson's theory are misguided. In particular, they make what it is to be a morally responsible agent depend upon whether members of a moral community are willing to see a person as a responsible agent (and thus react to, and treat her as one). Alternatively, I argue that responsible moral agency can be advanced along the lines Strawson has advised by understanding a competent moral agent on analogy with a competent speaker's use of a language. I argue that the kinds of social conventions required to situate meaning by a speaker in a language are useful in elucidating competent moral agency as well. Most importantly, this kind of theoretical underpinning invites no untoward metaphysical assumptions, thereby insulating an account of moral responsibility form nervous worries about the specter of determinism. Michael S. McKenna is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at ******************************************* PETER MEHL Matters of Meaning: Authenticity, Autonomy and Authority in Kierkegaard I argue that at least some of Kierkegaard's authorship is designed to make a case for religious and specifically Christian existence; he is not a total fideist. He argues that anything short of the existential stance of the "strong spiritual/moral evaluator" is despair. To overcome this we are compelled to reach for religious or transcendent sources of meaning; the authentic life is one of autonomous engagement grounded in the authority of God. But my question is how Kierkegaard justifies the stance of the strong evaluator in the first place? I argue that he crafts an existential and pragmatic case for it, but that such an approach does not have the strength Kierkegaard thinks. Indeed I argue that because this defense reflects his own 19th century Christian context, his case for Christian existence (as an existence of strong evaluation) is seriously weakened. Peter Mehl is
currently Associate Professor of Philosophy and Assistant Dean in the *******************************************
EcoMarxist-Feminism and the Cuban Agricultural Collective
In this
presentation we would like to talk about one Cuban agricultural collective,
the UBPC's, from an Ecofeminist
interpretive stance, as it is informed by our research and our recent
experience in BIO NOT AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME *******************************************
Homelessness ... Considerations on Redirecting the Blame In the
contemporary world a new philosophical problem has emerged. It is a
practical, ethical, and social question whether a person's inalienable right
to shelter should triumph over built Jada Prane is a philosophical
counselor with interests in concepts of selfhood, the study of philosophy of
psychopathology, and clinical work with persons suffering from chronic mental
illness. These interests in conjunction with many years working with city,
county, and state agencies as a real estate broker and developer has combined
to prompt her interest in the topic of homeless selves. Jada
is in the final stages of completing her dissertation about the philosophical
underpinnings of multiple personality disorder entitled, The Bloodletting of
the Ontologically Challenged. She expects to complete her Ph.D. from the *******************************************
Akan Chiefs and Queen Mothers in Contemporary The paper is based
on my research last summer in Gail Presbey is
Assistant. Professor of Philosophy at *******************************************
One Oppression or Many? In spite of the wide-ranging consequences of institutionalized domination, there are few theories of models in philosophy characterizing the structure of oppression. From a myriad of differences, whether real or imagined, a few aspects of who humans are become the basis for what Philip Hallie calls "institutional cruelty." Some of these differences in our society include, but are not limited to, race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, social and economic class, religious belief, disability and age. Although existing philosophical analyses differ at one level, that is, according to the various target groups, they also share considerable common features. In spite of theoretical similarities, they is a strong presupposition to the effect that each form of systematic domination is essentially distinct from the others. Sexism is something different than racism, which is clearly distinct from classism. My question is whether there are many oppressions or one. This question, to my knowledge, has yet to be raised and this paper will try to do just this. Lani Roberts teaches philosophy at *******************************************
The Metaphysics of Freedom: Reid's Theory of Agent Causation A libertarian theory of human freedom requires attributing a power to the agent to determine what he shall will to do, not just a power to do what he wills to do. This power is best thought of as a causal power the agent has over the determination of her will. Thomas Reid developed a sophisticated theory wherein this power is the power an agent has to cause or not cause a particular volition to perform a certain act. In this paper I first explain his theory of agent causation and defend that theory against some important objections philosophers have advanced against it. William L. Rowe is Professor of Philosophy at *******************************************
Language, Ethics, and Meaning: A Phenomenological Correlation of Morality and Self-Conscious Signification In this paper I am
taking up an underdeveloped argument of Charles Taylor that linguisticality is constitutive of moral agency. James Sauer is an associate professor of philosophy at St. Mary's University where he specialized in ethics and applied ethics. His particular fields of concern are environmental and economic philosophy. ******************************************* JENNIFER STIFF The BIO NOT AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME ******************************************* PATRICIA J. THOMPSON Hestianeutics: A Challenge for Feminist Standpoint Theory Last year at This paper examines the effect of this paradigm shift on discourse, text, and epistemology. As a contrast with the masculist "hermeneutic" approach, it suggest an alternative interpretive standpoint, namely a "hestianeutic" as a way to deepen textual understanding. The two standpoints are viewed as complementary "takes" on social reality and social phenomena. I suggest that the Hestian standpoint offers a consistent approach for the deconstruction of patriarchal (Hermean) discourse that feminists argue has historically been silenced. By contrasting hestianeutic/hermeneutic interpretative standpoints it moves "beyond gender" toward a "nonsexist" humanism appropriate for both males and females in both the private/public domains. Patricia J.
Thompson is currently Professor of
Women's Studies and Education at ******************************************* JOSEPH WAGNER A Hollow Core: The Poverty of Conservativism as Political Philosophy This paper focusses on the nature of conservatism as a political philosophy, but do so in very different ways. I argue that the chief defect of conservativism as a philosophical position is that it cannot honor the authority of reason or argument. In particular, I look critically at conservative responses to liberal theory, to see if I can explain why conservatives seem not to understand the philosophical assumptions that undergird liberalism. These assumptions are essentially epistemic and they derive in a direct fashion from the Enlightenment. At issue are fundamental questions about ontology, teleology and essence and more particularly the way in which these notions relate to ideas about 'good' and 'right.' In the analysis, I explore the defects of natural law and natural rights theories with the intent of explaining why such theories are seductive to conservatives. Finally, this paper attempts to speak in a fresh way to the relationship between conservatism, religion and the state. Joseph Wagner is a Professor of political science at *******************************************
Utilitarianism, Animals, and the Environment In this paper, I analyze the relationship of recent environmental and animal ethics to utilitarianism. John Passmore, Elliott Sober, Peter Singer, Val |