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Unsaying Non-Knowledge: Georges Bataille and the Mysticism of Writing
Get PDFGeorges Bataille’s writing seems to teethe with something utterly foreign to the discipline of philosophy. In this paper, I investigate what Jason Wirth calls’ Bataille’s “mad game of writing” in order to show that Bataille’s bizarre writing style is actually an extension of his ethical and philosophical commitments. Bataille’s writing attempts to produce a state within the reader rather than simply transmit information. I trace the justifications and roots for such a writing from his own system, as well as showing how such a style of writing has its roots in Kantian aesthetics and in Hegel’s Phenomenology
Bergson’s Environment: Towards an Ecological Understanding
Get PDFThis paper draws on the thinking of the French philosopher and biologist Henri Bergson, and attempts an understanding of the environment while considering Bergson’s metaphysics. Why is it that the bulk of the discussion concerning environmental problems takes place within a narrow framework that has difficulty recognizing the intrinsic value of nature? In this paper I try and explain Bergson’s description of the ways that consciousness seeks to know the world around it, and conclude that modern thought fails to recognize the sensual, sympathetic nature of experience. Only through understanding the ecology of our own thoughts can we hope to reach an understanding of the environment and how to live with it in a harmonious and ecologically conscious manner
Spring 2023 Notes from the Stacks
Get PDFNewsletter from James E. Brooks Library at Central Washington University.https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/nfts_newsletters/1040/thumbnail.jp
Semantics Embodied: Cognitive Linguistics and Searle’s Account of Linguistic Intentionality
Get PDFJohn Searle has long argued that the philosophy of language is a branch of the philosophy of mind. In his view the capacity of speech acts to represent and relate to reality derives from more biologically basic forms of intentionality, such as perception and action, which initially evolved to relate organisms directly to their environments. Searle’s naturalistic model of language, in order to be complete, requires a theory of how perception and action specifically give rise to linguistic meaning and interpretation. In this paper I argue that recent theoretical developments in cognitive linguistics and the emerging field of embodied cognition provide the needed empirical support for Searle’s perception-based account of linguistic intentionality. In particular I show how the related theses of embodied simulation, perceptual symbols theory, and Arthur Glenberg’s indexical hypothesis corroborate Searle’s semantic naturalism. The result is a model in which body, mind, world, and language comprise integrated aspects of a dynamic whole
Fundamentalism Against the Patchwork Theory of Laws
Get PDFThis paper offers an analysis of the arguments between fundamentalists and the claims made by Nancy Cartwright in The Dappled World. I start by introducing the arguments of fundamentalists through the work of Carl Hoefer, and go on to discuss Cartwright’s patchwork theory of laws, which is opposed to fundamentalism. Cartwright argues that the fundamentalists cannot claim that laws can be generalized, while the fundamentalists insist that they can make such claims. I will argue that this conflict between both sides places each side in the same epistemological boat. Once we recognize that both views are in the same boat, it is easier to distinguish which view is better, instead of attempting to prove that one view is superior to the other outright. I will argue that fundamentalism has the upper had in this debate, because this view allows for both theoretical and practical advances to be made in science and technology, while Cartwright’s view only advances the practical applications of current science. Cartwright’s arguments against fundamentalism will also be shown to ask too much of Hoefer and the fundamentalists, specifically with her F=ma example. Finally, I will show that fundamentalism can accomplish everything Cartwright’s patchwork theory can and more
Lifeboat Ethics and Systematic Stability
Get PDFA utilitarian, Garrett Hardin in his Lifeboat Ethics argues that an international state should refrain from sharing resources with and providing help for other states to maximize its people’s welfare. The global resources are finite and states ideally should share it equally for maximum collective interest. Yet the absence of supreme coercive authority to enforce fair sharing gives ample incentive for rule violation, as states attempt to maximize self-interest in disregard for the eventual collective ruin, which Hardin refers to as the “Tragedy of Commons.” Since other states act both as sharers and opponents, a state should aggressively eradicate them to ensure its survival. In response, I argue that Hardin’s solution to the “Tragedy of Commons” denotes perpetual population reduction, which inevitably entails systematic instability that diminishes people’s welfare. My opponents may propose that population reduction gives rise to a Hardinian bipolar world that eventually stabilizes itself. My response to this potential counterargument has two parts: on one hand, the stability of Hardinian bipolarity is established upon the Rational Actor Model wherein theoretical utility-maximization does not guarantee stability in reality especially under the influence of contingent factors; on the other hand, even if Hardinian bipolarity guarantees stability of societal systems, Lifeboat Ethics does not possess strong theoretical strength to give practical moral guidance. I also propose that international aid is possible with overpopulation amelioration, especially when conducted by third party and non-profit agencies
Managing Development of Fringe Areas in Dhaka City: Land Readjustment as a Technique for Sustainable Future Development Ensuring Environmental and Social Justice
Get PDFDhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, is one of the fastest growing megacities in the world. With the rapid growth of population and high urbanization rate, Dhaka is bound to expand the borders to accommodate the growing need of space. But this expansion is already taking its toll in the form of environmental degradation and social injustice hampering the geographical sustainability in the process. This study proposes a controlled and well-planned development in the eastern fringe of Dhaka City (comprising of Badda, Satarkul and Vatara) to meet up the challenge of future accommodation requirements. The area being geographically vulnerable with lots of agricultural lands, water bodies and retention ponds, the prime concern is to ensure the geographic sustainability of the area and use all the natural features as a vital tool in the process of development. As a planning technique, Land Readjustment Scheme is applied in this regard. This report contains all the measures and proposals regarding the natural features of the study area as well as the whole process of the development scheme including a financial proposal to recover the cost of the development to make this plan financially viable. Finally, the outcome of the study shows that it can be well implemented as all the objectives are fulfilled to the fullest.Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Ishrat Islam, Professor, DURP, BUET; Dr. Mohammad Shakil Akther, Professor, DURP, BUET; Farzana Khatun, Lecturer, DURP, BUET
Development and Evaluation of a Borohydride-palladium System for Selective Reduction of the C=C Bond of α,β-unsaturated Carbonyl Compounds
Get PDFSelective reduction of the carbon-carbon double bond of α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds is most commonly and reliably effected using a palladium metal catalyst together with molecular hydrogen from a pressurized tank. Sodium borohydride, like other hydrides, is ordinarily associated with reduction of the more polarized carbonyl of such compounds. However, we have developed an alternative means of employing sodium borohydride in combination with palladium metal to selectively reduce the carbon-carbon double bonds of these compounds. In this survey study, we introduce sodium borohydride as an alternative hydrogen source for such selective, palladium-catalyzed reductions. We also compare the results of this new, heterogeneous borohydride-palladium method with that of traditional palladium-catalyzed hydrogenation. A third method using only sodium borohydride with no palladium is included for comparison.Faculty Sponsor: Dr. David B. Corde
Subverting Campbell’s Materialist Conclusion
Get PDFKeith Campbell and Jonathan Schaffer propose an ontology in which entities consist in collocated collections of tropes, and tropes are individuated by location. This would imply that immaterial entities are not possible. In this paper, I attempt to subvert this materialist conclusion by giving two arguments against the key individuation principle it requires. I show that the locational individuation principle can be formulated so as to survive the first, but not the second argument
Feminist Epistemology and James’ Ways of Deriving Truth
Get PDFIn the following paper I will be comparing two trains of thought in the method of attaining knowledge, or lack thereof. The first critique will be from feminist epistemology headed by Genevieve Lloyd who argues that there is a fundamental difference in the knowledge of men and of women; the female virtues, as she states, have not been given their full voice in epistemology and philosophy in general. These virtues are of receptivity and dependence and most importantly, feelings and associations with the ‘body’ in the Cartesian sense. The males tend to represent the ‘mind’ category of the Cartesian framework as the characteristic of a universal faculty which must attain knowledge only through what Hegel calls “…stress of thought and much technical exertion. I will be comparing this framework to ideas of William James. In the Will to Believe, James gives a critique of Scientific Absolutism as representative of having a dogmatic attitude towards particulars instead of having a particular (empiricist) attitude with a goal towards attainment of content knowledge. All of this comparison will be brought together by an analysis of a combined feminist and pragmatist understanding of knowledge, reason and philosophy. Finally we shall take on a new perspective of the feminist standpoint from Phyllis Rooney who says that any characterization is bound to be tied up with gendered associations that separate and therefore degrade. I intend to argue for the feminist side in respect to the virtues that it may present as perhaps what needed in the modern era