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The Perdurantist’s Commitments
Get PDFIssues of persistence through time have been controversial in recent scholarship. A popular new view is four-dimensionalism: the view that time is a dimension much like space. Although it has been motivated in part by advancements in special relativity, four-dimensionalism has primarily emerged as a solution to recent metaphysical dilemmas. In this paper, I will examine three solutions to David Lewis’ problem of temporary intrinsics. I then find that the four-dimensionalist view of perdurantism solves the problem of temporary intrinsics while managing to avoid the serious problems that the other two views encounter. I agree with Lewis that it is the best view of the three. I will then show that this view in light of problems related to composition, nominalist perdurantism best explains our experience of objects
Resonance in Human Walking Economy: How Natural Is It?
Get PDFLocomotion and movement economy are cornerstone topics in movement science. Modeling the leg as a hybrid mass-spring pendulum shows walking economy should be optimized when stride frequency matches the resonant frequency of the limb. Human walking is described as self-optimizing because mean preferred (PSF) and modeled resonant (RSF) stride frequencies usually are statistically equivalent, but this depiction may not be fully justified. Purpose: To more thoroughly examine the self-optimization characterization and the consequences of obligating use of the RSF. Methods: Forty-seven individuals of diverse statures completed 3 consecutive days of preferred walking trials on a treadmill where stride rate, stride length, walking speed, heart rate and walking economy measures were made under steady state heart rate conditions. Anthropometric measures were taken to build a hybrid model of the leg and model the RSF. Reliability across days was evaluated via repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and intra-class correlation (á=.05) and correlations were calculated for PSF and RSF. A separate sample of 20 participants walked under 3 conditions, (1) completely preferred; (2) at the original preferred speed using the RSF; and (3) with the option to establish a new preferred speed while using the RSF. Results: Gait characteristics were fundamentally reliable across days and the correlation between PSF and RSF was weak (8% explained variance). Walking economy improved 14% when using the RSF and allowed to self-select the speed / stride length used at that cadence. Conclusions: The results raised slight questions about current self-optimization presumptions and further emphasized the role of resonance in walking economyFaculty Sponsor: Dr. Philip K. Scho
Counterfactuals and the Problem of Old Evidence
Get PDFIn this paper, I consider the Problem of Old Evidence, which is meant to undermine the theory of confirmation Bayesianism uses to explain the role of evidence in science. The problem maintains that the Bayesian definition of evidence cannot include facts known before a theory is introduced (but whose relation to the theory is unknown at the moment of introduction). I argue that this problem can be diffused by the introduction of counterfactuals, which specify conceivable scenarios in which the fact is discovered after the theory is introduced. I consider several sorts of objections to this view, and contend that we have good reason to reject them in their own right, and that the other alternative solution in the literature does not offer a sufficient solution to the problem, further compelling us to face the objections, if we are to maintain a Bayesian confirmation theory
Epistemology for Naturalists and Non-Naturalists: What’s the Difference?
Get PDFThe current debates between Naturalists and Non-Naturalists about epistemology are difficult to navigate because there are so many forms of naturalism and non-naturalism and many different issues debated over. This paper will first attempt to explain and define what I think are the basic naturalist and non-naturalist positions on epistemology. Then it will compare the epistemology of three naturalists Quine, Hilary Kornblith, Jeagwon Kim with a non-naturalist/theist, Alvin Plantinga, to see if my formulation of the debate stands. I am making two separate claims: First, that one’s methodology will affect or determine one’s ontology. Second, that the main issue between naturalist and non-naturalist epistemologists is that naturalists are committed to the natural sciences as the only methodology for discovering what exists. On the other hand, most non-naturalists do not restrict their methodology to only the natural sciences, but allow for various methodologies applied to various modes of inquiry to investigate and discover different aspects of reality
Plantinga’s Innocent Assumption: Self-Defeating Naturalism, and Churchland’s Response
Get PDFAlvin Plantinga’s Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism argues that given the story of biological evolution and naturalism, we wouldn’t expect our cognitive mechanisms to be reliable, or that the probability of any given belief being true is very low. Given that our beliefs are generated by our cognitive mechanisms we have a defeater for all of our beliefs which include both evolution and naturalism. Paul Churchland responded by arguing that it is not our native cognitive faculties that justify our beliefs of evolution and naturalism, but the faculties provided to us by the sciences through enhanced evaluation techniques and artificial sensory modalities. Plantinga’s “innocent assumption” is that the theory of evolution and metaphysical naturalism are derived from our native cognitive systems alone, which undermines his entire argument. In this paper, I will argue that Churchland’s response is successful in defeating the conclusion of Plantinga’s argument in regards to biological evolution, and consider whether or not Churchland’s response is adequate in defense of philosophical naturalism. Finally, I will examine Churchland’s alternate proposal of representation as a map of possible experiences, and consider the consequences of such a theory in regards to the EAAN
An Argument for a Phenomenological Pragmatic Conception of Truth
Get PDFCorrespondence theories of truth claim that truth involves a relationship between ideas in the mind and facts in the world, but because minds are viewed as being disconnected from the world, there is no way to determine whether beliefs are true or false under the correspondence view. For truth to be a meaningful concept, a theory about it must conceive of it in a way that is meaningful for humans. By looking at Heidegger’s ideas about phenomenology and humans as Dasein I argue for a framework that does not rest on a Cartesian subject/object dualism, and instead grounds concepts, like truth, in experience. I then turn to William James’ pragmatic theory of truth as “what works” and argue that it is applicable for Dasein and provides a meaningful conception of truth
The Geography of Food Cooperatives in the United States
Get PDFFor our society to become sustainably viable in the future, the ways in which we obtain our food and the methods used to create that food will be very important. One of the most environmentally friendly methods of food obtainment is membership in a food cooperative. This research delves into the basics of food cooperatives, highlights similar studies of other sustainability indicators, and examines the geographic distribution of food co-ops across the United States.Faculty Sponsor: Dr. George Pomero
Climbing to Consciousness: The Mind-Body Problem and the Computational Order
Get PDFIn his book The Structure of Behavior, the philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty proposes a solution to the mind-body problem. Merleau-Ponty argues that there is a nested hierarchy of three orders—the physical order, the biological order, and the mental order—in which each lower order composes each higher order. Through the structuration or organization of a lower order, a higher order is created. Merleau-Ponty’s solution is promising, but it leaves an explanatory chasm between the biological order and the mental order that cannot be crossed without introducing an intermediary order. I propose just that: the addition of a fourth order—the computational order—to bridge the chasm
The Death of Metaphysical Analyticity and the Failure of Boghossian’s Analytic Theory of the A Priori
Get PDFMany philosophers still believe that metaphysically analytic sentences exist, where a sentence is understood to be metaphysically analytic if and only if it is true solely in virtue of its meaning. I provide two arguments against this claim and hence conclude that metaphysically analytic sentences do not exist. Still, some philosophers, however, hold out hope that epistemically analytic sentences exist, where a sentence is epistemically analytic if and only if an agent’s understanding the sentence suffices for the agent to be justified in believing that this sentence is true. One such philosopher is Paul Boghossian, whose so-called analytic theory of the a priori is intended to show how epistemically analytic sentences can explain our a priori knowledge of the truths about logic. His theory, however, relies on the dubious Argument by Implicit Definition. I provide an objection to this argument and hence conclude that Boghossian’s analytic theory of the a priori fails to vindicate the notion of epistemic analyticity. Still, I concede that just because Boghossian’s attempt to do so fails, it does not follow that the notion of epistemic analyticity cannot, in another way, be vindicated
Dissolving Dualism in Medicine: Reuniting the Body and Mind through Patient Narratives
Get PDFThis paper looks at how the practice of health care tends to follow a dualistic system of thought, seeing the mind and body as distinct. Approaching patients in this way leads to a failure to understand them in a unified and holistic way, often leaving patients feeling less than “healed” and often facing “crises” that go beyond their physiological illness or ailment. This paper critiques this dualistic trend in medicine and looks at some of the ways in which this divide might be bridged through the inclusion of practices being developed by the emerging field of Medical Humanities