Ex Animo
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Ex Animo is an undergraduate-run, peer-reviewed, open-access philosophy journal. Pluralistic in nature, this journal aims to publish the philosophical works of undergraduates that are driven by and grounded in a philosophical interest in the world. As such, the journal represents plurality not only in the diversity of the thought expressed in the journal but in the various media through which the works themselves are expressed. Visual, textual (e.g., academic papers, aphorisms, poetry, and short stories), and multimedia works of philosophical intent are the focus of publication at Ex Animo.
Visit Ex Animo at https://exanimo.uoregon.edu
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Item Open Access Cancel Culture: An Unproductive Form of Blame(Ex Animo, 2022-06-02) Post, BoochieIn this paper I argue that Miranda Fricker’s account of blame in “What’s the Point of Blame? A Paradigm Based Explanation” can assist in explaining why cancel culture is ultimately unproductive. In particular, the phenomenon of cancel culture possesses pathological forms of blame. There are three specific pathologies outlined by Fricker that can be observed in cancel culture. They are as follows: cancel culture does not leave room for people to learn from their mistakes, it does not express its blame in the proper ethical register, and cancel culture allows for blame to fester and spread. In the first half of my paper, I will lay out the distinct aspects of Fricker’s paper that relate to cancel culture and a definition of the term cancel culture. In the second half, I will explore the real-life cancelation of actor Lea Michele so as to validate the presence of cancel culture in our society today. Furthermore, I will expand on three of Fricker’s pathologies that are present in cancel culture and refute a counter argument people may pose who are supportive of cancel culture.Item Open Access Cartesianism, Feminism, Coloniality: Rethinking Gender Formation from Astell to Lugones(Ex Animo, 2022-06-02) Laguisma, LuisaThis essay will examine both Mary Astell’s proposal for women’s education as a protofeminist project and Descartes’ meditations on rationalism and the mind-body duality to understand how Astell’s project functions as liberatory in her immanent approach to the Cartesian method. I argue that while Astell uses Descartes’ rationalist philosophy to justify the rational capacities of women, Descartes’ philosophy may in principle be used to justify the further subjugation of women and colonized peoples through the separation of mind and body. In addition, I will employ Maria Lugones’ “Coloniality of Gender” to further evaluate the historicity of the claims made by Astell and her use of Descartes. Through Lugones, I contend that the gender dichotomy, a colonial imposition, is essentialized by Astell through the logic of modernity. I, thereby, show the necessity of a decolonial analysis for undoing the presuppositions of a colonial logic with the purpose of abolishing the gender binaries imposed by coloniality.Item Open Access Femininity and the Alien Other in Under the Skin(Ex Animo, 2022-06-02) Hardister, MiaIn this paper, I attempt to analyze the 2014 film Under the Skin through its formal and generic elements and relate these to philosophical thought regarding objectivity and gender from theorists including Kant, de Beauvoir, and Irigaray, as well as media scholars Barbara Creed and Laura Mulvey. I argue that throughout the course of the film, by its presentation of horror, science-fiction, and film noir elements, as well as its cinematography, structure, sound, and mise-en-scène a commentary on the societal objectification of women is constructed, all stemming from its presentation of the female experience as something which is inherently alien.Item Open Access The Ecological Nietzsche: Considering the Environmental Implications of Friedrich Nietzsche’s Philosophy and the Possibility of Grounding der Ubermensch in the Indigenous Perspective(Ex Animo, 2022-06-02) Ycaza, Joseph D."In this essay, I will be exploring the viability of an ecological Nietzsche, or how Nietzsche’s philosophy may play out in practical contemporary environmental contexts, and whether his philosophy is compatible with any so-called environmental philosophy. Though there is a rich discourse around attempts to assimilate a Nietzschean perspective into environmental ethics, an attempt to restate it in its entirety would exceed practical limits. Therefore, only those themes that are most appropriate for the purposes of this essay will be included. I will then consider these implications and Nietzsche’s philosophy more broadly within the context of indigenous peoples who, I would argue have a “healthier” and more sustainable relationship to nature and their environments, and consider whether they embody a more appropriate point of departure for Nietzsche’s philosophical project than someone from a Western background."Item Open Access PBIS: Towards a Kinder Form of Discipline(University of Oregon, 2021-05-16) Stalie, PollyannaPositive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a practical theory of discipline that focuses on prevention—rather than punishment,—and affirmation of preferred behavior. PBIS is primarily used in schools, and I have used it extensively in my work as an early childhood educator. In this paper, I argue that there is a clear connection between the psychological theory that makes PBIS effective and the sociopolitical philosophies laid out by John Dewey, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Michel Foucault. These theories and methodologies explain power dynamics between a dominant and non-dominant group, and how best to discipline to correct behavior long-term while instilling a sense of agency in the subjugated group. I ultimately conclude that PBIS works to improve classroom function through the implementation of mutual respect and by validating children’s needs by giving them a sense of agency. Integrating PBIS in societal institutions can serve as the basis for a new kind of discipline that would, I contend, improve these institutions in myriad way.Item Open Access An Investigation into the Systematic Meaning of Sensuous-Certainty in Hegel(University of Oregon, 2021-05-16) Schatz, TimothyThe quintessential characterization of Hegel's philosophy is that of a circle. In the context of his Phenomenology of Spirit, this means a kind of unity or semblance thereof between sensuous-certainty and absolute knowing. In this paper, I demonstrate the aforementioned unity through a reading of the section on sensuous- certainty, one which is mediated by the work of Jean Hyppolite and Jay Bernstein. Through this approach, I highlight several issues of metaphysical importance, viz., space, time, object, and subject, at the beginning of Hegel's text, as well as delineating an underlying ethical matter of responsibility vis-à-vis the capacity to remember.Item Open Access Angel(University of Oregon, 2021-05-16) Amezcua, A. IsabelleAngels are a common motif in the World, and in the West. Not just in religion (and, by extension, philosophy), but also in art and its myriad expressions. There are many ways to imagine (that is, to make an image of) angels, and their etymology is just as varied. For instance, in the Greek translation of the Hebrew mal’akh, it means “shadow of God,” which sounds a bit ominous. Angels can often be understood as representative of various religions’ ethical principles, a moral symbol par excellence; and yet still others may fall from grace for their transgressions. While they are not always all called “angels,” celestial beings who act as contact points between God(s) and humans appear frequently in many different theologies and mythologies around the world. In the Qur'an, for example, Allah sends angels, who are described as having many pairs of wings, as messengers. The Bible, of course, references various angels as well. There is no one way an angel can be depicted. Fierce, kind, with many wings, or none at all. This particular piece focuses more on the angel’s expression. The expression is aloof. The piece is sketchy, loose, like our translations or ideas of angels.Item Open Access A Critical Examination of Abstraction in John Dewey’s Reflective Thought(University of Oregon, 2021-05-16) O'Brien, BillThe purpose of this paper is to critically examine abstraction in the context of John Dewey’s notion of reflective thought. Abstraction is to be understood as a pragmatic tool that underpins reflective thought. In other words, reflective thought—that is, the capacity to think of practical solutions to problems we confront in our lives,— needs to use the tool of pragmatic abstraction. In the context of reflective thought, I explore and explain how pragmatic abstraction is used. Here, I take issue with how pragmatic abstraction is used as merely a means to bring about ‘successful’ consequences to a problem. This use of pragmatic abstraction fails to consider the critical question of whose success is being brought about. Due to this, ‘successful’ consequences to a problem can result for some, while negative consequences to the same problem can result for others. The ‘reasonable woman standard’ that developed in the law illustrates a concrete example of this problematic split and a legal effort to resolve it. Ultimately, by reconsidering how reflective thought uses the tool of pragmatic abstraction, “successful” consequences to problems are brought about in a more inclusive manner.Item Open Access Disconnecting the Dots: Anonymity in the Digital Age(University of Oregon, 2021-05-16) Hanover, SydneyGovernmental and corporate spying are no longer a surprising facet of everyday life in the digital age. In this paper, I expand upon the implications at stake in debates on autonomy, privacy, and anonymity, and I arrive at a definition of anonymity involving the flow between traits and the inability to connect them based on deliberate non- publication on a structurally social level. I argue that cultivating the space to remain anonymous is useful for distanced association with oneself in the purely private internal sphere, furthering a more fully examined inner association not based on a future already predicted or prematurely acted upon. The privilege of anonymity is a precondition for genuine self-relation. Later, I argue doubly against the “nothing to hide” argument, i.e., if one has nothing to hide, one has nothing to fear. Firstly, the actionability and fabrication of data make it such that it is always at risk of being interpreted as unsafe. Secondly, this argument is predicated on hiddenness as negative, which I answer with an analysis of the functionality of anonymity concerning personal growth.Item Open Access Epistemic Fragments(University of Oregon, 2021-05-16) Currie, LukeThis is an attempt to think through the idea that human knowledge has no fundamental ground. It seemed best to present this gesture in fragments rather than argument. In the questioning pursuit of absolute certainty, one ultimately finds the promise of such certainty itself to be what is most questionable and uncertain. With this newfound uncertainty, the ground falls away and an abyss opens up which makes one wonder if and how we know anything at all. What is miraculous is that, despite this epistemic abyss, we nonetheless can and do know—just not in a firmly grounded, absolutely certain way. We rather seem to make recourse to “commonsensical” articles of faith which make understanding possible for us as much as they limit us. Perhaps these brief fragments are ultimately concerned with human knowledge and human finitude, as they are an attempt to humble aspirations toward certain, grounded knowledge in one regard, yet they hopefully gesture toward what may actually be possible for human knowledge in another.