Ex Animo: Vol. 1, Issue 1

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/1794/26369

Browse

Browsing Ex Animo: Vol. 1, Issue 1 by Issue Date

Filter results by year or month
Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    A Critical Examination of Abstraction in John Dewey’s Reflective Thought
    (University of Oregon, 2021-05-16) O'Brien, Bill
    The 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.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Angel
    (University of Oregon, 2021-05-16) Amezcua, A. Isabelle
    Angels 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.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    PBIS: Towards a Kinder Form of Discipline
    (University of Oregon, 2021-05-16) Stalie, Pollyanna
    Positive 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.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    An Investigation into the Systematic Meaning of Sensuous-Certainty in Hegel
    (University of Oregon, 2021-05-16) Schatz, Timothy
    The 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.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Disconnecting the Dots: Anonymity in the Digital Age
    (University of Oregon, 2021-05-16) Hanover, Sydney
    Governmental 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.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Epistemic Fragments
    (University of Oregon, 2021-05-16) Currie, Luke
    This 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.

We use and require that authors grant to the public a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided that the original work is properly cited. Click here to view a copy of this license or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA. The author retains full copyright ownership for works published in Ex Animo.

For more information about the legal code of the Attribution 4.0 International Creative Commons license, click here.

Ex Animo uses Scholars’ Bank as our archiving system. Authors who submit their research to Scholars’ Bank retain their copyright unless they explicitly give it away to a third party. The University of Oregon Libraries does not seek nor claim copyright on work submitted to Scholars’ Bank. The Libraries ask authors to agree to a non-exclusive distribution license, which means that authors may make copies of their work available on other sites or formally publish their work without obtaining permission from the Libraries.