Browsing Philosophy by Subject "Philosophy"
Now showing items 1-20 of 79
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Agency and Autonomy: A New Direction for Animal Ethics
(University of Waterloo, 2014-01-21)The main problem addressed in animal ethics is on what grounds and to what extent we owe animals moral consideration. I argue that many animals deserve direct moral consideration in virtue of their agency, selfhood and ... -
Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Case Study in Causation and Explanation in Psychiatric Conditions
(University of Waterloo, 2014-01-28)This thesis discusses epistemological and ethical issues in classifi cation and diagnosisof psychiatric conditions, and briefly discusses realism about psychiatric conditions. I use autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as a case ... -
Autonomy and Moral Obligation: People with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities
(University of Waterloo, 2015-10-05)In this project I seek to evaluate how social structures and attitudinal norms impact the autonomy of people who live with intellectual or developmental disabilities, and what implications arise from that evaluation. I ... -
Can Induction Strengthen Inference to the Best Explanation?
(University of Waterloo, 2008-08-28)In this paper I will argue that the controversial process of inferring to the best explanation (IBE) can be made more coherent if its formulation recognizes and includes a significant inductive component. To do so, I will ... -
Coercion, Authority, and Democracy
(University of Waterloo, 2009-04-27)As a classical liberal, or libertarian, I am concerned to advance liberty and minimize coercion. Indeed on this view liberty just is the absence of coercion or costs imposed on others. In order to better understand the ... -
Commercial and Business Incorporation: Enhancing the notion of corporation to include an ethical statement
(University of Waterloo, 2008-01-22)Today’s modern, Canadian, business corporations are hugely influential in determining public policy and many aspects of people’s lives. Because this influence permeates so much of our social construct, we expect corporations ... -
Common Sense Within the Bounds of Philosophy: Reid’s Philosophy of Common Sense Defended
(University of Waterloo, 2009-10-02)I proffer a defense Reid’s Philosophy of Common Sense. I address the initial implausibility that greets most all of us when we stop to consider the prospects for common sense as guide to knowledge and inquiry. I argue that ... -
A Compatible Defense of Respect for Autonomy and Medical Paternalism in the Context of Mental Capacity on the Grounds of Authenticity
(University of Waterloo, 2009-09-30)Respect for autonomy has become the guiding principle at the forefront of health-care decision-making. In an attempt to preserve this principle, patients can be neglected to make decisions for themselves during times when ... -
Conceptual Change: Gods, Elements, and Water
(University of Waterloo, 2010-09-30)On what does the meaning of the concept of water depend? I consider three possible answers: the physical world, theory, or both the physical world and theory. Each answer supports a particular history. If the history ... -
Conservative Contractarianism
(University of Waterloo, 2004)Moral contractarianism, as demonstrated in the work of David Gauthier, is an attempt to derive moral principles from the non-moral premises of rational choice. However, this contractarian enterprise runs aground because ... -
A Contemporary Examination of the A Fortiori Argument Involving Jewish Traditions
(University of Waterloo, 2010-02-22)This study proposes to clarify the a fortiori argument’s components, structure, definitions, formulations, and logical status, as well as the specific conditions under which it is to be employed, both generally and in a ... -
Crime Prevention in a World without Free Will: Derk Pereboom’s Quarantine Analogy
(University of Waterloo, 2015-09-01)The purpose of this paper is to evaluate Pereboom’s attempt to use his quarantine analogy to justify his theory of crime prevention and the use of preventative detainment in place of punishment. Specifically, I will examine ... -
A Defense of Semantic Conventionalism
(University of Waterloo, 2007-09-26)The purpose of this dissertation is to argue that semantic conventionalism of a, more or less, Dummettian variety is unjustly neglected in contemporary philosophy. The strategy for arguing this is to make a conjecture ... -
Disciplinary Inequality, Collective Agency, and Interprofessional Collaboration in Health Care
(University of Waterloo, 2015-10-05)In this thesis, I apply collective responsibility theory to the problem of health care inequality between physicians and nurses. This analysis is conducted in the context of physician-nurse interprofessional collaboration ... -
Do Birds Have a Theory of Mind?
(University of Waterloo, 2013-10-04)It is well known that humans are able to represent the mental states of others. This ability is commonly thought to be unique to humans. However, recent studies on the food caching, gift giving, and cooperative behaviours ... -
A Dynamic Account of the Structure of Concepts
(University of Waterloo, 2011-08-31)Concepts are widely agreed to be the basic constituents of thought. Amongst philosophers and psychologists, however, the question of how concepts are structured has been a longstanding problem and a locus of disagreement. ... -
Education in the 21st Century: Human Rights and Individual Actions
(University of Waterloo, 2008-01-09)This dissertation has three goals. The first goal is to outline how twentieth century advocates qualify education as a human right. The second goal is to offer an integrative account which argues that, to defend a right ... -
The Emergence of Life(?)
(University of Waterloo, 2009-10-02)While emergentism is a frequently debated and contentious topic in some areas of philosophy, it is not discussed as often in the sciences. Where it does appear in scientific literature, it is usually a weak formulation ... -
The Episodic Nature of "Blessedness" in Spinoza's Ethics
(University of Waterloo, 2008-09-26)The final chapter of Spinoza’s Ethics has elicited numerous interpretations, and in this work, I discuss Jonathan Bennett’s and Harry Wolfson’s. Bennett claims that the doctrine of blessedness is unintelligible, while ... -
The Ethics of Deception in Caregiving: A Patient-Centered Approach
(University of Waterloo, 2015-08-24)Deception is a central issue in bioethics. This emerges most clearly when considering ways of assisting individuals who are incapable of making their own decisions. Deception can be defined as purposefully misleading another ...