Now showing items 1-20 of 50

    • Agency and Autonomy: A New Direction for Animal Ethics 

      Evans, Natalie (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 ...
    • All the World's a Stage: Fictionalism, Metaphysics, and Truth 

      Beriault, Phillipe (University of Waterloo, 2020-12-22)
      Fictionalism has been an appealing position for many philosophers seeking to avoid controversial ontological commitments implicit in certain kinds of discourses, while also trying to account for the usefulness of those ...
    • Authenticity and Enhancement 

      Gee, Catherine (University of Waterloo, 2016-10-31)
      Wanting to change ourselves is nothing new; the means with which we are able to do so are. With our ever-advancing technology, the physical and mental aspects of ourselves that we can target and change are continually ...
    • Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Case Study in Causation and Explanation in Psychiatric Conditions 

      Finn, Tracy (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 ...
    • Broadening the Scope of Engaged Philosophy of Science: An Empirical Analysis of Context-Dependent Barriers 

      Michaud, Janet (University of Waterloo, 2021-01-07)
      Philosophers of science have increasingly been discussing the social and scientific relevance of philosophy over the last decade. These discussions have included philosophy’s role in addressing scientific problems, clarifying ...
    • Coercion, Authority, and Democracy 

      Booker, Grahame (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 ...
    • Communal Inferentialism: Charles S. Peirce’s Critique of Epistemic Individualism 

      MacDonald, Ian (University of Waterloo, 2019-12-09)
      Charles S. Peirce’s critique of epistemic individualism, the attempt to make the individual the locus of knowledge, is a dominant theme in his writings. While scholars often mention this critique, there is, surprisingly, ...
    • A Constructive Critical Assessment of Feminist Evolutionary Psychology 

      Weaver, Sara (University of Waterloo, 2017-12-21)
      In this dissertation, I develop an approach to philosophical critique of morally relevant science and apply this approach to a new branch of evolutionary psychology called “feminist evolutionary psychology.” Morally relevant ...
    • A Contemporary Examination of the A Fortiori Argument Involving Jewish Traditions 

      Wiseman, Allen (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 ...
    • Contextualizing Science for Value-Conscious Communication 

      Branch-Smith, Teresa Yolande (University of Waterloo, 2019-07-15)
      Democracy hinges on the personal and civic decision-making capabilities of publics. In our increasingly technoscientific world, being well-informed requires an understanding of science. Despite acknowledging public ...
    • The Continuity of Explanation: Peircean Pragmatism, Reason, and Developing Reasonable Behavior 

      Haydon, Nathan (University of Waterloo, 2017-09-27)
      Charles Peirce, the founder of Pragmatism, is not known for having developed a normative and ethical theory. His remarks on ethics and normativity are scattered and sparse. There is nonetheless increasing interest in ...
    • Controlling Cyberwarfare: International Laws of Armed Conflict and Human Rights in the Cyber Realm 

      Jordan, W. Jim (University of Waterloo, 2021-06-04)
      Cyberwarfare, military activities in cyberspace conducted by a state against another state and intended to disrupt or destroy computing or communica­tion systems or data, is a recent addition to the warfaring arsenal. The ...
    • A Defense of Semantic Conventionalism 

      Davies, Nancy (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 ...
    • The Depiction of Unwritten Law 

      Nelson, Benjamin (University of Waterloo, 2016-12-14)
      Even though tacit legal norms are deeply important to our past, present, and future, the very idea of unwritten law has been difficult to pin down, and problematic in a range of ways. Existing discussions of the phenomenon ...
    • Education in the 21st Century: Human Rights and Individual Actions 

      Lee, Sharon Elizabeth (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 a New Human Superorganism After Organ Transplantation 

      Prasad, G V Ramesh (University of Waterloo, 2017-08-30)
      The biological human being is an emergent human superorganism consisting of the human organism physiologically integrated with other organisms. The persistence of a superorganism in space and time requires communication ...
    • Ending the Stigma: How a Causal Deterministic View of Free Will Can Inform Both Healthy and Pathological Cognitive Function and Increase Compassion 

      Balaita, Cristina (University of Waterloo, 2014-06-24)
      Depression is the leading cause of disability around the world, and in Canada, 8% of adults will experience depression in their lifetimes. Nearly half of those with depression will not seek treatment, one of the major ...
    • The Ethics of Deception in Caregiving: A Patient-Centered Approach 

      Abdool, Rosalind (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 ...
    • The Ethics of Nuclear Waste in Canada: Risks, Harms and Unfairness. 

      Wilding, Ethan (University of Waterloo, 2010-04-30)
      The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) --- the crown corporation responsible for the long-term storage of nuclear fuel waste in Canada --- seeks to bury our nuclear fuel waste deep in the Canadian Shield, with ...
    • Evaluation and Value Management in Science 

      Silk, Matthew (University of Waterloo, 2018-12-17)
      The nature of values has been an ongoing topic of discussion in philosophy, particularly in ethics. However, as the issue of how values should play a role in science has become more prominent, the discussion has not always ...

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