David A. Jensen and Dr. K. Codell Carter, Philosophy, Stephen Stich argues in the Fragmentation of Reason for a pragmatic account of cognition; that is, our processes of how we acquire knowledge should be evaluated, he maintains, not on how well they produce true beliefs, but on how well they produce beliefs relevant to some […]
THE UNREFLECTING NARCISSUS
Benjamin Huff and Dr. Scott Sprenger, Philosophy Andre Gide’s La Symphonie Pastorale (in English, The Pastoral Symphony) portrays a pastor who mistakes the love of a woman for the love of God and believes he is serving God while he serves mostly just himself. Even his avowed love for Gertrude, a blind orphan girl he […]
Greek Philosophy and the Christian Church Fathers
Michael Hansen and Dr. David Paulsen, Philosphy In this project I intended to establish what doctrinal evolution can be seen in the Judeo-Christian tradition between the Second Temple period and the Post-Apostolic age. My hope was to document significant movements in theological attitudes that can be attributed, at least in part, to Greek philosophy. Scholars […]
PATERE LEGEM, QUAM IPSE TALISTI: NIETZSCHE AND THE END OF CHRISTIANITY
Matthew Faulconer and Professor Van Tongeren and Dr. Travis Anderson, Philosophy In On the Genealogy of Morals Nietzsche says that every lawgiver eventually receives the call “patere legem, quam ipse tulistr” which means, “submit to the law you yourself proposed.” Nietzsche believes this call is being made to Christianity and that because of this, Christianity’s moral […]
WHY BE MORAL: THE RATIONAL BASIS FOR MORALITY
Michael Durham and Dr. C. Terry Warner, Philosophy Of the many questions in modern meta-ethical debates, the question, “Why be moral?” immediately stands out as one of the most provocative. It seems to embody the moral skepticism notoriously rampant in contemporary society, insolently questioning not just particular moral demands, but the power and validity of […]
Mormonism and the Concept of a Temporal Deity: The Beckwith- Parrish Dilemma
Jeremy B. Pettit and Dr. David L. Paulsen, Philosophy In their book The Mormon Concept of God1, evangelical scholars Francis Beckwith and Stephen Parrish (hereafter referred to as BP) present several critiques of what they understand to be the Latterday Saint (LDS) concept of God which they claim is philosophically implausible. The majority of their […]
The Harrowing of Hell: Salvation for the Dead in Early Christianity
Kendel Christensen and Dr. David Paulsen, Philosophy Main Text This project exceeded my grandest expectations. Not only did we achieve our main objective of tracking the history and evolution of the soteriological problem of evil, but our connection to restoration themes was so salient that the Journal of Book of Mormon and Restoration Scripture accepted […]