Spokane Intercollegiate Research Conference

Saturday, April 12, 2008, Gonzaga University

Session 3 9:00 am – 10:20 am Room 316 College Hall PHILOSOPHICAL AND LITERARY PERSPECTIVES Faculty Moderator: Tim Clancy

Abstract 3A “The Randian Hero: A Unification of the Philosopher and the Business Man” Ryan Langrill Ayn Rand developed a philosophical model which accepted many of the assumptions and goals of the Modern World and the Enlightenment but rejected the moral and philosophical trends which were accompanying the development of the Modern World. This paper will look at the writings and philosophy of Ayn Rand as a defense of Modern Capitalist and individualist society against growing psychological, philosophical, and sociological critiques of her moral ideal. Faculty Sponsor: Eric Cunningham

Abstract 3B “Self vs. Other: Black Consciousness” Heather Stevens We often ask the questions, “Who am I?” “Who am I supposed to be”; or “What does it mean to be authentically me?” Hegel spoke to us about the Self and how the Self struggles against the Other in order to emerge as a pure consciousness. In turn, Hegel influenced Du Bois who spoke about black double-consciousness and why blacks today are still struggling for Selfhood. Du Bois’ perspective is further developed in light of Hegel’s philosophy concerning the master-slave relationship. Du Bois argues that blacks are unable to achieve Selfhood. Damage lingers as a kind of inward Otherhood, born from the master-slave relationship. And as long as blacks do not achieve Selfhood, neither will whites. True Selfhood, authenticity, is not a product of domination, but of mutual acknowledgment. Faculty Sponsor: Keith Wyma

Abstract 3C

“Compatibilism Revised”

Amy Bernard Hobbes’ compatibilist perspective led to a distinct definition of freewill: that one “finds no stop in doing what [one] has the will, desire, or inclination to do.” Hume reinforces this definition by arguing that between Hobbes’ definition of freewill and a deterministic picture, moral obligation and responsibility are satisfied for the compatibilist. Contemporary critics argue that Hobbes’ freewill is not free enough, and should it be, it would only contradict a deterministic view of the world. Harry Frankfurt provides the Principle of Alternate Possibilities to prove the compatibility of freewill and determinism. Frankfurt, however, does not provide an adequate definition of freewill to satisfy even the compatibilist perspective. It is then necessary that a combination of Hobbes, Hume, and Frankfurt’s theories are necessary to create a definition of freewill that coincides without contradicting determinism, thus satisfying compatibilism. Faculty Sponsor: Forrest Baird

Abstract 3D “Tablets of My Love Unsealed: The Poetry of Sulpicia I in Translation” Mary Elder My presentation will be both a study of translation and a study of a specific poet. I am looking at the poems of Sulpicia Servila, an Augustan-era Roman poet. In examining Sulpicia as a writer, I will analyze the differences between her style and that of more famous male contemporaries, as well as the cultural influences to which she responds. As a study of translation, I will present my own English versions of her work, which will include literal and poetic representations. In this study, I hope to shed more light on one of the few female voices of antiquity whose work was for a long time credited to Tibullus. Faculty Sponsor: Tim Clancy