Samantha Cobb's Proseminar Research

Intellectual Biography

Dr. Maccaroone

So far I have interviewed Dr. Maccaroone. Her field of specialty is in food ethics. For her there are two different veins of food ethics. One is professional ethics, which studies the ethical responsibilities of people in the culinary arts. The other is about how our everyday choices in regard to food reflect ethical values. She believes in going from the micro to the macro: she starts with the personal level, and then expands it to a larger world view. Even though something like educating people about worker exposire to pesticides, or different ethical reasons why someone would choose local over organic might not be as monumental of a topic such as global warming, per se, she believes that the smaller things (i.e. morality of food choices) can affect the world/it's people in as influential a manner, but on a more personal level. She loves food ethics because it pulls together daily opportunities to live your values, since eating is such a necessary part of life, not to mention a frequently occuring one!

She also likes to teach international ethics. Her background in social justice spurred an interest in this field. Though the name "international" would seem to imply a large-scale view of the topic, she still focuses on the individual lives within the international boundaries. For example, in one of her classes, they look at a case study on the effects of battery recycling in Afrida. Though it may seem like a good, moral idea to give these African men, women and children jobs by having them recycle our batteries, this leads to lead poisoning in many many cases where the lead in the batteries is recycled - does it seem as ethical now? In addition, she looks at differenc programs that help women in other countries to be more independent, especially financially, such as Kiva (a program where you loan some amount of money to an entrepreneur somewhere in the world who uses that money to gain a profit and help their business, such as weaver Maria Graciela Sapon Ordonez in Guatemala). She is actually going to be talking to our class after Thanksgiving about unfair coffee trade in Africa respect to its workers (I think, I don't remember exactly...).

Dr. Besmer

Dr. Besmer originally was going to double major in english and philosophy but just stuck with philosophy and was able to graduate in 3 years. He did his dissertation on Merleau-Ponty, with a focus on positive phenomenology. (If I understood it correctly, which is entirely possible that I did not) This was the idea that it is positive to live by the sacraments because they are the only meaning humans have ever had. His major influences early on were Socrates and Plato. Dr. Besmer was especially fascinated by the problem between the forms and the particulars. He was also interested in the problem of participation - finding the material world significant only because of an ideal/"perfect" world. He would call himself a neo-Platonist, focusing on the issue of whether there is something more than the material world but not necessarily an ideal world. He considers his own distinctire/unique approach to philosophy is his questioning people's beliefs - he always is wondering "what must someone believe in order to believe x?" He tries to find the presuppositions that make positions possible in order to understand those positions. He enjoys interrogating background assumptions, and likes phenomenology because it asks "if I have this experience, what must be necessary to have that experience?"

Another favorite philosophical topic of his was the technological culture we live in today. He relates this so phenomenology of perception (intentionality is conditioned by technology), and phenomonological idea that we must submit everyday rational experience to inquiry. This ties back to ethical issues and human nature. In his Philosophy of Technology class they talk about issues such as transhumanism and the utilitarian standpoint it developed out of. He describes technology as conditioning our practices - now the world equates thinking with information gathering - however, thinking is more than just gathering information, it is assessing this information. And philosophy, in turn, is thinking.

For Dr. Besmer, it's important to understand philosophy because of the traditional history behind it, and how it helps us learn to ask the right questions. It leads us to progress in things that are meaningful, less acceptance of the superficial, and the main, most important point is to further our own intellectual development.

Dr. Ciaffa

Dr. Ciaffa actually took no philosophy classes until his original junior year of college. I say that because he took a year off, then went back to college with a new sense of the intrinsic value of what it had to offer him. He ended up double majoring in philosophy and history, going on to obtain a doctorate in philosophy. He most like philosophy because of the way it helped him frame and explore ethical and political questions. His biggest influence was Nietzsche. He admired most the powerful, direct, controversial critique of received notions (traditional critique of morality and religion). More recent interests of his are the question of identity, mostly due to the fact that he taught at Xavier, a mostly African-American college in New Orleans. He also has a side-interest in medical ethics. He thinks his distinct approach is especially prominent in African-American philosophy, the issues of oppression and race that it confronts. In classes he allows students to explore questions from their own perspective as well. Integrating ethics in everyday life and situations are his particular interest, asking the question, "why should we be moral if we can get away with it?"

His favorite philosophical topic is the ethical and social questions it raises, and the relevance to the lives of all people. The morality discussed in philosophy and in life most directly prepare us to be citizens of the world. He also is interested in medical ethics. They are issues he believes everyone will face eventually, and sees them as very important issues, being involved with social workers, doctors, nurses and ethics committees. His idea of why it's important to learn philosophy is that it is valuable - it provides and helps develop skills and exposes you to issues necessary to be a reflective citizen. It's a discipline that prepares you in a way more fully than other disciplines for spiritual and moral personal development. He also sees it valuable because it can be applied to any field, it is not limited to just a particular field all the time.

Annotated Bibliography

Right now, the topic I am considering for this project is psychological philosophy (philosophy of psychology)

There are two branches that are thought to make up psychological philosophy:

Epistemological Concerns about the Methodology of Psychological Investigations

The questions that struck me the most were:

-Is the best methodology of psychology behaviorism, mentalism, or some combination of the two? -Can first person experiences be objectively measured? (emotions, beliefs, etc)

Cognitive Science (Questions about the Nature of the Mind/Cognition)

Questions regarding this that stood out to me were:

-What is innateness? -Are humans rational creatures? -What psychological phenomena come up to the standard required for calling it knowledge?