The Philosophical Value of Reflective Endorsement

Through the years, many philosophers have appealed to reflective endorsement to address important philosophical problems. In this dissertation, I evaluate the merits of those approaches. I first consider Christine Korsgaard’s appeal to reflective endorsement to solve what she calls “the normative problem.” I then consider Harry Frankfurt’s use of reflective endorsement as part of his account of “caring,” which plays a crucial role in his accounts of agency, free will, and personhood. I then turn to Marilyn Friedman’s use of reflective endorsement to explain autonomous action. Finally, I turn to Alan Gibbard’s use of reflective endorsement as part of an account of what it is to make a normative judgment. I argue that each of these positions is subject to similar problems—they fail to provide a plausible account of the self. In the remaining chapters, I argue that empirical psychological studies suggest that reflective endorsement plays an important role with respect to psychological health, but that judgments made by using a process of reflective endorsement are generally not accurate. Ultimately, I argue that reflective endorsement is valuable, but only under certain circumstances

Chapter 17- TikTok is Not Peer Reviewed: Modifying Assignments to Nurture Habits of Mind

During any given semester, my most engaged students send me materials related to what we are discussing in class. I always appreciate students’ excitement about the course content and the opportunity to experience different forums for conversation with my students. As the years have passed, however, more of the material students pass along comes in the form of YouTube videos. These videos will often star popular YouTube personalities who create content that has millions of views. Sometimes, the ideas the students pass along come in the form of short TikTok videos. This is all fine and even entertaining until this material starts to make its way into coursework. While I do not mind if the Internet sparks interest in my students, I would prefer that social media “influencers” do not shape the content of my student’s papers, since ideas presented in that medium are not subject to any sort of peer review or fact checking. This became a challenge with the final assignment at the end of each of my ethics courses. Students must grapple with a contemporary moral issue in the form of an argumentative paper. At first, I was quite flexible about the moral issue they selected. I encouraged them to pick a topic that was interesting to them. I have had students write on the kind of issues you might imagine in a course on ethics, such as abortion, euthanasia, or the death penalty. But I have also had students write on issues like the obligation states have to provide inclusive sex education that acknowledges that not all people are cisgender or heterosexual or our moral obligations to find alternate forms of energy in response to the threats posed by global climate change. For this freshman-level undergraduate course, the final version of the paper is five double-spaced pages long. I want the process to be meaningful for them; they use this as an opportunity to apply the knowledge they gained in the class. For years, however, it seemed that some of the students were not taking the assignment seriously and were instead completing it in a rushed way right before it was due at the very end of the semester. This led them to use the information-gathering practices that are at their fingertips—the sites they are most familiar with on the Internet. Over the past several years, I have changed the design of my ethics courses to create a better learning experience for students that also overcomes the common challenges we have faced in the past. The assignment is now more narrowly tailored to achieve the Habits of Mind and portable skills that I am hoping to nurture in my students in these classes. In particular, I try to develop Habits of Mind identified by Costa and Kallick (2009) such as questioning and problem posing, listening with understanding and empathy, persistence, and thinking about their thinking. In this chapter, I first outline my course objectives in the form of the Habits of Mind. I then discuss the assignment I gave my students originally and identify the challenges and shortcomings it posed. Then, I outline my new approach and detail how it is better suited to achieve my objectives

Human Identity, Animal Identity, and Reflective Endorsement

In this paper, I will argue that philosophers have overestimated the value of reflective endorsement. Introspection does not, as many philosophers have supposed, shine a searchlight on a person’s authentic identity. Our “selves” are not as transparent to us as we would like to think. In fact, much of the work done in an introspective mood is confabulation or rationalization rather than genuine self-discovery. I will argue that if this is the case, the outputs of the reflective endorsement process are not inherently normative in the way that thinkers like Harry Frankfurt and Christine Korsgaard have suggested. If this is the case, then the identities that we establish through the process of reflective endorsement are not the moral features of our experience that we might have supposed. And if this is the case, then we would be wrong to place other-than-human animals in a different moral category than humans simply because they do not regularly engage in reflective endorsement. In light of the problems that I will identify for the reflective process, a different view of the self will be warranted. I will argue that we learn more about our authentic selves by monitoring our consistent, reliable dispositions to behave. If this is the case, there would no longer be any justification for denying that other-than-human animals have coherent identities through time, since they too demonstrate reliable and predictable behavioral dispositions

Delivering social sustainability outcomes in new communities: the role of the elected councillor

A 2011 Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) report calculated that an additional 750,000 homes would be needed by 2025 to meet projected demand in the UK. If this is to be achieved, a significant number of new communities will be developed over the next decade. Local councillors have considerable potential in influencing the social sustainability of such new developments, particularly in the context of the current “Localism” agenda in the UK. However, this role of the local councilor is not well understood. The aim of this project was to explore the role of the local councillor in improving such outcomes. We selected two rural greenfield and two urban regeneration sites as case studies. Planning officers and local councillors were interviewed across the sites in order to identify factors that can lead to improved social sustainability. Emerging themes indicate the importance of the councillor’s role in community engagement and consultation, the changing nature of relationships, the importance of appropriate and timely infrastructure, and models of governance and accountability. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for policy

Distinct Airway Inflammatory Pathways Associated with Asthma Exacerbations are Modulated by Mepolizumab Therapy in Children

Rationale: Identification of specific airway inflammatory pathways can lead to effective personalized treatment with biologics in asthma and insights to mechanisms of action. Methods: 290 urban children with exacerbation-prone asthma and ≥150/mm3 blood eosinophils were randomized (1:1) to placebo or mepolizumab added to guideline-based care. Nasal lavage samples were collected at randomization and during treatment for RNA-sequencing, and analyzed by cell-deconvolution modular analysis to assess genome-wide expression patterns associated with exacerbation number and effect of treatment. Results: Mepolizumab significantly reduced the frequency of exacerbations compared to placebo. At randomization, there were no differences in expression between treatment groups; multiple modules were subsequently differentially expressed during mepolizumab but not placebo treatment. Furthermore, expression levels of multiple modules were associated with the exacerbation number during the study, with distinct relationships observed in the placebo and/or mepolizumab groups. Notably, higher expression at randomization of an eosinophil-associated module enriched for Type-2 genes including IL4, IL5, and IL13, was associated with increased exacerbations in placebo (β=0.19, p\u3c0.001), but not mepolizumab-treated children (interaction p\u3c0.01). Furthermore, mepolizumab treatment reduced expression of this module (Fold-change=0.62, p\u3c0.001). In contrast, higher expression at randomization of an eosinophil-associated module enriched for eosinophil activation (e.g. CD9) and mucus hypersecretion (e.g. MUC5AC) genes was associated with exacerbation number in both groups throughout the study (β=0.18, p\u3c0.01) and was unaltered by mepolizumab therapy. Conclusions: Multiple distinct airway inflammation patterns were identified associated with exacerbation frequency. These findings identify inflammatory endotypes and indicate likelihood and potential mechanisms of a beneficial clinical response to mepolizumab therapy to prevent exacerbations

Habits of Mind: Designing Courses for Student Success

Although content knowledge remains at the heart of college teaching and learning, forward-thinking instructors recognize that we must also provide 21st-century college students with transferable skills (sometimes called portable intellectual abilities) to prepare them for their futures (Vazquez, 2020; Ritchhart, 2015; Venezia & Jaeger, 2013; Hazard, 2012). To “grow their capacity as efficacious thinkers to navigate and thrive in the face of unprecedented change” (Costa et al., 2023), students must learn and improve important study skills and academic dispositions throughout their educational careers. If we do not focus on skills-building in college courses, students will not be prepared for the challenges that await them after they leave institutions of higher education. If students are not prepared for these postsecondary education challenges, then it is fair to say that college faculty have failed them

Energy monitoring as a practice: Investigating use of the iMeasure online energy feedback tool

Energy feedback is a prominent feature of policy initiatives aimed at reducing domestic energy consumption. However little research has been conducted on the phenomenon of energy monitoring itself, with most studies looking at whether, and how, feedback impacts on energy conservation. This paper aims to address that gap from a practice theory perspective. In particular we: set out the difference between energy feedback and energy monitoring; define the practice of energy monitoring; and investigate the rationale and qualitative experiences of those performing energy monitoring. An online energy feedback tool (‘iMeasure’) was the basis of the case study. A netnographic analysis of online discussion about the tool informed complementary in-depth interviews with ten current/former iMeasure users. We found energy monitoring to be a distinct practice that focuses on measuring and identifying energy use trends and requires specific know-how to perform. However, its connections to other household practices were weak and, for those who did perform monitoring, there was no guarantee that this practice would reorganise other practices to induce household energy saving. In fact, monitoring often followed decisions to make energy-related changes, rather than prompting them. We conclude that policy expectations need to be reframed in terms of how energy monitoring tools are used

Personality Traits and the Extent to Which They are Valued by Practicing Physical Therapists in the General Hospital Setting

This descriptive study seeks to identify the value placed on personality traits by physical therapists and to develop a personality trait profile indicating what is desired of physical therapists in the general hospital setting. Five hundred surveys were sent to the physical therapy (PT) directors of a nationwide sample of randomly selected hospitals accredited by the American Hospital Association with greater than 75, but less than 150 beds. Two hundred and ninety-four surveys (59%) were returned. Survey responses were coded and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The data was analyzed by using the descriptive measures of median, mode, frequency counts, and percentages. The personality traits were divided into three groups (high positive, moderate positive, and low positive) based on the value given to individual traits. High ({dollar}\u3e{dollar}85%) consensus was obtained for the personality traits of Achievement, Understanding, Aggression, Defendence and Impulsivity. The value given to the 20 traits in aggregate creates a profile of what is valued for physical therapists in the general hospital setting

DEFINING BY DIFFERENCE: THE LEGACY OF THE PUDICA GESTURE IN MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE ART

(Statement of Responsibility) by Rachel Robison(Thesis) Thesis (B.A.) -- New College of Florida, 2014RESTRICTED TO NCF STUDENTS, STAFF, FACULTY, AND ON-CAMPUS USE(Bibliography) Includes bibliographical references.This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida Libraries, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.Faculty Sponsor: Carrasco, Malen