John Rawls developed the most compelling normative account of liberal constitutional democracy of the 20th century. Today, however, prominent political theorists such as Jeremy Waldron and Ian Shapiro are calling for post-Rawlsian, “power friendly” approaches to democratic theory. Power friendly approaches surrender a significant historical strain of liberal democratic thought, often associated with Rawls—the hope for a politics of shared reason. Such “rationalist expectations” must be abandoned, says Shapiro. Power friendly theorists hold that disagreements over justice, and other issues, are so deep that political philosophers cannot say what justice requires even under ideal conditions. Democratic citizens can only constitute themselves as a democratic body politic through real time political processes. But this means that, for nearly every constitutional and legislative issue, the will of some citizens will govern all. There is no hope for a politics of shared reason; what we have is a struggle between reasons, where one side wins and the other side loses. Power friendly theorists seek to legitimate this unavoidable exercise of force by describing pragmatic, prudential or normative reasons for accepting such democratic outcomes as authoritative. Democratic institutions that produce a stable modus vivendi, in which the spiritual and material needs of citizens are at least minimally satisfied, should be regarded as authoritative on those (or similar) grounds. For instance, Shapiro argues that democracy deserves our allegiance because it is the best available way of “managing power relations among people who disagree about the nature of the common good,” but who must nevertheless live together. Of course, the loser is never happy about losing these struggles, but she has sound reason to accept the outcomes anyway, and she lives to fight another day. Power friendly theorists have a point. But what they do not realize is that Rawls conceded this point around 1980, and then proposed his own power friendly account of democratic law and political authority. Rawls’s account centers on his liberal principle of legitimacy. What is significant about his approach is its faithfulness to the spirit, if not the fact, of the liberal ideal of shared reason. That is, while Rawls is not the shared reason rationalist that many accuse him of being, he does not surrender as much of the liberal project as the power friendly theorists do. Rawls’s view represents a third option, which sits between the rationalist and the power friendly poles. Unfortunately, few have understood his account, because few have read all of his work, or considered his intellectual debts. I construct a Rawlsian power friendly view of law and legitimacy that is philosophically rigorous, faithful to Rawls’s texts, and grounded in a thorough understanding of his intellectual debts, in particular to H. L. A. Hart and Philip Soper. In the end, I argue that the Rawlsian power friendly view is philosophically superior to both the rationalist view (wrongly attributed to Rawls) and the newer power friendly views of Waldron and Shapiro.

Although the text of the Devīmāhātmya is itself a section of the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, recent scholarship has taken a primarily extrinsic approach to the text and its use by emphasizing the life of the Devīmāhātmya (henceforth DM) well apart from the textual tradition of the purāṇas. A reading of the DM in the context of the MārkP is instructive, because it reveals some interesting thematic connections that are indicative of larger thematic trends within the purāṇa, which prior extrinsic studies have not explored. Broadly speaking, these themes glorify women and Goddesses as positive manifestations of some fundamental female energy and efficacy. These themes occur in the DM and also occur in other narratives within the MārkP that praise female actors who restore order in times of crisis. An evaluation of these thematic connections will show that the DM is best understood not only as an important text in its own right, but as an important piece of the MārkP as a whole. Conversely, the subject matter of the MārkP should not be viewed as unrelated to that of the DM. Therefore, my thesis is a preliminary effort to situate a text glorifying the Goddess in its purāṇic context through an analysis of narrative and thematic content.

Do high levels of neuroticism predict intimate partner violence (IPV)? Although neuroticism may predispose partners to increased risks of IPV perpetration, the extent to which it predicts such perpetration is likely to depend on the broader context of the relationship. Consistent with this prediction, the current longitudinal study of 169 community couples revealed that the effects of neuroticism on IPV perpetration over the first four years of marriage were moderated by observations of problem-solving behavior and objective ratings of chronic stress. Specifically, although husbands and wives who scored higher on a measure of neuroticism at the outset of marriage engaged in more IPV throughout the marriage on average, those who possessed more effective problem-solving skills or experienced lower levels of stress were significantly less like to engage in IPV. Results highlight the importance of considering the broader relationship context when examining predictors of specific interpersonal processes.

This work explores the life, works, and role of Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki (1870-1966) in the reception of Zen Buddhism in the United States. Particular attention is paid to the major themes that informed Suzuki’s presentation of Zen to American audiences: Western mystical-universalist traditions, intellectualism, psychology and Japanese nationalism. These themes, as Suzuki used them, are not part of traditional Zen in Japan; instead they are responses to Western modernity, colonialism, and Orientalist discourses. Suzuki and many of his contemporaries rephrased Zen in order to assert Japanese cultural and religious superiority. Suzuki was a prolific writer and his books became the primary source for understanding Zen Buddhism in the United States, especially at the height of his popularity in the 1950’s and 1960’s. From the mid-1960’s onward his popularity in American Buddhist circles dwindled due to a shift to practicing Buddhism rather than merely studying it. I argue that while attention has shifted toward practice and away from Suzuki’s works, his influence has not completely evaporated; instead he remains an important resource for Buddhists in the United States.

The goal of this thesis is to address what I believe to be an all too frequent misunderstanding. This is the idea that religion generally and Islamic extremism specifically is the primary foundation for suicide terrorism in Iraq. Because of the social and historical demographics of Iraq, I argue that it is necessary to understand Iraqi suicide bombings as a variety of di􀄊erent concurrent movements as opposed to one monolithic phenomenon. Furthermore, it is my assertion that the connection between suicide attacks and Islam has been exaggerated within American public discourse. This discourse has lead to a large and varied body of rhetoric that professes an intimate connection between Islam and violence. It is not my intention to argue that the relationship between suicide bombers and Islam is purely fallacious. Politicized Islam has achieved a rather high degree of popularity in the Middle East and one would be mistaken if one presupposed that there were no suicide bombers who were strict Islamic adherents. It will be contended therefore that Islam is an element in the propagation of the phenomenon of suicide bombings. However, religion is neither essential nor sufficient for the explanation of such actions.

The current debate concerning genetically modified (GM) crops is primarily focused on the negative consequences that the production and consumption of GM foods could have on people and the environment. Adding to the list of concerns is the multinational agrochemical corporations' plan to implement GURTs (Genetic Use Restriction Technologies) to prohibit the unauthorized use of certain genetically modified plant varieties. Several activist groups perceive the potential implementation of GURTs to be a threat to resource-poor farmers since this technology (which the activists call Terminator Technology) may be used to wrongfully exploit resource-poor farmers in the name of economic gain. In this thesis, I argue that multinational agrochemical corporations will not necessarily be infringing upon the rights of resource-poor farmers nor with they be wrongfully exploiting such farmers through the implementation of GURTs. Given that the primary targets for implementing GURTs are currently modified plant varieties, and most resource-poor farmers are unable to afford GM seeds, multinational agrochemical corporations will not have the opportunity to form a relation with these farmers and therefore would not be able to use them as a mere means to maximizing seed industry profits. I conclude that the implementation of GURTs may be construed as immoral on some grounds, but it is not wrongfully exploitative.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the relationship between Jewish fundamentalists and Christian Zionists and the harm that can ultimately result from this relationship. The first chapter examines the history of Jewish religious Zionists and the ways that it attempts to influence the Israeli government. Special attention is paid to religious settlements founded in the West Bank as a tactic for expanding Israel’s borders. The second chapter discusses Christian Zionists’ use of biblical scripture to argue in favor of expanding Israel’s borders to reflect those described in the Hebrew Bible. The third chapter examines Christian Zionist rhetoric vilifying Arab Muslims in an attempt to heighten the pre-existing tension between Arab Muslims and Jewish fundamentalists.

This master’s thesis examines the issues that surround the practice of Direct to Physician (DTP) marketing by pharmaceutical companies. The thesis begins by looking at the normative foundations that ground objections to DTP marketing. Developments that have recently emerged in contemporary Kantian ethics are utilized in order to defend a Kantian moral framework. The first and second formulations of the categorical imperative are then utilized in order to derive four mid level principles that serve to guide the discussion through the following chapters. Chapter 3 criticizes DTP marketing as deceptive and manipulative and argues that is strongly correlated to negative affects on prescribing behavior, both harming patient care and undermining the fiduciary duties physicians owe their patients. As such, DTP marketing does not show the proper respect patients and physicians are owed as moral agents. Chapter 4 considers the economic impact of DTP marketing. Indications suggest that DTP marketing is primarily utilized to create an artificial market for “me-too” drugs. As these drugs are often very expensive and offer little to no therapeutic benefit over existing alternatives they drive up health care spending. When understood within the context of a failing health care system it becomes a self defeating business strategy and harms patients through rising health care costs. Finally, Chapter 5 concludes with a discussion of the potential for the industry to regulate itself and examines the likely impact regulation of DTP marketing will have on the industry. While a voluntary ban is called for, financial incentives make it unlikely that self regulation will be sufficient. In which case, it will be the responsibility of state or federal governments to regulate the practices. While regulation of DTP marketing may threaten profitability of the industry it is claimed that the current reliance on “me-too” drugs entails that the primary affect of regulation will be to force pharmaceutical companies to concentrate on truly innovative drugs. As such, contrary to the claims of critics, regulation will likely encourage innovation as opposed to stifling it.

This work explores Thomas Tweed‟s theory of religion as presented in Crossing and Dwelling, taking up the author‟s challenge to demonstrate the strengths and weaknesses in his theoretical model by applying it to new cases. Mormonism is ideal as a case study in this context because of the visibility of Mormon mass migrations in the Nineteenth Century, the global significance of Mormonism in the Twentieth Century, and the distinctively spatial theology of Joseph Smith. The paper proceeds by (1) outlining Tweed‟s theory of religion, (2) applying a Tweedian “itinerary” to Mormon spatial practices, and (3) reflecting on critical themes in Mormon studies which are obscured by Tweed‟s theory. I hope this study can illuminate both the spatial theory of religion to which Tweed contributes and the field of Mormon studies in general.

I argue for a naturalized conception of the faculty of intuition with particular interest in intuition's role in moral contexts. I examine intuition in philosophical discourse: namely, the Classic Intuitionists G.E. Moore, W.D. Ross, and H.A. Prichard. I bring to light relevant distinctions among their conceptions of intuition. The explanation of an intuitive faculty in their philosophy has come to stand for the paradigm of intuition in moral philosophy. In the section following, I will present the objections that call into question intuition. I draw from Robert Audi and Laurence BonJour since their respective projects attempt to deal with these same objections in an attempt to formulate respective Moderate Intuitionist positions. I show how these objections raised against intuitionism are objections to the epistemological role of intuition. After, examining the objections, I present Mediocre Intuitionism and Moderate Intuitionism both of which attempt to rearticulate the use of intuition in moral thinking in ways that are less objectionable. I argue that all these conceptions of intuition are moot, inadequate or incomplete. Finally, I examine research in cognitive science related to intuition and its bearing on the development a complete and adequate conception of intuition. Empirical study of cognition illuminates how conscious and unconscious processes manifest themselves as an intuition. Surprisingly, a relatively consistent picture of intuition can be derived from various empirical studies. Cognitive science will be able to tell us something about the immediacy of intuition, whether intuition is indeed non-inferential, and about the self-evidence of intuition. In particular, the results from empirical studies of intuition affect Moderate Intuitionists' reformulation of intuition. These analyses point to a naturalized conception of intuition.