Abstract 1
"How to Teach Students about Peace & Genocide: A Kantian Approach to International Diplomacy"
Teaching international diplomacy to high school students can be a daunting task because the topic requires a keen understanding of tolerance and an ability to recognize cultural norms, both of which are contingent on higher order thinking. Students are continually challenged to mitigate their biases and suspend their disbeliefs in an attempt to learn about the nature of international diplomacy and the peacekeeping process. Teachers, nevertheless, may incorporate a Kantian approach to international diplomacy and a discussion of his ethical concerns, as a pedagogical tool for introducing students to the requisite concepts needed to address international diplomacy and the peacekeeping process.
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Abstract 2
"The Plantation System throughout Jamaica and the Early Caribbean: An Epoch of Exploitation Ushers in Neoliberal Economics"
The focus of this analysis is to explicate the historical developments of the Caribbean — specifically analyzing how the historical narrative and influence of colonialism transformed not only the topography, but also the psychology of Caribbean peoples. The analysis pertains to a survey of the plantation system, concentrating on the obvious economic advantages gained by the colonist over the colonized. This dichotomy, i.e., the demarcation between those who control the means of production and those who are disenfranchised by such means, constitutes an epoch of exploitation. As such, one must understand (1) how the ideology of superiority was propagated (2) the importance of slavery for economic reformation and finally (3) the constant and necessary association between the church, on the one hand and European politics on the other.
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"The Plantation System Throughout Jamaica and the Early Caribbean: An Epoch of Exploitation Ushers in Neoliberal Economics,” International Studies in Philosophy 38 (2006): 19-29.
Abstract 3
"Beyond Gender Essentialism and the Social Construction of Gender: Redefining the Conception of Gender through a Reinvestigation of Transgender Theory"
This analysis is intended to facilitate a critique of the argument that defends binary gender as a psychological fact of human nature, including the presupposition that gender is essential in the construction of an individual’s identity. The supposed association between biological sex and sociological gender identification comes into question when discussing members of the transgender community. The problem arises for transsexuals because their femininity and masculinity do not coincide with their sex. In seeking sex reassignment surgery (SRS) an attempt is made to “pass” — seemingly reinforcing gender essentialist notions. The problem arises, however, insofar as neither gender essentialism nor social constructivism has effectively incorporated transsexualism as an integral theoretical conception. This analysis, then, serves to explicate these complications and offer an accommodating account of transgender theory.
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"Beyond Gender Essentialism and the Social Construction of Gender: Redefining the Conception of Gender through a Reinvestigation of Transgender Theory," International Studies in Philosophy, 39 (2007), p. 19-30.
Abstract 4
"Scarification and Collective Sympathy: An Analysis of Rememory in Toni Morrison’s Beloved"
Much has been written on Toni Morrison’s conception of “rememory”. This investigation seeks to relate her characters’ use of the term, throughout Beloved, and its interrelatedness with scarification—those inflicted by others, and those self inflicted. In addition to the analysis of this relationship, i.e., between “rememory” and scarification, the concept of the “broken-slave” will be discussed. It will be demonstrated that a “broken-slave” is the ultimate representation of scarification, both for members of the slave community and within the economics of slavery. Finally, I will present and discuss the concept of “collective sympathy” in relation to the many accounts of “rememory” offered throughout Beloved.
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Abstract 5
"Plato's Meta-Justificatory Argument Against the Apollonian Conception of Self-Knowledge: An Analysis of the Epistemological Methods of Justification in Plato's Charmides"
In the Charmides, Socrates sets out to critique the Apollonian conception of self-knowledge, illustrated by Apollo’s precept, know thyself, inscribed on the portals at Delphi (164d4-164e2). Throughout, I have placed textual references in parenthesis. Socrates cannot jeopardize his piety through directly mounting an attack against Apollo. Thus, the Socratic elenchus begins with Charmides and his mentor Critias discussing the nature of temperance. The focus of this essay, then, is to illustrate the beauty wherein Socrates is able to indirectly attack the Apollonian precept, through syllogistic logic, associating Critias’ reasoning with that of Apollo, then undercutting Critias’ argument, thereby indirectly, also, undercutting Apollo’s precept.
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“Plato's Meta-Justificatory Argument Against the Apollonian Conception of Self-Knowledge: An Analysis of the Epistemological Methods of Justification in Plato's Charmides," Florida Philosophical Review 3 (2003): 77-86.
Abstract 6
"On the Meaning of Evil for the Critical Race Theorist"
“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”*
The meaning of evil should be expressed in a very specific context when discussing critical race theory, for the critical race theorist must simultaneously address both the political and legal constructs of power, while also addressing the hegemonic abuse of power as an essentializing tool in the social construction of race and racism. The ambiguities, however, in discussing and defining the nature of evil, have translated, at least within philosophical inquiry, into a general dissatisfaction and at times, refutation of the existence of evil. The problem of evil, as it has been traditionally couched in theological discourse, while still relevant to an overall discussion of evil, fails to address the specific tensions between the functionality of evil as racializing the other, and the political and legislative manipulation of power to further objectify those oppressed by such power. The human experience is marked by diversity. Critical race theory is more than a philosophical addendum; it speaks to the heart of human diversity. Without systematic attempts to understand human diversity, our knowledge will never approximate its true potential. Thus, critical race theory must serve an integral role in philosophical inquiry if its potential is ever to be reached.
*Martin Luther King Jr. 1958. Stride Toward Freedom (San Francisco: Harper) p. 51
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