Despotic and Democratic Liberty

By: Connor Lewis (The University of Michigan) | May 7, 2025 Despite my inclinations toward democracy, I partially agree with Kant’s view in the “What is Enlightenment” essay that, at least temporarily, the greatest intellectual freedom comes in a state run by a benevolent despot. I understand intellectual freedom as distinct from political freedom in line…

The Immorality of Putting a Price Tag on Kidneys

By: Eunice Chon (Harvard University) | February 26, 2025 Economists are concerned about the chronic kidney shortage, and many support opening a market for organs (Mankiw). The projections look good; a reduction in costs for patients, previously waiting several years for a transplant and more kidneys available (Sumner, Mankiw). According to the principle of utility,…

Sinners and Saints: The Idealization and Reduction of the Ambiguous “Noble Savage”

By: Eunice Chon (Harvard University) | February 26, 2025 The demarcation of morality, or the difference between good and evil, is a blurred one, and the Manichaean façade of the question has baffled mankind for centuries. Philosopher and Enlightenment thinker Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Discourse on the Origins of Inequality explores this very question through conjectural history,…

Cosmetic Surgery: Expressive or Not?

By: Summer Adams (University of Michigan) | February 5, 2025 With increasing suicide rates, it is important to prioritize mental health and well-being. Cosmetic surgery, though its intent may be controversial, has the potential to impact self-image and better mental health. With that in mind, this paper will begin by examining philosopher Eva Kittay’s view…

In Defense of the Justified True Belief

By: Ammar Ahmad (University of Michigan) | December 5, 2023 Abstract The Gettier Problems have posed seemingly inescapable problems for fallibilism and epistemology overall.1 Modern epistemologists have had to tread the line between falling back into the skeptic consequences of infallibilism and creating unreliable theories of knowledge.2 David Lewis has somewhat evaded the Gettier Problems by relying on…