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Wisdom Lost in Knowledge.pdf (599.15 KB)
ETD Abstract Container
Abstract Header
Wisdom Lost in Knowledge: Theories, Theorized Blame, and Pathologies
Author Info
Yates, Josiah L
Permalink:
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1651853591582521
Abstract Details
Year and Degree
2022, Master of Arts, University of Toledo, Philosophy.
Abstract
In seeking to address the problems or pathologies of blame that manifest in the world and our experience, one option is to develop theories about the nature of blame and the normative conditions. Much like our processes for ethical theories, these systems and conditions seem intended to help us be ethical—in particular, to blame correctly (i.e. only those who are blameworthy and in the right amounts, and so forth). Within this work I seek to unpack what this might look like in detail and then to show that theories of blame are not sufficient to overcome pathological manifestations and also that there is an additional problem that needs to be addressed: theorized blame, which is a particular way of seeing or being in the encounter (as distinct from the content of the theory). The purpose then is to attempt to uncover aspects of how pathological blame manifests in the world and reorient how we go about addressing these instances. The “Prelude,” begins with some literary sketches which seek to begin illustrating ways of seeing the “world,” or ways of seeing others in our blaming encounters. Following this I will briefly overview some of the relevant terms for the following discussion and attempt to lay the groundwork for the second chapter. Chapter two, “Encounters,” is an in-depth analysis of the structures of what I am calling “theories of blame” and “theorized blame.” Here, I will try to lay out some notions of “accounts” and “theories,” generally, as well as detail what might be involved in developing an account of theory of blame. By theorized blame, I mean a way of seeing another which is theoretical in orientation; this term and others will be unpacked and clarified. The third chapter is titled “Interlude,” and consists primarily of a further development of the character analyses of Rorschach and Ozymandias with particular attention to connecting the analyses to the concerns unpacked within “Encounters.” The following chapter, “Pathologies,” consists of an exploration of the nature of pathological instances of blame. Here, I am concerned to address the types of normative considerations that typically surround blame encounters, and then to connect this notion of pathological blame to the concerns of theories of blame and theorized blame which I have been developing. Chapter five, “Manifestations,” is a continuation of the previous concerns which seeks to take the developments from “Encounters” and “Pathologies,” and to make them more concrete. Given the concerns of theorized blame which I am seeking to develop, some aspects of the pathological instances with which I am concerned may become more apparent in being shown rather than only told. Finally, this work concludes with the “Postlude,” in which I seek only to point to the possibility of non-theorized blame; that is, assuming that the concerns of pathology and blame that I have laid out are moving in the right direction of assessing the problem, my examples in the “Postlude” are intended to present the possibility of an alternative. The purpose of this thesis is to draw attention to the significance of the moment of encounter in blaming situations and, in these moments, to indicate that theories of blame alone are insufficient for revealing or equipping us to avoid pathological instances of blame.
Committee
Ammon Allred (Committee Chair)
Madeline Muntersbjorn (Committee Member)
Benjamin Grazzini (Committee Member)
Pages
162 p.
Subject Headings
Ethics
;
Philosophy
Keywords
blame
;
theory
;
theories of blame
;
pathological blame
;
ethics
;
second-person encounters
;
personalism
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Citations
Yates, J. L. (2022).
Wisdom Lost in Knowledge: Theories, Theorized Blame, and Pathologies
[Master's thesis, University of Toledo]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1651853591582521
APA Style (7th edition)
Yates, Josiah.
Wisdom Lost in Knowledge: Theories, Theorized Blame, and Pathologies.
2022. University of Toledo, Master's thesis.
OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center
, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1651853591582521.
MLA Style (8th edition)
Yates, Josiah. "Wisdom Lost in Knowledge: Theories, Theorized Blame, and Pathologies." Master's thesis, University of Toledo, 2022. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1651853591582521
Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)
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Document number:
toledo1651853591582521
Download Count:
115
Copyright Info
© 2022, some rights reserved.
Wisdom Lost in Knowledge: Theories, Theorized Blame, and Pathologies by Josiah L Yates is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by University of Toledo and OhioLINK.