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Browsing by Author "Tropman, Elizabeth, committee member"

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    Are subjectivists and objectivists about well-being theorizing about the same concept?
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Harris, Blake, author; McShane, Katie, advisor; Tropman, Elizabeth, committee member; Steger, Michael, committee member
    There are two main camps that theories of well-being fall under: "subjectivism" and "objectivism". Subjectivists hold that something can only positively affect one's well-being if one has a positive attitude toward it. Objectivists deny this and hold that some things can positively affect one's well-being irrespective of whether one has a positive attitude towards them and can even do so if one has a negative attitude towards them. Both views seem appealing and many theorists in the well-being debate attempt to capture the appeal of both views in the theories they posit. Despite this, only one can be correct; they contradict each other. Yet, neither seems satisfactory on its own since, as I argue, they fail to account for the motivations of the other. Hence, we are left with an impasse between the two that is difficult to resolve. In this thesis, I summarize the main theories of well-being and their objections in chapter one and introduce the distinction between subjectivism and objectivism and the motivations behind each. In chapter two, I summarize several theories that try to account for the motivations of both subjectivism and objectivism, with particular emphasis on "hybrid" theories, and show that they fail at their task. I finish in chapter three by motivating the impasse between subjectivism and objectivism and outlining four possible ways of resolving the impasse. I argue that three of these fail, but that the remaining way is promising. This way holds that subjectivists and objectivists are actually theorizing about two different, but similar concepts.
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    Autonomy in local digital journalism: a mixed-method triangulation exploration of the organizational culture and individual moral psychology factors of digital news workers
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) Zlaten, Rhema, author; Anderson, Ashley A., advisor; Plaisance, Patrick L., advisor; Abrams, Katie, committee member; Rollin, Bernard, committee member; Tropman, Elizabeth, committee member
    The main purpose of this mixed-method dissertation was to examine the shifting digital news industry, especially in regard to individual and organizational-level autonomy. Specifically, this work responds to calls in media ethics, media sociology, and moral ecology to better understand how organizational structure and individual moral psychology factors influence the levels digital news workers exhibit autonomy within their digital news organization. The autonomous agency of news workers is an essential indicator of how journalism work is fulfilling its role as the fourth estate in American democracy. This dissertation examined how autonomy is either inhibited or enabled by a myriad of factors in the digital news frontier. I worked with the editorial staff at a hyper-local digitally native news organization, The Golden Gate, over the course of one year. I began the research process with a participant observation period. Then a few months later the staff completed a moral psychology-based survey online. My data collection period ended with in-depth participant interviews based on the themes found during the first two phases. My data collection resulted in several themes to answer my research questions concerning the organizational structure, leadership, socialization, and autonomy of The Golden Gate. These themes included company culture (divided into several sub themes), routine and workflow (also divided into several sub themes), individual autonomy, individual processes of growth, organizational autonomy (also divided into several sub themes), and professional autonomy. The first overarching perspective I gained during this study was that the experimental hyper-local journalism model enacted by The Golden Gate digital news organization represented a new wave of digital journalism. The Golden Gate's digital product was a carefully curated newsletter representing a richer take on conveying not just their original reporting, but the story of the city. A second overarching perspective I gained during my research process was seeing the strength of how the moral psychology components informed the media sociological considerations of my research site. The moral psychology survey components teased out the ethical climates of the staff. The highest ranking ethical climate (according to the Ethical Climate Questionnaire results) for The Golden Gate was the social responsibility climate, a climate that speaks to journalistic professional norms of serving the public good. The second highest ranked ECQ was the teamwork climate. These ethical orientations stemmed in part from the company's structuring vision of an audience-first focus, but they also flowed from the staff's strong allegiance to professional journalistic norms, as deciphered from the moral psychology components of my survey. I also found support for my variables. When I examined my data on the variable of The Golden Gate's organizational structure and routines, I found that in some ways, the company practiced traditional news culture. They exemplified high levels of independence in their reporting processes. The routine of the staff needing to divide their time between traditional reporting and public relations roles, however, was where the culture of the organization shifted significantly. They also exemplified a highly collaborative and role sharing work ethic. When I evaluated the leadership structure at The Golden Gate, I found a culture where each staff member was expected to take complete ownership of their role in the company. From the top down, everyone pitched in as needed, and they were all asked to actively participate in money and workflow committees as part of their regular duties. When I evaluated levels of autonomy, The Golden Gate staff exemplified high levels of autonomous agency in nearly every area of their work. Even in collaborative moments, the staff members each contributed their unique strengths and perspectives to get stories out. The staff also expressed a high level of freedom from top-level oversight as they shaped the voicing and coverage of their city. The staff did convey, however, a tension of the audience-first focus as a major driver of what stories they would work on. I also explored future research implications for media ethics, media sociology, and moral psychology, all research paradigms that can offer rich and varied perspectives on the future of digital journalism work.
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    Beauty and the treatment of addiction
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) Czyszczewski, Justin, author; Kneller, Jane, advisor; Stallones, Lorann, committee member; Tropman, Elizabeth, committee member
    Drug and alcohol addiction are highly destructive, reaping significant damage on society, on addicts, and on their families and friends. The past century has seen a vast increase in the treatment of addiction, but these methods have failure rates of 50% or greater. This work seeks an alternative approach to addiction treatment, using the concept of reflective aesthetic judgment presented by Immanuel Kant in the Critique of Judgment. This approach is justified by an examination of the experiences of addicts, working from the problem as it is understood to a possible solution. Because the problem is an inadequacy of willpower, cognitive treatment methods are unlikely to be successful. An aesthetic conception of treatment, which appeals to a common human aesthetic sense for the beautiful, offers a non-cognitive method that is universally communicable. This would appeal to people trapped in the isolated and alienated experience of addiction. The focus is a philosophical understanding of the mechanism of addiction, and identifying some of the necessary conditions for treatment of it. In light of this, suggestions are given for possible components of such treatment, such as art therapy, spiritual practices, and appreciation of nature.
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    Epistemic citizenship: a new defense of role-based epistemic normativity
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Kirchner, John J. S., author; Kasser, Jeff, advisor; Tropman, Elizabeth, committee member; MacDonald, Bradley, committee member
    One problem facing epistemic deontology is its (apparent) incompatibility with doxastic involuntarism. Intuitively, deontic epistemic evaluations—e.g., blame or reproach for unjustified belief—seem unbefitting if we can't control that which we believe. However, Richard Feldman proposes a solve to this seeming incompatibility, which is a role-based approach to epistemic normativity. When we find ourselves within certain roles, the normativity of performing within one's role appropriately, as one ought, can generate obligations, permissions, duties, etc. If we can rightly conceive of a "believer role," then we can have coherent deontological normativity, even if we, in fact, lack control over our doxastic attitudes. However, Matthew Chrisman advances strong criticisms of the role-based approach, criticisms which I will argue ultimately fail. In response to Chrisman, I will argue that our doxastic role as a believer is akin to our role as political citizens. The upshot of the project will be a revitalized defense of role-based epistemic deontology, and a more apt analogy, i.e., that of epistemic citizen. Chrisman's assertions of the role-based approach's inherent explanatory insufficiencies will be shown to be unfounded once role-normativity itself is understood more precisely.
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    Lema sabachthani
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) Meyer, Andrew Franklin, author; Plastini, Johnny, advisor; Dormer, James, advisor; Moseman, Eleanor, committee member; Lundberg, Thomas, committee member; Tropman, Elizabeth, committee member
    This body of work is a combination of exploration within classic methods of printmaking, as well as, a new advance in the technical application of building a resist in Intaglio printmaking. This thesis is a representation of diligent hours of exploration, creativity and research. The work spans multiple approaches within printmaking, and delves into a wide variety of marks, textures and media. The apex of the work embraces fully a newly discovered and researched method of creating a resist on a printing matrix. This new form of mark-making is catalyzed through a reaction between water and liquefied rosin upon a copper plate. The water and rosin repel and react with one another resulting in a uniquely constructed resist to be etched and printed. The methodology is best suited for the intended concept and scale. The conceptual aspects of the work encompass a variety of notions such as: finding the Self within abstraction, Heideggarian philosophical concepts, comparison between self-awareness and oblivion, and presence.
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    Semantic and global irrealism
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2010) Perry, Jeremiah Alexander Burnette, author; Losonsky, Michael, advisor; Tropman, Elizabeth, committee member; Troup, Lucy, committee member
    This thesis is concerned with skepticism about linguistic meaning and the consequences that follow from this view. After clarifying various positions that support skepticism about meaning - broadly classified under the umbrella term semantic irrealism - I weave a common thread through these different characterizations and use that formulation for the remainder of the thesis. In chapter two I examine the premises for the argument that semantic irrealism globalizes to the conclusion that no sentence is substantially true. After evaluating attempts found within the literature to block this inference, I argue that it cannot be blocked in the ways considered. Chapter three is a response to objections that the global irrealist position is both incoherent and unstable. I argue that it is neither and conclude that if semantic irrealism is the case, then this necessarily entails global irrealism.
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    The complexity of the mind: rejecting modularity on the basis of cognitive penetration and cognitive phenomenology
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) Hershberger, Joelle, author; MacKenzie, Matthew, advisor; Tropman, Elizabeth, committee member; Rhodes, Matthew, committee member
    Historically, cognitive scientists and philosophers have accepted a theory of the mind known as modularity, whereby individual thought processes are completely separate and insulated from one another—meaning that cognitions have no influence on perceptions. However, the recent literature has seen a resurgence in support of a thesis of cognitive penetration, which suggests that cognitions can and do influence perceptions in a way that would be impossible if the mind were modular in the traditional sense. In addition to calling the idea of modularity into question, cognitive penetrability raises some passing concerns for the objectivity of scientific observation, and certain philosophical distinctions such as that between cognition and perception. Along similar lines, the literature has also seen an increase in the exploration of cognitive phenomenology, which similarly calls into question the distinction between cognition and perception and requires a model of the mind which is less clear-cut than the modular view. As such, it seems that given the evidence, one cannot accept either penetrability or cognitive phenomenology without accepting the other, given that they both rest on a similar view of the mind. In addition to calling into question the literal distinction between cognition and perception (though it may remain intact on a conceptual level), a subsection of cognitive phenomenology, known as evaluative phenomenology (the unique phenomenal character of emotions) similarly makes ambiguous the philosophical distinction between reason and emotion. Breaking this dichotomy, as well, makes the possible epistemic consequences of penetrability pale in comparison to those implied by cognitive phenomenology. While this is not an answer to the issues raised by penetrability, it does contextualize the difficulties in a way which opens the system up to a deeper understanding.
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    The pragmatic fulfillment view and evaluations of meaning in life
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) Krause, Nicholas, author; MacKenzie, Matthew, advisor; Tropman, Elizabeth, committee member; Wong, Cori, committee member
    Susan Wolf developed her well-known Fitting Fulfillment View in the hope of avoiding some of the pitfalls of a purely subjective approach to understanding meaning in life. In doing so, Wolf built in an objective criterion for qualifying for a meaningful life. This objective criterion makes it necessary for one to engage in appropriately worthy pursuits if her life is to be considered meaningful. Wolf concedes to the difficulties of filling out the details of a "worthiness condition" for conferring meaning to one's life. It is my hope here to provide a framework that will help clarify Wolf's worthiness condition. Specifically, I will argue that certain readings or strains of American pragmatism can be useful in constructing appropriately worthy or attractive pursuits for increasing meaning in life. I will argue that this approach—the Pragmatic Fulfillment View—will not only elucidate a worthiness condition but will also have the distinct advantages of being both maximally inclusive and practically-oriented toward amplifying meaning in life.