STUDENT SESSION

OCTOBER 31

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Dr. John Richardson

New York University

"Nietzsche's Most Dangerous Idea:

Eternal Return"

STUDENT SPEAKERS

Jon Patrick Ross

Graduate Student, University of Utah

"Nietzsche Contra Swanton's Virtue Ethics."

Abstract

In “Nietzsche and Rand as Virtuous Egoists” Christine Swanton attributes to Nietzsche an ethical framework which is supposedly both virtuous and egoistic. Swanton envisions this virtuous egoism as a universal maxim, applicable to any arbitrary individual; it is against this facet of her account that I wage my critique. I argue to the contrary that Nietzsche would have, at the very least, rejected the scope of this maxim. Additionally, I provide grounds for doubting the legitimacy of ascribing to Nietzsche any ethical maxim which purports to serve as the guiding principle for the lives of the higher types of individuals. Nietzsche appears so concerned with throughout his corpus. If I am right, this by no means inhibits Swanton's project of constructing what she takes to be a viable conception of virtuous egoism. However, it does undermine Swanton's attempt to develop a plausible species of virtuous egoism credibly imputable to Nietzsche.

Biography

I received a B.A. in Philosophy and a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Missouri – Kansas City. Recently, I completed my Master's degree in Philosophy at the University of Utah and I'm currently working towards a PhD. My areas of interest are very broad: 19th Century Philosophy (especially Nietzsche & Kierkegaard), Philosophy of Literature (in particular Dostoevsky), Epistemology, Formal Logic, Philosophy of Mathematics, Philosophy of Action, and Metaethics – to name a few. When I'm not doing philosophy I play a lot of chess. It seems that I suffer from a serious case of cinephilia (especially with respect to East Asian films), so much of my time is spent under the dim lights of the silver screen. Following Nietzsche's maxim to “inaugurate culture in the right place... the body, demeanor, diet, physiology”, I eat clean and lift borderline religiously. I'm also an avid martial arts enthusiast (currently I practice Tae Kwon Do).

Deanna Waldron

Salt Lake Community College

"The Freedom In Nihilism"

Abstract

The intent of my position is pose the question of Nietzsche’s “slave morality” within the context of Nihilism being both the problem in creating “slave morality”, as well as the solution to “slave morality”. I will dissect the differences between active and passive nihilism as the way we participate within, and potentially escape from “slave morality”. It is my position that Nietzsche believes that nihilism as a destructive force gives way to a creative force, and his only hope to create a new morality. I will also offer the comparison of Soren Kierkegaard’s “Authentic Self” and Friedrich Nietzsche’s “Ubermensch” as the founding for the creation of a new morality. The overall goal of the stance in destruction of “slave morality” is to embrace the groundlessness of our morality through absolute creative freedom.

Rob Snow

Salt Lake Community College

"Nietzsche. Becoming the Overman."

Biography

Robert Dylan Snow is a student at SLCC predominately studying the humanities with a focus on psychology. After finishing general courses at SLCC it is my plan to transfer up to the University of Utah to study criminal psychology. I am currently enrolled in Dr. Alexander Izrailevsky's Ethics and Moral Problems class.

Abstract

Using Nietzsche's various concepts together such as The Will to Power, Slave/master Morality, Nihilism, Modernity, and the Death of God I attempt to paint a clearer picture of the Overman

Jordan Perkowski

Southern Utah University

"Nietzsche's Commitment to a System"

Biography

I am Jordan Perkowski. I am a student currently attending Southern Utah University working towards a Bachelors of Science in Philosophy. I became a philosophy major during my second year at SUU; my introduction to logic class is what lured me into studying more philosophy, and ultimately making it my major. I have a lot of different interests in philosophy; a few are philosophy of science, philosophy of action, and existentialism.

Abstract

In The Gay Science, Nietzsche criticizes system builders who try to build systems that encompasses a variety of different traditional philosophical areas, including metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics. Nietzsche’s critiques seem to establish that he himself would not have a system. Nietzsche does make positive claims within these areas, thus he is either committed to a system or is inconsistent. In this paper I argue that from Nietzsche's claims an internally coherent and consistent system can be derived. More specifically a system that explains Nietzsche’s metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical claims together. To establish that Nietzsche is not inconsistent I take aphorisms in The Gay science that seem to arrive at inconsistent or contradictory claims, and show how they fit together with an internally consistent system.

Abstract

Nietzsche does not follow the traditional method of philosophy. As a result is often accused of not having a system for metaphysics and ethics. Nietzsche makes claims such as “god is dead” and “our intellect has produced nothing but errors” that only seem to strengthen the idea that Nietzsche does not offer a system. When we turn to section 205 in Beyond Good and Evil he says: “Wisdom …getting out of the wicked game but the genuine philosopher …lives unwisely …and plays the wicked game”, which is to say that a philosopher both is unwise and yet uses wisdom. It seems that Nietzsche is contradicting himself. In this essay, I will argue that such apparent contradictions are only apparent. I show that Nietzsche rejects certain types of systems, but that he adopts a different type. I conclude that Nietzsche abandons the traditional method of philosophy and offers a new type of system concerning metaphysics and ethics.

Biography

Katie Barnes is a philosophy major at Southern Utah University. Her preferred subjects in philosophy included Existentialism and Ethics. Katie plans on starting a nontraditional private school that provides a personalized education experience. Born and raised in Wyoming, Katie is an avid hiker and loves spending time in the mountains. She is passionate about learning new things, and traveling. She has currently visited 10 countries in addition to living in Ukraine and China.

Katie Barnes

Southern Utah University

"Does Nietzsche have a System?"

Abstract

Nietzsche has been accused by many of being against any kind of encompassing philosophical systems. This isn’t true and stems from a misunderstanding about what exactly it takes to constitute a system. He even seems to be explicitly attacking traditional systems in Section 110 of Book 3 concerning the “erroneous articles of faith” where he says that we are mistaken in holding system derived beliefs such as, “that there are things, substances, bodies; that a thing is what it appears to be; that our will is free; that what is good for me is also good in itself.” In my paper I will show that Nietzsche can in fact, given a specific interpretation of that same section, be shown to have a system. I will show that this system has as its main tenet a state of constant flux, which, while primarily grounded in his metaphysics runs throughout his views of epistemology, ethics and social political philosophy as well. I will begin by first defining just what I mean when I use the term system and exploring the common factors that hold for his. I will then explore each of the aforementioned disciplines and show how they all fit together as part of Nietzsche’s system.

Lucas Wentz

Southern Utah University

"The System of the Gay Science"

Biography

My name is Lucas Wentz. I was born on May 3, 1988 in Ventura, CA. I lived in that area until I was about 16 years old. I then moved to Cedar City, UT where I graduated from Canyon View High School in 2006. I went on to join the Navy from there where I spent 5 years from 2006-2011 as an Avionics Technician for F/A-18 aircrafts. After finishing my enlistment in 2011 I began attending Southern Utah University as a Criminal Justice major. In my first semester I took an Intro to Philosophy class that I did very well in and very much enjoyed. The next semester I made Philosophy my minor. The semester after that I came to realize that I was focused far more on Philosophy than on Criminal Justice so I finally made the move to change my major to Philosophy. Now I am a senior, tutor Philosophy for the Language and Philosophy department and am one of the presidents of SUU’s Philosophy Club. I particularly enjoy Existentialism, especially Nietzsche, and Legal Philosophy. I’m hoping to go on to grad school and get my PhD and then teach Philosophy at the University level.

Stuart Donaldson

Salt Lake Community College

"Technology and Nihilism"

Joel Christian Echols

Salt Lake Community College

“On the Notion of Objective Value”

I’m a current SLCC student, a post-nihilist, and a Co-President of All-Booked-Up, llc, an online media retailer and reseller. I appreciate this unique opportunity to share my thoughts about such an important subject in modern society.

Laya Smith

Salt Lake Community College

'Indebted to a Libertine: The Marquis de Sade's Contributions to Nihilism'

Rachelle Geary

Salt Lake Community College

"Nihilism + The Ultimate Feminine; Simone de Beauvoir's Response to Nihilism"

Rachelle Geary is completing her undergraduate degree in general studies at Salt Lake Community College. After which, she will go on to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy. She is currently enrolled in the Philosophy course on Morals and Ethics, taught by Conference Director and Creator, Dr. Alexander Izrailevsky. Her focus within the studies of Philosophy, thus far, is on feminism. In addition to her education, she coordinates court mediation programs for a local non-profit mediation organization, and teaches three alternative dispute resolution courses to alternative high school students and teenagers from the Sudanese community of Utah.

Maria Arellano

Salt Lake Community College

"Nietzsche and The Language of Equality"

Jordan Menna

Salt Lake Community College

"A Critique on Nietzsche's Will to Power"

Barbenly Vergara

Salt Lake Community College

"Nietzsche's Life-Affirming Philosophy: From Active Nihilism to Amor Fati"

BIOGRAPHY

Immigrating from the Philippines with family at the age of 7, I spent my formative years in Utah County raised in the Catholic Church and attending LDS activities with friends and family. Being raised in culturally ingrained dogmatic traditions surrounded by a similarly intense conservative culture, I asked early on what made these two faithful traditions so different and what made them similar. No longer belonging a faith, except the occasional Kierkegaardian leap, I still seek to find what makes human experiences similar even though we're all molded by such a variety of forces. This has lead me to a similarly various array of influential fields, most notably the integrative and growing study of neuroscience. On a long and paced path towards this undying interest, I have sought the guiding hands of the arts and humanities (from literature and comics to music and film) to keep my mental state plastic and open to creative discovery.

Alex Tarbet

Salt Lake Community College

"Nothing New About Them! Nietzsche’s New Philosophers as Upholders of Physis"

BIOGRAPHY: I'm a senior at Utah State with majors in Philosophy and History and minors in Latin and Greek. My main interest is in literary themes and myths in Plato's works, but I'm also obsessed with the relationship of comedy to philosophy in general, of low-brow to high-brow, and rhetoric to truth. Nietzsche, for example, thought Plato keeping a copy of Aristophanes under his pillow at night was the only way he could stand being Plato.

ABSTRACT: I question Nietzsche's prophecy about "new" philosophers, and would like to open a discussion about a character in Plato's Gorgias named Callicles. Nietzsche's view was common among the ancients, who struggled for centuries with the concepts of nomos and physis (law and nature). Plato's project in the ancient world was to respond to thinkers like this, not vice-versa. So perhaps Nietzsche's prophecy is somewhat less philosophically exciting than it seems. I hope this short essay will benefit from some input and dialogue in order to be expanded, revised, or scrapped. Maybe we can shed a little light on Nietzsche's background and the fascinating relationship he has with Plato and the sophists in the meantime.

Andrew Williams

Salt Lake Community College

"Nihilism and its Influence in America"

Michael Ettinger

Salt Lake Community College

Preston Carter

Weber State University

"Foucault's Nietzschean Inheritance"

Bio: I'm a Senior Philosophy and English Language and Literature major at Weber State University, born and raised in the Salt Lake City area. I was first exposed to philosophy in a high school philosophy course where I encountered Nietzsche along with the ancients and early moderns. Since then I've been exploring what the discipline has to offer. I must admit that I made English my second major instead of psychology in order to study as much of Nietzsche and Existentialism as I possibly could, but I do have interests in history and literature as well, and have been pleased by the philosophy masked as literary theory that the English dept. works with. I work as a writing consultant, philosophy supplemental instructor, and I coordinate the National Undergraduate Literature Conference at WSU. Apart from spending all of my time on campus, I write creatively, fiction and poetry, listen to a lot of music, and play a bit of guitar. I'm uncertain what the future has in store, but I do intend to continue studying philosophy and hope to pursue a professional career in it at some point down the road.

Abstract: Michel Foucault has called himself a Nietzschean, and a segment of his writing has even been defined (by himself and others) as his Genealogical period, but all the while there have been questions raised about the extent to which he carries on the tradition of Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche is an enigmatic thinker whose ideas have proved hard to pin down. This poses a difficulty for anyone trying to understand Nietzsche's tradition of thought and what it would mean to be a part of that tradition. In this paper I will make the case that Foucault carries on Nietzsche's tradition in three ways and will explore some of the differences: the genealogical method, the concept of power, and philosophizing without interest in resolution being the key commonalities and their understanding of metaethics and autonomy along with their rhetoric being the arguable differences between these two formidable figures.

Daniel Alexander

Utah State University

"Nietzsche and History"

Biography:

My name is Daniel Alexander. I am an undergraduate student at Utah State University dual majoring in history and philosophy and dual minoring in sociology and German. I was born in Logan, Utah in 1990. Since the third grade I have always had a deep interest in history and how the past shapes the present. Besides studying philosophers like Nietzsche, Hegel, Kant, Hume, and Foucault, I am beginning the slow process of learning the German language. Some of my favorite historical works are Herodotus’ The Histories, Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War, Dennis Showalter’s Hitler’s Panzers, Michel Foucault’s The History of Madness, and Eric Wolf’s Europe and the People Without History. In my free time I enjoying writing music in my thrash and death metal bands, playing tennis, writing fiction, and paintball. I plan on going to graduate school in history.

Abstract:

It goes without saying that Friedrich Nietzsche’s work is deeply controversial and raises challenging questions for those in the academic sphere. In his work On the Utility and Liability of History for Life, Nietzsche argues that the professional historian possesses rather damaging practices that do not champion life and distort how mankind develops through the ages. Nietzsche sought to uphold the idea that there can be no objective idea of man, that history has no end goal (as Hegel believed in his concept of Welt Geist,) and that man’s essence is “above” him, as demonstrated in his essay Schopenhauer as Educator. In this essay I will argue that humanistic approaches to historical events can be dangerous and may produce a warped, apathetic society, as Nietzsche believed. As students of Western philosophy, it should be an objective of ours to seek out a nexus between history and philosophy, to determine whether or not one can strengthen the other, and to assert a plausible way of living in accordance with the past.

Andrew Pixton

U of U, SLCC alumnus

"Nihilism from Nietzsche"

Abstract: "The resulting emptiness seems logical, even inevitable. What can a fact or piece of evidence give us? It is information about function or an account of the past. It has not placed any value on the thoughts, feelings, and decisions we make. Our sense of purpose survived until we understood the cosmos and the human body, especially the brain. And this comes not just from a knowledge of neural activity, but could be extended to the particle makeup of the entire universe."

I'm a SLCC alumni and attend the U of U now for a BA in Philosophy and International Studies. I grew up in Salt Lake, I enjoy anything ranging from reading, going to concerts, doing outdoor activities and martial arts. I served an LDS mission in Oklahoma City and have some anarchist political leanings. My favorite philosophers are Kierkegaard, Kant, and Socrates (and I suppose by that, Plato as well). Niethzsche and Rand have also had a lot of influence on me.

Chase Herbert

SLCC

"Nietzsche & The Trolley Problem"

Bio: My name is Chase Hebert, pronounced “A-Bear,” (its French, don’t think too much about it). I am currently attending my first semester in college, where I am academically learning about philosophy for the first time. In high school I participated in a form of debate known as Lincoln-Douglas (or LD as its referred) where the participants debate over ethical topics such as abortion/death penalty/trolley dilemma/ etc. It was here where I was introduced to philosophers and their theories. I studied these pieces of these theories randomly, with no insight or guidance, and in no particular order; just whatever happened to strike my fancy at any given time. Towards the end of my time in high school & debate I stumbled across post-modernism (a label I unfortunately fit Nietzsche into), and became very influenced by the works I had read. After high school I enlisted into the United States Navy (Hooyah) where I worked as a Military Police Officer for 5 years. The first two I participated in Nuclear Weapon Security and the last three I conducted law enforcement on a military base. Half way through my enlistment I married by wife, whom I had met in high school and was a debater herself, and have been happily married (with no kids) since. I find a high interest in the world of ethics and morals, and plan on continuing my education in the worlds of criminal justice and philosophy.