Undergraduate Research in Philosophy

Students in philosophy have the opportunity to conduct research by applying for funded research opportunities each summer (, SURP) or completing an optional senior thesis. Below is a list of some recent research conducted by philosophy students.

Summer Research Projects

Can Morality be Saved from Luck?
Claire Zhang ’27; Advisor: Professor Julie Tannenbaum
Funding provided by The Clarence ’62 P’91, Carolyn P’91 and Peter ’91 Sasaki Fund, 2020

What Is A Woman? No, Really: Philosophizing Gender
Ash Ahrenhoerster ‘25; Advisor: Professor Denise Machin
Funding provided by The Clarence ’62 P’91, Carolyn P’91 and Peter ’91 Sasaki Fund, 2020

On the Commensurability of Dialectical Materialism and Afro-Pessimism
Drey Diggs '24; Advisor: Professor Peter Thielke
Funding provided by the Paul and Evalyn Richter Award

Personal Identity and the External World
Lavi Echeverria ‘24; Advisor: Professor Masahiro Yamada
Funding provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities Challenge Grant

Existentialism and Counter-Hegemony
Drey Diggs '24; Advisor: Professor Ellie Anderson
Funding provided by The Clarence ’62 P’91, Carolyn P’91 and Peter ’91 Sasaki Fund, 2020

Is it Morally Permissible to Engage with Art by Immoral Artists?
Soo Bin Cho '23; Advisor: Professor Julie Tannenbaum
Funding provided by the Paul and Evalyn Richter Award

The Ephemeral, the Erotic, and the Violent: Georges Bataille in the Work of Yukio Mishima
Sam Hernandez '24; Advisor: Professor Ellie Anderson
Funding provided by the Paul and Evalyn Richter Award

Cheer: an Analysis of Competitive Sports and their Phenomenological Implications
Piper Sato '22; Advisor: Professor Ellie Anderson
Funding provided by the Paul and Evalyn Richter Award

Justifications for, and Requirements of, Informed Consent: A Critical Review of the Literature
Chloe Sun '23; Advisor: Professor Julie Tannenbaum
Funding provided by the Paul and Evalyn Richter Award

Prehistoric Archaeological Site v. LEGOLAND: A Philosophical Analysis of the Current Dilemma on Jung Island, South Korea
Soo Bin Cho '22; Advisor: Professor Peter Thielke
Funding provided by The Clarence ’62 P’91, Carolyn P’91 and Peter ’91 Sasaki Fund, 2020

On Fetal Rights: Killing vs. Letting Die in Abortion Ethics
Jenna Lange '23; Advisor: Professor Julie Tannenbaum
Funding provided by The Clarence ’62 P’91, Carolyn P’91 and Peter ’91 Sasaki Fund, 2020

Rights of Prisoners
Andy Han '23; Advisor: Professor Julie Tannenbaum
Funding provided by The Clarence ’62 P’91, Carolyn P’91 and Peter ’91 Sasaki Fund, 2020

Praise and Blame of Huckleberry Finn
Russell Hillabrand '20; Advisor: Professor Julie Tannenbaum
Funding provided by The Clarence ’62 P’91, Carolyn P’91 and Peter ’91 Sasaki Fund, 2020

Constructing a Model for a Just Penal System through a Utilitarian Lens
Scott Scharlach '22; Advisor: Professor Peter Thielke
Funding provided by 6VµçÓ°Íø RAISE, 2020

Taking Philosophy to The Public:
Kevin Hua '23; Advisor: Professor Julie Tannenbaum
Funding provided by 6VµçÓ°Íø RAISE, 2020

The Ethics of Individual Mandates and Privatized Health Care. 
Chloe Kellison '22; Advisor: Professor Julie Tannenbaum
Funding provided by Paul K. Richter and Evalyn E. Cook Richter Memorial Fund, 2020

Assessing Medical Resource Scarcity Policies during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Francis Northwood '21; Advisor: Professor Julie Tannenbaum
Funding provided by 6VµçÓ°Íø RAISE, 2020

The Poetic Spirit of Maria Zambrano’s Philosophy
Jesus Munoz '20; Advisor: Professor Mary Coffey
Funding provided by The Clarence ’62 P’91, Carolyn P’91 and Peter ’91 Sasaki Fund, 2019

Addressing Open Existential Questions Through Physics
Oscar Torres '20; Advisors: Professor Laura Perini and Brian Keeley (Pitzer)
NEH Challenge Grant, 2018

What makes coercion immoral?
James McIntyre '19; Advisor: Peter Thielke
NEH Challenge Grant, 2018

The Ethics of Redistributive Economic Policy
Anikka Villegas '19; Advisor: Professor Michael Green
Funding provided by The Clarence ’62 P’91, Carolyn P’91 and Peter ’91 Sasaki Fund, 2018

Blurred Reality: Arguing for the Ethical Weight of Gaming
Lucas Nelson '18; Advisor: Peter Thielke
Funding provided by Paul K. Richter and Evalyn E. Cook Richter Memorial Fund, 2017

Can You Imagine the Impossible?
Anika Arvanitis '20; Advisor: Peter Kung
Funding provided by The Clarence ’62 P’91, Carolyn P’91 and Peter ’91 Sasaki Fund, 2017

Cyborg Selves
Octave Duclos '18; Advisor: Laura Perini
Funding provided by 6VµçÓ°Íø SURP, 2017

A New Challenge to Conventionalism
Coleman Solis '19; Mentor: Julie Tannenbaum
Funding provided by Aubrey H & Eileen J Seed Fund, 2017

Tolerance and Disagreement in Rawls’s Liberalism
Will Schumacher '18; Mentor: Michael Green
Funding provided by Evelyn B. Craddock McVicar Memorial Fund, 2017

The Role of Aesthetic Concepts in Musical Experience: A Critique of Nick Zangwill’s Music, Metaphor and Aesthetic Concepts
Paskalina Bourbon '19; Mentor: Laura Perini
Funding by Aubrey H & Eileen J Seed Fund​, 2017

Bio-Spectacle: Unity in the Disjunction
Max Aguero ’17; Mentor: Peter Thielke
Funding provided by The Clarence ’62 P’91, Carolyn P’91 and Peter ’91 Sasaki Fund, 2016

Some Hegelian Ideas Applied to Thomas Kuhn's Philosophy of Science
William Schumacher ’18; Mentor: Peter Thielke
Funding provided by 6VµçÓ°Íø SURP, 2016

Eastern and Western Philosophy in Dialogue
Jennifer Kim ’17; Mentor: Peter Thielke
​Funding provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities, 2015

The Social Safety Net: Should Benefits be Work Conditional?
Nicole Ross ’14; Mentors: Professors Michael Green and Alex Rajczi (CMC)
Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities, 2014

An Exploration of Neurotypical Perception via our Current Understanding of Neuroatypical Perception
Danielle Holstein â€™14; Mentors: Professors Laura Perini and Brian Keeley (Pitzer College)
Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities, 2013

 

Senior Theses

The Evaluative Function of Truth: An Account of the Role of Truth in Understanding Language
Paskalina Bourbon '19; Mentors: Professors Masahiro Yamada and Peter Thielke

A New Account of Indoctrination
James McIntyre '19; Mentors: Professors Peter Thielke and Brian Keeley

The Moral Weight of Virtual Action
Lucas Nelson '18; Mentor: Professor Peter Thielke

The Transcendental Self
 Jennifer Kim '17; Mentors: Professors Erickson and Peter Thielke

Defending the Social Good Theory of Punishment
Sydney Scott '16; Mentors: Professors Michael Green and Peter Thielke​

Trouble with Time: Some Problems Asymptomatic Conditions Raise for Theories of Health
Nicole Ross '15; Mentors: Andrew Schroeder (CMC) and Michael Green

The Paradox of Painful Art and the Sublime According to Schopenhauer and Nietzsche as Its Solution
Kenton Freemuth ’15; Mentors: Professors Michael Green and Peter Thielke

The Value of Virtue: the relationship between moral and intellectual virtues in virtue epistemology
​Yi Li ’14; Mentors: Professors Peter Kung and Masahiro Yamada (CGU)

Imprisonment, Coercion, and Capitalist Exchange
Jesse Spafford ’12; Mentors: Professors Julie Tannenbaum and Peter Kung