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The Gadfly – Spring 2013 LaGuardia Community College Presents The Gadfly – Spring 2013 The Philosophy Program and Philosophy Club of LaGuardia Community College and The Student Advisory Council of LaGuardia Community College proudly presents the fourth annual issue of: THE GADFLY Dying for the truth since 399 BC Editors in Chief Stefania-Alexandra Dinu and Jonathan Lucas-Sacta A Note from the Editors The Gadfly is in its fourth year of publication. Since the publishing of our first issue, LaGuardia Philosophy has expanded into a wonderful curriculum of insight and wonder. LaGuardia’s Philosophy Program has grown to welcome all people who seek the answers to their unasked questions embedded within the world of Philosophy. With new students entering LaGuardia majoring in Philosophy, our program is expanding into one of the most prestigious in all of CUNY. Due to the constant success of previous CUNY Undergraduate Philosophy Conferences, LaGuardia Philosophy sponsored a Third Annual CUNY Undergraduate Philosophy Conference on April 19, 2013 at LaGuardia Community College. This issue of The Gadfly is uniquely notable as it showcases the work of students and commentators who presented at the conference and of other LaGuardia students who captured the attention of our staff. Therefore, it is a pleasure to showcase the presentations of these undergraduates representing Grand State Valley University, City College, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Sarah Lawrence College, Valdosta State University and LaGuardia Community College We hope you enjoy the fourth issue of The Gadfly LaGuardia Community College’s Philosophy Journal 1 LaGuardia Community College Presents The Gadfly – Spring 2013 Special Thanks to: LaGuardia Philosophy Program Faculty, For all your hard work and dedication, but more importantly, your nonstop support and guidance. The Student Advisory Council Of LaGuardia Community College, for funding the printing of this journal. The LaGuardia Philosophy Program And Philosophy Club for sponsoring this journal. All the students who submitted their original work. Professor Emmanuel Nartey and Professor Leslie Aarons for your talents and commitment to mentoring the Philosophy Club Stefania-Alexandra Dinu and Professor Sarah Midkiff for the design of the front cover. Mirian Edith Tellez for your constant inspiration and creative innovation. Nuve Catalina Vera Arteaga for your endless spark, amaranthine elegance, and delightful enthusiasm. Karl Azizi at Neko Print and Document Imaging, for your consistent high quality service and timely printing of this journal. LaGuardia Community College Philosophy THE GADFLY Spring 2013 [email protected] 2 LaGuardia Community College Presents The Gadfly – Spring 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Special Thanks 2 Table of Contents 3 _____________________________________________ Paper Presentations and Comments Emptiness in Art: The Deceptively Hidden Nature of Lichtenstein’s “Kitsch” 6 Joshua Liveris – City College Merits and Pitfalls: A Commentary 17 Ting Yih – LaGuardia Community College The Determinist Paradox 21 Gregory Smith – Sarah Lawrence College Musings: A Commentary 31 Rosemary Jill Schaeffer – LaGuardia Community College Causal Theory of Reference’s Extension to Natural Kind Terms: 33 Rigid Designation, Rigid Application, and Change Adam Shatsky - Grand Valley State University Free Will Evolves in a Determined World 41 Danny Choi – LaGuardia Community College _____________________________________________ Abstracts of Posterboard Presentations On The Nature of The Self 49 Joseph Cutolo – LaGuardia Community College Understanding Buddhist Social Action in Burma 50 Jason Cole Singletary – Valdosta State University 3 LaGuardia Community College Presents The Gadfly – Spring 2013 Existentialism and the Contemporary Moral Self 51 Emiliya Abramova - John Jay College of Criminal Justice _____________________________________________ Philosophy and Popular Culture Jedi Reductionism and Paleo-Compatibilism 53 Bryan Parsons – LaGuardia Community College The Zombie in the Mirror 60 Johnny Cercado – LaGuardia Community College The Truth Strikes and Bites Back 64 Mira Vuorinen – LaGuardia Community College _____________________________________________ LaGuardia Community College Philosophy THE GADFLY Spring 2013 [email protected] 4 LaGuardia Community College Presents The Gadfly – Spring 2013 Read Previous Issues of The Gadfly here: http://www.lagcc.cuny.edu/philosophy/gadfly/ If you would like to submit a paper for publication in the next issue of The Gadfly, send it to: [email protected] with your name and “Gadfly Submission” in the subject line. Please include your name and school in the body of the email. Philosophy at LaGuardia Community College [email protected] Become a fan on Facebook and Google Groups! Find us on the web at: http://www.lagcc.cuny.edu/philosophy Philosophy Program – Humanities Department LaGuardia Community College 3110 Thomson Ave E202 Long Island City, NY 11101 5 LaGuardia Community College Presents The Gadfly – Spring 2013 Emptiness in Art: The Deceptively Hidden Nature of Lichtenstein’s “Kitsch” Joshua Liveris City University of New York – City College Philosophy is a tool that can aid us in our understanding of works of art, and in analyzing these works we can come to understand the merits and pitfalls of a philosophical approach to art. The artwork that this paper will focus on comes from the late artist Roy Lichtenstein. Lichtenstein’s series titled Landscapes in the Chinese Style challenges the notion of avant-garde art put forth by Clement Greenberg, falling somewhere between the realm of abstract and kitsch art. We shall come to see why Greenberg’s view of art creates a tension for Lichtenstein’s pieces when viewed using Greenberg’s approach. Then, we shall see the deceptively hidden nature of the avant-garde that rests in Lichtenstein’s seemingly kitsch works, and see how the essence of the avant-garde can be best described using the Buddhist notion of emptiness. But first let us examine these works in full using a descriptive analysis, and then we shall follow with Greenberg’s philosophical analysis of the works and investigate the tension that arises. As we will see, it is this tension that will lead us to uncover the empty nature of these works of art. Lichtenstein’s Landscapes in the Chinese Style can be thought of as an exercise in re- interpretation. What Lichtenstein has set out to do with these works is to re-interpret traditional Chinese prints of landscapes and scenes in nature by using techniques that depict these scenes as modern printed versions. Lichtenstein’s work mimics the effects of modern printing through the heavy use of Benday dots, thick outlines, and solid colors, drawing the viewer to both the surface of the artistic medium and to the representational depth of the landscapes depicted. Upon seeing these works the viewer is at once hit with an array of colored dots – patterned in a way to represent great spaces and vast landscapes. Yet, they are peculiarly drawn to the primary shape, the Benday dot, which resides on the surface of the canvas. In addition to the great scheme of colored dots, tiny figures of men and women sparsely populate these scenes. There are fisherman in canoes, elderly people with canes, bridges, rocks, trees, and bamboo shoots, all laid out across densely mountainous landscapes where rivers and waterfalls reside. These figures and landscapes are reduced to the simplest of forms. Men, women, trees, bamboo, and rocks are drawn with thick outlines and are lacking in detail, retaining the simplicity of the Chinese originals while still representing familiar forms in a pop art style. Blotches of yellow and green paint – mere smudges when examined up close – appear here and there along the mountain sides, depicting flowers and bushes. Waterways are often present in these scenes. Rivers and waterfalls have their detail not in the use of Benday dots and lines, but through the negative spaces that surround the dotted mountain landscapes, as seen in the piece Landscape with Scholars Rock (as seen on the next page). 6 LaGuardia Community College Presents The Gadfly – Spring 2013 Mist and clouds are also depicted in the same way, arising from the negative spaces that result from the absence of the dots. The contours of oceans and thick currents, as well as the mountain peaks, are represented with darkly colored, thick dots, while shallowness and height can be seen by the varied size of the dots. In the case of representing a tall mountain the dots are small at the bottom, reaching their darkest and biggest size when they are used to outline the mountain’s peak. As for the color scheme of these works the primary color mostly seen is the white negative space – the background – between each colored Benday dot. This helps to provide an outline for the forms that are represented. The dots vary in color, mostly between black, blue, and red. The colors of the dots have different gradients, either appearing bold, faded, or somewhere in between. This depicts illusory space, form, and great heights. The outline of each landscape is often achieved through the use of dots, as seen in the scenes depicting mountains1. Another piece, Landscape with Boat (as seen on the next page), is initially seemingly abstract, with only the representation of a man in a boat at the far end of the canvas – barely in view – finally lending meaning to the madness of big and small, dark and light black dots that move across the blue background
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