Date of Graduation

12-2015

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Philosophy

Advisor/Mentor

Lee, Richard

Committee Member

Funkhouser, Eric M.

Second Committee Member

Minar, Edward H.

Keywords

Philosophy; religion and theology; Psychology; Commitment; Integrity; Practical identity; Self; Utilitarianism; Value

Abstract

This dissertation deals with integrity understood as a state of the psyche. Its primary interlocutor is Professor Bernard Williams, and its point of departure is my interpretation of his Objection from Integrity to impartialist moral theories. Against Williams, I hope to show that the active adherent of impartialist ethical systems (e.g., act utilitarianism) may retain both moral integrity and integrity. In demonstrating this, I make use of a variant of Roy Schafer’s action language approach to psychoanalysis, and what I call practical aestheticism.

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