In his Southern Gothic horror novel, a teenage boy with what would now be called "high-functionin... more In his Southern Gothic horror novel, a teenage boy with what would now be called "high-functioning autism," is terrorized by a demonic entity who wants to drive him to commit suicide. The demon tries to convince the boy that he has blasphemed the Holy Ghost and is going to hell due to committing this "unpardonable sin." Will the help of his friends and an elderly stranger save him from disaster?
“Philosophy begins in wonder.” -Aristotle
Remember when you were a child and incessantly asked y... more “Philosophy begins in wonder.” -Aristotle
Remember when you were a child and incessantly asked your parents “Why?” You still had that childhood gift of wondering about everything from the simple “Why can’t I touch the stove eye when it’s red?” to the most profound questions people can ask “Why can’t I see God if He’s real?” A common perception of philosophers is of the wizened old guru, sitting on a mountain top contemplating his navel; or worse, a stodgy, boring intellectual that everyone avoids at parties. But philosophy, at its best, is a joyous profession. Philosophers never stop wondering, why? They ask the most profound and universal questions: “Why am I here?” “Does life have a meaning?” “Is there a God?” “Do I have an immortal soul?” “What happens when I die?” Philosophers have the joy of re-living the wonder of a child.
Aerobics for the Mind: Practical Exercises in Philosophy that Anybody Can Do is a book for anyone who still has that unique, childlike sense of wonder.
In this coming of age novel set in rural Tennessee in 1968, a nine-year-old boy, who today would ... more In this coming of age novel set in rural Tennessee in 1968, a nine-year-old boy, who today would be described as slightly autistic, deals with joy and great loss as he struggles with his quirks and obsessions.
This dissertation explored the possibility that poetic metaphor could yield a fuller insight into... more This dissertation explored the possibility that poetic metaphor could yield a fuller insight into the individuality of both finite things and of God than literal language. Focusing on the work of Duns Scotus on individuation, on Paul Ricouer's work on metaphor, and on Gerard Manley Hopkins on poetic metaphor, it argues that the only way to capture the fullness of individuality, however shadowy that insight may be, is through metaphor.
This thesis critiqued the overly deductive principlism as proposed by Beauchamp and Childress in ... more This thesis critiqued the overly deductive principlism as proposed by Beauchamp and Childress in their influential book, "Principles of Biomedical Ethics." It argues instead for a particularist position based on making the correct decision in a given situation by referring to the fundamental goal of medicine to help a sick person in need.
Beyond Brain Death offers a provocative challenge to one of the most widely accepted conclusions ... more Beyond Brain Death offers a provocative challenge to one of the most widely accepted conclusions of contemporary bioethics: the position that brain death marks the death of the human person. Eleven chapters by physicians, philosophers, and theologians present the case against brain-based criteria for human death. Each author believes that this position calls into question the moral acceptability of the transplantation of unpaired vital organs from brain-dead patients who have continuing function of the circulatory system. One strength of the book is its international approach to the question: contributors are from the United States, the United Kingdom, Liechtenstein, and Japan. This book will appeal to a wide audience, including physicians and other health care professionals, philosophers, theologians, medical sociologists, and social workers.
The French composer, Olivier Messiaen, tried to bring specific references to texts in Thomas Aqui... more The French composer, Olivier Messiaen, tried to bring specific references to texts in Thomas Aquinas and other writers by means of various methods of coding notes to letters. He also tried to express such meaning through the music itself. This paper explores how he went about these tasks.
The donation of organs after cardiac death in infants is not morally justified and should not be ... more The donation of organs after cardiac death in infants is not morally justified and should not be continued.
In 1968, the Harvard Medical School Ad Hoc Committee to Examine the Definition of Brain Death pro... more In 1968, the Harvard Medical School Ad Hoc Committee to Examine the Definition of Brain Death proposed whole brain death as the criterion for pronouncing a person dead (Harvard Ad Hoc Committee, 1968). This proposal, as Peter Singer rightly notes, marked a ...
Although we agree with Whyte, Selinger, Caplan, and Sadowski (2012) that Thaler and Sunstein&... more Although we agree with Whyte, Selinger, Caplan, and Sadowski (2012) that Thaler and Sunstein's (2008) mandated choice proposal is problematic, we disagree with their views (1) that the most rational choice for a family to make is to agree to donate its relative's organs, ...
Some NDE researchers have suggested that because some users of psychedelic drugs have experiences... more Some NDE researchers have suggested that because some users of psychedelic drugs have experiences purportedly similar to near-death experiences (NDEs), the neural receptors and neurotransmitters affected by a particular drug may underlie out-of-body experiences and NDEs. One of the most recent psychedelic candidates that allegedly causes NDE-like experiences is N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a natural substance that the body produces in small amounts. If DMT experiences are phenomenologically similar to NDEs, then it is possible that the human body in extremis may produce larger amounts of DMT that reach psychedelic experience-causing levels in the blood. In this paper, I explore the issue of whether DMT might play a causal role in the production of NDEs. The first section summarizes basic information about NDEs, focusing on their phenomenological aspects. The second section classifies theories of NDEs to place the DMT theory in the context of the history of the debate over the cause of NDEs. The following section discusses DMT’s chemical composition, physical effects, and psychological effects. The final section explores whether NDE and DMT experiences have a sufficient degree of phenomenological similarity to justify a causal role for DMT in the production of NDEs and concludes that such similarity is lacking.
In his Southern Gothic horror novel, a teenage boy with what would now be called "high-functionin... more In his Southern Gothic horror novel, a teenage boy with what would now be called "high-functioning autism," is terrorized by a demonic entity who wants to drive him to commit suicide. The demon tries to convince the boy that he has blasphemed the Holy Ghost and is going to hell due to committing this "unpardonable sin." Will the help of his friends and an elderly stranger save him from disaster?
“Philosophy begins in wonder.” -Aristotle
Remember when you were a child and incessantly asked y... more “Philosophy begins in wonder.” -Aristotle
Remember when you were a child and incessantly asked your parents “Why?” You still had that childhood gift of wondering about everything from the simple “Why can’t I touch the stove eye when it’s red?” to the most profound questions people can ask “Why can’t I see God if He’s real?” A common perception of philosophers is of the wizened old guru, sitting on a mountain top contemplating his navel; or worse, a stodgy, boring intellectual that everyone avoids at parties. But philosophy, at its best, is a joyous profession. Philosophers never stop wondering, why? They ask the most profound and universal questions: “Why am I here?” “Does life have a meaning?” “Is there a God?” “Do I have an immortal soul?” “What happens when I die?” Philosophers have the joy of re-living the wonder of a child.
Aerobics for the Mind: Practical Exercises in Philosophy that Anybody Can Do is a book for anyone who still has that unique, childlike sense of wonder.
In this coming of age novel set in rural Tennessee in 1968, a nine-year-old boy, who today would ... more In this coming of age novel set in rural Tennessee in 1968, a nine-year-old boy, who today would be described as slightly autistic, deals with joy and great loss as he struggles with his quirks and obsessions.
This dissertation explored the possibility that poetic metaphor could yield a fuller insight into... more This dissertation explored the possibility that poetic metaphor could yield a fuller insight into the individuality of both finite things and of God than literal language. Focusing on the work of Duns Scotus on individuation, on Paul Ricouer's work on metaphor, and on Gerard Manley Hopkins on poetic metaphor, it argues that the only way to capture the fullness of individuality, however shadowy that insight may be, is through metaphor.
This thesis critiqued the overly deductive principlism as proposed by Beauchamp and Childress in ... more This thesis critiqued the overly deductive principlism as proposed by Beauchamp and Childress in their influential book, "Principles of Biomedical Ethics." It argues instead for a particularist position based on making the correct decision in a given situation by referring to the fundamental goal of medicine to help a sick person in need.
Beyond Brain Death offers a provocative challenge to one of the most widely accepted conclusions ... more Beyond Brain Death offers a provocative challenge to one of the most widely accepted conclusions of contemporary bioethics: the position that brain death marks the death of the human person. Eleven chapters by physicians, philosophers, and theologians present the case against brain-based criteria for human death. Each author believes that this position calls into question the moral acceptability of the transplantation of unpaired vital organs from brain-dead patients who have continuing function of the circulatory system. One strength of the book is its international approach to the question: contributors are from the United States, the United Kingdom, Liechtenstein, and Japan. This book will appeal to a wide audience, including physicians and other health care professionals, philosophers, theologians, medical sociologists, and social workers.
The French composer, Olivier Messiaen, tried to bring specific references to texts in Thomas Aqui... more The French composer, Olivier Messiaen, tried to bring specific references to texts in Thomas Aquinas and other writers by means of various methods of coding notes to letters. He also tried to express such meaning through the music itself. This paper explores how he went about these tasks.
The donation of organs after cardiac death in infants is not morally justified and should not be ... more The donation of organs after cardiac death in infants is not morally justified and should not be continued.
In 1968, the Harvard Medical School Ad Hoc Committee to Examine the Definition of Brain Death pro... more In 1968, the Harvard Medical School Ad Hoc Committee to Examine the Definition of Brain Death proposed whole brain death as the criterion for pronouncing a person dead (Harvard Ad Hoc Committee, 1968). This proposal, as Peter Singer rightly notes, marked a ...
Although we agree with Whyte, Selinger, Caplan, and Sadowski (2012) that Thaler and Sunstein&... more Although we agree with Whyte, Selinger, Caplan, and Sadowski (2012) that Thaler and Sunstein's (2008) mandated choice proposal is problematic, we disagree with their views (1) that the most rational choice for a family to make is to agree to donate its relative's organs, ...
Some NDE researchers have suggested that because some users of psychedelic drugs have experiences... more Some NDE researchers have suggested that because some users of psychedelic drugs have experiences purportedly similar to near-death experiences (NDEs), the neural receptors and neurotransmitters affected by a particular drug may underlie out-of-body experiences and NDEs. One of the most recent psychedelic candidates that allegedly causes NDE-like experiences is N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a natural substance that the body produces in small amounts. If DMT experiences are phenomenologically similar to NDEs, then it is possible that the human body in extremis may produce larger amounts of DMT that reach psychedelic experience-causing levels in the blood. In this paper, I explore the issue of whether DMT might play a causal role in the production of NDEs. The first section summarizes basic information about NDEs, focusing on their phenomenological aspects. The second section classifies theories of NDEs to place the DMT theory in the context of the history of the debate over the cause of NDEs. The following section discusses DMT’s chemical composition, physical effects, and psychological effects. The final section explores whether NDE and DMT experiences have a sufficient degree of phenomenological similarity to justify a causal role for DMT in the production of NDEs and concludes that such similarity is lacking.
A critique of Aquinas' version of the spatio-temporal theory of individuation ("matter under dete... more A critique of Aquinas' version of the spatio-temporal theory of individuation ("matter under determinate dimensions") and a defense of haecceity.
This paper compares Gerard Manley Hopkins' theory of parallelism to theories of metaphor and conc... more This paper compares Gerard Manley Hopkins' theory of parallelism to theories of metaphor and concludes that Hopkins' position is closest to the interaction theory of metaphor.
Conflating physician-assisted death with palliative care is a growing concern in medicine. Pallia... more Conflating physician-assisted death with palliative care is a growing concern in medicine. Palliative care is symptom management medical care without actively shortening the end-of-life trajectory of a terminal illness. Physician-assisted death intentionally shortens the dying process to bring about preplanned death as the means of relieving suffering. Physician-assisted death may be conflated with palliative care where this practice is illegal, eg, France. The Revised French Code of Medical Ethics states that when the decision to withdraw or withhold treatment is made in accordance with applicable law, and even if the patient has brain damage precluding an assessment of suffering, physicians must use the treatments, including analgesics and sedatives, to maximize the quality of end of life, safeguard the patient’s dignity, and comfort relatives. This revision, which in France has the force of law, appears to uphold the Hippocratic Oath to alleviate suffering and deliver compassionate care. Additional analysis raises questions: (1) what type of treatment is being withdrawn or withheld? (2) What type of brain damage or neurological disability might preclude the assessment of suffering? (3) What type of suffering (eg, physical, psychosocial, existential, etc.) must be treated? (4) What measure of proportionality is applicable to ensure that sedatives and analgesics will not be the proximate causation of death? The legislation assumes potential suffering from treatment withdrawal which disrupts the current ethical paradigm on withdrawing versus withholding treatment. This legislation also applies to neurologically disabled patients incapable of requesting euthanasia but for whom a treatment limitation decision has been made. Re-evaluation of the double-effect principle, intention, and causation of death precludes using the term palliative care. The two-step process (ie, treatment withdrawal and administration of sedatives and analgesics) should be considered physician-assisted death in some neurologically disabled persons. The revision implicitly paves the way to organ donation euthanasia in neurological disorders.
The current practice of organ transplantation has been criticized on several fronts. The philosop... more The current practice of organ transplantation has been criticized on several fronts. The philosophical and scientific foundations for brain death criteria have been crumbling. In addition, donation after cardiac death, or non-heartbeating-organ donation (NHBD) has been attacked on grounds that it mistreats the dying patient and uses that patient only as a means to an end for someone else's benefit. Verheijde, Rady, and McGregor attack the deception involved in NHBD, arguing that the donors are not dead and that potential donors and their families should be told that is the case. Thus, they propose abandoning the dead donor rule and allowing NHBD with strict rules concerning adequate informed consent. Such honesty about NHBD should be welcomed. However, NHBD violates a fundamental end of medicine, nonmaleficience, "do no harm." Physicians should not be harming or killing patients, even if it is for the benefit of others. Thus, although Verheijde and his colleages should be congratulated for calling for truthfulness about NHBD, they do not go far enough and call for an elimination of such an unethical procedure from the practice of medicine.
Recent mergers in the pharmaceutical industry have resulted in the creation of mega-corporations ... more Recent mergers in the pharmaceutical industry have resulted in the creation of mega-corporations that control an increasing percentage of the pharmaceutical market, especially particular classes of drugs. In recent years, due to the biotechnological revolution in the ...
Recent literature on human evil has focused on two key components: (1) lack of empathy, and (2) m... more Recent literature on human evil has focused on two key components: (1) lack of empathy, and (2) moral disengagement. Arguably, torturing a person implies a lack of empathy, and in the case of morally good people torturing, moral disengagement. Now if torturing encourages moral disengagement, this will lead to a disintegration of a good person’s character over time. If torturing requires lack of empathy, the torturer has either already lost the ability to empathize or (s)he will inevitably lose it over time. Thus, torturers lose both empathy and the ability to avoid moral disengagement. Implications for the morality of torture are discussed.
There has been considerable controversy regarding the level of criminal responsibility in people ... more There has been considerable controversy regarding the level of criminal responsibility in people diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), with positions ranging from their having full responsibility to little or none. This paper defends the notion that BPD patients are morally---and legally responsible for any criminal acts they commit. Following Louis Charland and Carl Elliot, I argue that BPD is primarily a defect of character rather than a disease per se although “disease” cannot be totally eliminated as a factor for understanding the disorder. As such, the BPD person, all else being equal, knows right from wrong and has free choice regarding criminal behavior, and should therefore be held responsible for such behavior.
I discuss the American composer Alan Hovhannes' mysticism of mountains, followed by a general dis... more I discuss the American composer Alan Hovhannes' mysticism of mountains, followed by a general discussion of mountains, myth, and religion. In the last section I discuss one of Hovhannes' later works about mountains, Symphony No. 60, "To the Appalachian Mountains."
There is a general consensus in aesthetics that the game of chess can reveal beauty. However, exp... more There is a general consensus in aesthetics that the game of chess can reveal beauty. However, exploration of beauty in chess has generally followed modern and contemporary lines of thought, and for the most part have ignored classical and medieval aesthetic theory. This paper explores whether beauty in chess can be understood in terms of the Thomistic criteria for beauty, that is, proportio, claritas, and integritas. After a short introduction to contemporary views on beauty in chess, there is a discussion of Aquinas’s theory of beauty. Then the beauty of chess is explored in light of Thomistic principles and the argument made that they can be successfully applied to beauty in both composed chess problems and over-the-board games.
Henry More (1614-1687), was one of the Cambridge Platonists, a group that included Joseph Glanvil... more Henry More (1614-1687), was one of the Cambridge Platonists, a group that included Joseph Glanvill, Ralph Cudworth, and Anne Conway. More’s thought is paradoxical—anti-Aristotelian and science focused, yet, like his friend Joseph Glanvill, accepting the existence of witches and ghosts, and Latitudinarian, supporting religious tolerance, yet orthodox in many respects. He was strongly opposed to the “impious” deniers of an afterlife, who were labeled “Sadduceans.” This paper explores More’s view on the nature of spirits found in his short work On the Nature of a Spirit (although I will refer to other works such as his book The Immortality of the Soul, which is much broader in scope). He opposes both the Cartesian view of an immaterial, nonextended soul that is located “nowhere” (“The Nullabists”) and the views of Thomists and other hylomorphic Scholastics (“The Holenmarians”), who believe, according to More, that a spirit (or soul, in this case) is somewhere, but present in toto in a material substance and also present in toto in each part, a view he argues is self-contradictory. His alternative is a soul that is extended, immaterial, and permeates all the parts of matter it animates, though not as a whole in each part. His position is intriguing, and although the paper will note significant problems with More’s position, his arguments and conclusion retain their significance as an attempt to defend a non-Cartesian position influenced by, though not identical to, that of Aristotelian Scholasticism, that remains a substance dualistic account of spirits, including the human soul.
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Books by Michael Potts
Remember when you were a child and incessantly asked your parents “Why?” You still had that childhood gift of wondering about everything from the simple “Why can’t I touch the stove eye when it’s red?” to the most profound questions people can ask “Why can’t I see God if He’s real?”
A common perception of philosophers is of the wizened old guru, sitting on a mountain top contemplating his navel; or worse, a stodgy, boring intellectual that everyone avoids at parties. But philosophy, at its best, is a joyous profession. Philosophers never stop wondering, why? They ask the most profound and universal questions: “Why am I here?” “Does life have a meaning?” “Is there a God?” “Do I have an immortal soul?” “What happens when I die?” Philosophers have the joy of re-living the wonder of a child.
Aerobics for the Mind: Practical Exercises in Philosophy that Anybody Can Do is a book for anyone who still has that unique, childlike sense of wonder.
Papers by Michael Potts
drug may underlie out-of-body experiences and NDEs. One of the most recent psychedelic candidates that allegedly causes NDE-like experiences is N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a natural substance that the body produces in small amounts. If DMT experiences are phenomenologically similar to NDEs,
then it is possible that the human body in extremis may produce larger amounts of DMT that reach psychedelic experience-causing levels in the blood. In this paper, I explore the issue of whether DMT might play a causal role in the production of NDEs. The first section summarizes basic information about NDEs, focusing on their phenomenological aspects. The second section classifies theories of NDEs to place the DMT theory in the context of the history of the debate over the cause of NDEs. The following section discusses DMT’s chemical composition, physical effects, and psychological effects. The final section explores whether
NDE and DMT experiences have a sufficient degree of phenomenological similarity to justify a causal role for DMT in the production of NDEs and concludes that such similarity is lacking.
Remember when you were a child and incessantly asked your parents “Why?” You still had that childhood gift of wondering about everything from the simple “Why can’t I touch the stove eye when it’s red?” to the most profound questions people can ask “Why can’t I see God if He’s real?”
A common perception of philosophers is of the wizened old guru, sitting on a mountain top contemplating his navel; or worse, a stodgy, boring intellectual that everyone avoids at parties. But philosophy, at its best, is a joyous profession. Philosophers never stop wondering, why? They ask the most profound and universal questions: “Why am I here?” “Does life have a meaning?” “Is there a God?” “Do I have an immortal soul?” “What happens when I die?” Philosophers have the joy of re-living the wonder of a child.
Aerobics for the Mind: Practical Exercises in Philosophy that Anybody Can Do is a book for anyone who still has that unique, childlike sense of wonder.
drug may underlie out-of-body experiences and NDEs. One of the most recent psychedelic candidates that allegedly causes NDE-like experiences is N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a natural substance that the body produces in small amounts. If DMT experiences are phenomenologically similar to NDEs,
then it is possible that the human body in extremis may produce larger amounts of DMT that reach psychedelic experience-causing levels in the blood. In this paper, I explore the issue of whether DMT might play a causal role in the production of NDEs. The first section summarizes basic information about NDEs, focusing on their phenomenological aspects. The second section classifies theories of NDEs to place the DMT theory in the context of the history of the debate over the cause of NDEs. The following section discusses DMT’s chemical composition, physical effects, and psychological effects. The final section explores whether
NDE and DMT experiences have a sufficient degree of phenomenological similarity to justify a causal role for DMT in the production of NDEs and concludes that such similarity is lacking.
death intentionally shortens the dying process to bring about preplanned death as the means of relieving suffering.
Physician-assisted death may be conflated with palliative care where this practice is illegal, eg, France. The Revised
French Code of Medical Ethics states that when the decision to withdraw or withhold treatment is made in accordance
with applicable law, and even if the patient has brain damage precluding an assessment of suffering, physicians must
use the treatments, including analgesics and sedatives, to maximize the quality of end of life, safeguard the patient’s
dignity, and comfort relatives. This revision, which in France has the force of law, appears to uphold the Hippocratic Oath
to alleviate suffering and deliver compassionate care. Additional analysis raises questions: (1) what type of treatment is
being withdrawn or withheld? (2) What type of brain damage or neurological disability might preclude the assessment
of suffering? (3) What type of suffering (eg, physical, psychosocial, existential, etc.) must be treated? (4) What measure of proportionality is applicable to ensure that sedatives and analgesics will not be the proximate causation of death?
The legislation assumes potential suffering from treatment withdrawal which disrupts the current ethical paradigm on
withdrawing versus withholding treatment. This legislation also applies to neurologically disabled patients incapable of
requesting euthanasia but for whom a treatment limitation decision has been made. Re-evaluation of the double-effect
principle, intention, and causation of death precludes using the term palliative care. The two-step process (ie, treatment
withdrawal and administration of sedatives and analgesics) should be considered physician-assisted death in some
neurologically disabled persons. The revision implicitly paves the way to organ donation euthanasia in neurological
disorders.