Papers by Mark Davies
Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 22, 2007
This paper analyzes the ethical and axiological implications of the interaction between human p... more This paper analyzes the ethical and axiological implications of the interaction between human persons and robots. Special attention is paid to issues of the depersonalization of society and the devaluing of our natural environment and to the issue of taking robots personally, i.e., relating to them and treating them as if they are persons. The philosophical frameworks of personalism and process philosophy are used as a lens through which to make this analysis.
Methodist Recorder, 2015
Following the announcement of by President Obama of the most ambitious climate change measures ev... more Following the announcement of by President Obama of the most ambitious climate change measures ever taken in the United States, Mark Davies looks at how the state of Oklahoma contributes to the problem.
Focus Magazine, 2017
pp. 38-41
Papers from the Annual Meeting of the North American Paul Tillich Society, 1995
The Ecozoic, 2013
pp. 79-80
The Personalist Forum, 1995
Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as they migrated from the east, they... more Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and set tled there. And they said to one another, "Come let us make bricks, and bum them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scat tered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. And the Lord said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the be ginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be im possible for them. Come let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another's speech." So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off the building of the city. Therefore it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth. ?Genesis 11:1-9 (nrsv) Many persons in contemporary U.S. American society find themselves relating to this Tower of Babel experience. Many of us feel as if our nation is being torn apart by pluralism gone rampant. In spite of the fact that the entire history of the United States has been characterized by wave after wave of immigrants from different countries?speaking different languages and bringing with them different forms of religious expres sion?we have nevertheless lived under the impression that we were one people with one language, and to a certain extent with one God, even though we may have worshipped this one God in slightly different ways.
Church World Service , Aug 4, 2015
The Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers
The Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers
Book Reviews by Mark Davies
Reading Religion , 2017
Book Review - Love in a Time of Climate Change Honoring Creation, Establishing Justice by Sharon ... more Book Review - Love in a Time of Climate Change Honoring Creation, Establishing Justice by Sharon Delgado.
Books by Mark Davies
The aim of this dissertation is to determine whether Boston Personalism provides a theoretical fr... more The aim of this dissertation is to determine whether Boston Personalism provides a theoretical framework, realistic guides for action, and the necessary inspiration required for an adequate ecological ethic.
In relation to the issue of theoretical framework, an analysis is made of the concepts of nature, persons, and value as found in the thought of representatives of three different generations of Boston Personalism: Borden Parker Bowne, Edgar Sheffield Brightman, and Peter Anthony Bertocci. A distinction becomes apparent between the ecological sentiments and philosophical systems of these three thinkers. They all possess sentiments that recognize the intrinsic value of life and a moral requirement for human persons to respect this value. However, the philosophical systems of Bowne and Brightman view persons as separate from nature, mind as separate from body, and value to be only of, for, and in persons. In the thought of Bertocci, greater congruence is seen between system and sentiment, and he provides a more consistent theoretical framework from which to ground an adequate ecological ethic in which persons are a part of nature, mind and body are interrelated aspects of the whole person, and values are of, for, and in all beings, capable of experience.
Regarding the issue of realistic guides for action, an analysis is made of the moral law tradition in Boston Personalism. The moral laws provide implicit direction for ecologically responsible behavior. However, the addition of a new ecological law is suggested that focuses explicitly on our moral responsibility to the value of non-human experience. Principles are also discussed that provide more specific guidelines for ecologically responsible behavior by individuals communities, nations, and the international community.
Finally, regarding the issue of necessary inspiration, it is argued that once the intrinsic value of all life is affirmed in both sentiment and system, Boston Personalism provides inspiration for taking nature personally. It provides a framework for seeing all of life as personal, i.e., seeing all life forms as being worthy of respect. This represents a return to sentiment, but it is a sentiment that is now supported by the philosophical system of Boston Personalism.
In 1922 Charles Hartshorne, then an aspiring young philosopher, wrote to Edgar Sheffield Brightma... more In 1922 Charles Hartshorne, then an aspiring young philosopher, wrote to Edgar Sheffield Brightman, a preeminent philosopher of religion and one of the earliest members of the Boston School of Personalism. For twenty-three subsequent years, the two carried out an unusually rich and intensive correspondence, and, remarkably, almost every letter was preserved. They are presented here along with additional material that follows the philosophers' lives and interactions after 1945, when Brightman's ill health prevented him from continuing the correspondence.
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Papers by Mark Davies
Book Reviews by Mark Davies
Books by Mark Davies
In relation to the issue of theoretical framework, an analysis is made of the concepts of nature, persons, and value as found in the thought of representatives of three different generations of Boston Personalism: Borden Parker Bowne, Edgar Sheffield Brightman, and Peter Anthony Bertocci. A distinction becomes apparent between the ecological sentiments and philosophical systems of these three thinkers. They all possess sentiments that recognize the intrinsic value of life and a moral requirement for human persons to respect this value. However, the philosophical systems of Bowne and Brightman view persons as separate from nature, mind as separate from body, and value to be only of, for, and in persons. In the thought of Bertocci, greater congruence is seen between system and sentiment, and he provides a more consistent theoretical framework from which to ground an adequate ecological ethic in which persons are a part of nature, mind and body are interrelated aspects of the whole person, and values are of, for, and in all beings, capable of experience.
Regarding the issue of realistic guides for action, an analysis is made of the moral law tradition in Boston Personalism. The moral laws provide implicit direction for ecologically responsible behavior. However, the addition of a new ecological law is suggested that focuses explicitly on our moral responsibility to the value of non-human experience. Principles are also discussed that provide more specific guidelines for ecologically responsible behavior by individuals communities, nations, and the international community.
Finally, regarding the issue of necessary inspiration, it is argued that once the intrinsic value of all life is affirmed in both sentiment and system, Boston Personalism provides inspiration for taking nature personally. It provides a framework for seeing all of life as personal, i.e., seeing all life forms as being worthy of respect. This represents a return to sentiment, but it is a sentiment that is now supported by the philosophical system of Boston Personalism.
In relation to the issue of theoretical framework, an analysis is made of the concepts of nature, persons, and value as found in the thought of representatives of three different generations of Boston Personalism: Borden Parker Bowne, Edgar Sheffield Brightman, and Peter Anthony Bertocci. A distinction becomes apparent between the ecological sentiments and philosophical systems of these three thinkers. They all possess sentiments that recognize the intrinsic value of life and a moral requirement for human persons to respect this value. However, the philosophical systems of Bowne and Brightman view persons as separate from nature, mind as separate from body, and value to be only of, for, and in persons. In the thought of Bertocci, greater congruence is seen between system and sentiment, and he provides a more consistent theoretical framework from which to ground an adequate ecological ethic in which persons are a part of nature, mind and body are interrelated aspects of the whole person, and values are of, for, and in all beings, capable of experience.
Regarding the issue of realistic guides for action, an analysis is made of the moral law tradition in Boston Personalism. The moral laws provide implicit direction for ecologically responsible behavior. However, the addition of a new ecological law is suggested that focuses explicitly on our moral responsibility to the value of non-human experience. Principles are also discussed that provide more specific guidelines for ecologically responsible behavior by individuals communities, nations, and the international community.
Finally, regarding the issue of necessary inspiration, it is argued that once the intrinsic value of all life is affirmed in both sentiment and system, Boston Personalism provides inspiration for taking nature personally. It provides a framework for seeing all of life as personal, i.e., seeing all life forms as being worthy of respect. This represents a return to sentiment, but it is a sentiment that is now supported by the philosophical system of Boston Personalism.