Zach's Strange Corner of Thought

February 25, 2019May 28, 2021

Nietzsche’s Down Going

Martin Heidegger makes the claim in the essay “Word of Nietzsche: God is Dead” that Nietzsche’s thought is nihilistic. Heidegger understands Nietzsche’s idea of will to power as essentially the same as the Being of Western metaphysics. Both Nietzsche and Heidegger see Occidental thought as fundamentally nihilistic in that it has posited a non-sensuous, other world which is the transcendental basis for existence. I wish to defend Nietzsche by showing that while certain aspects of Nietzsche’s early thought was nihilistic, his later thought overcomes this nihilism through a process called “down going”… (view more)

February 25, 2019May 28, 2021

Beyond Concepts

This essay will explain Hegel’s dialectic method and then, proceed to explain his understanding of the Concept and its inherent relation to difference as opposition or contradiction. Then, Deleuze will be introduced who will posit that Ideas, not concepts, should be used to describe what he calls “the multiplicity of intuition.” Deleuze will present a form of difference which is not based on opposition but is instead a fundamental condition for ontology… (view more)

February 23, 2019May 28, 2021

#NoICEDwight

What Must Be Known: Dwight, IL ICE Detention Facility

There is an interest by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to construct a new immigration detention center in Dwight, Illinois. About 1 ½ hours northeast of Peoria, the $20 million project could possibly bring 280 jobs to the small community in Central Illinois. The detention center will be managed by Immigration Centers of America (ICA), a private-prison corporation, with upwards of 1200 beds needed to warehouse humans. (view more)

February 23, 2019May 28, 2021

Beth Akeson’s Broken Windows Problem

At-Large City Councilperson Beth Akeson (who is running for reelection to Peoria City Council) has a problem, a problem specifically with Broken Windows. At a recent forum, she was asked if she still supports “Broken Windows” policing (also referred to as zero-tolerance policing or quality-of-life policing) even though it relies on controversial & draconian forms of police interaction, like “Stop & Frisk”, and is enforced disproportionately upon communities of color. (see more)

February 14, 2019May 28, 2021

With Progressives Like This,

With Progressives Like This, Who Needs Conservatives: The Positionality of Beth Jensen

Since September 2013, At-Large City Councilwoman Beth Jensen has positioned herself as a champion of progressive causes on Peoria City Council…But, in her 5 ½ years of public service, what progressive change has been accomplished? Is Jensen the progressive she has positioned herself as? Or, did she waste the electoral capital from 4 years ago? (view more)

February 13, 2019May 28, 2021

Philosophical Foundations for Race

In this paper, I will describe how the concept “race” was formed starting in the early 17th century. First, I will briefly explain what race is and what it is not. Then, I will look at the connections between white privilege and Lockean theories of property in the 17th century. Next, I will look at Kant and his theories regarding a biological conception of race, as well as the effects circumscribed into law and society. Finally, I will analyze J.S. Mill’s ideas concerning colonization and the current impacts on society. While this paper will analyze thinkers outside of an American context, I will be describing race from an American viewpoint… (view more)

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