User:Michaelboylan

Michael Boylan is a philosopher, poet, and novelist.

Life:  Boylan was born 21 September, 1952 in Evanston, Illinois. He attended Carleton College in Northfield Minnesota and graduated with an English and Philosophy double major and a secondary concentration in Classics. He received a Ph.D. in philosophy in 1979 from the University of Chicago after beginning in English and receiving a M.A. He also worked in Classics and Anglo-Saxon Literature.

Teaching: Boylan taught English at Chicago State University from 1976-1979. He was a visiting assistant professor of Philosophy at Marquette University from 1979-1985. He also taught in this period during the summer in the Classical Languages Department at the University of Chicago. In 1985-1987 he was a visiting professor in Philosophy at Georgetown University. In 1987-to the present he has been Professor of Philosophy at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia.

Lecturing: Boylan has been an invited speaker at various institutions around the world. Among these include: Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Chicago, Marquette University, Oxford University, Cambridge University, University of Manchester (UK), Durham University (UK), Trinity University (Ireland), University College Dublin, Sorbonne (Paris IV), Twente University (NL), Delft University (NL), Utrecht University (NL), Leiden University (NL), Copenhagen University, Cologne University (DE), Linnaeus University (Sweden), Katholic University (Leuven, Belgium), University of Valparaiso (Chile), University of Sydney (Australia), University of Melbourne (Australia), Australian National University, Charles Sturt University (Wagga Wagga, Australia), The United Nations Historical Site in Pergamum, Turkey.

In 2016 he was the invited lecturer on a conference surrounding his 2014 Cambridge University Press Book on Human Rights in Kaunas, Lithuania (speakers from 6 countries).

Books: Boylan’s books can be divided into his major areas of research: philosophy, poetry, and narrative literature (principally novels).

In Philosophy one can divide Boylan’s books into the following categories: (A) Single and co-authored books on Ethics/Social/and Political Philosophy; (B) Ancient Philosophy of Science; (C) Philosophy and Literature, (D) General works on Philosophy He has also edited books in area (A) and (D).

PHILOSOPHY BOOK PUBLICATIONS

(A) Single or Co-Authored books on Ethics/Social/and Political Philosophy.

Teaching Ethics with Three Philosophical Novels (2017)

Natural Human Rights: A Theory (2014)

Morality and Global Justice: Justifications and Applications (2011)

Basic Ethics, 2nd edition (2008)

A Just Society (2004)

Ethics Across the Curriculum: A Practice-Based Approach (co-authored with James A. Donahue, 2003)

Genetic Engineering: Science and Ethics on the New Frontier (co-authored with Kevin E. Brown, 2002)

Edited Works

Environmental Ethics  2nd ed. (2014)

Medical Ethics 2nd ed. (2014)

Business Ethics 2nd ed. (2014)

The Morality and Global Justice Reader (2011)

International Public Health Policy and Ethics (2008)

The Ethics of Teaching (2005)

Public Health Policy and Ethics (2004)

Gewirth: Critical Essays on Action, Rationality, and Community (1999)

Ethical Issues in Business (1995)

(B) Single Authored books on Ancient Philosophy of Science

The Origins of Ancient Greek Science: Blood—A Philosophical Study (2015)

Method and Practice in Aristotle’s Biology (1983)

(C) Single Authored books on Philosophy and Literature

Literature as Philosophy (forthcoming)

Teaching Ethics with Three Philosophical Novels (2017)

Philosophy: An Innovative Introduction—Fictive Narrative, Primary Texts, Responsive Writing (co-authored with Charles Johnson, 2010)

(D) General Philosophy single authored

Critical Inquiry (2009)

The Good, the True, and The Beautiful (2008)

Edited Work

Perspectives in Philosophy (1993)

POETRY BOOK PUBLICATIONS

Chambers in a House of Stone (1974)

Hafez: The Dance of Life (1988)

Collected Works (forthcoming)

PUBLISHED NOVELS

Georgia: A Trilogy (2016-2017)

Naked Reverse (2016)

To the Promised Land (2015)

Rainbow Curve (2014)

The Extinction of Desire (2007)

Slipknot (under the pseudonym Angus Black, 1988)

Far Into the Sound (1973)

Children’s When the Elephants Came (under the pseudonym Miriam Evans, 1988)

A SUMMARY OF BOYLAN’S PRINCIPAL POSITIONS IN ETHICS/SOCIAL/POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY

Boylan’s theoretical position that grounds normative theory, in general, begins with the assumption that homo sapiens are defined positively as animals that seek to bring about purposive action. When one views this statement from the standpoint that natural depictions are both descriptive and prescriptive, then the so-called “is-ought” dichotomy is bridged from the beginning. James Griffin (On Human Rights, 2008) takes a similar tack. Though both Boylan and Griffin use this posit to justify their respective theories, it is Boylan who veers towards an “agency theory” as opposed to Griffin’s “interests theory.”

Though both Sen and Nussbaum offer agency theory justifications for ethics and human rights (including social and political philosophical philosophy), they do not create a hierarchy of goods necessary for human action—a triage of sorts. Boylan does this in his table of embeddedness:

= The Table of Embeddedness = BASIC GOODS

Level One: Most Deeply Embedded (That which is absolutely necessary for Human Action): Food and Clean Water, Clothing, Shelter, Protection from Unwarranted Bodily Harm (including basic health care and adequate sanitation).

Level Two: Deeply Embedded (That which is necessary for effective basic action within any given society) SECONDARY GOODS
 * Literacy in the language of the country
 * Basic mathematical skills
 * Other fundamental skills necessary to be an effective agent in that country, e.g., in the United States some computer literacy is necessary
 * Some familiarity with the culture and history of the country in which one lives.
 * The assurance that those you interact with are not lying to promote their own interests.
 * The assurance that those you interact with will recognize your human dignity (as per above) and not exploit you as a means only.
 * Basic human liberties such as those listed in the U.S. Bill of Rights and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Level One: Life Enhancing, Medium to High-Medium on Embeddedness
Level Two: Useful, Medium to low Medium Embeddedness Level Three: Luxurious, Low Embeddedness From a group perspective the table of embeddedness sets the format for public policy. The most embedded goods of agency trump lower level, less embedded goods. This means that providing food, clothing, and shelter to everyone are more important than rich people being able to buy another yacht. The creation of the table of embeddedness follows from Boylan’s principal argument about the foundation of rights and duties that permit purposive agency to any homo sapiens.
 * Basic Societal Respect
 * Equal Opportunity to Compete for the Prudential Goods of Society
 * Ability to pursue a life plan according to the Personal Worldview Imperative
 * Ability to participate equally as an agent in the Shared Community Worldview Imperative
 * Ability to utilize one’s real and portable property in the manner she chooses
 * Ability to gain from and exploit the consequences of one’s labor regardless of starting point
 * Ability to pursue goods that are generally owned by most citizens, e.g., in the United States today a telephone, television, and automobile would fit into this class.
 * Ability to pursue goods that are pleasant even though they are far removed from action and from the expectations of most citizens within a given country, e.g., in the United States today a European Vacation would fit into this class Ability to exert one’s will so that she might extract a disproportionate share of society’s resources for her own use.

The Moral Status of Basic Goods
 * 1) All people, by nature, desire to be good—Fundamental Assertion


 * 1) In order to become good, one must be able to act—Fact


 * 1) All people, by nature, desire to act—1, 2


 * 1) People value what is natural to them—Assertion


 * 1) What people value they wish to protect—Assertion


 * 1) All people wish to protect their ability to act—3-5


 * 1) Fundamental interpersonal “oughts” are expressed via our highest value systems: morality, aesthetics, and religion—Assertion


 * 1) All people must agree, upon pain of logical contradiction, that what is natural and desirable to them individually is natural and desirable to everyone collectively and individually—Assertion


 * 1) Everyone must seek personal protection for her own ability to act via morality, aesthetics, and religion—6, 7


 * 1) Everyone, upon pain of logical contradiction, must admit that all other humans will seek personal protection of his or her ability to act via morality, aesthetics, and religion—8, 9


 * 1) All people must agree, upon pain of logical contradiction, that since the attribution of the basic goods of agency are predicated generally, that it is inconsistent to assert idiosyncratic preference—Fact


 * 1) Goods that are claimed through generic predication apply equally to each agent and everyone has a stake in their protection—10, 11


 * 1) Rights and duties are correlative—Assertion

Like Griffin, Boylan also feels the necessity to create a “personal account” of the agent to augment the generic understanding of the agent in the Argument for the moral status of basic goods. This personal account comes in two forms in Boylan’s philosophy: The Personal Worldview Imperative and The Shared Community Worldview Imperative. In the first case the focus is upon the individual who is trying to be the best that he/she can be. In the second case it is the individual situated within a community (as we all are).
 * 1) Everyone has at least a moral right to the basic goods of agency and others in the society have a duty to provide those goods to all—12, 13

Personal Worldview Imperative: “All people must develop a single comprehensive and internally coherent worldview that is good and that we strive to act out in our daily lives.” This imperative is interpreted by Boylan to contain four sections: completeness (which can be satisfied by establishing the rational and emotional good will), coherence (which can be satisfied by embracing a rational approach to the world and by avoiding inductive incoherence), connection to a theory of the good (which can be satisfied by adopting one of the major theories of ethics (provided that theory does not contradict another aspect of the personal worldview imperative)), and it is actionable (which can be satisfied by practicing what you hold in the other parts of the imperative—which, in turn, means it is at most aspirational (not utopian)).

The Shared Community Worldview Imperative: “Each agent must contribute to a common body of knowledge that supports the creation of a shared community worldview (that is itself complete, coherent, and good) through which social institutions and their resulting policies might flourish within the constraints of the essential core commonly held values (ethics, aesthetics, and religion).” Boylan interprets this to require: 1. Agents within a community must commit to be active members of the community, 2. One form of this contribution within the community is the creation of a common body of knowledge that is at least consonant with the personal worldview imperative, writ large, 3. The criteria of the personal worldview imperative (completeness, coherence, and goodness) must be present within the community’s understanding of itself, 4. As a result of #3, social institutions should follow by these guidelines, 5. The diversity of the community should be maintained by affirming the normative features of ethics, aesthetics, and religion subject to these not violating tenets of the personal worldview imperative.

Boylan also sets out other communities that extend beyond one’s local and national context to include a commitment towards cosmopolitanism, and to nature (both near and far).

Boylan uses this theoretical network to argue a number narrow positions in applied ethics extending from philosophy of law to medical ethics to environmental ethics and to business ethics. These are principally expressed in journal articles and book chapters.

A SUMMARY OF BOYLAN AS POET

Michael Boylan’s early work as a poet (1972-1988) centered around working within established poetic structures. These were evidenced in Chambers in a House of Stone and Hafez: The Dance of Life. Like Ezra Pound’s Personae and Thomas Hardy’s lyrical poems, the use of various strict structures was for the purpose of connecting to the history of poetry and also to the poets who excelled in that particular form. In 1974 he gave a major reading at Brasenose College, Oxford University upon the sponsorship of John Wain (poet Laureate of Oxford). In this period he read in London and then in the upper-Midwest of the United States before coming to Washington, D.C. and a solo reading at the Library of Congress in 1989.

In his next phase (1988-2002) Boylan turned to social and political issues driving his poetry. He explored the way social norms pushed people in particular directions and how the underclass was marginalized. These poems were sometimes published and delivered in the main venue of Washington, D.C. (Boylan created a poetry series at Marymount University in 1990 for regional and national poets.  He has also given regular poetry presentations ever since in the Washington, D.C, area.)

In the current phase of Boylan’s poetry (2003-present) he has turned both to family and to how it is to be understood in one’s worldview as one ages. He continues to give readings in the Washington, D.C. area but has occasionally branched out for venues between Washington and Boston.

All three phases will be captured in his forthcoming book of his collected poetic works (anticipated in 2019).

A SUMMARY OF BOYLAN’S WORK AS A NOVELIST

Boylan’s early novels: Far Into the Sound and Slipknot were works that were devoted to particular interests: Eastern Chinese Philosophy and Iranian Social Philosophy. Then Boylan decided to direct his philosophical novels into two directions which he calls the De Anima Series and the Archē Series.

In the De Anima Series Boylan explores four dominant worldviews that people around the world employ as they try to make sense out of life as they navigate the problems that face us all. These novels include:

Rainbow Curve (2014) Fans of baseball’s history will appreciate this compelling tale about race, politics, and corrupting power and one’s man’s courage to stand-up. De Anima #1

The Extinction of Desire (2007) What would you do if you suddenly became rich? De Anima #2

To the Promised Land (2015) Are there limits to forgiveness: personal, corporate, political? De Anima #3

Maya (forthcoming) Follow the fate of an Irish-American family through three generations. It’s the story of immigrants and fate. De Anima #4.

In the Archē Series Boylan explores the structural ways a novel can communicate. Together, these aspire to demarcate the constructional potentials of this literary form.

Naked Reverse (2016) There is a backdoor to the ivory tower. Find out what happens to one college professor who escapes. Archē #1

Georgia: A Trilogy— Part One  (2106);  Part Two (2017) and Part Three (2017)  This is a novel told in three parts. Explore racial identity through a murder mystery set in the early 20th century. Archē #2, #3, and #4

T-Rx: The History of a Radical Leader (forthcoming) An epistolary novel about radicalization in the Vietnam-era. What are and what are not legitimate tactics for social/political change? Archē #5

The Long Fall of the Ball from the Wall (forthcoming)  A novel set in the investigation of the JFK assassination that connects it to larger social phenomena and the way we understand history. Archē #6

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