By Shane Steinert-Threlkeld
One part of Obama’s victory speech that stood out was his comparison of the USA to an evolving being. Through exercising our democratic ability to change our government, we are helping render our union more perfect. When one analyzes the philosophical foundations upon which his belief system rest, it appears that Obama believes in the same brand of minimalism for which most natural rights philosophers argue. We explore this implication and ask questions about our nation and moral relativism.

By KEVIN RICHARDSON
Political philosophers acknowledge that culture plays a powerful role in systems of governance. It is debatable whether it should or not, but it is usually granted that the customs of a society are crucial to the development of a political system. What isn’t always acknowledged is the role of historical creation in the development of political systems. The recent United States presidential election illuminates the importance of history and the historic event as related to political philosophy. I argue Obama’s rise to power indicates Americans’ willingness to fulfill …

By Matthew Ignal
The recent election of Barack Obama was certainly an historic moment for the United States, but for those who carry an affinity for the concept of freedom, its symbolism is rather disheartening. While the majority of libertarians (even at more traditionally mainstream outlets such as Reason Magazine) rightly preferred Obama to that neocon sycophant, John McCain, this election witnessed the triumph of a man who campaigned on the promise of a benevolent activist government. From the libertarian perspective, there are scant words in the English language more frightening to emanate from a politician’s mouth.

By PAUL SCHWEIKER
On November 4th, our nation was brought face to face with two manifestations of its own ideals in the emotionally charged election of Barack Obama. Although there has been significant discussion about the election’s implications on race relations, I believe Obama’s election more broadly indicates that our culture is experiencing a democratic moment, and that Obama has become an effective embodiment of this moment by occupying a position from which he can affect the course of social change. Before I can explain the implications of this moment and …

By CUONG NGUYEN
After the results of the 2008 Presidential Election I believe it’s important for us to consider our basic notions of democracy and the democratic process that comes with it.  With Barack Obama as our President-elect, many people believe he will bring about the positive “change” needed in the United States.  But what is this “change?”  It was in 1776 when our founding fathers gathered together to draw out and construct the basic guidelines of our democratic society.  Since then it has been 202 years since the inception …

By MOLLY SHIPMAN
Election Day 2008 was defined by many landmark and surprising decisions by the American people. However, my excitement and pride in being part of the democratic process was somewhat undermined when I learned that California voters’ decided to pass Proposition 8, a state ballot proposition that amended the state Constitution to restrict the definition of marriage to a union between a man and a woman. John Stuart Mill’s arguments concerning personal autonomy and the role of government, as outlined in his seminal work On Liberty, were not far …

Due to unforeseen circumstances with our email server crashing, all submissions sent from November 6 to November 18 to Prometheus were only recently accessible by our staff. Because of this, the Prometheus staff has agreed to push back the publication’s date of our third issue: “Implications of the 2008 Election on Political Philosophy.” We send our deepest apologies for the delayed response. We will keep you informed and have the third issue of Prometheus up as soon as possible.

The third issue of Prometheus’ Online Journal will be our first themed issue. We are looking for short papers discussing “The Implications of the 2008 Election on Political Philosophy”. If you are like us, there is a lot you want to say about this historic moment; here is an outlet for your thoughts. Whether it be extrapolating from something in Obama’s acceptance speech to the vote on Proposition 8 to McCain’s defeat, we want to investigate the implications that this November 4 has on political philosophy.
Please submit your papers by November 16.

By Lee J. Elkin
In a scientific and philosophical context, I believe that inference can fall under the category of computation. Essentially, humans have evolved to be able to infer through computing and processing information at a complex level – more than any other biological being. This feature most likely occurred through the process of natural selection according to the theory of evolution, and thus human beings have adapted to such feature. Although it took sometime to develop computational skills, it is proven that humans have adapted adequately tracing back to antiquity based on our evidence provided by historical and anthropological records.

By SHANE STEINERT-THRELKELD
The ascetic ideal is a seemingly self-denying force characterized by “poverty, humility, chastity” (3:8, 108) [1]. It is piety embodied, sensuality restrained. That such an ideology has flourished and recurred (as Nietzsche references with India) throughout societal development is a seeming paradox: the dominant ideal of humanity is a life-denying one. How, or rather why, then, has the ascetic ideal triumphed? Where does it come from? One easy answer is that there were no competing ideals. This answer, because it is elliptical, …