Nicole Holstein on the Soul
Nicole Holstein is a senior at Mount Mary University. Philosophy is her major and Psychology is her minor. Her academic interests include several sub-disciplines of Philosophy. She enjoys epistemology, social and political philosophy, particularly surrounding questions of equality, ethics, and metaphysics. Specifically, she enjoys theorizing about what our natural state of existence is as well as what our conditioned state of existence is, which stems predominately from societal and cultural views. She hopes that in searching for understanding our natural state of existence, in thoughts, behavior, beliefs, and relationship with God/Higher power, she will be able to create an algorithm that will allow individuals to think for themselves and cultivate their own self truths, as opposed to what we are conditioned to believe and think. Nicole hypothesizes that, as a human species, we share the same basic foundations that comprise our way of life that transcends all cultures. In seeking to further educate herself on what this may be, she has dedicated her Philosophy Senior Capstone Project to examine six books related to the soul and ways to live life:
- Plato, “Phaedo,” in Five Dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, and Phaedo. Ed. John M. Cooper. Trans. Grube, G.M.A., Second. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2002, 93-154.
- Boethius. The Consolation of Philosophy: With an Introduction and Contemporary Criticism. Ed. and trans. Scott E. Goins, Barbara H. Wyman, and Joseph Pearce. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012.
- McGinnis, Jon, and David C. Reisman. Classical Arabic Philosophy: An Anthology of Sources. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub. Company, 2007.
- Kant, Immanuel. Religion within the Limits of Reason Alone. Ed. and trans. Theodore M. Greene, Hoyt H. Hudson, and John Silber. New York: Harper & Row, 1960.
- Du, Bois W. E. B. The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches. Charlottesville, Va: University of Virginia Library, 1996. Internet resource.
- Beauvoir, Simone . The Second Sex. New York: Vintage Books, 1989. Print.