Volume 6 (2019)

Letter from the Editor: Issue 6

I am proud to have joined the staff of Acta Cogitata this year as student editor. Our previous editor, Ryan Lemasters, has left me some large shoes to fill, and all of us, both at Acta and in the department, thank him for his work shaping the journal into what it is today. Taking on this role is particularly meaningful to me, as this journal was my first taste of public philosophy, presenting my undergraduate work in previous issues. The opportunity and experience offered to me then by the journal helped refine my vision and goals for my life as a professional philosopher, and I am both privileged and humbled to be offered the chance to work with emerging scholars in a similar way. I hope that I am able to offer them as rewarding an experience as I had when I was in their shoes. As the Philosophy program grows at Eastern Michigan University, Acta is also growing by presenting our first fully-compiled issue, featuring work by an undergraduate student in Eastern’s Art program on the cover. I hope you are as excited as I am by this new direction.

A fundamental part of philosophy is asking hard questions and exploring the possible answers, whether those questions are about the nature of reality or knowledge, the right way to live in relation to and with other humans, non-human animals, and the environment, what it means to live, or what it means to die. In our sixth issue of Acta Cogitata, we share with our readers papers from emerging scholars on topics as timely as LGBTQ+ rights related to military service and as timeless as our approach to mortality.

Thank you to our authors for sharing their work, their professors and mentors for their efforts in support of their development as scholars, and their institutions for encouraging these students and so many others in their philosophical work. You enrich not only philosophy, but our world, through your contributions.

C. Áine Keefer

Editor in Chief
Dr. W. John Koolage

Student Editor
C. Áine Keefer