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Spring 2017

Dear Reader, 

After a three-year hiatus, we are pleased to release Issue IV of Dianoia: The 
Undergraduate Philosophy Journal of Boston College. The front cover hosts Virgil Solis’ 
Philosophy Enthroned, while the back cover features Kandinsky’s Rain Landscape as 
well as his Four Parts. We thought it fitting to give such a prominent position to Lady 
Philosophy and to her great servants: Albert the Great, Virgil, Ptolemy, and Plato. 
Though none of these philosophers are specifically the focus of any of the essays 
contained herein, each of them has served Philosophy in a distinct and lasting manner. 
Much like those aforementioned, the philosophers referenced in this collection of 
essays have made their own unique contribution to the pursuit of wisdom. Similarly, 
the authors of these essays have inherited this great tradition, adding to it their own 
perspective and distinct style. The pairing of Solis’ woodcutting with Kandinsky’s work 
attempts to illustrate this continuity of Philosophy’s reign; the essays touch on a wide 
range of thinkers — from Thomas Aquinas to Jimi Hendrix — and are indebted to the 
contributions of the abovementioned philosophical giants. Each serves as a testament 
to the love of wisdom. 

In raising Dianoia from its short slumber, the Editorial Board ambitiously decided to 
expand the scope of the journal beyond the walls of Boston College, soliciting papers 
from other colleges and universities for the first time in its history. As a result, we 
received several dozen high quality submissions from elite colleges and universities 
across the United States and even the United Kingdom. We thank each of these 
authors for his or her hard work. From this pool, we are pleased to publish seven 
essays that we believe not only exemplify the pinnacle of undergraduate philosophical 
research, but also take as their focus topics that would be of interest to a general 
undergraduate audience. It is our hope that these works will contribute to dialogue in 
classrooms and on campuses around the world. 

We are greatly indebted to those members of the Boston College Philosophy 
Department and the greater Boston College community who have helped to make the 
revival of Dianoia possible, and we thank you for your continued support. 

We hope that you enjoy reading the essays that follow, and, in the hope of creating 
continued discourse, encourage the submission of essays in response to those here 
contained for future issues of Dianoia. 

Sincerely, 

Thomas J. Lombardo, Editor-in-Chief 

      
 

Peter G. Klapes, Managing Editor  Jordan A. Pino, Managing Editor 

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