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Gary Jason

California State University, Fullerton, Philosophy, Faculty Member

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Gary James Jason was born in Pittsburgh, PA in 1949. He graduated from Taft High School in 1967. He attended UCLA, earning B.A. degrees in Physics and Philosophy in 1971. He attended the University of Illinois, earning an M.A. in Philosophy in 1976, and a Ph.D. in Philosophy (in the History and Philosophy of Science program) in 1982. He subsequently earned an M.S. in Computer Science in 1986 from Kansas State University.
Supervisors: Prof. Amy Coplan, Chair, Department of Philosophy, Cal State University Fullerton.
Phone: 9496065576
Address: 10 Via Del Tesoro, San Clemente, California, 92673, United States

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Papers by Gary Jason

On the Rationality of Propaganda II: Examples of Reasonable Propaganda Films

Philosophy International Journal, 2024

The term 'propaganda' is normally taken in the pejorative sense of deceitful messaging. Propagand... more The term 'propaganda' is normally taken in the pejorative sense of deceitful messaging. Propaganda is considered dubious if it is produced by a government agency, especially if by a ministry of war or propaganda. In this article I apply the theory of propaganda I sketched in a prior piece in these pages, under which propaganda is simply messaging intended to persuade others to do something or to support something. Under this theory, propaganda is reasonable if but only if it is evidence-based, truthful, broadly logical, not coercive, targeted at mentally competent adults, and transparent-meaning that the audience should be aware that the message is intended to persuade them to do or support something. I then examine three WWIIera government propaganda films, one-A Defeated People (1946)-produced by the British military, and two-The Negro Soldier (1944) and Teamwork (1947)-produced by the American military. I explain first why I chose these particular films. I then analyze these films in some detail, and show that while they were not perfectly rational, they all effectively conveyed the persuasive message that the respective militaries wanted to convey. And they did this by meeting all of criteria for propaganda to be rational.

On the Rationality of Propaganda

Philosophy International Journal, 2024

In this article I set forth a theory of propaganda explaining what it is, how it relates to marke... more In this article I set forth a theory of propaganda explaining what it is, how it relates to marketing, and the nature and types of ideology. I discuss the criteria by which we can judge the rationality or deceitfulness of propaganda. I defend the view that while propaganda can be perfectly rational, it rarely is, and I explain why that is the case. I finish by explaining why the question of the rationality or deceitfulness of propaganda is different from the question of the morality of propaganda. I give two quick examples of how an ethicist might argue that deceptive propaganda might be ethical to use, and perfectly rational propaganda might be immoral to use. I conclude with the notion that the question of the ethics of marketing and propaganda is complex, and should be handled in a separate paper.

Review Essay: Moderating Racism: The Attempt to Restrain Anti-Japanese Racism in World War II Propaganda Films

Reason Papers, 2024

In this essay, I want to explore one of the most ironic episodes in the history of propaganda, th... more In this essay, I want to explore one of the most ironic episodes in the history of propaganda, the attempt by various federal agencies to moderate American WWII anti-Japanese propaganda films. My texts will be four films, two produced by the military, and two by Hollywood: December 7th (1943), directed by Gregg Toland and revised by John Ford; Air Force (1943), directed Howard Hawks; Know Your Enemy: Japan (1945), directed by Frank Capra; and Betrayal for the East (1945), directed by William Berke. As all of these films are readily available on YouTube, I will be brief in my description of them. Instead, I will focus on how they served to intensify racial hatred of Japanese in general and Japanese-Americans in particular, and how the federal government tried to control that propaganda—but was limited by its own policies regarding Japanese-Americans.

Artists, Propagandists, Political Masters

Liberty, 2024

If we accept that purpose is of prime importance in the definition of "propaganda," then it is wo... more If we accept that purpose is of prime importance in the definition of "propaganda," then it is worth asking whose purpose is important, and, by extension, who the propagandist really is-the technician or his political master? Is the propagandist the originator of the idea or the man who puts the idea into practical effect?

Selling Genocide II: The Later Films

Rothschilds Aktien auf Waterloo) (hereafter Rothschilds). 4 This film was intended to amplify ant... more Rothschilds Aktien auf Waterloo) (hereafter Rothschilds). 4 This film was intended to amplify anti-Semitism, as well as arouse hatred of the English by advancing the theory that England was (in Goebbels's phrase) "Judafied," that is, that the English were "the Jews among Aryans." It was put into production in 1939, after the British declaration of war against the Germans. The message of the film was muddled by the sympathetic portrayal of some of the English characters, however, so the Nazis pulled the film and reworked it. By the time it was re-released, the much more popular Jew Suss was out and the war against Britain had stalled. Still, the film sold nearly as many tickets as Robert and Bertram and Linen from Ireland combined. 5 Rothschilds opens with an intertitle telling us that the filmbased on historical fact-takes place in the year 1806. Prince William of Hesse has to flee Napoleon's troops. He stores part of his fortune with a Jewish agent, Mayer Rothschild, in Frankfurt am Main. The film aims to explain how "the International Jewish House of Rothschild founded its power with the [Prince's] money and thus paved the way for the Jewish [take-over] of England." A precis of this complex film is in order. It opens with Prince William visiting Mayer's house in the Jewish district of Frankfurt. He deposits 600,000 pounds in British government bonds bearing a 5% interest. After haggling over the fee, William leaves, and Mayer tells his younger son James that these bonds will be sent to his older son Nathan (who runs the Rothschild operations in London) to "invest in England." The money reaches Nathan at his opulent London home.

Philosophic Thoughts

Using Philosophical Dilemmas to Teach Composition

Teaching English in the Two-Year College, 1985

Artists in the Moves: The Ten Best Fims

Book review of: A. Grunbaum, The Foundations of Psychoanalysis

Fighting Fire with Fire: Using Film to Counter Film Propaganda

Propaganda, Jan 17, 2023

PROPAGANDA is a Journal of Communication Studies which is publish twice a year on January and Jul... more PROPAGANDA is a Journal of Communication Studies which is publish twice a year on January and July. PROPAGANDA is a scientific publication media in the form of conceptual paper and field research related to communication studies. It is hoped that PROPAGANDA can become a media for academics and researchers to publish their scientific work and become a reference source for the development of science and knowledge.

Movie review of: Departures

Movie review of: Good

In this essay, I review the movie Good. Good tells the story of the moral corruption of its prota... more In this essay, I review the movie Good. Good tells the story of the moral corruption of its protagonist, a writer, who is seduced by blandishments and material rewards given to him by the Nazi regime. It is a nice illustration of corruption—the degradation of character wrought by the desire for wealth and fame—what Aristotle would call “pleonexia.

Book review of: P. Kitcher, Abusing Science: The Case Against Creationism

Book review of: M. Schagrin, R. Dipert, and W. Rapaport, Logic: A Computer Approach

It is amazing that virtually all logic texts ignore computer applications of FOL (first order log... more It is amazing that virtually all logic texts ignore computer applications of FOL (first order logic). It is amazing, given the historic linkage between FOL and computer science, and given the continuing importance of mathematical logic in AI and other areas of Computer Science. Of course, there is BERTIE (and its descendants), a large CAI (computer assisted instruction) logic-proof construction software package that some universities have installed on their mainframes. But as yet the computer revolution has not greatly affected the teaching of logic, nor is it in evidence in most logic texts. Messrs. Schagrin, Dipert and Rapaport have sought to correct things with their recent book Logic: A Computer Approach. They attempt to teach the basics of symbolic logic (i.e., sentential and quantificational calculus) by discussing algorithms to carry out various logical tasks (checking well-formedness, generating truth tables, checking natural deduction derivations, etc.). Most of those algorithms are standard in the literature, but it is very nice to see them drawn together in one text. The authors have given us a text with a number of merits. The book is succinct, with good discussions of the history of attempts to mechanize reasoning, of Wang&amp;amp;#39;s algorithm, and sub-proof construction (pp. 168ff.). The exercises are numerous and good, as are the suggestions for implementing the various algorithms. Moreover, the appendices (one on switching theory, the other on Turing machines) are very appropriate. However, the drawbacks of this text are numerous, at least from the perspective of the person who teaches FOL with a natural language orientation. For one thing, fully parenthesized notation is used throughout the book, whereas some informal rules regarding dropping parentheses could easily have been discussed and adopted. Also, some of the book&amp;amp;#39;s stylistic conventions are pedagogically cumbersome. For example, boldface letters are used as variables, which are difficult to write on the blackboard and too easily confused with constants. Again, the numerals &amp;amp;#39;0&amp;amp;#39; and&amp;amp;#39; 1&amp;amp;#39; are used as truth values, which are mathematically nice but is too far divorced from natural language. More troublesome is the short shrift given to topics so important in a first course in logic. As much time is spent on flowcharts as is spent on models. Worse yet, only 50 of the 340 pages are devoted to quantificational logic! Even from the point of view of computer science this text under review has drawbacks. The algorithms are in many cases very sketchily put (see, for example, p. 139), making implementation rather difficult for the average student. The algorithms given are almost all unstructured, with GOTO&amp;amp;#39;s and multiple halts everywhere. Amazingly, none of the algorithms are recursive — very unfortunate, given the role of recursion in modern programming. Thus, many of the algorithms are far more complicated than they need to be. (Compare in this regard, for example, the authors&amp;amp;#39; algorithm for truth value calculation with the one found in Tannenbaum and Augenstein&amp;amp;#39;s Data Structures Using Pascal (Prentice-Hall)). Flowcharts are used alongside PDL (&amp;amp;quot;pseudo-code&amp;amp;quot;), resulting in considerable wasted space. And the algorithms do not exploit the Boolean functions present in virtually all higher-level languages. Finally, in the discussion of Wang&amp;amp;#39;s algorithm, the concept of a stack is invoked with little discussion of what a stack is and what the stack functions (push, pop, top, etc.) are. As a matter of emphasis, I would suggest that topics such as normal forms, Polish notation and the connectives NAND, NOR, XOR be relegated to the appendices.

An Idea Whose Time Has Passed

Contemporary Education, 1984

Book review of: W. Smith, A Rat is a Pig is a Dog is a Boy: The Human Cost of the Animal Rights Movement

Conflicts of Loyalty in War Movies

In this essay, I use four war movies to explore conflicts of loyalty and how they are resolved, a... more In this essay, I use four war movies to explore conflicts of loyalty and how they are resolved, all to illustrate W.D. Ross’ multiple rule deontologism. The films are all fine WWII movies: The Enemy Below; Decision Before Dawn; John Rabe; and The Bridge on the River Kwai. In my analysis of each, I show how the protagonists face conflicts of their loyalty to themselves, their countrymen, their friends, and humanity in general, and resolve them in the face of changing factual backgrounds

Review essay: A. Gini and A. Marcoux, The Ethics of Business: A Concise Introduction

This essay is my critical review of Al Gini and Alexei Marcoux’s fine text, The Ethics of Busines... more This essay is my critical review of Al Gini and Alexei Marcoux’s fine text, The Ethics of Business. Unlike most business ethics texts, Gini/Marcoux recognize that most businesses are small, and that business is not inherently immoral and always in need of reform. And they put their focus on using ethical theory to find action-guiding principles to help guide business behavior. Moreover, they adopt the Schumpeterian view that business is an entrepreneurial activity—one that not merely executes transactions, but seeks them out. I critically probe a number of issues with their book such as their reliance upon virtue ethics as their main ethical theory, and their view that trust plays an overwhelming role in business

Book review of: R. T. Carroll, The Skeptic's Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, & Dangerous Delusions

Eccrine angiomatous hamartoma (EAH) is a benign, uncommon, combined vascular and eccrine malforma... more Eccrine angiomatous hamartoma (EAH) is a benign, uncommon, combined vascular and eccrine malformation. Most cases of this disorder are single or multiple nodules or plaques that appear red, yellow, blue, violaceous, or skin colored. EAH may be congenital or appear later in childhood; it rarely arises during puberty or adulthood. 52-year-old female patient visited our department for tender subcutaneous cystic tumor on the right sole with 1 month history. Histopathologic examination confirmed eccrine angiomatous hamartoma. During excisional biopsy procedure, mucinous discharges were observed which histopathologically diagnosed as ganglion. 키워드: Eccrine angiomatous hamartoma, Adult-onset, Ganglion

Book review of: F. Schauer, Profile, Probabilities, and Stereotypes

Academic Questions, 2004

On the Rationality of Propaganda II: Examples of Reasonable Propaganda Films

Philosophy International Journal, 2024

The term 'propaganda' is normally taken in the pejorative sense of deceitful messaging. Propagand... more The term 'propaganda' is normally taken in the pejorative sense of deceitful messaging. Propaganda is considered dubious if it is produced by a government agency, especially if by a ministry of war or propaganda. In this article I apply the theory of propaganda I sketched in a prior piece in these pages, under which propaganda is simply messaging intended to persuade others to do something or to support something. Under this theory, propaganda is reasonable if but only if it is evidence-based, truthful, broadly logical, not coercive, targeted at mentally competent adults, and transparent-meaning that the audience should be aware that the message is intended to persuade them to do or support something. I then examine three WWIIera government propaganda films, one-A Defeated People (1946)-produced by the British military, and two-The Negro Soldier (1944) and Teamwork (1947)-produced by the American military. I explain first why I chose these particular films. I then analyze these films in some detail, and show that while they were not perfectly rational, they all effectively conveyed the persuasive message that the respective militaries wanted to convey. And they did this by meeting all of criteria for propaganda to be rational.

On the Rationality of Propaganda

Philosophy International Journal, 2024

In this article I set forth a theory of propaganda explaining what it is, how it relates to marke... more In this article I set forth a theory of propaganda explaining what it is, how it relates to marketing, and the nature and types of ideology. I discuss the criteria by which we can judge the rationality or deceitfulness of propaganda. I defend the view that while propaganda can be perfectly rational, it rarely is, and I explain why that is the case. I finish by explaining why the question of the rationality or deceitfulness of propaganda is different from the question of the morality of propaganda. I give two quick examples of how an ethicist might argue that deceptive propaganda might be ethical to use, and perfectly rational propaganda might be immoral to use. I conclude with the notion that the question of the ethics of marketing and propaganda is complex, and should be handled in a separate paper.

Review Essay: Moderating Racism: The Attempt to Restrain Anti-Japanese Racism in World War II Propaganda Films

Reason Papers, 2024

In this essay, I want to explore one of the most ironic episodes in the history of propaganda, th... more In this essay, I want to explore one of the most ironic episodes in the history of propaganda, the attempt by various federal agencies to moderate American WWII anti-Japanese propaganda films. My texts will be four films, two produced by the military, and two by Hollywood: December 7th (1943), directed by Gregg Toland and revised by John Ford; Air Force (1943), directed Howard Hawks; Know Your Enemy: Japan (1945), directed by Frank Capra; and Betrayal for the East (1945), directed by William Berke. As all of these films are readily available on YouTube, I will be brief in my description of them. Instead, I will focus on how they served to intensify racial hatred of Japanese in general and Japanese-Americans in particular, and how the federal government tried to control that propaganda—but was limited by its own policies regarding Japanese-Americans.

Artists, Propagandists, Political Masters

Liberty, 2024

If we accept that purpose is of prime importance in the definition of "propaganda," then it is wo... more If we accept that purpose is of prime importance in the definition of "propaganda," then it is worth asking whose purpose is important, and, by extension, who the propagandist really is-the technician or his political master? Is the propagandist the originator of the idea or the man who puts the idea into practical effect?

Selling Genocide II: The Later Films

Rothschilds Aktien auf Waterloo) (hereafter Rothschilds). 4 This film was intended to amplify ant... more Rothschilds Aktien auf Waterloo) (hereafter Rothschilds). 4 This film was intended to amplify anti-Semitism, as well as arouse hatred of the English by advancing the theory that England was (in Goebbels's phrase) "Judafied," that is, that the English were "the Jews among Aryans." It was put into production in 1939, after the British declaration of war against the Germans. The message of the film was muddled by the sympathetic portrayal of some of the English characters, however, so the Nazis pulled the film and reworked it. By the time it was re-released, the much more popular Jew Suss was out and the war against Britain had stalled. Still, the film sold nearly as many tickets as Robert and Bertram and Linen from Ireland combined. 5 Rothschilds opens with an intertitle telling us that the filmbased on historical fact-takes place in the year 1806. Prince William of Hesse has to flee Napoleon's troops. He stores part of his fortune with a Jewish agent, Mayer Rothschild, in Frankfurt am Main. The film aims to explain how "the International Jewish House of Rothschild founded its power with the [Prince's] money and thus paved the way for the Jewish [take-over] of England." A precis of this complex film is in order. It opens with Prince William visiting Mayer's house in the Jewish district of Frankfurt. He deposits 600,000 pounds in British government bonds bearing a 5% interest. After haggling over the fee, William leaves, and Mayer tells his younger son James that these bonds will be sent to his older son Nathan (who runs the Rothschild operations in London) to "invest in England." The money reaches Nathan at his opulent London home.

Philosophic Thoughts

Using Philosophical Dilemmas to Teach Composition

Teaching English in the Two-Year College, 1985

Artists in the Moves: The Ten Best Fims

Book review of: A. Grunbaum, The Foundations of Psychoanalysis

Fighting Fire with Fire: Using Film to Counter Film Propaganda

Propaganda, Jan 17, 2023

PROPAGANDA is a Journal of Communication Studies which is publish twice a year on January and Jul... more PROPAGANDA is a Journal of Communication Studies which is publish twice a year on January and July. PROPAGANDA is a scientific publication media in the form of conceptual paper and field research related to communication studies. It is hoped that PROPAGANDA can become a media for academics and researchers to publish their scientific work and become a reference source for the development of science and knowledge.

Movie review of: Departures

Movie review of: Good

In this essay, I review the movie Good. Good tells the story of the moral corruption of its prota... more In this essay, I review the movie Good. Good tells the story of the moral corruption of its protagonist, a writer, who is seduced by blandishments and material rewards given to him by the Nazi regime. It is a nice illustration of corruption—the degradation of character wrought by the desire for wealth and fame—what Aristotle would call “pleonexia.

Book review of: P. Kitcher, Abusing Science: The Case Against Creationism

Book review of: M. Schagrin, R. Dipert, and W. Rapaport, Logic: A Computer Approach

It is amazing that virtually all logic texts ignore computer applications of FOL (first order log... more It is amazing that virtually all logic texts ignore computer applications of FOL (first order logic). It is amazing, given the historic linkage between FOL and computer science, and given the continuing importance of mathematical logic in AI and other areas of Computer Science. Of course, there is BERTIE (and its descendants), a large CAI (computer assisted instruction) logic-proof construction software package that some universities have installed on their mainframes. But as yet the computer revolution has not greatly affected the teaching of logic, nor is it in evidence in most logic texts. Messrs. Schagrin, Dipert and Rapaport have sought to correct things with their recent book Logic: A Computer Approach. They attempt to teach the basics of symbolic logic (i.e., sentential and quantificational calculus) by discussing algorithms to carry out various logical tasks (checking well-formedness, generating truth tables, checking natural deduction derivations, etc.). Most of those algorithms are standard in the literature, but it is very nice to see them drawn together in one text. The authors have given us a text with a number of merits. The book is succinct, with good discussions of the history of attempts to mechanize reasoning, of Wang&amp;amp;#39;s algorithm, and sub-proof construction (pp. 168ff.). The exercises are numerous and good, as are the suggestions for implementing the various algorithms. Moreover, the appendices (one on switching theory, the other on Turing machines) are very appropriate. However, the drawbacks of this text are numerous, at least from the perspective of the person who teaches FOL with a natural language orientation. For one thing, fully parenthesized notation is used throughout the book, whereas some informal rules regarding dropping parentheses could easily have been discussed and adopted. Also, some of the book&amp;amp;#39;s stylistic conventions are pedagogically cumbersome. For example, boldface letters are used as variables, which are difficult to write on the blackboard and too easily confused with constants. Again, the numerals &amp;amp;#39;0&amp;amp;#39; and&amp;amp;#39; 1&amp;amp;#39; are used as truth values, which are mathematically nice but is too far divorced from natural language. More troublesome is the short shrift given to topics so important in a first course in logic. As much time is spent on flowcharts as is spent on models. Worse yet, only 50 of the 340 pages are devoted to quantificational logic! Even from the point of view of computer science this text under review has drawbacks. The algorithms are in many cases very sketchily put (see, for example, p. 139), making implementation rather difficult for the average student. The algorithms given are almost all unstructured, with GOTO&amp;amp;#39;s and multiple halts everywhere. Amazingly, none of the algorithms are recursive — very unfortunate, given the role of recursion in modern programming. Thus, many of the algorithms are far more complicated than they need to be. (Compare in this regard, for example, the authors&amp;amp;#39; algorithm for truth value calculation with the one found in Tannenbaum and Augenstein&amp;amp;#39;s Data Structures Using Pascal (Prentice-Hall)). Flowcharts are used alongside PDL (&amp;amp;quot;pseudo-code&amp;amp;quot;), resulting in considerable wasted space. And the algorithms do not exploit the Boolean functions present in virtually all higher-level languages. Finally, in the discussion of Wang&amp;amp;#39;s algorithm, the concept of a stack is invoked with little discussion of what a stack is and what the stack functions (push, pop, top, etc.) are. As a matter of emphasis, I would suggest that topics such as normal forms, Polish notation and the connectives NAND, NOR, XOR be relegated to the appendices.

An Idea Whose Time Has Passed

Contemporary Education, 1984

Book review of: W. Smith, A Rat is a Pig is a Dog is a Boy: The Human Cost of the Animal Rights Movement

Conflicts of Loyalty in War Movies

In this essay, I use four war movies to explore conflicts of loyalty and how they are resolved, a... more In this essay, I use four war movies to explore conflicts of loyalty and how they are resolved, all to illustrate W.D. Ross’ multiple rule deontologism. The films are all fine WWII movies: The Enemy Below; Decision Before Dawn; John Rabe; and The Bridge on the River Kwai. In my analysis of each, I show how the protagonists face conflicts of their loyalty to themselves, their countrymen, their friends, and humanity in general, and resolve them in the face of changing factual backgrounds

Review essay: A. Gini and A. Marcoux, The Ethics of Business: A Concise Introduction

This essay is my critical review of Al Gini and Alexei Marcoux’s fine text, The Ethics of Busines... more This essay is my critical review of Al Gini and Alexei Marcoux’s fine text, The Ethics of Business. Unlike most business ethics texts, Gini/Marcoux recognize that most businesses are small, and that business is not inherently immoral and always in need of reform. And they put their focus on using ethical theory to find action-guiding principles to help guide business behavior. Moreover, they adopt the Schumpeterian view that business is an entrepreneurial activity—one that not merely executes transactions, but seeks them out. I critically probe a number of issues with their book such as their reliance upon virtue ethics as their main ethical theory, and their view that trust plays an overwhelming role in business

Book review of: R. T. Carroll, The Skeptic's Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, & Dangerous Delusions

Eccrine angiomatous hamartoma (EAH) is a benign, uncommon, combined vascular and eccrine malforma... more Eccrine angiomatous hamartoma (EAH) is a benign, uncommon, combined vascular and eccrine malformation. Most cases of this disorder are single or multiple nodules or plaques that appear red, yellow, blue, violaceous, or skin colored. EAH may be congenital or appear later in childhood; it rarely arises during puberty or adulthood. 52-year-old female patient visited our department for tender subcutaneous cystic tumor on the right sole with 1 month history. Histopathologic examination confirmed eccrine angiomatous hamartoma. During excisional biopsy procedure, mucinous discharges were observed which histopathologically diagnosed as ganglion. 키워드: Eccrine angiomatous hamartoma, Adult-onset, Ganglion

Book review of: F. Schauer, Profile, Probabilities, and Stereotypes

Academic Questions, 2004

The Critical Thinking Book

The Critical Thinking Book, 2022

The Logic of Scientific Discovery (1988)

Student Study Guide for Introduction to Logic (1994)

Introduction to Logic (1994)

Critical Thinking: Developing an Effective Worldview (2001)

Philosophic Thoughts: Essays on Logic and Philosophy (2013)

Book review of The Black Page reason papers.pdf (2017)

Reason Papers, 2017

Book review of E. Butler, Classical Liberalism--A Primer (2016)