An appropriate regional cooperation environment makes a vital contribution to the social and economic development of every country in the region. This research thesis focuses specifically on the growing lack of appropriate regional cooperation models in developing countries, and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is used as a case study. The research highlights some key issues on the development of the appropriate regional cooperation models. The research information is obtained on the research areas through questionnaire surveys to respondents from South Africa, Tanzania, and Mauritius on the current regional cooperation model and the perceived ideal one. The conclusions drawn are that the regional cooperation models envisaged to be in use in the SADC differ significantly from the theory, which results in inappropriate focus on the requirements of the majority of the states. This is primarily due to the use of inappropriate regional cooperation models. The indications are that traditional market-type integration models, which are used as a “default model” without major adjustments, are inappropriate within the developing countries context, owing to the existence of a fundamental incongruence between the assumptions and requirements of such models and the needs and realities prevailing in Southern Africa. Southern Africa does not satisfy the foremost prerequisites of successful market integration. Despite the considerable advantages the models might have gained in other developed regions, they often fail to meet the requirements of the developing countries. In measuring the satisfaction regarding the current regional cooperation adhering to the requirements of the majority of states, it becomes obvious that the SADC population is generally not satisfied with the results regarding the current regional cooperation. In order to meet the requirements of the majority of states, SADC regional cooperation needs to focus on the appropriate regional cooperation. This requires an understanding and management of three classes of factors, which are environmental factors, capacity factors, and regional organisational factors. The three classes of factors together affect the participation rate of the states. / Business Leadership / DBL (Business Leadership)

The dissertation thesis studies the extension of the context of the term model as a means of interpretation for Czech and Slovak post-conceptual works of art. Based on result of a historical excursion into the history of painting, sculpture and architecture, the thesis offers a new typology of a model which is exemplified on particular work of art of Czech and Slovak post-conceptual era in the first two decades of the 21st century. The historical part of the thesis concludes the following: model in the art is an emancipated form originating from different academic as well as layman discourse; emancipated model has a methaphorical layer and thus it reflects wide historical, cultural and social relations. The categories proposed include: a linear model, a physical model, a cognitive model and an immersive model. The linear model encompases the sketch themes and so-called visualization metaphors (graphs, charts, schemes, etc) and originates as a reaction to information saturation and complicated networks. The physical model is a form to architecture and hobby modelling, it is characterised by a simple, „sketchy“ structure reacting to social themes and individual and collective memory. The cognitive model points to the cognitive turn of the society, it evaluates the materialisation of mental space and explains the emancipated model as an open category. Finally, the immersive model interprets the medium of exhibition as a model form which is articulated by and artisitic manifesto or an architectural interference. Another form of immersion that is being discussed in the chapter about immersive models, is a photographic or 3 D computer illusion as a reaction to society‘s virtualisation. Simultaneously to theoretical-historical research, an artistic research was taking place which became the basis for the creation of different categories and typologies of model. Each proposed category thus includes a so-called author‘s note reflecting the practical part of the dissertation thesis.

In this dissertation, I investigate whether the conceptualisation of computerised technological phenomena is influenced by social variables, in particular exposure to the computer. The conceptualisation and behaviour of a group of students majoring in technology-related fields were studied. Through the application of Conceptual Blending Theory, the multi-modal desktop metaphorical blend (DMMB) (as an electronic representation of an actual office desktop) was focused on. The participants were provided with tasks with the aim of determining whether they conceptualise the electronic desktop as a literal ‘thing-in-itself’ or as an e-version of their actual desks. The intent was to examine to what extent social variables, especially exposure, motivate the nature of the conceptualisation. Therefore, it is hypothesised that exposure, regarded as the primary variable in this study, influences conceptualisation of the DMMB to the extent where the it either loses its metaphoric quality in participants, who maintain regular and prolonged exposure to the computer, or retains the metaphoric quality of the DMMB in participants, who are not exposed to the computer on a regular and prolonged basis. Two groups were distinguished based on the extent of the individual participants’ exposure to computer technology, namely a high-exposure group and a low-exposure group. A mixed method approach was used to test and analyse data collected from individual participants, as well as from the high- and low-exposure groups. Methods used to test these hypotheses included questionnaires, word association (a conceptual task), controlled observation (a behavioural task), and interviews. The resulting data were analysed by means of a thematic interview analysis and non-parametric statistical tests. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Linguistics)

À la suite d’Agrippa, maint sceptique a argué de la pluralité des systèmes pour ruiner toute ambition de vérité philosophique : des systèmes contradictoires ne pouvant être vrais simultanément, leurs prétentions respectives s’annulent. L’argument n’a pourtant de valeur que si la pluralité des systèmes est elle-même irrationnelle. Or plusieurs philosophes ont rationalisé la diversité des systèmes philosophiques, suggérant par là que la raison puisse s’approprier sa propre limite ; notamment Kant, dans l’« Histoire de la raison pure » qui conclut la Critique de la raison pure (1781) ; Hegel, dans les Leçons sur l’histoire de la philosophie (1805–1830) ; Victor Cousin, dans Du Vrai, du beau et du bien (1828) et l’Histoire générale de la philosophie (1863) ; Charles Renouvier, dans l’Esquisse d’une classification systématique des doctrines philosophiques (1885–1886) ; et Jules Vuillemin, dans Nécessité ou contingence (1984).Étudier de manière interne chacune de ces entreprises permet de déterminer quels en sont les critères fondamentaux, la forme mathématique générale, et le but philosophique. L’histoire kantienne de la raison pure, injustement dédaignée, repose sur les concepts fondamentaux du criticisme, structure maint chapitre des trois Critiques, et annonce la paix philosophique perpétuelle dont est porteur le criticisme. Les Leçons de Hegel ne sont ni un résumé empirique ni une histoire biaisée de la philosophie : fondées sur la Logique et la Phénoménologie, elles mettent au jour la dialectique interne des systèmes. La classification de Renouvier n’est pas, comme on le dit parfois, a posteriori, mais repose au contraire sur le jeu a priori d’une table des catégories et d’une théorie de la contradiction. Enfin, la classification vuilleminienne des systèmes, qui s’appuie sur une classification des formes de prédication, généralise la classification kantienne. Seule la classification de Victor Cousin s’avère finalement a posteriori.Ancrées dans les concepts fondamentaux de chacune de ces doctrines, ces classifications montrent qu’un système peut construire l’image des autres et de leurs relations aussi rigoureusement qu’il décrit le monde : les relations entre systèmes ne sont pas moins structurales que les systèmes eux-mêmes. / Following the example of Agrippa, a lot a sceptics argued that, because of the plurality of philosophical systems, there could be no unique philosophical truth: contradictory systems could not be true at the same time. But this argument presupposes that this plurality is itself irrational. And yet some philosophers took the diversity of philosophical systems as rational, suggesting that reason was able to take possession of its own boundary: Kant, in the “History of pure reason” of the Critique of Pure Reason (1781); Hegel, in the Lessons on the History of Philosophy (1805–1830); Victor Cousin, in his books Du Vrai, du beau et du bien (1828) and the Histoire générale de la philosophie (1863); Charles Renouvier, in the Esquisse d’une classification systématique des doctrines philosophiques (1885–1886); and Jules Vuillemin, in Necessity or Contingency (1984).By examining the internal structure of each of these attempts, we can show their main criteria, their general mathematical form, and their philosophical aim. Kant’s “History of Pure Reason” uses the fundamental concepts of criticism, plays a structuring role in the Critique of Pure Reason, and forecasts the perpetual peace of criticism. Hegel’s Lessons are neither an empirical summary nor a biased history of philosophy: they are grounded on Hegel’s Logic and Phenomenology, and reveal the internal dialectic of systems. Renouvier’s classification is not a posteriori, but combines an a priori table of categories with a theory of contradiction. Finally, Vuillemin’s classification of systems, which is grounded on a classification of elementary sentences, is a generalization of Kant’s classification. Only Victor Cousin’s classification is a posteriori.These classifications find their roots in the fundamental concepts of each of these systems. A philosophical system is thus able to account not only for the world, but also for other systems and for their relationship. The relationship between systems is not less structural than systems themselves are.

In this dissertation, I investigate whether the conceptualisation of computerised technological phenomena is influenced by social variables, in particular exposure to the computer. The conceptualisation and behaviour of a group of students majoring in technology-related fields were studied. Through the application of Conceptual Blending Theory, the multi-modal desktop metaphorical blend (DMMB) (as an electronic representation of an actual office desktop) was focused on. The participants were provided with tasks with the aim of determining whether they conceptualise the electronic desktop as a literal ‘thing-in-itself’ or as an e-version of their actual desks. The intent was to examine to what extent social variables, especially exposure, motivate the nature of the conceptualisation. Therefore, it is hypothesised that exposure, regarded as the primary variable in this study, influences conceptualisation of the DMMB to the extent where the it either loses its metaphoric quality in participants, who maintain regular and prolonged exposure to the computer, or retains the metaphoric quality of the DMMB in participants, who are not exposed to the computer on a regular and prolonged basis. Two groups were distinguished based on the extent of the individual participants’ exposure to computer technology, namely a high-exposure group and a low-exposure group. A mixed method approach was used to test and analyse data collected from individual participants, as well as from the high- and low-exposure groups. Methods used to test these hypotheses included questionnaires, word association (a conceptual task), controlled observation (a behavioural task), and interviews. The resulting data were analysed by means of a thematic interview analysis and non-parametric statistical tests. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Linguistics)

The present work analyses the fiction of the post-Soviet Russian writers, Vladimir Sorokin, Vladimir Tuchkov and Aleksandr Khurgin against the background of the notion of post-Soviet Russian postmodernism. In doing so, it investigates the usefulness and accuracy of this very notion, proposing that of ‘post-Soviet neo-modernism’ instead. Common critical approaches to post-Soviet Russian literature as being postmodern are questioned through an examination of the concept of postmodernism in its interrelated historical, social, and philosophical dimensions, and of its utility and adequacy in the Russian cultural context. In addition, it is proposed that the humorous and grotesque nature of certain post-Soviet works can be viewed as a creatively critical engagement with both the past, i.e. Soviet ideology, and the present, the socially tumultuous post-Soviet years. Russian modernism, while sharing typologically and literary-historically a number of key characteristics with Western modernism, was particularly motivated by a turning to the cultural repository of Russia’s past, and a metaphysical yearning for universal meaning transcending the perceived fragmentation of the tangible modern world. Continuing the older Russian tradition of resisting rationalism, and impressed by the sense of realist aesthetics failing the writer in the task of representing a world that eluded rational comprehension, modernists tended to subordinate artistic concerns to their esoteric convictions. Without appreciation of this spiritual dimension, semantic intention in Russian modernist fiction may escape a reader used to the conventions of realist fiction. It is suggested that contemporary Russian fiction as embodied in certain works by Sorokin, Tuchkov and Khurgin, while stylistically exhibiting a number of features commonly regarded as postmodern, such as parody, pastiche, playfulness, carnivalisation, the grotesque, intertextuality and self-consciousness, seems to resume modernism’s tendency to seek meaning and value for human existence in the transcendent realm, as well as in the cultural, in particular literary, treasures of the past. The closeness of such segments of post-Soviet fiction and modernism in this regard is, it is argued, ultimately contrary to the spirit of postmodernism and its relativistic and particularistic worldview. Hence the suggested conceptualisation of post-Soviet Russian fiction as ‘neo-modernist’.