New technologies, such as virtual reality, often draw to itself myths from other fields of interest and discourses. One such myth that has attached itself to virtual reality is the notion that virtual reality can provide a utopia for the mind, or true self, if the body can be cast off. It is this discarding of the body that my thesis aims to investigate in terms of Girardian sacrifice. Girard?s notion of sacrifice is built upon the observation of various cultures throughout history. It stands to reason that in our contemporary, digitally influenced, society, sacrifice, in some form, still persists. I argue that the body, when viewed as disposable, through the use of virtual reality, exhibits the same traits as the selected sacrificial victim. As the myth of a utopia for the mind, or true self, exists prior to the advent of virtual reality, traces of it, as well as the sacrifice I argue it entails, can be found in other texts as well. One such a text is The Chrysalids (Wyndham 1955). This text presents the reader with characters which I argue represent both the mind and body separately. The Chrysalids culminates in the characters representing the mind leaving for a utopian city whilst the character who, I argue, is most strongly associated with the body, Sophie Wender, is killed. It is also argued here in that the notion of abandoning the body is simply a myth since the inability to abandon the body is also discussed in terms of phenomenology, pointing out that the body can ultimately not be completely removed from the making of meaning. This phenomenological acknowledgement of the body, along with a critique The Chrysalids and cyber-utopia?s view of the body, forms the basis of my practical body of work. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Visual Arts / MA / Unrestricted

Nous sommes en train de passer rapidement à un nouvel environnement caractérisé par l’internationalité, la dématérialisation et la célérité. Ces caractéristiques ne sont pas sans effet. Le monde change autour de nous grâce à l’avènement de la technologie et à l’intégration des outils électroniques dans toutes nos activités. L’Internet devient un outil indispensable à utiliser et à intégrer dans nos activités, notamment les activités commerciales. Le commerce international cède de plus en plus la place au commerce électronique. Le développement du phénomène universel de l’Internet et l’émergence du commerce électronique provoquent naturellement des situations conflictuelles à dimension internationale. Face à l’impossibilité de recourir à la justice étatique, le recours au règlement dématérialisé était donc nécessaire, ce qui favorise le développement logique des ODR, notamment l’Arbitrage Électronique. Nonobstant, le recours à ce mode de résolution soulève des problématiques parfois techniques, mais il pose surtout de nombreuses problématiques juridiques, justement à cause de la nature de l’environnement juridique. Surmonter ces problématiques à travers la mise en place d’un environnement favorable au développement de l’Arbitrage Électronique est donc indispensable. Une chose est sûre, si l’Arbitrage Électronique fait appel à l’environnement technique et à l’environnement juridique, et que le processus peut apparaître à première vue complexe, il en est autrement, toutes les problématiques techniques et juridiques traitées ne sont pas insurmontables. / We are moving quickly to a new environment characterized by global dematerialization and celerity. These features are not without effect. The world around us is changing with the advent of technology and the integration of electronic tools in all our activities. The Internet is becoming an indispensable tool to use and integrate in our business, including commercial activities. International trade gives more room to the electronic commerce. The development of the universal phenomenon of the Internet and the emergence of electronic commerce naturally provoke conflicts even to international extend. Faced with the impossibility of using state justice, the use of paperless settlement was necessary, which promotes the logical development of ODR including Electronic Arbitration. Nevertheless, the use of this resolution mode sometimes raises not only technical issues, but many legal ones as well. This is precisely due to the nature of the legal environment. Overcoming these issues through the establishment of an environment fitting the development of Electronic Arbitration is necessary. For sure, if Electronic Arbitration uses technical and legal environment, and though the process may appear complex at first sight, all legal and technical issues dealt with in this thesis are, however, overcome.

Bibliographic note: PRIJATEL, Alan J. The Right to Privacy Deconstructed: International Law in an Age of Virtual Surveillance, 72p. Master's Thesis. Univerzita Karlova (Charles University), Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Political Studies: Prague, Supervisor: JU. Dr Milan Lipovský, Ph.D. Abstract: In order to understand the process to which the right to privacy operates under current international and regional legal frameworks, we ask ourselves the question if "the digital age" merits an interpretation of privacy unique to this phenomenon of cyberspace. If indeed the right to privacy can be interpreted in this way, we ask whether or not there is a deficit to legal protections to the. This "right to privacy in the digital age" will be taken in context of international law, conventions, principles, and norms in addition to being explored in case-law from the European Court of Human Rights to draw an understanding of the right to privacy in the digital age- if any such right does indeed exist. This thesis essentially, as the title implies, "deconstructs" what puts together the right to privacy and examines what parts of the law that was intended to fortify privacy in the first place, has shortcomings to its defense. I am arguing that there indeed are normative deficits to the right to privacy. In...

The due diligence principle is a well-established general principle of international law. The adequacy of its use proved in many special regimes of international law, especially in international environmental law. Cyberspace is another regime where the application of the due diligence principle is desirable. An adequate application of the due diligence principle might mitigate the problem of attribution of cyber operations and help in denying safe havens of non-state actors, who conduct malicious operations in cyberspace. The adequacy of the application of the due diligence principle in cyberspace is further indicated by the results of discussions in international fora and by the emerging trend of support of the application in official declarations of States on the application of international law in cyberspace. The thesis further suggests how the due diligence principle should be applied by introducing three elements that trigger the due diligence obligation and three possible adjustments to them. It also identifies the essence of some controversial aspects of the application of the due diligence principle and introduces cyber- specific considerations for the determination of breaches of the due diligence obligation and evaluation of lawfulness of responses to the breach, which consist of acts of retorsion...

This master thesis deals with the topic of the relationship between man and technology, which is represented by cyborg characters in visual culture. The aim is to create a stereotype of individual cyborg characters from selected cyber-punk works, on the basis of which I can reflect the vision and ideas of the relationship between the organic and technical in the future world. This work is divided into four chapters - the first chapter focuses on cyber-punk as a sub-genre of sci-fi, in the second I define the cyborg character and the postmodern theoretical background, which are related to the cyborg, in the third chapter I present the theoretical basis for the analysis of characters and specify methodological procedures, in the final chapter I analyze the individual works.

This thesis analyzes the position of the author in the environment of internet. The main source of information for this thesis is the study of Roland Barthes - Death of the Author and the lecture of Michel Foucault - What is an author? After a thorough analysis of these two works, the thesis focuses on the description of the webpage www.pismak.cz, which has been selected as a suitable representative for environment of internet. This website allows us to study and explore the role and place of the author. I tried to describe the position of the author on this website. Mainly the fact, that every user of this website uses a pseudonym - nick. The work also presents new insights into the phenomenon of internet anonymity, based on the information gathered from current scientific articles. At the end I compare my own analysis with theories of Roland Barthes and Michel Foucault. The thesis concludes, that works of Roland Barthes and Michel Foucault are still valid, even when compared with modern phenomenon - internet.

This thesis analyzes the position of the author in the environment of internet. The main source of information for this thesis is the study of Roland Barthes - Death of the Author and the lecture of Michel Foucault - What is an author? After a thorough analysis of these two works, the thesis focuses on the description of the webpage www.pismak.cz, which has been selected as a suitable representative for environment of internet. This website allows us to study and explore the role and place of the author. I tried to describe the position of the author on this website. Mainly the fact, that every user of this website uses a pseudonym - nick. The work also presents new insights into the phenomenon of internet anonymity, based on the information gathered from current scientific articles. At the end I compare my own analysis with theories of Roland Barthes and Michel Foucault. The thesis concludes, that works of Roland Barthes and Michel Foucault are still valid, even when compared with modern phenomenon - internet.

Cyberpunk science fiction is often set in dystopian futures where capitalism and rapid technological growth have rendered the planet ecologically devastated. The people of these worlds are host to numerous mental illnesses that many attempt to cure with drugs, entertainment, or other aspects of their fast-paced existences, but these solutions are rarely successful. When characters come to embrace the remnants of the natural world, however, they typically show signs of mental healing as the result of exposure to nature. This thesis analyzes William Gibson’s Neuromancer, Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049, and Jeanette Winterson’s The Stone Gods alongside research from the fields of ecopsychology and ecotherapy to better understand the relationship between mental health and nature within the cyberpunk genre.

Orientador: Rodrigo Duarte Fernandes dos Passos / Banca: Leandro de Oliveira Galastri / Banca: Thiago Fernandes Franco / Resumo: O estudo tem por objetivo fornecer elementos iniciais para uma tradução do debate internacional de cibersegurança a partir da teoria gramsciana. Os três capítulos fornecem aportes críticos que ponderam argumentos-chave evidenciados na literatura de cibersegurança a partir da pesquisa bibliográfica. No primeiro capítulo, utiliza-se a categoria de Estado para questionar a rígida cisão entre sociedade civil e sociedade política identificada no ciberespaço pela literatura especializada. No segundo capítulo, a categoria de classes e grupos subalternos evidencia a mobilidade das questões de cibersegurança, refletindo como a segurança de uns (redes governamentais e de empresas privadas) implica a insegurança de outros (classes e grupos subalternos), evidenciando o caráter estadocêntrico desse debate. O terceiro capítulo tem por objetivo explicitar a fragmentação internacional do ciberespaço a partir da categoria de desenvolvimento desigual e combinado - que evidencia as múltiplas temporalidades do desenvolvimento humano. Com isso, procura-se criticar como a segurança proposta desconsidera largamente essas questões, atuando a partir de uma perspectiva homogeneizadora do "mundo cibernético". / Abstract: The study draws on the Gramscian theory to provide initial elements for a translation of the international cybersecurity debate. The three chapters provide critical inputs that ponder key arguments highlighted in the cybersecurity literature. In the first chapter, the category of state is used to question the rigid split between civil society and political society identified in cyberspace by the specialized literature. In the second chapter, the category of subaltern classes and groups highlights the mobility of cybersecurity issues, reflecting how the security of some (government and private companies' networks) implies the insecurity of others (subaltern classes and groups), evidencing the state-centric character of the debate. The third chapter highlights the multiple temporalities of human development, understood through the category of uneven and combined development. This fragmentation is also manifested in cyberspace as international fragmentation, therefore, we present how the proposed security largely disregards these issues, acting through a homogenizing trend. / Mestre

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