Background: Both Freud (1921) and Skinner (1971) were regarded as 'hard determinists' who saw human thought and action as determined by prior events, and the idea of free will as simply an illusion. While this belief system clearly impacted on the models of therapy they developed, whether such beliefs also had an impact on their ability to develop qualities of effective therapy, such as empathic and genuine therapeutic relationships, is not known. Furthermore, whether there is something about holding this belief system that could affect therapists' abilities to attain and nurture such qualities, remains unclear. Research Question: The research study reported here sought to gain some insight into the above question, and into what it is like to deliver therapy from a hard determinist philosophical frame, by asking how clinical psychologists who hold a hard determinist philosophy, experience delivering therapy. Method: The study made use of a qualitative design methodology. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven hard determinist clinical psychologists, and interview transcripts were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Results: Four super-ordinate themes emerged from the analysis: 'From Hell to Utopia: How it feels to be a hard determinist therapist', 'Hating the sin, loving the sinner: Enhancing the therapeutic relationship', 'Free will: A felt vs reflective understanding', and 'Therapist as thinker'. Implications: The themes to emerge from the data gave rise to a number of implications and recommendations for practice and further research. In particular, it was recommended that the link between hard determinist beliefs and a perceived enhancement of the therapeutic relationship warrants further research. Furthermore, since the philosophy was linked to ideas about power, self-control, therapeutic models, science, and research, discussions of the philosophy may add valuable contributions to clinical psychology's understanding of these issues. In addition, a replication or development of this study with a broader range of therapists is recommended, to establish whether the findings reported here can be generalised to therapists from fields outside clinical psychology.

This dissertation is about some of the most important philosophical aspects of chaos research, a famous recent mathematical area of research about deterministic yet unpredictable and irregular, or even random behaviour. It consists of three parts. First, as a basis for the dissertation, I examine notions of unpredictability in ergodic theory, and I ask what they tell us about the justification and formulation of mathematical definitions. The main account of the actual practice of justifying mathematical definitions is Lakatos's account on proof-generated definitions. By investigating notions of unpredictability in ergodic theory, I present two previously unidentified but common ways of justifying definitions. Furthermore, I criticise Lakatos's account as being limited: it does not acknowledge the interrelationships between the different kinds of justification, and it ignores the fact that various kinds of justification - not only proof-generation - are important. Second, unpredictability is a central theme in chaos research, and it is widely claimed that chaotic systems exhibit a kind of unpredictability which is specific to chaos. However, I argue that the existing answers to the question "What is the unpredictability specific to chaos?" are wrong. I then go on to propose a novel answer, viz. the unpredictability specific to chaos is that for predicting any event all sufficiently past events are approximately probabilistically irrelevant. Third, given that chaotic systems are strongly unpredictable, one is led to ask: are deterministic and indeterministic descriptions observationally equivalent, i.e., do they give the same predictions? I treat this question for measure-theoretic deterministic systems and stochastic processes, both of which are ubiquitous in science. I discuss and formalise the notion of observational equivalence. By proving results in ergodic theory, I first show that for many measure-preserving deterministic descriptions there is an observationally equivalent indeterministic description, and that for all indeterministic descriptions there is an observationally equivalent deterministic description. I go on to show that strongly chaotic systems are even observationally equivalent to some of the most random stochastic processes encountered in science. For instance, strongly chaotic systems give the same predictions at every observation level as Markov processes or semi-Markov processes. All this illustrates that even kinds of deterministic and indeterministic descriptions which, intuitively, seem to give very different predictions are observationally equivalent. Finally, I criticise the claims in the previous philosophical literature on observational equivalence.

The object of this thesis is to examine the two opposite poles of human freedom, that is, determinism and total freedom, as found in the plays of Cocteau and Sartre that have been influenced by Greek drama. These contemporary playwrights however have set aside the religious aspect of ancient tragedy to concentrate on the analysis of the human condition. Cocteau, similar to Sophocles, is conscious of fate controlling human destiny. Since Cocteau is unable to alter its course, he accepts it; his plays, Antigone (1922), Oedipe-Roi (1925), Orphée (1926) and La Machine Infernale (1934), all embody such an attitude, thereby denoting freedom as an illusion. In the first chapter, Antigone, Orpheus and Oedipus are analysed as pawns of the cruel gods; as mere mortals, at the mercy of the Heavens, they cannot control their destiny. In the second chapter, emphasis is placed on man himself; we have endeavoured to show to what extent he is physically and psychologically determined and how he contains the seed of his own perdition. Cocteau's originality lies in the presentation of determinism through imagery. In La Machine Infernale, his most important play, destiny becomes a machine geared to destroy man caught in a network from which he cannot extricate himself. Such a person is Oedipus, controlled by both outer and inner forces. The outer forces or the gods plot a fate of parricide and incest which he is unable to avoid or escape. In the second instance, Cocteau studies the complexity of the human machine; in so doing, he reflects the twentieth century's interest, notably that of Freud and of the Surrealists, in the realm of the unconscious. Man is described as a complexity of heredity, natural instincts and character, especially excessive pride or hybris in the case of Oedipus, all of which influence his behaviour. According to our interpretation, the double determinism (outer and inner) which was separated to facilitate our analysis, is in fact, so interwoven as to form a complex, integral pattern of man's suffering. Sartre also is interested in man; his main concern, as philosopher and dramatist, is man and the human consciousness. The Sartrean philosophy is one of action wherein the existentialist hero, like Orestes, is the opposite of the Cocteau hero who accepts his fate; the former chooses his acts and so creates his own destiny. In chapter three we study the Sartrean revolt against God, a concept necessitated by human need and frailty. According to Les Mouches (1943) and Les Troyennes (1965), spiritual tyranny and moral order are detrimental to freedom since they hold men in bondage. Sartre believes that traditional morality is obsolete; therefore no one can guide man, even less dictate to him as he is free to invent his own values. In chapter four, Sartre's notion of total freedom is examined. The type of liberty advocated in his main play Les Mouches is not a "freedom-from" but a "freedom-for". Man must not consider himself free in the sense that he has no commitment and that he can do what he wants. Sartre wishes to replace this negative approach by a more positive type based on human solidarity and love. Once one recognizes and accepts personal autonomy, one must act in society, for being free in Sartre's terms, is being "free-to-do" and also being "free-in-society". Such a freedom however makes man suffer; he feels the anguish of responsibility and a sense of metaphysical solitude. But Sartre refuses determinism; one is either totally free or not at all. Also, determinism only serves as an alibi to avoid the harsh reality that one is basically free and solely responsible for one's acts which affect the self and society as well. Whichever path is followed, determinism or freedom, both Cocteau and Sartre arrive at the same conclusion: it is possible for him who suffers greatly to eventually attain self-knowledge and dignity, thereby reaching glory or greatness as in the case of Oedipus and Orestes. The apparent pessimism of life and its suffering can thus be transformed into optimism, which in the final analysis is a victory for mankind. / Arts, Faculty of / French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, Department of / Graduate

This diploma thesis deals with the problem of free will and the reliability of an introspective access to action intentions. The traditional questions of free will, responsibility and determinism are currently receiving a lot of attention due to the advances in cognitive sciences. Because of various scientific findings, many authors claim that free will is just an illusion. The purpose of this study is to discuss traditional conceptualization of this topic and point out its problems. As an alternative, I am trying to suggest a compatibilistic theory of freedom and responsibility, which is internally coherent and compatible with scientific evidence. The core of my thesis is a replication and modification of a recent experimental study, investigating voluntary decision-making and an introspective access to one's own intentions. The participants of the experiment performed reflexive actions which they misjudged as intentional. The goal of the theoretical part of my thesis has been accomplished on the basis of examining a voluminous foreign literature. The method involves a philosophical analysis of concepts with an emphasis on contemporary scientific findings. In the empirical part of my work, results were obtained in a cognitive-psychological experiment involving reaction time and evoked potential data acquisition and their analysis. First, a discussion of concepts relevant to the problem of free will is undertaken. An explication of the most significant experiments that question traditional intuitions about the human mind and free will is then given. A detailed description of my experiment follows, including its results and implications. Finally, conclusions about the nature of free will and responsibility are made together with certain suggestions for both the criminal justice system and everyday situations. Although I base the theoretical part of my thesis on the results of many authors, I contribute to it to a substantial degree with my own opinions and arguments. The empirical study is the most significant contribution of mine as its realization demanded i.a. a development of a stimulus presentation software, execution of the experimental tasks with a relatively large number of subjects and a mathematical and statistical evaluation of the acquired data.

Ce projet de thèse s’inscrit dans un contexte de changement climatique et de remplacement des énergies fossiles, où la réduction des apports en eau et l’optimisation de la valorisation de la biomasse sont deux enjeux majeurs des systèmes de productions durables. La dégradabilité de la biomasse est principalement limitée par la dégradabilité des parois et afin de l’améliorer, il est nécessaire de comprendre quels facteurs sont impliqués dans cette limitation de dégradabilité. Plusieurs études ont montré que la dégradabilité pariétale est impactée par la composition et la structure de la paroi mais aussi par la distribution des tissus lignifiés au sein des organes. Pour faire la part entre l’impact de la biochimie et celui de l’histologie sur la dégradabilité dans différentes conditions d’irrigation, des outils haut-débit de quantifications biochimiques et histologiques ont été développés et dédiés à l’étude d’entrenoeuds portant l’épi principal. Les études ont porté sur un panel de diversité génétique de maïs et d’une population de lignées recombinantes, cultivés durant plusieurs années dans des conditions d’irrigation contrastées dans le sud de la France. Nos résultats mettent en évidence que le déficit hydrique induit une augmentation de la dégradabilité pariétale, accompagnée par une diminution de la teneur en lignines pariétales et par une induction préférentielle d’une lignification corticale, plus p-coumaroylée. De façon originale, nous avons aussi cartographié 90 QTLs de caractères histologiques dans les différentes conditions d’irrigation sur le génome du maïs. Plus particulièrement, une large région entre le bin 1.07 et le bin 1.11 est impliquée dans les variations observées du nombre de faisceaux vasculaires et de la surface de section des entrenoeuds. De façon globale, de nombreux QTLs de composition pariétale de l’entrenoeud co-localisent avec ceux obtenus au niveau de la plante entière sans épis chez la même population. Enfin nous avons pu démontrer que le choix de l’entrenoeud portant l’épi principal est judicieux pour représenter à la fois les caractéristiques histologiques des tiges entières et biochimiques de la biomasse lignocellulosique des plantes entières. Ainsi, les caractéristiques histologiques et biochimiques des entrenoeuds de maïs sont proposées comme des cibles de choix pour sélectionner des lignées de maïs résilientes au déficit hydrique. / This PhD project encompass in a context of global warming and replacement of fossil resources, where both water supply decrease and biomass valorisation optimisation are two major issues for providing sustainable systems of production. Biomass degradability is mainly limited by cell wall degradability and in order to improve it, it is necessary to understand what are the factors involved in the limitation of the degradability. Several studies have shown that cell wall degradability is impacted by the structure and the composition of the cell wall but also by the distribution of the lignified tissues within the organs. To decipher the impact of the biochemistry and from the one of the histology on degradability under different watering conditions, high-throughput quantifications tools for histology and biochemistry have been developed and dedicated to the study of the internode carrying the main ear. The studies were conducted on a maize genetic diversity panel and a recombinant inbred lines population, cultivated during several years under contrasted irrigation conditions in South of France. Our results highlight that water deficit induce an increase of the cell wall degradability, associated to a decrease of the cell wall lignin content and a preferential induction of a cortical lignification, more p-coumaroylated. In original ways, we also detected 90 QTLs for histological traits under the different irrigations scenarios on the maize genome. More particularly, a large region between bin 1.07 and bin 1.11 is involved in the observed variations of the bundle number and the stem section area of the internodes. More generally, numerous QTLs of cell wall composition of the internode co-localised with the ones detected for the whole plant without ear level in the same population. Finally we were able to demonstrate that the choice of the internode carrying the main ear is judicious to represent both histological characteristics from the whole stem and biochemical characteristics from the lignocellulosic biomass of the whole plant. Thus, histological and biochemical traits in maize internode are proposed as particular targets to select lines resilient to water deficit.

This study was undertaken to investigate the role of self-efficacy in the career trajectories of women who are currently employed in STEM fields and women who had studied in any of these fields, but either never worked in STEM, or decided to leave at some stage. The assumption was that women remain in STEM careers because of the motivational effect of STEM self-efficacy. In order to do this investigation, two studies were included in a parallel convergent mixed-methods design and two samples were studied. The first sample of 15 women, which included both women in STEM (n = 8) and women who had left STEM (n = 7), were interviewed and invited to talk about their STEM studies and careers. The interviews were conducted according to a semi-structured interview. The second sample, which consisted of 108 participants of whom 88 were actively involved in STEM and 20 had left the field, completed an online survey that contained a biographical section, three self-efficacy scales and an Exploratory Questionnaire (EQ) that covered aspects such as motivation to study and work in STEM and barriers experienced. The three self-efficacy scales used were the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), the New General Self-Efficacy Scale (NGSES) and the Occupational Self-Efficacy Scale (OSES). Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) was chosen as the conceptual framework for the study and the development of Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) was described from its inception to its current integrated models of career development, as applied to women in STEM careers. The integrated models show that a combination of self-efficacy and outcome expectations is crucial as a predictor of career success in the STEM fields, which can also be influenced by additional variables, such as career decision making, career and study satisfaction, persistence, contextual support and barriers. The Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) and Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) provided the theoretical framework for themes for the qualitative thematic analysis. A top-down identification of themes was done by using the transcripts of interviews. Self-efficacy, outcome expectations and barriers were among the twelve themes that were identified. The survey data was described and statistically analysed. Descriptive statistics were provided for the selfefficacy scales and biographical information. The STEM and non-STEM groups were compared with a series of contingency tables on biographical information. A t-test was used to compare the self-efficacy scales by STEM status in order to find significant differences. The EQ was subjected to an exploratory principal component analysis (PCA) and 10 factors or components were identified. The factors ranged from motivation, barriers and perceptions about gender to STEM and education. Finally, the factors were compared with the qualitative themes to explore the role of self-efficacy in the careers of STEM and non-STEM women. The contribution made by this study is that it highlights the importance of the sources of selfefficacy in ensuring that women remain in their chosen fields. A frequently under-emphasised aspect is that of the emotional source of self-efficacy, which this study found to be the passion, focus, enjoyment and satisfaction that motivate women to remain in STEM. The relevant literature frequently observes that girls and women do not like STEM subjects and activities. However, the passion and commitment of women witnessed by the researcher while conducting this study counters this observation. Some women do enjoy science and it is by no means a proven fact that a lack of interest in STEM is gendered. Programmes focusing on motivating women to enter and remain in STEM ought to take this particular source of selfefficacy into account. The question is, of course, whether one can create interest, instil passion and make STEM attractive to women. However, this is a separate topic for further study. One of the clear findings of this study relates to the importance of inner-circle support and motivation to enter and remain in STEM. Programmes should find a way to encourage families who are already involved in STEM to include children, and especially girls. The very personal nature of encouragement, motivation and support received from parents and close family members function as a major source of self-efficacy. This calls for a creative approach to motivational programmes in order to make commitment to STEM inclusive. Another point that was emphasised by women in the qualitative sample, as well as in the quantitative results, was the major importance of personal interest in the field of science. In fact, this was even more important than the motivational support provided by close family. In essence, it relates to the passion expressed by women in STEM, but the importance of developing a strong interest in science cannot be overstated. Finally, several of the respondents working either in or outside STEM mentioned the pressures experienced in an attempt to balance family and work responsibilities. Some women manage this successfully, even though they are in STEM careers, while others deal with the problem by leaving STEM. However, one should point out that even in non-STEM careers the pressures and expectations of family life and children exist. Programmes dealing with women in STEM should take this problem very seriously and should assist women in effectively managing and dealing with the combined pressures of family and work. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Psychology / PhD / Unrestricted

One major approach to weight stigma reduction consists of decreasing beliefs about the personal controllability of—and responsibility for—obesity by educating about its biogenetic causes. Evidence on the efficacy of this approach is mixed, and it remains unclear whether this would create a deterministic view, potentially leading to detrimental side-effects. Two independent studies from Germany using randomized designs with delayed-intervention control groups served to (1) develop and pilot a brief, interactive stigma reduction intervention to educate N = 128 university students on gene × environment interactions in the etiology of obesity; and to (2) evaluate this intervention in the general population (N = 128) and determine mechanisms of change. The results showed (1) decreased weight stigma and controllability beliefs two weeks post-intervention in a student sample; and (2) decreased internal attributions and increased genetic attributions, knowledge, and deterministic beliefs four weeks post-intervention in a population sample. Lower weight stigma was longitudinally predicted by a decrease in controllability beliefs and an increase in the belief in genetic determinism, especially in women. The results underline the usefulness of a brief, interactive intervention promoting an interactionist view of obesity to reduce weight stigma, at least in the short term, lending support to the mechanisms of change derived from attribution theory. The increase in genetic determinism that occurred despite the intervention’s gene × environment focus had no detrimental side-effect on weight stigma, but instead contributed to its reduction. Further research is warranted on the effects of how biogenetic causal information influences weight management behavior of individuals with obesity.

Despite the rapid development in technology that enables metal music producers today to create “perfect” sound mixes, many bands, artists and producers choose to make their creations sound old or “retro”. A song is created for this study and mixed in two different ways, one with a more“retro” direction and the other with a more “modern” direction. Five respondents were then made to listen to both mixes and were interviewed on what they thought of each respective mix and why they think retro culture is so prevalent today. The data gathered from the interviews show that the respondents describe retro mixes as dirty, saturated and raw while they described modern mixes as clean, hi-fi and overly compressed. The respondents associate old sounding mixes to authenticity, genuinity and honesty but don’t describe modern mixes as fake or dishonest. The respondents comment that the streamlined nature of music production today leads to very uniform sounding mixes and the abundance of similar sounding mixes creates a demand for more honest, authentic and genuine music. The respondents claim that retro culture would not be possible without the aid of modern technology.

The Prose Edda chapter, Ragnarok as recorded by Snorri, was taken as a pivotal point for exploring fate according to the Norse mythology. The eschatological concept of collapsing gods and destruction of the world was explored through the logical and theological fatalist theory, diverging the orientation from standard textual exploration. The thesis examines the concept by employing the methodology of hermeneutics to scrutinise the text. The analysis derived results confirmed the existence of belief in fate embedded in the text; the logical fatalism that polarises statements by their truthfulness, even though it was not found or indicated textually, provided a strong contrast to theological fatalism, evidenced throughout the text. The weak theological fatalism (determinism) was suggested in the findings based on Ragnarok text, by which the inexorable change of aeons as set-in motion by the Universal Force (predicted by the three Volvas), does not entirely compromise the Aesir's free will; such as the cosmic order includes the free will in its mechanism; while Aesir's voluntary choice was dependent on God's forescience, it was still free to operate within the remit of its emission, unperturbed within the cosmic design. The Nietzschean concept of Amor Fati (Love for Fate) in accepting the inevitable, through the cyclicality of time, and as it appears with a reason that is to keep one happy, additionally illuminated our understanding of fate in Ragnarok. To counterbalance this idea and bring it into equilibrium, I reflected upon the notion of "Designer of Destiny", whereby human beings are assumed to run the entirety of their destiny, soon to learn that this human urge clashes with theit biology (over which they do not have complete control) and the cosmic power that has already predetermined the human path.

Denna text utreder de implikationer svartsjuka ger på den övergripande lyckan i samhället idag, tolkat mot olika normer angående vårt relaterande i främst romantiska partnerskap. Det finns teorier som hävdar att svartsjuka kan vara negativt för samhället, och det finns teorier som hävdar motsatsen. Den här texten försvarar tesen om att det är medvetenhet och självinsikt hos den enskilda individen som vänder svartsjukan till något som kan höja nivån av lycka i samhället, baserat på utilitaristiskt och deterministiskt synsätt.