Some of the most interesting facets of Edgar Allan Poe's fiction are his imaginative speculations concerning the metaphysical experiences of the soul, the individual psychic "identity." His interest focuses primarily on three related aspects of the soul's experiences (1) metempsychosis (or reincarnation and transmigration); (2) suspension between "death" and the after-life or states of unconsciousness and consciousness, sleep and waking; and (3) the terrors, real or imagined, of premature burial.

Sacred stones, or huacas, at the ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu integrated human ritual with the surrounding landscape. I argue that huacas defined the relationship between nature and ritual practice by forcing an esoteric choreography which involved specific postures of the participant in order to visually orient humans to significant natural features of the surrounding environment. Inca stonemasons refined the natural form of the huacas so that they mimic the contours of prominent landscape features such as mountain peaks. This dissertation documents 122 huacas at Machu Picchu using maps of the site to record the exact location of each stone. Every huacas is described in detail, including notation of the specific cardinal orientation; lines of sight established by reference points to prominent landscape features; and the specific posture required to view these lines of sight. The extensive number of huacas at Machu Picchu suggests a highly ritualistic city in which stones and caves were almost certainly considered metaphysical conduits between humans and the divine.

The topics of Grounding and Metaphysical Explanation have been at the forefront of research and debate within metaphysics for the last decade. Grounding is commonly taken to be a relation of non-causal dependence. In this thesis I address the pertinent question as to what sorts of entities are related in instances of grounding. There has so far been little enquiry into this issue, and it therefore requires urgent attention. I argue here that the entities involved in grounding are facts, where facts are true Fregean propositions. True Fregean propositions are abstract entities composed of senses, and are individuated according the senses which they involve. I proceed by setting out some desiderata which the entities involved in grounding will fulfil. Firstly, they will be individuated sufficiently finely as to provide instances of grounding to back all putative cases of non-causal explanation. Secondly, they will ensure that there is unity between instances of grounding and instances of causation. Finally, they will be mind- independent. I survey different types of entity and show that true Fregean propositions are best-equipped to fulfil these desiderata. We therefore have reason to believe that grounding relates facts, so understood. The conclusion of this thesis therefore makes it incumbent upon us to extend our ontology to include true Fregean propositions.

[pt] O presente estudo tem como foco o pensamento de juventude de Nietzsche, bem como o contexto em que se insere. Nosso objetivo geral consiste em apontar os pontos fundamentais para a compreensão de O nascimento da tragédia, sua primeira obra publicada, bem como as influências filosóficas que giram em torno desse período, na Alemanha. O objetivo específico consiste em compreender como sua teoria da arte pôde ser apresentada por intermédio de uma tradução de estados fisiológicos, a ponto dos próprios indivíduos serem considerados as atualizações desses estados. Ao priorizar o uso de figuras de deuses para tornar seus pensamentos intuíveis, ao invés de ater-se à elaboração de conceitos, Nietzsche faz uso de um método alegórico de análise das características fisiológicas que giram em torno da criação artística, que culmina no que mais tarde ele veio a chamar de metafísica de artista, que tendemos a examinar como um uso da linguagem que enaltece as perspectivas, na medida em que a metáfora é colocada ao lado da metafísica. / [en] This study focuses on Nietzsche`s thinking of youth and the context in which it is inserted. Our general aim consists in indicating the fundamental points to The birth of tragedy`s comprehension, his very first published work, as well as the philosophical influences of that time in Germany. The specific aim consists in understanding how his theory could be presented through a translation of the physiological states, on the threshold of being considered, the individuals themselves, the updating of these states. By giving priority to the gods figures usage so as to become his thoughts intuitible, in stead of abiding by elaborations of concepts, Nietzsche utilizes an allegoric method to analyze the physiological characteristics which go around the artistic creation, by culminating in what he would call later the artist metaphysics that we are prone to examine as a language usage to enhance the perspectives in the sense that metaphor and metaphysics are put together.

Architecture has a dualistic social responsibility. To provide relevant buildings with appropriate function and planning that will accommodate user needs, as well as providing habitable environments and spaces that will have positive influence on peoples daily routines. This will allow users to freely dwell within their environments and create a positive community atmosphere. It is the aim of this dissertation to investigate the social responsibility of architecture and how ordinary spaces and buildings that call for pragmatic design solutions can also enter into the realm of the metaphysical spatial experience and to find cohesion between the two. The selected project is a glasshouse complex and plant containment research facility within the Botanical gardens at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. GERMAN: Die Architektur trägt gesellschaftlich dualistische Verantwortung: es ist eine Schaffung von Gebäuden, die räumliche Bedürfnisse von Benutzern erfüllen, sowie auch einer qualitätsvollen Umgebung, die tägliche Routine von einer Gemeinde positiv beeinflussen wird. Es handelt sich um eine freundliche, gemeinde Atmosphäre zu schaffen. Dieses Projekt hat zum Ziel die Gesellschaftsverantwortung von der Architektur überprüfen. Es wird untersucht, wie vernünftige Räume, die eine Antwort für die funktionelle Bedürfnisse sind, gleichzeitig eine metaphysische Erfahrung kreieren können. Die Idee ist ein Zusammenhang zwischen diesen zwei Ansätze zu identifizieren. Das ausgewählte Projekt ist eine gegenwärtige Gewächshäuseranlage, Forschungsanstalt und botanischer Garten auf dem Gelände der Universität Pretoria, Südafrika. / Dissertation (MArch(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Architecture / MArch (Prof) / unrestricted

This collection of poems and paintings seeks to find the places where visual and written communication intersects, and the places where those two media diverge. The collection consists of poems and paintings juxtaposed, as if in conversation with one another throughout the pages. The collection treats each painting and poem as a separate attempt at prayer. As a reader turns the pages, similar questions are asked again and again, but in different settings and with different outcomes. This collection focuses on finding reconciliation between the oral culture of storytelling and the written culture of ideas, all within the context of prayer.

[pt] A pergunta pela essência da técnica moderna consiste em um dos principais eixos do pensamento de Martin Heidegger, perpassando toda a sua trajetória, a partir da constatação do decurso da metafísica ocidental como história do esquecimento do ser e concretizando-se na caracterização como Gestell do modo de desencobrimento da totalidade dos fenômenos na época atual. A presente pesquisa percorre um arco cronológico de temas da obra do autor cruciais a esse respeito, estruturando-se em três momentos. O primeiro trata da gestação da problemática, sendo mencionada a importância da analítica existencial em relação à noção posterior de história do ser e abordada a concepção do autor sobre o niilismo. A seguir, encontram-se expostos os termos específicos do diagnóstico elaborado sobre a técnica moderna, concentrando-se o texto no esclarecimento da noção de Gestell enquanto enquadramento técnico que converte o ente em fundo de reserva. Finalmente, são elencados traços do possível contraponto contido nas ideias tardias de outro pensar e habitar poético. / [en] The questioning, regarding the modern technique essence, consists in one of the main aspects of Martin Heidegger s thought, being recurrent in his whole trajectory, since the ascertainment of the western metaphysics course as the history of the forgetfulness of being, being fulfilled in characterization of the discloseness of phenomena in the current era as Gestell. The present work covers a chronological arch of themes in the author s work. They are crucial in this regard, and they are organized in three moments. The first one covers the development of the problematic, in which the importance of existential analysis in relation to the later notion of the history of being is mentioned, and the author s conception about nihilism. Subsequently, the specific terms of the diagnostic drafted over the modern technique are exposed, and the text focuses on the enlightenment of Gestell notion as technical enframing that turns beings into standing reserve. Finally, features of a possible counterpoint restrained in later ideas of an other thinking and poetic dwelling are shown.

[pt] Esta dissertação analisará o status da matéria (hýle) no sistema filosófico de Plotino e suas consequências divergentes. Primeiramente, partindo da análise da hierarquia das hipóstases, buscar-se-á identificar o lugar ocupado pela matéria dentro do sistema plotiniano e a singularidade deste conceito na filosofia de Plotino. A partir daí, tratar-se-á da natureza e da função da matéria em relação à constituição dos seres sensíveis, tendo em vista o ordenamento das hispóstases, baseando-se, sobretudo, nos dois principais tratados que abordam o tema: Sobre as duas matérias (II 4 - 12) e Sobre o que são e de onde vêm os males (I 8 - 51). Compreendendo, então, as dificuldades que surgem na própria filosofia plotiniana com relação à noção de matéria e, até mesmo, suas aparentes contradições, investigar-se-á o problema da geração/origem da matéria. Uma vez que Plotino não deixou em seus escritos um posicionamento definitivo sobre essa questão, utilizar-se-á a análise crítica das teses dos principais comentadores como uma tentativa de compreender as dificuldades e até mesmo apontar possíveis soluções para esse problema. / [en] This dissertation will analyze the matter s status in Plotinus philosophical system and its divergent consequences. Initially, starting from the analysis of the hierarchy of the hypostasis, one will identify the place occupied by matter within the plotinian system and the singularity of this concept in Plotinus philosophy. Thenceforth, one will treat the nature and function of matter in relation to sensible beings constitution, having in mind the order of the hypostasis, basing it, above all, on the two main treatises that broach the subject: On the two matters (II 4 - 12) and On what are and whence come the evils (I 8 - 51). Then, understanding the difficulties that arise within plotinian philosophy itself concerning the idea of matter and even its seeming contradictions, one will investigate the problem of generation/origin of matter. Once Plotinus have not left a definite position about this subject, one will use the critical analysis of the que main scholars as a way to try to comprehend the difficulties and even to point out possible solutions to this problem.

Two dominating lines of criticism regarding the detective novel have perpetuated the misconception that detective fiction before the 1960s was a static and monolithic form unworthy of critical study. First, critics of the traditional detective story have argued that the formulaic nature of the genre is antithetical to innovation and leaves no room for creative exploration. Second, critics of the postmodern detective novel have argued that the first literary experiments with the genre began only with post-World War II authors such as Umberto Eco, Italo Calvino, and Paul Auster. What both sets of critics fail to acknowledge is that the detective fiction genre always has been the locus of a dialectic between formulaic plotting and literary experimentation. In this dissertation, I will examine how each generation of detective story authors has engaged in literary innovation to refresh and renew what has been mistakenly labeled as a sterile and static popular genre. / English

[pt] Esta pesquisa busca analisar a dependência que o sistema metafísico de Schopenhauer possui em relação às filosofias de Kant e Platão. Para tanto, argumentamos a favor de uma maior proximidade de Schopenhauer da matriz racionalista do Ocidente, ainda que pese ser o elemento central de sua filosofia uma coisa-em-si irracional. O trabalho percorre os aspectos epistemológicos, cosmológicos, estéticos e éticos de seu pensamento tanto em relação às suas duas maiores influências, Kant e Platão, quanto em relação ao contexto do Idealismo Alemão. Portanto, o texto investiga como uma metafísica do irracional surge a partir da assimilação, ressignificação e subversão do estatuto racionalista ocidental. / [en] The aim of this research is to analyze the dependence of the metaphysical system of Schopenhauer in relation to the philosophies of Kant and Plato. For such, we argue in favor of a closer proximity of Schopenhauer to Western rationalist sources, even if the central element of his philosophy is an irrational thing-in-itself. This work follows the epistemological, cosmological, aesthetic and ethical aspects of his thought in relation to his two greatest influences, Kant and Plato, as much as to the context of German Idealism. Therefore, the text investigates how a metaphysics of the irrational springs from the assimilation, resignification and subversion of the Western rationalist statute.