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An exquisite example of kinship between women is in Luke 1:39-45 when Elizabeth, pregnant through miraculous means, greets Mary, also miraculously blest with child. This encounter is replayed today as homeless women and their caretakers are greeted and welcomed into a room where they listen to scripture of God’s love for them and a reflection of daily hope. We provide an environment of comfort and trust as a setting for these women to share their life’s stories. This is the foundation of a new ministry at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament. The theologies of Edward P. Hahnenberg, Maria Harris, Michael Horan and Rosemary Radford Ruether provide foundational evidence that support the development of this ministry and provision of ministerial leadership. Establishing a ministry for women can be challenging due to the male only construct of the Church hierarchy to include the pastor and parish priest. The theologies of Augustine, Aquinas and Balthasar are rooted in human dualism favoring men over women. This view does not favor equality for women within the confines of church structure but rather views them using classical Christian theology. Protestant theologian Paul Tillich envisioned a practical scrutiny that theology is most effective if viewed within a contemporary context. It is evident to me as a Pastoral Associate candidate for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, that the theology of Paul Tillich would allow women to become Pastoral Associates and Parish Life Directors unlike classical Christian Theologians.

Nyāya is the premier realist school of philosophy in classical India. It is also the home of a sophisticated epistemology and natural theology. This dissertation presents a distinctive interpretation of Nyāya’s epistemology and considers how it may be developed in response to various classical and contemporary challenges. I argue that it is best understood as a type of reliabilism, provided relevant qualifications. Moreover, I show that a number of apparently distinct features of Nyāya’s approach to knowledge tightly cohere when seen as components of a thoroughgoing epistemological disjunctivism. I defend Nyāya epistemology as a viable contemporary option, illustrating how it avoids problems faced by generic reliabilism. In the second portion of the dissertation, I examine the way in which Nyāya’s knowledge sources (perception, inference, and testimony) are deployed in support of a theistic metaphysics, highlighting Nyāya’s principled extension of its views of knowledge acquisition. In an appendix, I provide a full translation and commentary on an argument for God’s existence by Vācaspati Miśra (a 10th century philosopher who is unique in having shaped several distinct schools), found in his commentary on Nyāya-sūtra 4.1.21. / text

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<p> This project is an investigation into the extent to which popular fantasy fictions entice their audiences to imaginatively reconsider their ethical commitments, relationships, and world views. Building upon the work of Richard Rorty and Martha C. Nussbaum's ethical criticism, I argue that the popular fantasy fictions by C. L. Wilson, George R. R. Martin, and Jim Butcher can assist audiences to understand the constructed nature of individual identity and the social construction of reality, allowing them to participate in discursive communities that empower them to see beyond stereotypes and to consider other people, no matter their differences, as humans equally capable of and entitled to their own decision-making. C. L. Wilson's <i>Tairen Soul</i> series provides a lesson on the importance of inclusion and communication, as it demonstrates that the differences people perceive in cultural groups are constructed and not actual. George R. R. Martin's <i>A Song of Ice and Fire</i> demonstrates that buying into others' notions of identity, particularly in terms of gender, can be debilitating and restricting, and Jim Butcher's <i>The Dresden Files</i> shows that people with differing religious identities and beliefs can cooperate to solve problems even when they cannot agree upon their constructions of reality. Fantasy as a genre is valuable for cultural criticism, as it can function allegorically to allow audiences to experience emotions genuinely in an arena outside of their assumptions, engaging in experience-taking and learning how constructed realities are dependent upon their own interpretative, but not infallible, frameworks. Fantasy, in other words, can be used to engage people in discussions about values independent of real life that can then be applied to real life, allowing more people into the discussion about how to increase human happiness, a project that Rorty sees as the goal of human progress.</p>

Thesis advisor: Jeffrey Bloechl / In my dissertation I aim to reconstruct the basic principles of Heidegger’s fledgling attempt at a phenomenology of religion in his 1920 and 1921 courses on St. Paul and St. Augustine. In order to understand the parameters and the stakes of that project I consider it light of Husserlian phenomenology as well as broader German trends in “scientific” [Wissenschaftliche] philosophy, theology, and history of religions. The measure of Heidegger’s success is his account of “formal indication,” which endeavors to provide a reflective (i.e. philosophical) articulation of life without privileging a particular theoretical standpoint. This attempt leads him to reconceive phenomenology as a hermeneutics of factical life and to shift his emphasis from a phenomenology of religious consciousness to a phenomenology of religious life. What distinguishes this account is its focus on the “motivated” or “enacted” nature of meaning from out of life. After reconstructing and elaborating Heidegger’s account I note a problematic tendency toward over-formalization that focuses exclusively on the enactment sense (Vollzugsinn) at the expense of the content sense (Gehaltsinn). I enlist the aid of Kierkegaard, whom Heidegger is reading carefully at this point in time, to show why a focus on the appropriative nature of meaning does not require one to ignore its content. I conclude by suggesting some ways that a modified version of Heidegger’s formally indicative philosophy of religion still may prove useful to us today. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Philosophy.

To date, masculine honour beliefs have been studied in the context of insults, threats and moral transgressions, and almost exclusively linked to aggressive emotions (e.g., anger) and behaviour (e.g., fights, confrontations). Here, it is proposed that masculine honour beliefs can also be associated with subtle, withdrawal-related behaviours, such as reluctance to engaging in feminine tasks and befriend feminine men. Furthermore, based on the theory suggesting that manifest indicators of a culture of masculine honour are expressions of individuals' overactive 'reputation maintenance psychology', I tested whether these subtle behaviours are underpinned by reputation maintenance concerns. Using self-report measures and different cultural samples (UK, Turkey, Saudi Arabia), the studies reported here as a whole provided evidence for the proposed associations and the reputation maintenance account. Studies 1a-b and 2a-b established an association between masculine honour ideals and men's self-presentations using masculine traits, as well as disfavourable judgments of effeminate men. Studies 3a-b and 4 focused on examining a voluntary relationship decision (choosing to associate oneself with a target as friends) to make reputational issues more salient and demonstrated that men who endorse higher levels of masculine honour beliefs were more reluctant to being friends with effeminate men. Study 4 further showed that this was due to high honour-endorsing men's concerns that being associated with an effeminate man who is perceived as lacking coalitional value would damage their own reputation among male friends. Focusing on the issue of men's disinterest in domestic roles such as child care, Studies 5a-b and 6 demonstrated a relationship between masculine honour beliefs and men's negative feelings (shame, frustration) about being a primary caregiver to their own children and revealed that this is due to high honour-endorsing men's concerns of losing reputation among their male friends, but not due to their wives' reduced appreciation of them. Taken together, these findings extend our understanding of individuals socialized with masculine honour norms, and also offer more nuanced explanations of men's anti-effeminacy bias and disinterest in communal roles.

This qualitative study explores spiritual issues in relation to coping with loss in situations of chronic and terminal illness. An Heideggerian hermeneutic phenomenological approach was chosen as the most appropriate methodology for exploring nurses’ lived experience of utilising spirituality as a means of helping patients cope with loss. My prior knowledge both brought me to the subject of study and influenced my interpretation of data. To ensure transparency of method this prior knowledge is outlined in my fore-structure of understanding. A purposive sample of 12 registered nurses, 5 from hospice, 4 from community practice and 3 from a nursing home setting participated in semi-structured interviews. A stepped process of analysis of interview texts produced overarching themes which are illustrated with excerpts that collectively produce a ‘thick enough description’ intended to facilitate understanding of my interpretation of data by those who chose to read this study. Findings were illuminated by drawing on existing theoretical knowledge and concepts. My research diary and notes at interview constituted a research journal that recorded how my knowledge and understanding developed through my reflection on, and reflexive response to interview data. In this way my research journal was used to illuminate the research process. There are an increasing number of studies that consider spirituality in healthcare and how patients’ spiritual needs can be recognised and fulfilled. However, this study provides a different perspective, in particular, examples of how nurses’ development as persons may render them not only a spiritual resource in themselves, but also, contribute to how they become proficient in spiritual care in situations of loss. There were four overriding ways in which the development of this aptitude was evident. Firstly, belief provided them with a means of coming to an understanding of why things happen and so helped them accommodate repeated exposure to patients’ grief. Secondly, being a spiritual carer involved establishing a relationship with patients through ‘connected’ communication. Thirdly, becoming proficient in spiritual care was reflected by an increasing maturity in engaging with patients’ real life and death issues, which was sustained by taking ‘time out’ to reconnect with the self. Finally, belonging to a team whose culture reflected a spirit of reciprocal support was crucial when patient care was emotionally demanding.