At the core of the human being is a longing to live a meaningful and integrated life. In an effort to understand what the integrated life entails, this thesis compares theological, legal, and spiritual sources in order to understand the practical human faculty known as the conscience. The interdisciplinary dialogue is significant because it takes into account the multiple facets of conscience and how it relates to decision-making. The comparison between these different sources reveals the necessary balancing between an individual’s internal and external worlds. This thesis also demonstrates the inherent relationality of the human being and the importance of an individual’s membership in his or her communities. Although the journey towards a holistic and integrated life is complex, this thesis frames the important questions relating to the conscience so that an individual can seriously work towards living a holistic and integrated life.

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The concept of “atonement” in the doctrine of salvation is one of the most fascinating and challenging areas of theology. There are so many theories in the historical development of the doctrine of salvation. Those theories are varied with some mutually compatible and others not. They offered many different interpretations on the death of Christ. Besides all these, there raises a question, what is the real purpose of the death of Christ? Undoubtedly, there is a hidden rich theological meaning behind the suffering and death of Jesus. Why did Jesus have to die on the Cross? This is a perennial question for many, specifically for young Catholic people today. What is the significant meaning of his suffering and death? Was Christ’s suffering and crucifixion really God’s plan? How is Christ’s death on the Cross related to the Christian understanding of salvation today? To answer these questions in the context of modern believers, especially young Catholic people, who are preparing to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation, this paper comparatively examines the question: Is Jesus’ death on the Cross a satisfaction for the sins of humanity or a demonstration of God’s love? Since this paper has focused on the life and thought of young Catholic people, at various points I do attempt to engage the theological understandings of the doctrine of salvation. In other words, though the focus is on dogmatic theology it also has a contextual focus. While providing a more meaningful interpretation of the death of Jesus for young people, I would like to make a claim that as a “God-Man,” Christ paid the ultimate sacrifice in order to redeem humanity; but at the same time, his death on the Cross was a more powerful affirmation of the love of God for humanity. That is, the atonement of Christ is both the satisfaction of our sins and the demonstration of God’s love. Atonement is a vast subject, implicating the whole field of theology. There are biblical metaphors of atonement and there are theological theories of atonement. This research paper deals with the latter. It is of doing historical theology in a systematic perspective. There are historical theologians who each had something valuable to say in their time. Among those theologians, I would like to examine two theories of atonement, such as Anselm’s satisfactory theory and Peter Abelard’s moral influence theory. I will also discuss a feminine perspective of atonement using the imagery of San Juana de la Cruz and Julian of Norwich. Finally, I address the Sacrament of Reconciliation, where the sinner enjoys the forgiveness of sins and the gift of divine love. Ultimately, I argue that dying to sin and rising to new life in the Sacrament of Reconciliation has its foundation in the atonement of Christ’s suffering and death. This atonement is best understood for young people as “atonement of love,” an Anselmian and Abelardian that is expressed through feminine imagery of God as a mother always caring, loving, embracing, sacrificing and willingly suffering for her children. This research paper is divided into four chapters. The first chapter defines the term “atonement” and discusses the “satisfaction theory” of Anselm. It discusses how to understand the manner in which the forgiveness of human sins is related to the death of Christ on the Cross. The second chapter studies the Cross as a demonstration of God’s love. In the view of Peter Abelard’s “moral influence theory,” this section explains why and how Christ’s death is to be understood as a demonstration of the love of God. The third chapter analyses the “maternal imagery” of Juana de la Cruz and Julian of Norwich’s reflection on the Passion of Christ through a feminist perspective. While critically evaluating these theories, the fourth chapter addresses how the Sacrament of Reconciliation itself can be renewed through the atonement theology, which holds together Anselm, Abelard and feminist theology. To my understanding, Calvary is full of mystery and contradiction, and our minds cannot fully cope with Christ on a Cross, yet there is a central message, and it is the message that Christ has reconciled the sinful humanity with God. Through his forgiving and suffering love, specifically by his divine will of reconciliation, this divine embrace has become proximate to every human life. In this divine reconciliation, can we compartmentalize his suffering and death in a constraint particular view? It may not, and should not. It has diversity of characters in its nature itself. In such a situation, can we conclude – Christ’s suffering and death is only for forgiveness of sins? Or can we say that is it only a demonstration of God’s love? I would rather say that in the Cross both the love of God and forgiveness to humanity go hand in hand. They are inseparable in the suffering and death of Christ. We should take careful notice of the motive and the means of God’s redemption. It is God’s own steadfast love that moves his action to redeem the world and humanity in Christ. It is out of his abundant love for his creation and his creatures. To sum it up, in view of what Jesus did for us on the Cross, love is not an option that we may or may not accept, but a definite debt that we must pay. Hence, I would say that as a “God-Man,” Christ paid the required satisfaction in order to redeem humanity, but at the same time, his death on the Cross was also a more powerful affirmation of the love of God for humanity. Therefore, Jesus’ death on the Cross is the pattern and an example to be followed. Christ’s atonement served many other good purposes – including showing solidarity with humanity in the sufferings which he causes us to endure for good reasons, giving us an example of how to live, revealing to us important truths. Finally, the theological understanding of Jesus’ suffering and death is a concrete foundation of Christian moral living. In light of this, Anselm’s satisfaction theory and Abelard’s moral influence theory both offer a critical resolution to the young people in this modern situation. That is, “love and forgiveness” is the foundation of Christian moral living. This interpretation of “forgiveness” and “love” may help them to find the real meaning in following Christ, who suffered and died on the Cross. The constructive thinking of Christ’s suffering as related to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, I believe, may help the young people to form the structure of their new lives in Christ. The brutal suffering and death of Jesus on the Cross, undoubtedly, touches every aspect of the lives of believers. Those who believe, specifically the young people are thereby animated to be a witnessing community in loving engagement with the modern world, through the power of Christ. It is in this sense, I suggest, that Christ’s suffering love and forgiving love might be proclaimed and witnessed in this world. The God who revealed his love in Jesus Christ is the God who shows a particular concern for those in need, and that his children are called to translate love into action on behalf of the needy. I believe true love can only be with actions and in truth.

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.