In this dissertation I illustrate the existence of anthropocentric social and legal configurations that are maintained through the embodiment of a belief system in which animals occupy a space as sacrificial beings, and philosophically examine and call into question the way in which we relate to animals within these schemata of domination. These sacrificial structures or arrangements contain animals in an identity which marks them as Other and I subsequently call for a problematisation and destabilisation of these structures. I employ a critical approach that seeks to move beyond the traditional rights-based approach that has come to dominate animal liberation discourse. Such an approach emphasises the significance of deconstruction for animal ethics and highlights the way in which the animal is subjected to marginalisation within anthropocentric schemata of domination. From this perspective, I argue that we need a deconstruction and ensuing displacement of the human (subject) as phallogocentric structure and that we need to embrace a mode of being that facilitates the development of an ethical relation to the animal Other. To this end, I advance veganism as a form of deconstruction and ethical way of being that allows us to criticise and resist repression of the animal Other. I also contemplate animal subjugation as a relation to the law and examine the ideological underpinnings of animal welfare theory and animal rights theory, the two most prominent theories aimed at transforming the human-animal relation. I proceed to critically engage with the philosophical presuppositions of animal rights theory as a possible foundation for animal liberation by addressing, like others have done before me, the historical and theoretical gaps of rights theory. I argue that animal rights theory invokes dichotomies and rigid identities that replicate and perpetuate anthropocentric relations of subordination by (paradoxically) confirming a certain interpretation of the human subject that lies at the very core of animal subjugation. I ultimately argue that such an approach must be rejected if we are to hold open the possibility of recalibrating the animal's status as sacrificial being. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Jurisprudence / unrestricted

Although the U.S. houses five percent of the world's population, we have the highest incarceration numbers on earth, with more than two million people behind bars. The penal institution has neither deterred crime nor effectively rehabilitated the criminal. Prisons are overcrowded, understaffed, and have funding issues, yet the system prevails. If a business was spending billions of dollars, yet failing at its stated mission, investors would pull their funds and the business would fold. For a massive failing system to persist uninterrupted it must be fulfilling some need. What prison does is punish millions of bodies. Since this is what the system succeeds at, this is the need it must be fulfilling. I argue that this need is exacerbated by institutions that promote body aversion and activate in us a latent tendency for the flawed sinful body to be chastised. Reformists have made efforts at changing the system, and former political prisoner, Angela Davis, has called for the system to be abolished. I argue that before reform or abolition can be successful, there must be a change in perception of the human body. This study delves into how our collective need to punish bodies is illustrated in ancient rituals of sacrifice, which evolved into torture in the public square, before the penal institution took root. Myriad institutions take their toll on our perceptions of the body, and corporations exploit prisoners for free labor in a land where slavery is supposedly outlawed.

The present study examined the effects of adult attachment and cultural orientation on sacrifice behaviors and the corresponding emotional reactions, using a cross-cultural sample in the U.S. and China. Strain-tests protocol was utilized in this study, in which an individual (i.e., the asker) was asked to share with their romantic partner a personal goal that required a major sacrifice from their partner (i.e., the responder), and then entered a discussion to process their plan of carrying out this goal. The final sample included 115 couples from the U.S. and 99 couples from China. Results indicated that responder's attachment avoidance was negatively associated with sacrifice offered to their partners and they reported more positive emotions as a result. The interaction between attachment anxiety and nationality was significant. Specifically, in the U.S. sample, individuals with high attachment anxiety were more likely to offer sacrifice for their partners, but this effect was reversed in the Chinese sample. In addition, interdependent self-construal (ISC) was a significant moderator for the relation between attachment anxiety and sacrifice behavior. Individuals who endorsed higher ISC and higher anxious attachment were less likely to make sacrifice for their partner. Furthermore, when individual offered more sacrifice, they reported more positive emotions in general, but this effect was stronger in the Chinese sample than the U.S. sample. In addition, it was found that responders who endorsed higher ISC offered more sacrifice to their partner when asked to. These results advanced our understanding of the complex role of adult attachment in negotiating situations when partners in romantic relationships have different goals, as well as possible cultural differences in the expression of the attachment influences. The findings also highlighted the systemic perspective in understanding the roles of both partners' individual traits (i.e., attachment) and cultural values (i.e., interdependent self-construal) on their behaviors (i.e., sacrifice) in romantic relationships. Counseling implications, limitations, and future research directions were discussed.

The Mimetic Theory (MT) of René Girard promises a new landscape for the humanities. In this paper I will outline MT, giving a brief overview of the terrain and how the theory works, defend MT against criticisms made against it, and argue that MT ought to be evaluated by a wider academic audience. / Thesis (Master, Philosophy) -- Queen's University, 2013-06-03 14:15:30.176

La musique est étroitement liée à la pratique liturgique des Grecs de l’Antiquité. Un scrupuleux examen des sources confirme l’omniprésence de l’aulos au sein du sacrifice sanglant, un fait qui semble ne pas s’accorder avec certains propos anciens dépréciateurs de l’instrument. Grâce aux sources textuelles et surtout iconographiques, on constate que l’importance attribuée au rôle de la musique, et plus spécialement de l’aulos, dans le sacrifice varie d’une étape rituelle à l’autre. Certaines actions cérémonielles, comme la procession, s’accomplissent au son de la musique, alors que d’autres, comme l’immolation, semblent en être dépourvues. Puis, en observant quelques représentations de sacrifices humains, on remarque que la musique est abordée différemment en fonction du contexte et de la nature du rituel sacrificiel dans lequel elle s’insère. Ainsi, la façon dont on traite la musique dans les sources peut fournir des indices quant aux principes idéologiques relatifs aux différents rituels. / In Ancient Greece, music was closely linked to religious practices. In fact, scrupulous examination of sources confirms the use of the aulos in bloody sacrifices, a fact that contradicts some ancient texts which belittle the instrument. Through study of textual and iconographical sources, the importance accorded to music in sacrifices, and more specifically to the aulos, varies from one ritualistic step to another. Some ceremonial actions, like the procession, were performed with music, while others, like the actual sacrifice, were not. Furthermore, observation of some sacrifices showed that music was treated differently, according to the nature of the ritual. Therefore, the way music was dealt with in sources may provide valuable information about the ideological principals linked to various rituals.

Pour triompher de ses adversaires et faire valoir le christianisme, Arnobe de Sicca, apologiste chrétien de l'Afrique du Nord, s'évertue à saper les bases du paganisme en s'attaquant respectivement aux idoles et aux pratiques idolâtriques païennes. Dans le livre VII de son traité apologétique l'Adversus nationes, il pose la question des sacrifices et des offrandes faits aux dieux ainsi que d'autres cultes institués en leur honneur. Il explique que, loin de faire plaisir aux dieux, les sacrifices sanglants constituent une abomination dont les dieux ne sauraient se rendre responsables. Comptant "parmi les documents les plus riches dont dispose l'historien de la religion romaine sur les finalités et les modalités du sacrifice ...", le livre VII n'a pourtant pas fait l'objet d'une recherche approfondie de son contenu. Aussi, ce travail de recherche propose un commentaire littéraire et stylistique du livre VII ainsi qu'une analyse thématique et comparative. / To triumph over its adversaries and to put forward Christianity, Arnobe of Sicca, Christian apologist of North Africa, strives to sap the bases of paganism by attacking both the idols and the pagan idolatrous practices. In book VII of his apologetic treaty "Adversus Nationes", he questions the sacrifices and the offerings made to the gods as well as others worships instituted in their honor. He explains that, far from pleasing the gods, the bloody sacrifices constitute an abomination that gods could not make themselves responsible of. Counting "among the richest documents availableto the historian of the roman religion on the finalities and the methods of the sacrifice...", book VII however was not the object of a deep research regarding its contents. This research work proposes a literary and stylistic study of book VII as well as a thematic and comparative analysis.

L'école devient le lieu d'un mal-être croissant qui met en péril l'accès égalitaire aux ressources éducatives et pervertit le rapport de l'élève au savoir. Il en résulte une augmentation des phénomènes de soumission, de rejet, de violence, source de tensions et de résistances à l'apprentissage qui se répercutent inévitablement dans la société. Pratiques de l'exclusion, de la ségrégation, de l'orientation, justifications de la logique individualiste et marchande que brandit le monde productiviste actuel. Malentendu fondamental de la notion de différence, de séparation, de coupure qui ébranle les principes mêmes de la raison et développe de manière pernicieuse un malaise, pour ne pas dire une haine de l'école et de l'institution. La réflexion vise à démontrer, à partir des concepts psychanalytiques, comment l'évaluation, nouvelle égérie technico-scientifique, dessine la figure de l'imposture scolaire actuelle par la fabrique d'un regard pervers et une logique d'« enfant dossier ». Cette perversion, à laquelle sont soumises les pratiques pédagogiques, génère une violence symbolique, physique et morale sur un nombre de plus en plus important d'élèves. Cette impasse du désir menace les structures symboliques et la construction même de la pensée. Dès lors, questionner « la Chose » scolaire, à ce point limite entre jouissance et sacrifice, place l'institution scolaire face à cet enjeu : qu'est-ce qui doit prendre fin et mourir pour qu'advienne à nouveau, au travers d'une pensée créatrice d'humanité, le désir d'un monde partagé dans la « grande maison commune »? / School is becoming the place of a growing malaise which endangers the egalitarian access to educational resources and perverts the learner/ knowledge relationship. This causes an increase in cases of submission, rejection, violence, sources of tension and resistance to learning with unavoidable repercussions on society. Acts of exclusion, segregation, imposed career choices, justifications of an individualistic and merchant logic brandished by the current productivist world. A fundamental misunderstanding of the notions of difference, separation, cut-off that shake the very principles of reason and adversely foster an unease, not to mention a hatred of schools and institutions. The thinking aims to demonstrate, based upon psychoanalytic concepts, how evaluation, a new techno-scientific muse, draws out the figure of the current educational imposture through the genesis of a twisted vision and a “case-file child” logic. This perversion permeates pedagogical practices, fostering a symbolic, physical and moral violence for a growing number of pupils. The desire deadlock threatens the very symbolic structures and construction of thought itself. As a consequence, to question the educational “thing”, on the threshold between enjoyment and sacrifice, forces the educational institution to confront the issue: what is it that needs to die a slow death so that can be reborn, through a humanity-bearing way of thinking, the desire for a shared world in “the great common house”?

Cette étude cherche à montrer de quelle façon une expérience socio-historique est incorporée à une œuvre littéraire et lui donne forme en devenant matière de sa composition. A partir des contradictions vécues par le peuple libanais dans leur mouvement de diaspora au Brésil, nous prétendons vérifier comment elles sont assimilées dans le cadre d’une création esthétique où elles sont symbolisées à différents degrés par le langage. Notre travail a pour objet d’analyser le roman Lavoura Arcaica de Raduan Nassar, publié en 1975. En partant de la contradiction centrale imposée par une réalité historique singulière, celle de l’immigration, régie par deux forces identiques et opposées, l’une endogène et l’autre exogène, le roman projette les effets de sa tension permanente. Ces effets se traduiront par des dédoublements qui, engendrant à chaque fois une nouvelle ambivalence contradictoire, attribuent au roman nassarien sa caractéristique la plus marquante. La poursuite de notre recherche nous mènera alors vers une configuration tragique imposée par un double commandement insoluble, ce dernier étant entièrement concentré sur le protagoniste romanesque. Face à une crise irréversible qui s’empare du récit, l’inceste surgit à la fois comme une réponse démesurée d’obéissance à la loi paternelle et comme une façon maligne de renverser l’ordre autoritaire d’un contexte patriarcal. Afin de cerner le jeu d’inversions proposé par le récit de Nassar nous ferons appel principalement aux études théoriques de Friedrich Nietzche, Jean-Pierre Vernant, Jacques Derrida, Marcel Mauss et René Girard. / This study intent to reveal how a socio-historical experience can be incorporated in a literally work shaping its form and becoming its content. Taking the contradictions into account experienced by Lebanese people regarding the moviment of the diaspora towards Brazil, we intent to verify how they were assimilated in the frames of an esthetic creation being simbolyzed by different levels of language. Our work aims analyse Raduan Nassar’s Lavoura Arcaica published in 1975. Since the central contradiction imposed by a singular historic reality, the Lebanese diaspora conducted by two identical and opposite strenghts, one endogenous and the other exogenous, the effects of this permanet tension are projected in the romance. These effects were translated by duplication that every time engenders a new contradictory ambivalence giving to the Nassar’s romance its most significant characterist. Our study will then lead us to a tragic configuration imposed by an insoluble double command, focused on its extensive totality on the romantic protagonist. Faced with an irreversible crisis that takes hold of the story, incest arises both as an excessive response to obedience to paternal law and as a malignant way to overthrow the authoritarian order of a patriarchal context. In order to define the set of inversions proposed by Nassar's narrative, we will mainly call upon the theoretical studies of Friedrich Nietzche, Jean-Pierre Vernant, Jacques Derrida, Marcel Mauss and René Girard.

Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 109-119).

This essay takes its start in the problematic situation concerning source material in the study of the Norse religion before the Christianization of Scandinavia. There is a lack of written sources from the time when the religion was still practiced. There are plenty of archeological sources economic situation than their religious beliefs. The Icelandic stories written in the 13th and 14th centuries give us a broad pictureof the Norse mythology, but the writers were Christians which makes their reliability questionable. The focus of this essay is therefore on two texts written during the time when the Norse religion was still in practice. The first source is the travel notes written in 922 by the Muslim scholar Ahmad ibn Fadlan who met a group of the Rus’ people. The Rus’ were mainly Scandinavians (possibly from Sweden) and their religious practices hence falls under the category of Norse religion. Ibn Fadlan showed a great interest in the Rus’ and describes their ritual sacrifices and a funeral of theirs in great detail. The second source is the description of the heathen cult in the Swedish town of Uppsala written in 1076 by the Christian scholar Adam of Bremen. He describes Uppsala as the last outpost of the religion and among other things he describes their practices, their ritual sacrifices and a golden temple. I’ve used a comparative method as well as a historical critical method in order to findcredible similarities between the two sources. The focus is placed on the descriptions of the ritual sacrifices in both of the texts and how they can be understood in their context. This is done to find a common ground within the religion in order to construct a framework from which further research may find its foundation. With the help from earlier research on these two texts, on other written material, such as thethe Icelandic stories, and on archeological findings I’ve found many similarities between my two sources which can be considered as real parts of the Norse religion. These are the sacrifice to images of the gods, the sacrifice of different animals, the sacrifice in sacred groves and the hanging of scarified animals in trees and on treelike poles, the central role of sacrificing heads of animals and different ritual practices in order to experience a higher reality. Human sacrifice can be strongly questioned and both of the texts point to hanging as a mean of execution instead of sacrifice.