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This dissertation investigates the evangelical ethics of Prof. Oliver O’Donovan in order to explore the implications of his “evangelical realism” for theological anthropology, moral knowledge and the concept of moral order. The Barth-Brunner debate regarding natural theology provides a lens onto these issues. Theological case studies are used to test our findings. Chapter 1 provides an overture to these issues, paying attention to current ideas about human nature and morality, and the growing influence of neuroscience and evolutionary psychology. Chapter 2 focuses on Resurrection and Moral Order, elucidating the salient factors in its outline for evangelical ethics. Chapter 3 diagnoses the challenges which a dialectical epistemology presents to the development of a doctrine of evangelical ethics. Chapter 4 delves into O’Donovan’s treatment of the Barth-Brunner debate over natural theology, and discovers therein an illuminating correspondence between O’Donovan’s ethics and the concept of a human “capacity for revelation” (Offenbarungsmächtigkeit), which became a hinge issue in the debate. This provides a helpful lens onto O’Donovan’s concept of moral order. Chapter 5 examines the intrinsic connection between the concept of moral order and the epistemic role of faith. Kierkegaard’s treatment of the paradoxical aspects of faith as an event of epistemic access figures prominently in this analysis. Chapter 6 brings together the results of our analysis and applies them to the thesis that: the transformation of persons lies at the heart of evangelical ethics. The cosmology of faith emerges as a critical hermeneutical factor in the development of a doctrine of evangelical ethics. We explore here the doctrinal implications for Trinitarian theology. Chapter 7 draws out practical implications of our thesis. We see the central place of prayer and worship in evangelical ethics, and point out implications for teaching. Lastly, we show practical applications of our thesis by examining the bio-ethical issues of human reproductive technologies, with special attention to O’Donovan’s work, Begotten or Made?

This research project seeks to explore aspects of the post-reporting phase of the public inquiry process. Central to the public inquiry process is the concept of legitimacy and the idea that a public inquiry provides and opportunity to re-legitimate the credibility of failed public institutions. The current literature asserts that public inquiries re-legitimise through the production of authoritative narratives. As such, most of this scholarship has focused on the production of inquiry reports and, more recently, the reports themselves. However, in an era of accountability, and in the aftermath of such a poignant attack upon society, the production of a report may represent an apogee, but by no means an end, of the re-legitimation process. Appropriately, this thesis examines the post-reporting phase of the 9/11 Commission’s public inquiry process. The 9/11 Commission provides a useful research vehicle due to the bounded, and relatively linear, implementation process of the Commission’s recommendations. In little more than four months a majority of the Commission’s recommendations were passed into law. Within this implementation phase the dominant discursive process took place in the United States Congress. It is the legislative reform debates in the House of Representatives and the Senate that is the focus of this research project. The central research question is: what rhetorical legitimation strategies were employed in the legislative reform debates of the post-reporting phase of the 9/11 Commission’s public inquiry process? This study uses a grounded theory approach to the analysis of the legislative transcripts of the Congressional reform debates. This analysis revealed that proponents employed rhetorical strategies to legitimise a legislative ‘Call to Action’ narrative. Also, they employed rhetorical legitimation strategies that emphasised themes of bipartisanship, hard work and expertise in order to strengthen the standing of the legislation. Opponents of the legislation focused rhetorical de-legitimation strategies on the theme of ‘flawed process’. Finally, nearly all legislators, regardless of their view of the legislation, sought to appropriate the authoritative legitimacy of the Commission, by employing rhetorical strategies that presented their interests and motives as in line with the actions and wishes of the Commission.

The thesis concerns public debate on the public activities of The Swedish History Museum (Historiska museet) in Stockholm between the years 1992 and 2011. Moreover, the thesis contribute with knowledge on how basic didactic questions regarding a single national museum has been answered in the public debate over time. Standpoints on what should be exhibited, how this should be done, to/with whom the mediation of history should be addressed/communicated and, what mission in society The Swedish History Museum’s is considered to be, is summed up in the concept of “exhibition ideal”. The research concerns four public debates; the debate about the exhibition The Swedish History (Den Svenska Historien), the debate about Kristian Berg, the debate about the free entry reform and, a less extensive debate about the exhibition History of Sweden (Sveriges Historia). A further aim of the dissertation is to put the publicly expressed positions on The Swedish History Museum in a wider historical-cultural context. Also, the study is related to other museums and other history communicating arenas. The debates coincides in time with challenges for the museum sector to deal with new perspectives in museology and cultural heritage research. The emergence of a multi-cultural society and the questioning of grand narratives are mentioned as examples. The emergence and strengthening of a broader history didactic discipline in Sweden, where a basic starting point is that the story is communicated in several different arenas with their own competencies, are also brought into the analysis. Historians and archaeologists tend to become silent in the recent debates about The Swedish History Museum’s public activities as the debates are less focused on content. The debates tends to be more “museum internal”, even in cases where there is opportunity to debate specific historical and archaeological content in the exhibitions. It appears, nevertheless, that the overall conflict around the public museum activities has reached the public spotlight through newspapers, radio and TV. Alongside with visits to the museum public debate are assumed to contribute to citizens’ own view of what museums should exhibit, how this should be done, to/with whom the mediation of history should be addressed/communicated and what the museum’s mission in society is.

anglicky: Title of the thesis: Today's France: Report on Colonial Heritage: New National Identity Keywords: colonization, decolonization, immigration, integration, the Law of February 23 2005, suburban social unrest in 2005, Great Debate on National Identity Abstract: The following study deals with history of colonization and its repercussions on the current situation in France and its demography from the sociological, cultural and political point of view. The study is divided into two parts: the history and the present. The first part is based on works of historians and analyses the colonial history of France and the process of decolonization. The second part focuses on legacy of the colonial adventure on the present, it follows the discussions in the French press, works on French immigration and integration and analyses of researchers studying repercussions of colonial past on the present. The second part also includes history and specificities of immigration and integration in France, the Law of February 23 2005 on the positive role of French presence abroad, the suburban unrest of 2005 and the Great Debate on National Identity.

The diploma thesis presents own research method for examination of speech formations. It focuses on examination of televised political debates. The method applied here may be characterized as an organized hermeneutic analysis of political discourse. Through the application of an analytical - philosophical approach (e.g. application of the theory of maxima, illocutionary acts evaluation, and analysis of arguments and verification of their truthfulness), the method allows us to establish objective facts of the debate as well as some personal features of debate participants. To examine texts, the theoretical knowledge of distinguished authors (J. J. Austin, K. Bayer, T. A. van Dijk, N. Fairclough, H. P. Grice, J. Habermas, J. Kraus, G. N. Leeche, J. R. Searl, and others) have been made use of. In addition to the literary survey, the thesis also includes the argumentation in respect of selection of the method, selection of talk shows, transcript of debates from TV records, transformation of the text into an analysable form, and research methodology. Accordingly, a specific communication model of programme is drawn up, the talk show discourse is analysed as a whole, and the styles and argumentation of selected participants are examined and analysed, which is followed by a comprehensive assessment of the...

Uppsatsen undersöker feministisk argumentation i två artiklar publicerade av Expressen. Syftet har varit att ta reda på hur diskussionen om ett slags normerande feministisk kvinnlighet tar form. Analysen är uppdelad i två delar: i den första används Lloyd Bitzers teori om den retoriska situationen samt en pragmadialektisk teori och metod. Den information som utvinns i analysens första del kontextualiseras sedan med hjälp av olika genusvetenskapliga ingångar.  I den första delen skisseras argumentationens utgångspunkter och sedan dess argumentationsstruktur. I analysens andra del knyts den ena artikelförfattarens argumentation till en radikalfeministisk tradition, och den andra till en mer postmodern feministisk hållning. Argumentationsstrukturen var till stor nytta för att identifiera hur den första artikelförfattaren räknar upp flera egenskaper som ett kvinnligt subjekt inte kan inneha om hon ska erhålla rätten att kalla sig för feminist. Uppsatsen diskuterar sedan feministers möjligheter att skava, göra fel, och på så sätt tänja gränserna för vad som anses vara respektabelt. Också möjligheter för en bredare feminism som kan inkludera fler och en eventuell dekonstruktion av begreppet feminism är ämnen som uppsatsen argumenterar för. Slutligen resoneras kring de faktorer som samverkar för att skapa normer som både inkluderar och exkluderar kvinnliga subjekt.

A presente dissertação de mestrado tenta estabelecer como e em qual medida o Conceito de Direito de Herbert Hart é influenciado por teorias da linguagem do século XX. Com este objetivo, são primeiro analisadas as passagens do livro e as considerações do autor que indicam uma influência de teses próprias da filosofia da linguagem em sua obra. Após, são expostas algumas intepretações do tema, tanto no sentido de concordar que existe esta relação entre as teses de Hart e a filosofia da linguagem do século 20, quanto no sentido de negar este vínculo. Especial atenção é atribuída a interpretação de Ronald Dworkin do tema, tendo em vista a sua relevância histórica e o fato do autor reconhecer a vinculação referida e a utilizá-la como base para críticas das teses do Conceito de direito. Estabelecidas estas interpretações divergentes, são então expostas as principais ideias e propostas dos filósofos da linguagem do ambiente acadêmico de Oxford, tendo em vista a relação e proximidade de Hart a estes autores. Expostas estas teses, diferentes pontos da carreira bibliográfica de Hart são analisados, com o objetivo de traçar a relação dos escritos do autor com as teorias recém vistas e de tentar estabelecer a evolução da linha argumentativa que culminou no Conceito de Direito. Uma vez que os argumentos dessa obra forem analisados e um entendimento específico dessas teses for defendido, as críticas de Dworkin e de outros autores são revistas. Este exercício, por fim, mostra como o entendimento defendido neste trabalho serve também como defesa contra algumas caracterizações da obra de Hart que considero equivocadas. / The main goal of this paper is to establish to what extent the work “The Concept of Law” was influenced by philosophical theories of language from the 20th century. First are considered some passages of this work, together with some pronouncements of its author Herbert Hart that appear to confirm that his theses were so influenced. Then are shown some interpretations that recognize the influence between the author and theses from the philosophy of language, together with other interpretations that deny this relationship. Special attention is given to the perception of Ronald Dworkin of the subject given its historical relevance and the fact that it recognize a relationship between these theses and uses it as basis for criticism of the arguments expressed in The Concept of Law. Once these distinctive interpretations are stablished, the main ideas and goals of the Oxford language philosophers, given their relationship and proximity to Hart, are exposed. Once these theses are dealt with, varied moments of the bibliography of Herbert Hart are considered in order to show the connection between his works and the language theses here exposed. After these point are considered and a distinct understanding of the subject is developed the criticism of Dworkin and other authors are retaken. This last point aims to show how the understanding developed in this paper also develops a defense of Hart’s theory from some mischaracterizations of his work.

<p>The title of this essay is Project: The Veil – an investigation of the trends in the Swedish veil debate compared with the veil debate in France and Great Britain written by Cecilia Lindvall. The purpose of the paper is to analyze how the argument has been conducted by the Swedish politicians from the time when the veil was first recognized in Swedish media up until today. The questions I wanted to answer was each countries definition of the three concepts secularization, freedom of religion and multiculturalism, how Islam as a faith with Muslims has developed in Sweden, France and Great Britain and each countries integration politics with the politicians attitude towards the veil. The method being used is a qualitative study with three kind of theories for analysis; two who derives from a feminist point of view where the first one advocates for the rights of each women, the second for the rights of religious groups and a third theory which discusses different models of integration logics. The study shows that Swedish politicians turned from a negative approach to the veil to advocate the rights of every woman‟s right to wear religious cloth. Sweden and Great Britain chooses similar direction in their national integration program – which protects group rights – while France promotes individual rights on a basis of assimilation politics.</p>

<p>At the centre of this study lies one of the critical questions faced by (late-)modern society, namely that of taking care of the long-lived radioactive waste from nuclear power production. The problems of nuclear waste management are pictured as embracing a complex web of essential issues for society today, in terms of both its capacities and its shortcomings – so called core issues. The principal aim of the thesis is to examine the nuclear waste discourse in Malå, Västerbotten, from a critical discourse analytical perspective, through applying the approach developed by Michel Foucault in The Order of Discourse.</p><p>During the 1990s, the municipality of Malå played a prominent role as a candidate site for the geological disposal of Sweden’s spent nuclear fuel. A five-year process culminated in a local referendum on whether detailed site investigations should be permitted within the community. Following the result no further investigations have been undertaken. The discourse analysis is carried out through a study of opinion formation in the municipality during the period October 1992 to October 1997. Two main types of empirical material have been collected: interviews with opinion leaders (politicians, activists, journalists, information professionals, etc.) and contemporaneous mass media content (the local newspaper and regional television news).</p><p>In the empirical analysis, a review is made of the workings of the external and internal control mechanisms within the discourse; that is to say, how they serve to set limits on the content and form of the sense-making process concerning nuclear waste management. Important themes in the opinion forming process in Malå include information and expertise, opposition and legitimacy, the centre/periphery relationship and the themes of mistrust, partitioning and rejection. Among other themes identified as being marginalised or absent, one example is the Samish citizens’ views on the nuclear question. Four actors play a prominent role as authors of the discourse, namely the nuclear industry, the experts, Greenpeace and the mass media. The voices of resistance groups are also significant. Representatives from authorities and civil servants were most likely to take the commentary role in the discourse, along with journalists.</p><p>In the concluding analysis of the nuclear waste discourse in Malå, two main types of desire for truth, which form the discourse’s main order, are identified. The stronger concerns the will to know, which places the expert with a scientific background as the principal truth-teller. The other is ‘ordinary’ people’s desire, which influences the content and form of the opinion formation. It is also concluded that the mass media institutions play a significant role in this context, not least as mediators. Reflections on contemporary ‘core issues’ to which the analysis bears witness, such as the crisis of democracy, are also included. In addition, the implications of applying the Foucaultian research programme to a study of the nuclear question have been considered. </p>