Tillich frames the question of truth, meaning, and certainty within the spiritual and social crises of the 20th century. Specifically, be addresses the fragmentation of religion, culture, faith, reason, emotion, and the displacement of religion to the periphery of human consciousness. These demonstrate how this compartmentalization and marginalization is due to a misunderstanding of the nature of reason and its relation to being, religious consciousness, language and symbol and reveal religion as the inescapable center of human experience. Tillich reunites these fragments of the psyche and returns religion to the center of human experience without falling into the hubris and subjectivity of idealism. This thesis examines Tillich's ontological approach to knowledge, his idea of "theonomous" culture, religion as "ultimate concern". It presents Tillich's understanding of being-itself as the religious source of human thought, activity; and creation and as the presupposition of truth, meaning and certainty. It examines the universal experience of faith and "ultimate concern" revealed in the "courage to be".

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This thesis is an analysis of Karl Barth's theological method as it appears in his treatment of three divine perfections - unity, constancy, and eternity - in Church Dogmatics, II/l, chapter VI. In order to discern the method by which Barth reaches his doctrinal conclusions, the thesis examines the respective roles of Scripture, tradition and reason-the 'threefold cord'-in this portion of his Church Dogmatics. The conclusion reached in the thesis is that, within Barth's treatment of God's unity, constancy and eternity, Scripture functions as the authoritative source and basis for theological critique and construction, and tradition and reason are functionally subordinate to Scripture. That said, Barth employs a predominantly indirect way of relating Scripture and theological proposals, a way in which tradition and reason play important 'mediatory' roles. The thesis defends these claims in the following manner. Chapter 1 surveys recent scholarship relevant to the thesis and shows how this thesis will make a distinctive contribution to scholarly discussion of Barth's theology. Chapter 2 sets up the exposition of Barth's theological method that is provided in the remaining chapters by providing a 'conceptual framework'- an orderly arrangement of definitions and conceptual categories. Chapter 3 provides an overview of the main features of Barth's Doctrine of God as whole, as it appears in Church Dogmatics, with a special emphasis on the roles of Scripture, tradition and reason within those doctrines. Chapters 4-6 are an expository analysis of Barth's treatments of divine unity, constancy and eternity respectively, and form the primary basis for the claims of the thesis. Chapter 7, the conclusion, summarises the argument and makes some final observations.

Chang Chün-mai, known in the West as Carsun Chang, played a prominent role on the political stage of wartime China. As educator, philosopher, and politician, he vainly attempted to alter the course of China's political and cultural development. Although commonly referred to as a liberal-democrat, this study shows Chang to be more of a traditionally-minded conservative. Masked by the heavy use of a liberal-democratic vocabulary, Chang maintained a firm commitment to principles that owed much more to conservative Chinese tradition than to Western liberalism. The fact that Chang Chün-mai did rely so heavily on liberal-democratic arguments and came to be known by some as the Father of the Constitution tends to cloud his real intent. It is argued here that his efforts to bring a Western-style constitution to China can better be understood by recognizing two major points: first, Chang, as well as many others, used the constitutional issue in an attempt to force Chiang Kai-shek to share political power; and, secondly, the constitutional issue provided Chang with the conceptual and institutional vehicle for rebuilding the socio-political relationships between the various elements of Chinese society which had existed before the Republic. Within the latter goal, Chang also souqht to create a position of influence and prestige for the class of intellectuals of which he was a part. This study explores one dimension of Chinese conservatism. It shows Chang Chün-mai as a neo-traditionalist whose behaviour was guided and limited by his image of the Chinese cultural tradition--limitations which significantly contributed to his failure. Examining Chang's actions in wartime China sheds more light on the reasons for the failure of the so-called "third force" elements that stood between the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party. Chang held himself aloof from the great mass of his fellow countrymen, he championed a political position which failed to offer a clear alternative to the authoritarian government of Chiang Kai-shek, and his philosophical and conservative viewpoint prevented him from carrying his political opposition to a point which seriously challenged Chiang Kai-shek. Although this study does conclude that Chang's idealized image of the Confucian gentleman (chün-tzu) acted as a handicap in the political milieu of wartime China, it confines that conclusion to a given time and place, and under particular circumstances. It emphatically does not purport to discount the viability or appropriateness of traditional Chinese values in the modern world, or with some form of democratic system. Far from exhaustive, this study is, at best, partial. It is meant to explore a dimension of the Chinese effort to reconcile themselves and their culture with a changing environment. Source materials are limited and not without inconsistencies. A major drawback is that much of the Chinese-language material concerning Chang Chün-mai is lauditory in nature and biased in his favor. If time permitted, a more thorough study of the personal accounts of other actors involved would no doubt yield a more balanced picture. Further, the circumstances under which much of the wartime materials were written required a good deal of circumspection on the part of the writers, and therefore, requires a good deal of "reading between the lines" by the modern reader. I have tried to keep my conclusions reasonable without imparting my own ideas to a difficult translation. / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate

This thesis deals with the storytelling art of Tanizaki Jun'ichirō. An esthete par excellence, this prolific writer produced for over half a century a string of works that are essentially dedicated to the glorification of art and beauty. This glorification in turn enhances the quality of life which, also in the author's view, is both a dream and a game. Art and beauty, dreams and games are virtually the building blocks of Tanizaki's fictional universe in which illusion and reality are meant to be complementary rather than opposing forces that govern human existence. Transplanting this fabulous world into the reader's heart is the result of Tanizaki's special skill in storytelling. An analysis of his four major works will hopefully bring this skill into full view. Chapter One examines Tanizaki's early short story "Shisei" that marks his brilliant debut. Though marred by technical flaws, "Shisei" succeeds remarkably in luring the reader into a fairy-tale atmosphere where art and beauty are the only raison d'être. A sensuous style characterizes this lively tale and between the lines flows a life force that will become Tanizaki's trademark. The theme of art and beauty is brought to a climax in "Shunkinshō" which is analysed in Chapter Two. The simple perspective of "Shisei" is now abandoned, giving way to a maze of multiple viewpoints that are there for the single purpose of hypnotizing the reader. The ultimate goal is to make the reader share the passion and devotion of an artist in the pursuit of the Ideal. The monogatari style is a feature of this novella and helps generate the ambiguity needed for the narrative. Chapter Three deals with "Yume no ukihashi," a tale of dream and sensuality. Man's ambition to create and perpetuate dreams is given full treatment in this story in which illusions are the name of the game. Incest is also a thorny issue but Tanizaki seems to consciously skirt the problem with various devices. Fùten rōjin nikki, Tanizaki's crowning novel, is the subject of Chapter Four. Everything that the author stands for in his writing is now brought into focus. Using the casual form of a diary, art motifs and erotic scenes are placed at well-calculated points so that structural balance is maintained throughout the story. A game-playing spirit and the overwhelming life force which starts with "Shisei" embody this last tour-de-force that proudly consolidates the author's fame. This thesis, through the four works that are examined, can be considered an attempt to shed some light on the question of why and how Tanizaki fascinates the reader. / Arts, Faculty of / Asian Studies, Department of / Graduate

This thesis traces the growth of Tanizaki Jun'ichiro as a narrative artist through the three stages of his long career. A number of representative works are studied, with varying emphasis on narrative perspective, structure, character creation, and style, depending on the prominence.of these aspects of fiction in each work. Underlying the individual analyses is the basic question: how does the author resolve the problem of rendering himself in his fiction? Chapter I, covering the initial period (1910-1928), first deals with a split in the author's sensibility. The emerging storyteller is most successful as an anti-realist, in a small number of stories with idealized, remote settings, such as "Shisei." In contrast, he fails when seeking to represent himself and his immediate environment in the shi-shosetsu. Near the end of this period, with Chijin no ai , Tanizaki begins to reconcile his need for illusion with the rendering of mundane experience. Tanizaki's technical skills are in germ in this period. The author often demonstrates an ability to build firm structures, and to forge an elaborate style. He also establishes a conception of characters as powerful psychic forces, not as pedestrian, "realistic" creations. Chapter II shows the fully mature artist, in his second period (1928-1950), which contains most of his major achievements. The author's continuing attachment to distant, illusory worlds is fully expressed in works drawing on Japanese tradition, such as Momoku monogatari, a romance. He also resolves the dichotomy between the demands of the imagination and those of external realities; he projects himself into his fiction with complete success. He is able to represent everyday experience in Tade kuu mushi and Sasameyuki, but these are not novels of bourgeois realism. Idealization still moves below the surface, creating a balance between versimilitude and fantasy. The rendering of the characters as idealized types is explored particularly in the study of Sasameyuki. Tanizaki's enormous advances in method include an intricate treatment of narrative viewpoints, as in "Shunkinsho," a subtle approach to structure, notably in "Yoshino kuzu," and a new style unique in its fluidity and amplitude, as in "Ashikari." Chapter III treats the last phase of Tanizaki's writing (1951-1965), a period of renewal and purification. Abandoning the filter of history and romance, he now tends to observe and record contemporary circumstance. He also returns to the concerns of his first phase, most significantly the shi-shosetsu, fictionalizing himself in Futen rojin nikki; in the forceful portrayal of the protagonist of this novel Tanizaki reaches the climactic point in his characterizations. Sobriety of manner marks the writing of this phase. The characters often appear in distilled, stylized form, most remarkably in Kagi. The rich, full style of the second period disappears; instead, the author often uses notations, as in the diary form. He loses none of his skill in structure, as the two contrasting novels using the diary genre show: while Kagi is an obvious craftsman's triumph, Futen rojin is constructed with equal care but deceptive naturalness. It is hoped that this study, concentrating on the development of Tanizaki's techniques and of his outlook, helps to account for his singularly strong grip on the reader. / Arts, Faculty of / Asian Studies, Department of / Graduate

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Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

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