This thesis uses Baruch Spinoza’s notion of affect to critically rethink the correlation between noise, ‘unwantedness’ and ‘badness’. Against subject-oriented definitions, which understand noise to be constituted by a listener; and object-oriented definitions, which define noise as a type of sound; I focus on what it is that noise does. Using the relational philosophy of Michel Serres in combination with Spinoza’s philosophy of affects, I posit noise as a productive, transformative force and a necessary component of material relations. I consider the implications of this affective and relational model for two lineages: what I identify as a ‘conservative’ politics of silence, and a ‘transgressive’ politics of noise. The former is inherent to R. Murray Schafer’s ‘aesthetic moralism’, where noise is construed as ‘bad’ to silence’s ‘good’. Instead, I argue that noise’s ‘badness’ is secondary, relational and contingent. This ethico-affective understanding thus allows for silence that is felt to be destructive and noise that is pleasantly serendipitous. Noise’s positively productive capacity can be readily exemplified by the use of noise within music, whereby noise is used to create new sonic sensations. An ethicoaffective approach also allows for an affirmative (re)conceptualization of noise music, which moves away from rhetoric of failure, taboo and contradiction. In developing a relational, ethico-affective approach to noise, this thesis facilitates a number of key conceptual shifts. Firstly, it serves to de-centre the listening subject. According to this definition, noise does not need to be heard as unwanted in order to exist; indeed, it need not be heard at all. Secondly, this definition no longer constitutes noise according to a series of hierarchical dualisms. Consequently, the structural oppositions of noise/signal, noise/silence and noise/music are disrupted. Finally, noise is understood to be ubiquitous and foundational, rather than secondary and contingent: it is inescapable, unavoidable and necessary.

No description available.

This thesis traces the evolution of the concept of African philosophy through three phases: the cultural essentialism of Léopold Senghor, founder of Négritude, the universalist critical reaction of Paulin Hountondji and the professional philosophers, and the sophisticated particularism of Valentin Mudimbé. The three stages are contextualized with discussion of the socio-political positioning of each writer, his motives, and his particular understanding of what is at stake in the definition of African philosophy. The initial need to bring about a revalorization of African culture and a recognition of African philosophical capabilities is met by a flamboyant and highly vocal cultural movement, Négritude, which is, however, intrinsically limited in scope and lifespan, and sets up a number of persistent, dogmatic suppositions about the ‘essentially African reason’. A demonstration of the Western origins of this essentialism debunks but does not dispel its influence, since it is firmly anchored to the themes of authenticity, colonial influence, and postcolonial independence. This leads to a dilemma where any move to separate African philosophy from the notion of a distinctly African reason is perceived as a Eurocentric attempt at acculturation, or a capitulation to the false universalism of ‘Enlightenment philosophy’, and on the other hand, the view that African thought is essentially different from European thought is also criticized as deriving from the Western colonial discourse. There is no definitive answer to this problem, and even the search for such an answer is itself part of the problem, a further twist in the ruse that Mudimbé believes is inherent to the colonial discourse. The practical solution Mudimbé proposes is to introduce an écart between African scientific practice and the West, to create a new space within which Africans might investigate the field of their experience in an Afrocentric way which will preserve their cultural specificity.

by Leslie A. Hall and David B. Shmoys. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 21-22).

This thesis analyzes the direction of time problem in the framework of philosophy of science. The radiation arrow, Newtonian arrow, thermodynamic arrow and quantum mechanical arrow have been studied in detail. The importance of the structure of space-time concerning direction of time is emphasized.

The main purpose of the present study is to show that scientific realism is still worth advocating despite its vulnerability in the face of anti-realist objections. For, it does not seem possible to &lsquo / do science&rsquo / without realist commitments. The second purpose of this study is to investigate the plausibility of the novel versions of realism in the sense that whether they can satisfactorily respond to the anti-realist objections. Regarding the main purpose, I try to show that theoretical terms are neither reducible to observables nor they can be dispensed with. Hence in scientific theories there always remains a metaphysical part. Regarding the second purpose I discuss ontic structural realism which holds the individualistic attributions responsible for the metaphysical parts in theories and suggests that non-individualistic interpretation of theoretical terms is possible. The legitimacy of Ontic structural realism&rsquo / s suggestion, as its advocates claim, lies within quantum facts.

The domestic production activities deduction (DPAD) was created to incentivize U.S. firms to produce within the U.S. and thereby increase domestic investing. I test whether the DPAD is a large enough incentive for firms to invest in the U.S. I used a simulation, and I found that without the DPAD incentive the firms never chose to produce within the U.S. With the DPAD incentive, only firms with relatively low costs of labor will produce domestically. These firms are rare and will not have a large impact on domestic investment and these firms increasing their production in the U.S. will not have a large impact on our employment rates. Therefore, the U.S. government is losing out on tax revenue without a large benefit to the economy. I also analyzed the DPAD at the state level. Currently 25 states allow the DPAD, but since it is a broad domestic deduction, these states might not be gaining the benefit of increased investing in their own state. Through a separate simulation and ANOVA tests on archival data, I found that states do not benefit from the DPAD.

No description available.

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Letras, Departamento de Teoria Literária e Literaturas, 2017. / Submitted by Raquel Almeida (raquel.df13@gmail.com) on 2017-05-19T16:01:29Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2017_AnnaIsabelSantosFreire.pdf: 890716 bytes, checksum: a0d2c08aa8d0b3dfabd2307c90b30999 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Raquel Viana (raquelviana@bce.unb.br) on 2017-05-25T23:19:59Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2017_AnnaIsabelSantosFreire.pdf: 890716 bytes, checksum: a0d2c08aa8d0b3dfabd2307c90b30999 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-25T23:19:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2017_AnnaIsabelSantosFreire.pdf: 890716 bytes, checksum: a0d2c08aa8d0b3dfabd2307c90b30999 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-05-25 / Considerando o pós-colonialismo como uma abordagem teórica e cultural para refletir sobre o mundo pós-independências, como um todo, avaliamos as implicações políticas, culturais, econômicas e sociais que moldam o cotidiano das personagens de Os transparentes (2013), de Ondjaki. A literatura angolana pode ser lida como pós-colonial, uma vez que o país se tornou independente politicamente a partir da segunda metade do século XX. Logo, este trabalho pretende discutir as estratégias narrativas acionadas em Os transparentes, já que o autor trata de representar as vozes silenciadas, por meio de várias imagens que não vão ao encontro da imagem estereotipada que vemos dos povos africanos pobres, construída pelos colonizadores e em muitos momentos legitimada pelo texto literário. Conceitos como reconhecimento social, pobreza e representação da pobreza serão discutidos ao longo do trabalho, com o objetivo de compreender de que modo personagens pobres são representadas no romance. / Considering postcolonialism as a theoretical and cultural approach to reflect on the world after the idependence moviments, we assess the political, cultural, economic and social implications that shape the way of life of the characters in Os transparentes (2013), by Ondjaki. Angolan literature can be understood as post-colonial, since the country became politically independent after the second half of the twentieth century. Therefore, this study intends to discuss the narrative strategies employed in Os transparentes, since the author tries to represent the silenced voices through several images that do not match the stereotyped image we see of poor African peoples, built by the colonizers and frequently legitimized by the literary text. Concepts such as social recognition, poverty and representation of poverty will be discussed along the study, to understand how poor characters are represented in the novel.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo compreender os processos composicionais contidos no Op. 199, Les Guitares bien Tempérés, de Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968). Este ciclo de 24 prelúdios e fugas é a maior obra original para duo de violões e, vindo de um compositor não-violonista, contextualizam-se, aqui, pontos importantes de sua formação, de seus intérpretes e de seu período. Algumas perguntas se destacam no percurso da pesquisa: quem foi este compositor? Quais foram os fatos mais marcantes de sua formação musical? Por que esta obra é tão importante para a formação de duo de violões? Qual é o perfil bibliográfico que se encontra para a produção deste trabalho? E, principalmente, como se pode descrever o estilo desta obra? Fundamentando-se em referenciais teórico-metodológicos (STEBLIN, 1982; LARUE, 1992; OTERO, 1999; entre outros), o trabalho parte dos sentidos tradicionais do Prelúdio e da Fuga e de como o compositor se relaciona com eles. Mostra como resultados da pesquisa os parâmetros musicais, que permeiam a obra como um todo (macroestrutura) e dialogam entre as partes (média e microestrutura), entrecruzando os elementos contribuintes (som, harmonia, melodia e ritmo) e outros desdobramentos (tonalidades, texturas, intensidades, harmonias, melodias, andamentos, expressões e afetos/humores). Desse modo, a pesquisa levou à compressão de diversos processos composicionais contidos na obra. / The aim of this work is to understand the compositional techniques employed by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968) in his Op. 199, Les Guitares bien Tempérés. This cycle of 24 Preludes and Fugues for two guitars is known as the largest original work for guitar duo and, coming from a non-guitarist composer, elucidates various aspects of his background and the performance of his works. Some of the most important questions addressed include: Who is Castelnuovo-Tedesco? What were the highlights of his musical training? Why is this work so important to the guitar duo ensemble? What kind of bibliographic references are available on this work? And, most importantly, how can the style of this work be described? This work in based on theoretical-methodological references (STEBLIN, 1982; LARUE, 1992; OTERO, 1999; among others), it begins with a discussion of the composer\'s approach to the traditional definitions of Prelude and Fugue. The results of this research highlight the musical guidelines that permeate the work both as a whole (macrostructure) and in parts (middle and microstructure), crossing contributing elements (sound, harmony, melody and rhythm), and other details (keys, textures, dynamics, harmonies, tempos, expressions and affections/humor). Thus, this research has led to the understanding of multiple compositional processes contained in the work.