It is shown that there is an unconditional requirement on rational beings to adopt “reflexive” beliefs, these being beliefs with a very particular sort of self-referential structure. It is shown that whoever adopts such beliefs will thereby adopt beliefs that imply that a certain proposition, ᴪ, is true. From the fact that there is this unconditional requirement on rational being to adopt beliefs that imply ᴪ, it is concluded that ᴪ is knowable a priori. ᴪ is a proposition that says, in effect, that one’s own point of view is a point in space and time that is the point of view of some being who has reflexive beliefs. It is argued that this information that is contained in ᴪ boils down to the information that one’s point of view is located at a point in the world at which there is something that is “conscious” in a certain natural and philosophically interesting sense of that word. In other words, a theory of consciousness is defended according to which an entity is conscious if and only if it has reflexive beliefs.

The role of the Anthropic Principle in astrophysics and cosmology is examined in two principal parts. The first (minor) part takes a chiefly philosophical perspective and examines the manner in which human cognition features into discussions on cosmic origins. It is shown that the philosophical questions raised by the Anthropic Principle and ‘fine-tuning of life’ bear resemblances to problems within the philosophy of mind and we seek a common origin for this surprising parallel. A form of ‘epistemic structural realism’ is defended and used to critique the physicalist identity thesis. It is argued that equating ‘reality’ with mathematical structures, which is the basis of the identity thesis, leads to incoherent conclusions. Similar reasoning is used to critique infinite Multiverse theories. In the second (major) part, we gradually transition into mainstream astrophysics, first presenting a new line of research to explore counterfactual universes using semi-analytic models (SAMs) and offering a preliminary study wherein the cosmological constant is varied and the effects on ‘advanced civilisations’ are examined. The importance of galaxy mergers is highlighted and leads to their study. We first try solving the pattern-recognition problem of locating mergers using the Galaxy Zoo database and produce the largest homogenous merger catalogue to date. We examine their properties and compare them with the SAMs of the Millennium Simulation finding good general agreement. We develop the Galaxy Zoo approach with a new visual-interface design and double the size of the merger catalogue of SDSS mergers in the local Universe.

Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T14:27:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Alyson Augusto Padilha.pdf: 1230159 bytes, checksum: 448a990d58f50433b12d0236c05f14ea (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-12-01 / This essay is an interdisciplinary reflection of the Theology of Creation. It aims to present a theological analysis of the origin of the universe as well as the prominent part played in it by the intelligent phenomenon, based on the relationship between Cosmology, specifically the Cosmological Anthropic Principle, and the narrative of Creation on as described in Gn1, 1-2.4a. This study is justified by the necessity of bringing the cosmos back to the theological reflection, on the one hand, while, on the other, by the difficulty experienced by Theology as it deals with subjects related to Cosmology, specifically the origin of the universe. The basic hypothesis is the unconditional relationship of interdependency that exists between man and universe. Actually, it is only within the cosmos that the intelligent phenomenon can be fully realized. Therefore, if Theology understands God as the Creator, it follows that Theology has to make clear the proper mechanism that enable it to assert that God is the Creator of the universe. The work adopts the methodological approach of conceptual parallelism, that is, the theological understanding of creation as it is read in the narrative of Gn 1, 1-2.4a, and the one defined by the Cosmological Anthropic intelligent Principle. In the end, the present work leads to the following remarkable conclusions: the impossibility of using the cosmological discoveries and their conceptions to attest the existence of a Creator; the connection between man and universe; the strengthening of a theological view that realizes the intelligent phenomenon not as an efficient cause in the cosmos, but as the originator of a finality to it; a convergence of both theological and cosmological reflections to an ecological ethics as a way to respect the evolutive process of life, and, as a consequence, to care for it / A presente dissertação é uma reflexão interdisciplinar sobre a Teologia da Criação. Seu objetivo é apresentar uma análise teológica sobre a origem do universo e a relevância do fenômeno inteligente no seu interior, a partir da relação entre a Cosmologia, de modo específico, do Princípio Cosmológico Antrópico e a narrativa da criação de Gn 1, 1-2,4a. Sua realização justifica-se pela necessidade de recuperar o cosmo na reflexão teológica, bem como, pela dificuldade que a Teologia encontra para lidar com temas oriundos da Cosmologia, especificamente sobre a origem do universo. A hipótese básica é a relação incondicional de interdependência que o homem possui com o universo. Somente no interior do cosmo é possível pensar a importância do fenômeno inteligente humano. Ora, se a Teologia compreende que Deus é o criador, ela necessita explicitar as mediações adequadas para afirmar como Deus é o criador do universo. No presente trabalho recorreu-se ao expediente metodológico do confronto conceitual, entre a concepção teológica da criação expressa na narrativa de Gn 1,1-2,4a e aquela expressa pela formulação do Princípio Cosmológico Antrópico. Como resultado obtido, destaca-se: a impossibilidade da utilização das descobertas cosmológicas e de suas concepções, para comprovar a existência de um ser criador; a conexão do homem com o universo; o fortalecimento de uma visão teológica que sustenta que o fenômeno inteligente não é uma causalidade eficiente no cosmo, mas que gesta uma causa final para o mesmo; a convergência das reflexões teológicas e cosmológicas para uma ética ecológica, como forma de respeito e cuidado para com o processo evolutivo da vida

Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology

Traditionally archaeology has referred to the anthropic sediments accumulated around prehistoric settlements with the blanket term ‘midden’. This is now recognised as an inadequate term to describe the complex formation processes and functions represented in these sediments. This thesis reviewed the body of evidence accumulated over the past century of research into Neolithic and Bronze Age settlements on the islands of the Scottish North Atlantic seaboard and extrapolated the many occurrences of ‘midden’. Several contexts emerged for these sediments including interior floors, hearths, exterior occupational surfaces, dumped deposits, building construction materials and abandonment infill. In addition, ‘midden’ is described added to cultivated soils to form fertile anthrosols. The way in which prehistoric communities exploited this material for agriculture and construction has been described through geoarchaeological research which implied that to past communities ‘midden’ was a valuable resource. This led to the formation of a model based upon a human ecodynamics framework to hypothesise sediment formation pathways. Rescue excavation at the Links of Noltland, Westray provided an opportunity to conduct a holistic landscape and fine resolution based study of Neolithic and Bronze Age settlement to test this model. The research incorporated auger survey, archaeological and geoarchaeological excavation, thin section micromorphology and SEM EDX analyses. Sediments identified in literature review and recovered from the field site were described using this toolkit and set within a cultural and environmental context. Results demonstrate that anthropic materials were incorporated into all contexts examined. Discrete burning and maintenance activities were found to have taken place during the gradual accumulation of open-air anthropic sediments whilst incorporation of fuel residues and hearth waste into floors lead to the gradual formation of ‘living floors’ inside structures. An unexpected discovery was evidence of animal penning within late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age settlement and the in situ burning of stabling waste. Three types iv | P a g e of land management strategy which relied upon the input of anthropic sediments were evidenced and the range and extent of anthropic inclusions in the landscape recorded. Spatial interpolation of auger survey data utilised a new sub-surface modelling technique being developed by the British Geological Survey to explore soil stratigraphic relationships in 3D. SEM EDX analysis supported micromorphological analysis providing chemical data for discrete inclusions and assisting in the identification of herbivore dun ash and the Orcadian funerary product ‘cramp’. SEM EDX analysis was also applied to fine organo-mineral material for statistical testing of nutrient loadings across context groups. It was found that anthropic sediments were enriched in macro and intermediate plant nutrients Mg, P, K, S and Ca compared to geological controls, and the application of anthropic material to cultivated soils improved soil fertility for the three observed land management practices. The versatility of anthropic sediments was explored through discussion of context groups based upon the results of this research and the potential significance of this material to prehistoric communities is explored.