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This dissertation is a work of multidisciplinary comparative philosophy of religion. It comprises a philosophical analysis and evaluation of Western traditions of philosophy and theology around the issue of religious anthropomorphism. More specifically, this study focuses on the tradition of Neoplatonic onto-theology in Western thought, and the divide in this tradition over the question of religious anthropomorphism and the divine nature. The dissertation frames this divide in terms of the distinction between an “anti-anthropomorphic” conception of the divine nature on the one hand, and an “attenuated anthropomorphic” conception of the divine nature on the other. Chapters two and three analyze key figures and texts from the “attenuated anthropomorphic” and “anti-anthropomorphic” traditions of Neoplatonic onto-theology. The fourth chapter considers a significant critique of this tradition as a whole leveled by Karl Barth and Martin Heidegger, among others, namely, that the onto-theological project as such constitutes a form of conceptual anthropomorphism. The fifth chapter provides an overview of the multidisciplinary scientific field known as the “bio-cultural study of religion,” which has yielded compelling evidence that anthropomorphic religious ideas are maturationally natural, culturally adaptive in certain past cultural contexts, and thus may reflect human cognitive limitations. The final chapter incorporates evidence from the BCSR (bio-cultural study of religion) in a comparative philosophical evaluation of the debates within and around the traditions of Neoplatonic onto-theology. The central philosophical thesis of this dissertation is that evidence from the BCSR negatively impacts—without decisively undercutting—the plausibility of the “attenuated anthropomorphic” tradition relative to the “anti-anthropomorphic” tradition. It does so by demonstrating that the anthropomorphic attributions inherent to the attenuated anthropomorphic view are undergirded by hypersensitive cognitive mechanisms, which are prone to misfiring. However, the BCSR also indicates several important weaknesses of the anti-anthropomorphic tradition of Neoplatonic onto-theology with regard to the social viability of this tradition. The BCSR also erodes the plausibility of the critique that onto-theology is itself a form of gross conceptual anthropomorphism. It does so by demonstrating that abstract onto-theological concepts lack the conceptual and cognitive liabilities inherent to the type of religious anthropomorphism advocated by Barth and Heidegger.

I discuss my Master of Fine Arts exhibition, Morphisms, hosted by Slocomb Galleries on the campus of East Tennessee State University March 22 through March 26, 2010. The exhibit includes works created during the artist's three year study at East Tennessee State University. The exhibition consists of works that address the projection of human qualities on domesticated animals and the projection of animal qualities onto mythological deities. Discussion also includes the process involved in creating the artwork as well as artistic influences in technical concepts.

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, service robots play an increasingly important role in frontline service across various industries. However, many questions surrounding service robots as a novel service option are still less studied, and thus, remain uncertain to marketers. Therefore, this dissertation investigated and addressed some of these questions, by assessing the potential advantages of service robots, not only as compared to human employees, but also among service robots’ different humanlike vocal features, including voice types, accents, and speaking styles. Specifically, to address the research gaps identified through an in-depth literature review conducted in Chapter 2, a series of empirical studies were conducted and presented in Chapter 3 (Essay One) and Chapter 4 (Essay Two). Chapter 3 begins with Study 1a, an investigation into the potential advantages of service robots as compared to human employees in a hotel check-in setting. The findings suggest that service robots outperform human employees in customers’ enjoyment of the interactions. Study 1b replicated the earlier study in a fast-food restaurant setting, where service robots were found to outperform human employees in customers’ word-of-mouth (WOM) intentions as well. In Study 2, an investigation specifically into a service robot’s vocal design was conducted, by comparing three potential voice types (male, female, or robotic) in a movie theater setting. The findings reveal that a human male voice is the most ideal across various customer outcomes, highlighting the importance for marketers to determine the optimal voice type for a service robot. Chapter 4 reports further investigations of service robots’ vocal design, specifically regarding their accents and speaking styles. In Study 3, four subordinate studies were conducted in a hotel check-in setting. The findings suggest that when a service robot’s accent is congruent with its local region, it enhances customers’ perceived enjoyment of the interactions and various customer outcomes. In Study 4, a further investigation was conducted into a service robot’s speaking style, to assess its potential influence under a service failure and recovery context. The findings suggest that a service robot’s use of a colloquial speaking style attenuates customers’ perceived competence of the service robot and related customer outcomes, which further highlight the importance of a service robot’s appropriate language use, especially during a service recovery. A general discussion regarding Study 1 to Study 4 was provided in Chapter 5, offering valuable implications to both scholars and marketers, and suggesting promising avenues for future research.

In this study, 174 undergraduates from the University of Central Florida were asked to rate individual human and animal avatar features from the video game Spore on their level of femininity, masculinity, likability, and how well the feature represented them on a 7 point Likert scale of agreeability. Avatar features were presented on a neutral gray, quadruped body in two different views. It was expected that participants would show higher likability for avatar features that they perceived as corresponding to their Personal Attribute Questionnaire (PAQ) gender. Males liked feminine features approximately the same as females, however, in many categories females liked the most masculine features more than the most feminine features. Males liked the most masculine body detail feature more than females, and females liked the most masculine body detail more than males. It also was anticipated that avatar features rated as having both low femininity and low masculinity would be the features rated lowest in likability overall. These features did not have the lowest likability, but were somewhat close to neutral in likability. These results have implications for likable avatar creation for businesses, the military, and education.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Human-looking computer interfaces, including humanoid robots and animated humans, may elicit in their users eerie feelings. This effect, often called the uncanny valley, emphasizes our heightened ability to distinguish between the human and merely humanlike using both perceptual and cognitive approaches. Although reactions to uncanny characters are captured more accurately with emotional descriptors (e.g., eerie and creepy) than with cognitive descriptors (e.g., strange), and although previous studies suggest the psychological processes underlying the uncanny valley are more perceptual and emotional than cognitive, the deep roots of the concept of humanness imply the application of category boundaries and cognitive dissonance in distinguishing among robots, androids, and humans. First, laddering interviews (N = 30) revealed firm boundaries among participants’ concepts of animated, robotic, and human. Participants associated human traits like soul, imperfect, or intended exclusively with humans, and they simultaneously devalued the autonomous accomplishments of robots (e.g., simple task, limited ability, or controlled). Jerky movement and humanlike appearance were associated with robots, even though the presented robotic stimuli were humanlike. The facial expressions perceived in robots as improper were perceived in animated characters as mismatched. Second, association model testing indicated that the independent evaluation based on the developed indices is a viable quantitative technique for the laddering interview. Third, from the interviews several candidate items for the eeriness index were validated in a large representative survey (N = 1,311). The improved eeriness index is nearly orthogonal to perceived humanness (r = .04). The improved indices facilitate plotting relations among rated characters of varying human likeness, enhancing perspectives on humanlike robot design and animation creation.

I denna uppsats utforskar vi icke-mänskliga varelser och den mänsklighet vi som betraktare ger dem, både i position som mediekonsumenter samt producenter. Med en frågeställning som fokuserar på hur vi ska gestalta varelser i relation till antropomorfism, och genom granskning av den vaga gräns som existerar mellan fantasivarelser och verkliga djur, tar vi hjälp av teorier främst från Donna Haraway, Boria Sax, Jennifer Parker-Starbuck och Fanny Ambjörnsson. Ändamålet består i att belysa antropomorfiska stilgrepp, om hur och varför vi applicerar beteenden som antas styras av motiv liknande människans på djur, samt att öka förståelsen för den mänskliga linsens inblandning. Genom tidigare forskning, tecken- och färglära, samt en ständig medvetenhet kring posthumanism och mänskliggörande av djur, tar vi oss an att gestalta nyanserad antropomorfism i 3D. I vår undersökning framkommer det att ett kontinuerligt reflekterande krävs vid tillskrivande av attribut på varelser, eftersom vi ständigt tolkar omvärlden genom en mänsklig lins. Argument finns för att de varierade förutsättningarna olika djur är försedda med ger upphov till en helt annan iakttagelseförmåga än den människan besitter. Det behövs både ett kritiserande av människans natur och ett ifrågasättande av att som människa försöka uppfatta världen genom en icke-mänsklig varelses sinnen, när vad vi besitter är ett utifrånperspektiv till djurlivet. / In this bachelor thesis, we investigate non-human beings and the human traits we apply on them, both in a position as media consumers and as producers. The research question focuses on how to portray creatures in relation to anthropomorphism, and with an examination on the vague boundary that exists between imaginary animals and real animals, we explore anthropomorphism mainly through the theoretical lenses of Donna Haraway, Boria Sax, Jennifer Parker-Starbuck and Fanny Ambjörnsson. Our purpose is to illuminate the idea of anthropomorphism – how and why we apply human-like behaviours on animals – and to increase our understanding for the influence of the human lens. With previous research, semiotics, as well as an awareness about posthumanism and humanizing of animals, we come to terms with the depiction of nuanced anthropomorphism in 3D. Through our research it appears that we need to reflect constantly on our choices during application of attributes on creatures, due to our human interpretation of the world. There is discussion concerning the varying qualities among different kinds of animals, which declares that these attributes cause animals to possess a completely different perception than humans hold. It requires both a questioning about the nature of humans, and a criticizing of how we humans try to apprehend the surrounding world through the lens of a non-human creatures and their senses, when all we have is an outside perspective of the wildlife.

God expresses Himself with emotions. This is well attested in Scripture, with statements of love (1Jn 4:8), anger (Ex 4:14), and delight (Isa 62:4). But the real question is not whether God has emotions, but what is the source of those emotions. If God emotes in the context of our suffering, and our suffering is not abated, does this mean that God is impotent or indifferent? Both possibilities yield a frightening conclusion. Rightly understanding the character and nature of God in this regard is paramount. For the past two thousand years, the prevailing doctrine was that God was in some way impassible, in that He is without passions or emotions with respect to his creation. This means that God does not change his feelings or thoughts about events on the earth. Even though certain passages called the “divine repentance” passages in the Old Testament (Ge 6:6-7; Ex 32:12-14; 1Sa 15:11, 35; Nu 23:19) appeared to contradict God’s impassibility, this was solved through the idea of anthropopathism, that is, the belief that God describes Himself with emotional terms. Prior to 1930, most of the English Bible renderings of the divine repentance passages preferred the word “repent,” because the prevailing theology was rooted in the impassibility of God, and these passages were deemed to be anthropopathic. But with the doctrine of God’s impassibility now in question, English Bible translations began to reflect the view that God actually reacts to our suffering with strong emotion. Words such as “sorry,” “grief,” “regret,” and even “changed his mind” were now used to describe the reaction of God whenever God appeared to be disappointed with his creation, or worse, if He was disappointed with his own plan. The purpose of this study is to provide an exegetical solution to the problem of God’s response in the divine repentance passages in four Old Testament historical texts. These passages are labelled as such because of the use of the Hebrew verb ~xn which describe God as “sorry” or “repenting.” For those who hold to God’s full immutability, the preferred view through the ages was that the Hebrew ~xn was to be taken as anthropopathically. This study will want to explore the possibilities of an alternative view for the Hebrew ~xn in the divine repentance passages which allow for God’s passibility while holding to his full immutability. Specifically, this study not only strives to answer the question “Does God repent?”, but through a sound methodology also wants to answer the larger question of the source of God’s emotion when his judgment or grace is in view. The methodology followed in this study is two-fold. First, it is biblical-theological, meaning that it utilises a whole-Bible theology, and following the work of Walter Kaiser and James Hamilton, posits that the Old Testament contains a theme or centre of grace within judgment. At the Fall in Ge 3, God simultaneously introduced judgment and grace into the world. That judgment and grace has never left. As one looks through the Bible, these are the two unbroken strands that weave their way through every chapter and every book. In addition, this study is also an exegetical study, and follows the grammaticalhistorical- lexical-syntactical methodology of Walter Kaiser. God disclosed Himself objectively through the words of a book. This book records actual historical events, as well as specific declarations and commands from God Himself. It is necessary that the words of this book be correctly understood in their context so that a correct understanding of God will result. Using this methodology, this study will explore the meaning of God’s ~xn in each divine repentance passage. The lexical study will be combined with the biblical-theological approach of a theme or centre of “grace within judgment” that flows through the Old Testament. Because of this, is it possible that God, who is fully immutable, provide us everything that we need to navigate a world of sin, suffering and uncertainty? The answer could very well be in the understanding of God’s ~xn in light of our suffering and sin. / PhD (Old Testament), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Ma démarche de recherche comme de création s’articule autour de l’animalité dans ses relations avec l’art d’une part et autour des notions-clés que sont l’anthropomorphisme animal, le zoomorphisme, la métamorphose, la figure animale et l’hybridation, constantes thématiques, iconiques et plastiques de mes travaux d’autre part. Comment et pourquoi l’artiste convoque-t-il l’animal de manière récurrente et diversifiée ? Comment ont pu se jouer entre l’homme et l’animal, mais aussi aujourd’hui de manière frappante, des complémentarités physiques et matérielles, des affinités mentales, des tensions exacerbées ? Si l’animal est le témoin excentré du fonctionnement de nos sociétés, tel un miroir déformant et critique, que révèle sa figure aux prises avec l’art de nos comportements de bête sociale et de la relation que nous entretenons avec lui ? Le recours à des concepts émanant de différentes disciplines, en particulier des sciences humaines, a irrigué et éclairé les analyses d’œuvres : les nôtres, celles de l’art d’hier et d’aujourd’hui. Il s’en est dégagé leur densité sémantique quant à la teneur du lien qui nourrit le binôme homme-animal, que les situations mises en scène soient fictives ou réelles. Le parallèle entre pratiques d’expression plastique (imitation, caricature, assemblage, mise en scène) et figures de style (métonymie, métaphore, comparaison, allégorie) au sein des processus cités plus haut vise à mettre en valeur le caractère discursif des œuvres choisies. La convocation de l’animal bénéficie ainsi, au sein de notre thèse, d’une triple définition. L’image de l’animal, reflet et mémoire de notre humanité, accompagne l’homme, tel le paradigme – modèle vivant ou image modèle –, d’une certaine identité de l’homme – ses fragilités, ses révoltes, ses excès, ses obsessions, etc. La figure de l’animal est aussi à entendre comme une médiation, réussissant là où l’attaque et le dialogue directs ne sont plus possibles, parvenant à concilier les contraires. Ainsi investie, l’image ambigüe ou ambivalente de l’animal donne lieu à la multiplicité, à une extraordinaire fertilité iconographique et artistique. Ses figures, au défi de la forme monolithique, sont rarement isolées ; elles se croisent, se mélangent et s’interpénètrent. / My research as well as my creative process on the one hand, revolves around the animal figure in its relationship to art, and on the other hand, around the key-notions of animal anthropomorphism, zoomorphism, metamorphosis, the animal figure and hybridization; constant, iconic and plastic themes of my work. How and why does the artist call forth animals in such a recurrent and diversified manner? How have physical and materiel complementarities, mental analogies as well as exacerbated tensions come into play today, in such a striking fashion between mankind and the animal world? If animals are the off-centered witness of how our societies function, as a distorting and critical mirror, what does its figure reveal when grappling with the art of our beast-like behaviors and of the relationship that we maintain with it? Resorting to concepts emanating from different academic disciplines, in particular, the human sciences, has provided and shed light to the analyses of the works: our own, those of the past and of today. The result being, an utterance density as regards the content of the link which feeds the man-animal pair, whether the situations staged are fictitious or real. The parallel drawn between the methods of plastic expression (imitation, caricature, assemblage, staging) and stylistic devices (metonymy, metaphor, comparison, allegory) within the process listed above is aimed at highlighting the discursive nature of the selected works. Eliciting the animal world within our thesis, thus benefits from a three-fold definition. The animal’s image, which is the reflection and recollection of our humanity, accompanies mankind, as the paradigm – living model or ideal image –, of a certain identity of mankind – its weaknesses, its rebellions, its excesses, its obsessions, etc. In addition, the animal’s figure is also to be understood as a mediator, prevailing over direct criticism and dialogue, and managing to reconcile opposites. Thus invested, the animal’s ambiguous or ambivalent image gives rise to multiplicity, to an extraordinary, artistic and iconographic fertility. Its figures, which challenge the monolithic form, are rarely isolated; they cross over, are mingled, and permeate.

Thesis advisor: Michael Cermak / Invasive invertebrates are common in the United States and their effects on local ecosystems can have detrimental consequences extending beyond biological processes to economics and other social arenas. Over anthropogenic time, human value systems were woven into the perspectives of nature to form a social constructionist perspective on the natural world. We strive toward a certain closeness with nature, and, in effect, attempt to understand it. Through comparison of the discussion of invasive species in online public media and scientific journal articles, this paper examines how nature is socially constructed in different contexts. The study demonstrated that journalists used anthropomorphism 70% more often than researchers, and wrote about social value categories, including economics, aesthetics, and ecological effects 85% more often than scientists, on average. In general, online news journalists used language that was considered negative or suggestive 78% more often than scientists. Environmental issues do not occur in a bubble, so it is imperative to realize that the interactions between all living things, including humans, drive both biological and sociological processes. These findings can help guide how we understand media production about invasive species. / Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: Sociology.