I argue against the claim that normative political theory is 'autonomous' with respect to moral philosophy. I take the simple view that political theory is a form of moral philosophy, and is differentiated by pragmatic rather than theoretically significant criteria. I defend this view by criticizing arguments for the autonomy thesis. In the first three chapters I introduce and analyse the autonomy thesis and provide a framework for understanding the various claims that are made in the literature. In Chapters 4 to 8 I proceed to criticize a series of arguments for the autonomy thesis. In Chapter 4 I explain why Kant's division of morality into ethics and right is not as useful as it may seem to those who wish to defend the autonomy thesis, and argues that Arthur Ripstein gives no reason to think that political philosophy is autonomous that can be endorsed independently of commitment to a Kantian normative theory. In Chapter 5 I examine the political liberal argument for the autonomy thesis, concluding that even if a freestanding political conception of justice can be regarded as autonomous, it does not follow that political philosophy can also. Chapters 6 to 8 tackle various political realist arguments for the autonomy thesis. In Chapter 6 I argue that political theory is not required to deal with empirical facts in any way that distinguishes it from moral philosophy, and any argument for its autonomy that is based on a prior claim about the purpose of political theorizing would be question-begging. In Chapters 7 and 8 I provide various arguments against the idea that there is a distinctively political form of normativity, and diagnose some of the mistaken assumptions about morality that I take to lie at the heart of the realist case. In Chapter 9 I conclude.

Searching for lost people in a Wilderness Search and Rescue (WiSAR) scenario is a task that can benefit from large numbers of agents, some of whom may be robotic. These agents may have differing levels of autonomy, determined by the set of tasks they are performing. In addition, the level of autonomy that results in the best performance may change due to varying workload or other factors. Allowing a supervisor and a searcher to jointly decide the correct level of autonomy for a given situation (“mixed initiative”) results in better overall performance than giving an agent absolute control over their level of autonomy (“adaptive autonomy”) or giving a supervisor absolute control over the agent's level of autonomy (“adjustable autonomy”).

Text in Afrikaans / This thesis offers a case illustration where autonomy as explanatory construction is described from ecosystemic thinking. Certain important constructions with the emphasis on autonomy are discussed. The focus is on a family in which incest occurred. Some possible patterns in such families are discussed. The content is presented in the form of a play in four acts, namely: Act 1 : The incest relationship Act 2: The disclosure of the secret Act 3: The involvement of the people concerned Act 4: The involvement of the helping professions The autonomy of the incestuous family and the way in which conservation is manifested is described. The research applies the theory to describe the process of an incest drama in one family. Conclusions and recommendations are applied to the general social work practice. / Hierdie verhandeling bied 'n illustrasie waar outonomie as verduidelikende konstruksie vanuit ekosistemiese denke in 'n gevallestudie beskryf word. Sekere belangrike konstruksies van ekosistemiese denke, met die klem op outonomie, word bespreek. Die fokus is verder ook op 'n gesin waarin · bloedskande voorkom en enkele moontlike patrone in hierdie gesinne word bespreek. Die inhoud word in die vorm van 'n drama wat in vier bedrywe uitgespeel word, aangebied, naamlik: Die 1e Bedryf: Die Bloedskande-verhouding Die 2e Bedryf: Die Bekendmaking van die geheim Die 3e Bedryf: Die Reaksie van die persone betrokke Die 4e Bedryf: Die Betrokkenheid van die helpende professies Die outonomie van die bloedskandegesin en hoe daar konservering in bogenoemde vier bedrywe voorkom, word beskryf. Daar word ook gefokus op die outonomie van die navorser en die professionele persone betrokke. Die teorie is toegepas in die navorsing om die proses van 'n bloedskandedrama van een Die teorie is toegepas in die navorsing om die proses van 'n bloedskandedrama van een gesin volledig te beskryf. Gevolgtrekkings en aanbevelings dui op die bruikbaarheid in die algemene maatskaplike werk praktyk. / Social Work / M.A. (Social Sciences)

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 25-28, 1999 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / Software agents are application programs that perform duties in an autonomous fashion. These applications can be used to increase productivity, better use existing bandwidth, and improve present and future software application programs. By using existing established methods, and adding a layer of intelligence, software agents can add problem solving abilities to an application program.

The purpose of this research is to develop a generalised model for levels of autonomy and sophistication for autonomous systems. It begins with an introduction to the research, its aims and objectives before a detailed review of related literature is presented as it pertains to the subject matter and the methodology used in the research. The research tasks are carried out using appropriate methods including literature reviews, case studies and semi-structured interviews. Through identifying the gaps in the current work on human assistive robots, a generalised model for assessing levels of autonomy and sophistication for human assistive robots (ALFHAR) is created through logical modelling, semi-structured interview methods and case studies. A web-based tool for the ALFHAR model is also created to support the model application. The ALFHAR model evaluates levels of autonomy and sophistication with regard to the decision making, interaction, and mechanical ability aspects of human assistive robots. The verification of the model is achieved by analysing evaluation results from the web-based tool and ALFHAR model. The model is validated using a set of tests with stakeholders participation through the conduction of a case study using the web-based tool. The main finding from this research is that the ALFHAR model can be considered as a model to be used in the evaluation of levels of autonomy and sophistication for human assistive robots. It can also prove helpful as part of through life management support for autonomous systems. The thesis concludes with a critical review of the research and some recommendations for further research.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Science in Information Technology in Education

This study investigates the sphere of gender relations in rural Rembau, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, a state long famous for its 'matriliny'. The central aim of the thesis is to explore the significance of this historically reconstituted 'matriliny' for women's situation, arguing for a re-examination of the clasfc debates ri about 'matriliny'. This re-examination is conducted by an analysis of the complex relationships between economic and political developments in the agrarian economy, kinship relations and gender relations. The thesis first briefly looks at the historical material on Rembau 'matriliny', suggesting that this has been reified both in the literature and in local Rembau discourse. It then explores the interplay between local social forms and the political and economic changes in the wider society, giving detailed material on women's and men's activities and land owning in a situation of a declining village economy and massive out-migration. The following chapters examine aspects of domestic production, class and gender differentiation, kinship relations and practices, household relations, marriage, sexuality and childrearing. The concluding chapter explores the ways that Rembau women's autonomy is being undermined by contemporary developments in the Malaysian economy. The central argument of the thesis stresses the intervention of. capitalist class interests and the colonial state in reconstituting a 'matrilineal' peasantry characterised by non-capitalist relations of production within subsistence and petty commodity producing sectors. Stressing the historical specificities of developments in Malay(si)a, it rejects functionalist theorisations implying a symbiotic rektionship between non-capitalist enclaves and the dominant capitalist sector. The thesis also argues that most previous attempts to characterise the linkages between these sectors and the dominant capitalist sectors in many parts of the Third World have been blind to the significance of gender differentiation within so-called peasant sectors. An attempt is made to show how deconstructing the peasant household and exploring the political significance of women's land ownership and of gender relations overall historically can cast light on past and present developments in Rembau and other Malay peasant society.

In recent decades, autonomous learning has been a hot issue in the field of second language teaching and learning and the previous studies on autonomous learning have made great progress. However, the researches on the individual efforts affecting achievements of major English language proficiency tests from the cognitive perspectives of autonomous learning are still relatively rare. On the basis of the review of literature on learner autonomy at home and abroad, the present study aims to investigate Chinese learners’ IELTS preparation efforts under the guidance of the cognitive theory with the participants of English-medium tertiary institutions for graduate or undergraduate degrees who got high score(at least 7 or above) in IELTS within 2 years and answer what these Chinese learners have done to maximize their IELTS scores to apply for postgraduate programmes in English medium universities autonomously and why they could undertake these efforts to maximize their IELTS scores. Semi-structure interviews on autonomous learning were conducted to find out IELTS preparation experiences. In terms of the data analysis results, the dissertation tries to provide the present or future graduate degree applicants during their IELTS preparation with some suggestions and implications for enhancing recognition on IELTS taking and help language educators better advise these students on undertaking proper preparations for the language challenge in their overseas studies. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

No description available.

The empirical evidence and the academic literature point to the opposed directions on the capability of the territorial arrangements to extenuate conflict in ethnically divided and civil war-worn countries. Little is known about the diverse capacities of the territorial power sharing arrangements in diminishing violence in the post-conflict societies. Therefore, this thesis aims to contribute to the field through studying the conditions under which territorial power sharing arrangements reduce violence in the post-conflict settings. I argue that a resumption of violence is less likely following territorial power sharing arrangements in cases where a relatively  high level of economic decentralization is provided for a subnational entity, as it allows the rebel groups to sustain their support base among key constituencies. To test the theoretical argument, a structured, focused comparison of territorial power sharing arrangements in Aceh province of Indonesia and Mindanao province of the Philippines is conducted. The empirical findings give support to the hypothesis in the expected direction. Aceh, where the resumption of violence did not occur, also was enjoying a relatively higher level of economic decentralization. While in ARMM, where the violence resumed after five years following the peace agreement, economic decentralization was relatively low. Nevertheless, the extended analysis reveals additional factors. Transformation of the rebel organization into the political parties and inclusive peace agreements potentially may have impact on the territorial power sharing arrangements’ capability to contain violence in the post conflict environments.