In the first half of the thesis I investigate David Hilbert's early ontology of mathematics around the period 1899-1916. Hilbert's early views are of significant philosophical interest and have been largely ignored due to his later, more influential work. I suggest that, in this period Hilbert, can be understood as an early structuralist. In the second half of the thesis, I connect two important debates in the foundations of mathematics: Hale and Wright's neo-Fregean logicism and the Frege-Hilbert controversy. Using this connection, I adapt Frege's objections to Hilbert and apply them to Hale and Wright's account. By doing this, I show that the neo-Fregean logicists have long abandoned the Fregean element of their program in favor of a structuralist ontology. I conclude that our ontological conception of what exists in mathematics and what it is like constrains the foundations we use to characterise mathematical reality.

This thesis is a qualitative case study of a risk controversy generated by a proposal to construct a high-level nuclear waste repository on the Goshute Indian reservation in rural, northwestern Utah. Using data taken from local newspapers and public hearings, I examine and compare the claims-making activity of project opponents and project proponents. I explore and analyze variability in claims making along four specific dimensions: risk communication, trust and distrust in science and technology, environmental equity, and tribal sovereignty. My analysis is intended to illuminate the sources of contention between opponent and proponent claims-making groups in this case.

During Augustine’s early years in ministry, he promoted the idea of using the pen rather than the sword when it comes to converting those who were not Christians. However, during the Donatist Controversy. Augustine advocated the use of violence to convince the Donatists to return to the Catholic fold. This dissertation argues that disgust played a crucial role in Augustine’s change of heart. Emotions play a huge part in an individual’s decision-making process. Studies on disgust discuss its role in interpersonal conflict and in religious violence. The dehumanizing language present in Augustine's letters when he describes the Donatists helps create an atmosphere where disgust's strong presence can be felt. The question of purity became an important question since both groups argued that they were the “true, pure Church.” Both groups traced their spiritual lineage to Cyprian as proof that they belonged to the true African Church. By examining Augustine's Letters, one can see the shift in tone and characterization of the Donatists by Augustine. Over the years, the disgust felt by Augustine led to a shift in his attitude, leading him to sanction the use of violence against the Donatists. Initially, the role of disgust was to prevent humans from coming into contact with harmful pathogens. As a result, humans developed a strong revulsion against harmful substances in order to protect themselves from harm. While disgust has this physical component, it also has a sociomoral component where it manifests itself against disgusting stimulus. Within this schema, anything that it deems as a moral transgression, especially as it involves question of purity, is considered as a stimulus to be avoided and rejected strongly and vehemently. While it poses no problem for a human to avoid what it deems as a disgusting stimulus such as a cockroach, it does pose a problem when another human being is seen and labelled as a cockroach. Disgust has the power to “other” human beings and creates a very strong us-vs-them mentality. Once this us-vs-them mentality is enforced, it is only natural to label another group as a "cockroach” and kill them as such. In examining Augustine's relationship with the Donatists, it is important to acknowledge disgust’s role in this particular theological and historical event. This dissertation will conclude with a contemporary application of disgust in modern theological controversies, especially as it relates to homosexuality and the role of women in leadership. Disgust’s ability to elicit such a strong and violent response in humans is a reminder of the strength of emotions to govern our actions. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

No / The extensive literature on participative budgeting has paid little attention to the interaction among managers as they discuss and resolve budget-related issues. This study employs goal interdependence theory to explore the impact of team dynamics on budgeting. How managers believe their goals are related affects the dynamics and outcomes of participation. In a large utility in Hong Kong, 64 managers were interviewed on specific budget participation incidents. Results of structural equation analyses found support for the study¿s three main hypotheses. Budget team members who had cooperative goals were found to engage in more open-minded discussion in conflict situations. This resulted in improved group productivity and strengthened relationships which, in turn, led to higher-quality budgets. Results were interpreted as suggesting that the benefits of budget participation depends upon establishing strongly cooperative goals among team members and developing the skills to discuss opposing views open-mindedly. The antecedents of goal interdependence are also explored.

This dissertation comprises three parts, setting forth the thesis that Karl Barth’s mature doctrine of election, though avowedly supralapsarian, is in fact basically the opposite. I trace the development of Barth’s lapsarian thinking from its inception in 1920 (Romans II) to its maturation in 1936-42 (Gottes Gnadenwahl to CD II/2), and further developments up to 1953 (CD IV/1). The thesis of my dissertation comprises two aspects, one concerning what lapsarian position, Christological and predestinarian, underlies the Christocentric doctrine of election Barth developed in 1936-42, and the other concerning how he came to develop this lapsarian view. Part I examines the lapsarian position of Barth’s mature doctrine of election set forth in CD II/2 against the background of the Lapsarian Controversy in seventeenth-century Reformed orthodoxy, arguing that he has misunderstood some seventeenth-century terms and that his position is in fact basically in line with infralapsarianism in that for him both election and the incarnation presuppose humankind’s fallenness. Part II traces the development of Barth’s lapsarian position from its inception in 1920 to its Christological reorientation in 1936-42. In a nutshell, my thesis in Part II is that Christology and predestination started out as two loosely related doctrines in Barth’s theology, but as predestination, which was inconsistently supralapsarian during the first phase of the development, was drawn closer to Christology, which carried infralapsarian tendencies at first and became infralapsarian in the 1920s, Barth’s doctrine of predestination became more and more infralapsarian, and then in 1936-42 the two doctrines merged and became inseparable, and he became basically infralapsarian in both Christology and predestination. Part III comprises two chapters exploring doctrinal implications and further developments of Barth’s Christological-predestinarian infralapsarianism up to 1953 (CD IV/1). I argue that in developing what I suggest we call his “purified infralapsarianism” in a deeply historical-actualistic direction, the basically infralapsarian character of Barth’s understanding of election in Christ becomes more radical in that he leaves no room for the possibility of homo nondum lapsus as the obiectum praedestinationis.

Em nosso trabalho, procuramos demonstrar as fundamentações éticas de Albert Camus e de Jean-Paul Sartre perceptíveis em seus primeiros escritos. Partimos de uma análise da situação histórica dos autores no momento da composição de seus ensaios fundamentais, O ser e o Nada e O mito de Sísifo, para, em seguida, atribuir às iniciativas dramatúrgicas, As Moscas e O mal-entendido, uma fidelidade e complementareidade em relação aos ensaios. Notamos que nessa transposição de idéias para a dramaturgia não ocorrreu prejuízo no que toca às concepções ou recomendações éticas opostas surgidas na década de 1940. No entanto, a diferença fundamental entre os autores permaneceu camuflada até o momento da querela da década de 1950. Apresentar suas inconciliáveis noções éticas inscritas nos dramas concebidos e montados durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial, e analisar o percurso literário e filosófico até o momento da polêmica e rompimento definitivo, nos dará a oportunidade de aventar e demonstrar que a camuflagem de ambas filosofias era provisória e que estavam, desde As Moscas e O mal-entendido, condenadas a combater-se. / We intend demonstrate the ethics fondations of Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre, as we can perceive it dans the beginning of both authors . We start with an analisys of the historic situation at the time of de composition of L\'Être et le Néant , Le Mithe de Sysiphe and, after, we intend to show that the dramaturgie works, Les Mouches and Le Malentendu, maintain fidelity to the test works. We note that in dramatic discussion of the ideas there is a significate continuity in the ethic opposition and in the recomendations appeared in 1940. We think that fondamentals differences between the authours remain hidden until the polemic that ocurred in 1950. We pretend to present the inconciliable notion that appeared in the ethic dramas conceived during the Secon War; we also pretend to analyse their littéraire and philosofic journey at the moment of the controverse and rupture, and at this moment we\'ll may show that camouflage was temporary and theirs philosophies had, since Les Mouches et Le Malentendu, a contradictory destination.

The rate of development for large-scale wind energy in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan is a complex issue such that the various actors of the surrounding policy community (decision-makers, influential stakeholders, and the attentive public) cannot reach consensus. Inaction on resource and environmental issues like this one is often the result of complexity, either the inherent complexity of the problem being targeted or the complexity of the communicated information surrounding the problem. Inherent complexity is managed chiefly by central decision-makers and influential stakeholders of the policy community, while information complexity must be dealt with primarily by the attentive public of the policy community. This thesis uses a case study of large-scale wind energy development in Saskatchewan to explore complexity as a root cause of environmental inaction. In manuscript style, this thesis investigates two types of environmental complexity and two segments of the wind energy policy community. Through an exploration of barriers to wind energy expansion in Saskatchewan, the first manuscript focuses on the complexity of environmental problems themselves as dealt with by decision-makers and other influential policy actors. Interviews were conducted with a range of experts and stakeholders where participants were asked to describe barriers to development in each of six categories: agreement, knowledge, technology, economic, social, and political barriers. A number of key issues are identified: disagreement regarding the balance between environment and economy, contradictory knowledge about the benefits of wind energy, conflicting faith in technology to accommodate high levels of wind energy, unquantified non-economic benefits of wind energy, lack of social interest in and support for wind energy, and lagging provincial political leadership on the issue of wind energy. Perhaps more importantly, the interviews reveal that experts disagreed on many facets of the wind energy issue, which demonstrates that the complexity of the issue makes consensus and any resulting action difficult to accomplish. Intuitive solutions for managing complexity through the more effective reconciliation of disagreement are also suggested. The second manuscript focuses on the complexity of environmental information by examining policy information regarding wind energy implementation in Saskatchewan for complications that might reduce understanding about and participation in the issue by the attentive public. Through a review of publicly available reports, articles, and documents, four complexity-related problems are uncovered: non-intuitive information, misreported information, obsolete information, and absent information. Such occurrences may well be problematic for environmental policy information in general, so intuitive solutions involving clarification and elaboration are suggested for managing each one. Together, the two manuscripts illustrate that both inherent and information complexity can be problems for environmental issues, especially when one causes or feeds back into the other. Results from this thesis provide a way of thinking about environmental complexity and understanding environmental inaction as managed by policy communities.

The rate of development for large-scale wind energy in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan is a complex issue such that the various actors of the surrounding policy community (decision-makers, influential stakeholders, and the attentive public) cannot reach consensus. Inaction on resource and environmental issues like this one is often the result of complexity, either the inherent complexity of the problem being targeted or the complexity of the communicated information surrounding the problem. Inherent complexity is managed chiefly by central decision-makers and influential stakeholders of the policy community, while information complexity must be dealt with primarily by the attentive public of the policy community. This thesis uses a case study of large-scale wind energy development in Saskatchewan to explore complexity as a root cause of environmental inaction. In manuscript style, this thesis investigates two types of environmental complexity and two segments of the wind energy policy community. Through an exploration of barriers to wind energy expansion in Saskatchewan, the first manuscript focuses on the complexity of environmental problems themselves as dealt with by decision-makers and other influential policy actors. Interviews were conducted with a range of experts and stakeholders where participants were asked to describe barriers to development in each of six categories: agreement, knowledge, technology, economic, social, and political barriers. A number of key issues are identified: disagreement regarding the balance between environment and economy, contradictory knowledge about the benefits of wind energy, conflicting faith in technology to accommodate high levels of wind energy, unquantified non-economic benefits of wind energy, lack of social interest in and support for wind energy, and lagging provincial political leadership on the issue of wind energy. Perhaps more importantly, the interviews reveal that experts disagreed on many facets of the wind energy issue, which demonstrates that the complexity of the issue makes consensus and any resulting action difficult to accomplish. Intuitive solutions for managing complexity through the more effective reconciliation of disagreement are also suggested. The second manuscript focuses on the complexity of environmental information by examining policy information regarding wind energy implementation in Saskatchewan for complications that might reduce understanding about and participation in the issue by the attentive public. Through a review of publicly available reports, articles, and documents, four complexity-related problems are uncovered: non-intuitive information, misreported information, obsolete information, and absent information. Such occurrences may well be problematic for environmental policy information in general, so intuitive solutions involving clarification and elaboration are suggested for managing each one. Together, the two manuscripts illustrate that both inherent and information complexity can be problems for environmental issues, especially when one causes or feeds back into the other. Results from this thesis provide a way of thinking about environmental complexity and understanding environmental inaction as managed by policy communities.

Living in the information-overloading age, it is difficult to find the right information and identify the resources they need on the websites. As to a user, it is time-consuming in browsing, searching, and making a decision to buy products on online stores. Therefore, many E-commerce websites have implemented recommender systems that intend to provide users with professional recommendation for various types of products and services. Although many recommendation methods have been proposed, there are still some problems like the sparsity and the cold start problems. In addition, some researchers observe there exist users who are biased and products that are controversial. We conjecture that ratings given by biased users or given to controversial products may have impact on estimation accuracy of recommendation. In this thesis, we will examine the measures for user bias and product controversy and propose trust-based-recommendation techniques that take them into account. We evaluate the proposed techniques using the web of trust and rating data collected from the Epinions.com website. It is found that properly setting some parameters, the proposed trust network-based method that incorporates user bias achieve higher recommendation accuracy.

The debate regarding the advantages and disadvantages of using DDT for IRS has divided the scientific community. The health benefits of reducing malaria spreading are weighed against the potential health and environmental consequences of the chemical, and opinions also differ regarding the cost-effectiveness of the use of DDT. Global recommendations regarding use of DDT for IRS have been issued by the WHO, and the receipt of these on the local level is determined by the intended beneficiaries’ perception of legitimacy of the organisation. The WHO recommendations on DDT as well as interviews conducted with residents of a South African village and representatives for two South African NGOs have been reviewed using qualitative content analysis. This method was used to highlight different perceptions of and views on DDT use, as well as for examining the potential effect that the interviewees’ perception of international institutions’ legitimacy has on their views on DDT. This study shows that the controversy regarding DDT is not as prominent on the local level as on the global level, and that the perceptions of IRS with DDT differ between the WHO, the NGOs and the residents of the village. Further, this study shows that assessing legitimacy is dependent on a definition of “the people” in question, and that the accountability of authoritative actors on different levels needs to be evaluated further.