Thesis advisor: Bonnie Jefferon / Kanye West is a musical artist whose shocking public statements often remain in the news for weeks on end. Throughout the past six years of his extremely successful career, at least three of these public acts have received tireless media coverage both for their perceived offensiveness, and for their direct connection to larger societal issues. This project examines three statements: (1) West’s 2005 claim during Hurricane Katrina that “[President] George Bush doesn’t care about Black people;” (2) the moment in 2009 when West stormed the MTV Video Music Awards stage during singer Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech and grabbed her microphone, stating that he would let her finish, “but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time;” and (3) West’s 2010 appearance on NBC’s Today Show and the series of angry messages he posted to his Twitter page claiming that the interviewer, Matt Lauer, tried to “force” his answers. These statements are analyzed to determine whether West may have unwittingly employed the rhetorical method Theodore Windt describes as the diatribe. The paper concludes that West’s statements in 2005 and 2010 meet the criteria for the diatribe, using a shocking act or message to catalyze important discussion of major problems existing in society. However, West’s 2009 incident fails to meet the criteria, and cannot be categorized as a diatribe, but instead as simply an offensive act that provided no greater benefit to society. The process of these analyses may serve as a way to examine future celebrity statements to determine whether certain individuals are striving to elevate society or, through their offenses, may be adding to a cultural downfall. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Communication Honors Program. / Discipline: Communication.

This thesis examines Epictetus' view on Cynic philosophy, as it is being expressed in chapter 22 of the third book of Diatribai ("The Discourses"). The chapter has traditionally been seen as an idealized and deceitful portrait of the Cynic, and has been questioned as an intended justification of stoics and Cynics in the overall view on the history of philosophy. This thesis, however, attempts a different approach on the matter, based upon a thorough discussion regarding the field of research, as well as on different ways to read and understand the text at hand, in order to seek out a view that goes beyond the traditional distinction between practice and theory. The thesis thus challenges the view where the philosophy of Epictetus is seen as an instrumental practice of stoic theory, isolated to the field of ethics.   The reading of the chapter focuses mainly on the philosophical purpose of the text and its intended practice, and finds that much of the stoic ascetic practice is not only taught through instructions, but also performed in the lecture and Epictetus' way of speaking. Epictetus' portrait of the philosophical Cynic is thus understood, not only as an extreme end that serves as an ascetic role-model, but also as a basic archetype of what it actually means to practice a philosophical way of thinking, that is of central importance to Epictetus philosophy. This sheds a new light on both the traditional distinction between stoic theory and practice, and on much of the research performed on the field of stoicism this far, as well as on that of Cynicism.

This diploma thesis is based on the final works of Michel Foucault (Courage of truth, Fearless peech) and it focuses on how the truth and truth-telling as an activity effects self- formation of the individual, namely self-formation of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, which is recorded in his autobiografical works (Confession of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Dialoges: Rousseau, Judge of Jean-Jacques, Reveries of a Solitery Walker). In my thesis, I have tried to decide as which true-telling person he could be considered (prophet, sage, teacher, parrhesiastes or cynic). In order to achieve that, I drew from his other philosophical works and secondary literature (Discurses, Essay on the Origin of languages, Emile or On Education, The Social Contract, Letter to M. D'Alembert on Spectacles, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Transparency and Obstruction) and I was looking for evidence of his true nature and thoughts, which I put into context of his work Confessions afterwards. Keywords: Truth, courage of truth, parrhesia, parrhesiastes, cynic, self-love, false meaning about oneself, heart, passion, imagination, human nature, social inequalities.

The diversity of Jesus images that resulted from historical Jesus research poses the single most pressing problem of the research endeavour. Diverse historical images lead one to ask questions about historiography. It is a fact that we do not have bruta facta in history but only interpretations of what might have happened. The problem of diverse images is taken up in this thesis. Three different images that are the result of different points of departure and different methods of research are closely scrutinised. The images are: Eschatological prophet, Cynic sage and Galilean Hasid. After close·examination of each of these images one has to conclude that each of them is a viable image. One may question the proponents of each of these images on methodological aspects as well as their presuppositions. This line of questioning would not solve the problem. One would also expand the problem if one were to seek yet another image. A way out of this impasse would be to try to understand the diversity. Is there an image that could explain the diversity? The modem diversity of Jesus images is a continuation of an ancient diversity that one could find in the ancient texts at our disposal. From this we could deduce that Jesus was understood differently by different people from the onset. The challenge is to find an image that would clarify the diversity. What sort of Jesus would have been understood in so many ways? We have reason to take Jesus to be a Jew from Galilee. If we could find a Galilean Jewish image that would explain the diversity, we would be very near the historical Jesus. The image of the Galilean Hasid is a very promising option. Some of the kingdom sayings, that are most probably authentic, were taken as test cases to see whether they could have been uttered by a Galilean charismatic and later interpreted as Cynic and/or eschatological. The conclusion is that the image of Galilean charismatic would open up new avenues to approach the diversity of images of the historical Jesus. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / Th. D. (New Testament)

The diversity of Jesus images that resulted from historical Jesus research poses the single most pressing problem of the research endeavour. Diverse historical images lead one to ask questions about historiography. It is a fact that we do not have bruta facta in history but only interpretations of what might have happened. The problem of diverse images is taken up in this thesis. Three different images that are the result of different points of departure and different methods of research are closely scrutinised. The images are: Eschatological prophet, Cynic sage and Galilean Hasid. After close·examination of each of these images one has to conclude that each of them is a viable image. One may question the proponents of each of these images on methodological aspects as well as their presuppositions. This line of questioning would not solve the problem. One would also expand the problem if one were to seek yet another image. A way out of this impasse would be to try to understand the diversity. Is there an image that could explain the diversity? The modem diversity of Jesus images is a continuation of an ancient diversity that one could find in the ancient texts at our disposal. From this we could deduce that Jesus was understood differently by different people from the onset. The challenge is to find an image that would clarify the diversity. What sort of Jesus would have been understood in so many ways? We have reason to take Jesus to be a Jew from Galilee. If we could find a Galilean Jewish image that would explain the diversity, we would be very near the historical Jesus. The image of the Galilean Hasid is a very promising option. Some of the kingdom sayings, that are most probably authentic, were taken as test cases to see whether they could have been uttered by a Galilean charismatic and later interpreted as Cynic and/or eschatological. The conclusion is that the image of Galilean charismatic would open up new avenues to approach the diversity of images of the historical Jesus. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / Th. D. (New Testament)