Throughout the course of this thesis, I argue that the prose of David Foster Wallace, specifically his posthumously published novel The Pale King, inhabits a middle ground between universal sincerity and the particularized authenticity of postmodern irony. I examine Lionel Trilling's definitions of sincerity and authenticity before moving toward an examination of the diverging critical response to Wallace's work, which, I argue, suggests that because so many critics have read his work as either inherently sincere or inherently authentic, his work inhabits a communal middle ground somewhere in between. To explain, I analyze Wallace's so-called manifesto of sincerity, "E Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction," as well as other instances in interviews and conversations to develop a clearer understanding of what this middle ground consists of. Further, I analyze two passages in The Pale King in which characters seek to communicate moments of profound revelation. Though these characters finally fail to truly communicate these revelations, I argue that it is the communication itself that allows both communicator and listener, and thus both reader and writer, to experience a moment of, as Wallace puts it in The Pale King, "value for both sides, both people in the relation" (227). / Graduation date: 2012

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In 1919 Lawrence left England to search for a better society; his novels and travel sketches (the latter are usually seen as peripheral to the novels) continually questioned the values of Western society. This study examines D.H. Lawrence's great 'English' novels in the light of their vivid portrayal of place and community. However, to procure a new emphasis the novels and travel writing are brought into close alignment, in order to examine the way in which the sorts of philosophical questions Lawrence was interested in - ideas on human character, marriage, social structures, God, time, and history - influence his portrayal of place and community across both these genres. Chapter I, on Sons and Lovers, emphasises the way social and historical factors can shape human relationships as powerfully as personal psychology. In Chapter II, on Twilight in Italy, discussion of the effect of place on human character is broadened into a consideration of the differences between the Italian and English psyche; the philosophical passages are read in the light of revisions made to the periodical version. Chapters III and IV, on The Rainbow and Women in Love, conscious of the critique of English society that Lawrence made in Twilight, recognise that although Lawrence is concerned to show the flow of individual being he is no less interested in the relationship between the self and society, and the clash between psychological needs and social structures like work, marriage and industrialisation. Chapter V, on Sea and Sardinia, examines Lawrence's realisation that the state of travel engages with the present and impacts on individual needs and identity. Chapter VI, on Mornings in Mexico, studies the way Lawrence transcended the journalism usual to the travel genre and maintained a deep spirituality as he pondered the attributes of a primitive society and its appropriateness to Western Society. Because travel writing is both reactive and subjective (a writer's reaction to a country is underpinned by the metatext of his own concerns), I ask if Lawrence's presentation of experience can be thought of as accurate or whether places and people are constructs of his imagination. Chapter VIII examines Lady Chatterley's Lover as Lawrence's attempt to bring together the attitudes to sex, class and education witnessed on his travels with an English setting; to envisage a way of living that would meet the deep-rooted needs of man. Chapter VIII, on Etruscan Places, shows Lawrence conscious of encountering the ultimate journey, death, and pays tribute to the fact that while the book searches for philosophical answers on how to die, it is at the same time a paean to life and the beauty of landscape.

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Call number: LD2668 .T4 1955 L69 / Master of Science

Résumé : À l’aube des études humiennes, Norman Kemp Smith appelait à représenter Hume « suivant toutes ses nombreuses activités », comme s’il pressentait que l’étude de la pensée humienne pouvait s’avérer un labyrinthe dans lesquels les commentaires pouvaient s’égarer et se perdre de vue. Ce pressentiment, on peut le dire aujourd’hui, s’est avéré juste, et il porte avec lui une clé de lecture : pour dépasser la représentation parcellaire, fragmentée et ultimement incohérente d’un Hume kaléidoscopique, le mieux est peut-être de s’intéresser à ses activités. La présente thèse vise à circonscrire la pratique humienne de la philosophie, ou, pourrait-on dire, du travail épistémologique et conceptuel, dans l’espace de son magnum opus, et cela à l’aide d’une clé de lecture : celle du réductionnisme. Si le Traité est une oeuvre que l’on peut qualifier d’empiriste, on ne saurait la lire seulement par ce biais ou par celui de questions localisées, et nous montrons que le projet du Traité ne peut se comprendre qu’en voyant comment Hume tente d’y réduire la et les connaissances à des dépendances ou à des parties de sa propre théorie de la nature humaine. Pour cela, nous procédons via quatre chapitres. D’abord, nous tentons de circonscrire les caractéristiques les plus importantes du projet humien, c’est-à-dire de ce que Hume avait l’intention de développer à travers les contenus particuliers du Traité ; ensuite, nous nous concentrons sur la base dont Hume part et dont il se servira pour accomplir des réductions, base que l’on peut appeler une théorie des perceptions doublée d’une théorie de l’esprit (principes, facultés, relations) ; ces deux théories, couplées à un standard strict pour obtenir le statut de « vraie idée » ou d’idée intelligible, semblent amener de par leurs prémisses assez directement au scepticisme, et c’est pourquoi on traitera du scepticisme avant d’évoquer les aspects « naturalistes » du Traité au-delà des éléments de base de la théorie des perceptions et de l’esprit, soit une manoeuvre qui ne suit pas tout à fait l’ordre humien d’exposition mais nous semble suivre un certain ordre des raisons ; enfin, la quatrième partie nous permettra de passer en revue diverses réductions opérées par Hume, celles qui mènent au scepticisme pyrrhonien mises à part, ce qui nous permettra de voir quelles sont les limites et les problèmes afférents à son réductionnisme particulier. Refondateur, systématique et totalisant dans ses intentions, le Traité suit bien plus qu’un projet simplement empiriste, et on verra que dans la démarche humienne l’empirisme apparaît davantage dans les conclusions qu’au point même de départ. En le lisant comme le lieu et la conséquence d’une orientation que l’on peut dire réductionniste, on peut trouver dans le Traité un fil conducteur qui, en dépit de problèmes plus ou moins importants rencontrés en cours de route, ne se rompt pas. / Abstract : At the dawn of Hume studies, Norman Kemp Smith called to study the philosopher “in all his manifold activities,” as if he foresaw there a serious risk for the comments to lose themselves as well as each other. Today, it can be said that Kemp Smith’s foreseeing was legitimate. Fortunately, it is possible to find here a reading key: in order to go beyond fragmented and ultimately incoherent readings of Hume, the better way to proceed may consist into focusing on his activities. The present dissertation aims at delineating Hume’s practice of philosophy, or rather his conceptual and epistemological work, in his magnum opus, by focusing on why, how and when he makes reductions. As well-known, the Treatise is an empiricist work, but can never be fully understood if one focuses only on that aspect or on local and tangential questions, and we aim at showing that the Hume’s project and development of said project can only be understood by following how the philosopher tries to reduce most (if not all) knowledge to dependencies of his own theory of human nature. In order to do that, we proceed through four chapters. First, we circumscribe the most important features of the project before and behind the Treatise, which is, what Hume intended to develop through the particular contents of the work. Second, we focus on the conceptual basis from where Hume accomplishes reductions, a basis we call his theory of perceptions, on which is grafted a theory of mind (principles, faculties, relations). These theories, associated to an intention to boil down everything into perceptions as well as to a strict standard to give a mental content the status of a “true idea,” seem to lead straight to skepticism, and this is why the third chapter will focus on the skeptical overtones of the Treatise before looking into aspects commonly referred to as “naturalist.” Though this maneuver does not exactly follow Hume’s own order of exposition, it follows, we think, a specific order of reasons. Finally, on the fourth chapter we review various reductions Hume proceeds (apart from those that lead to a Pyrrhonian skepticism), which will allow us to highlight the limits and problems that stem from his particular breed of reductionism. Following a foundationalist, systematic and totalizing project, Hume’s Treatise is much more than simply empiricist, and as we will see the empiricist aspect appears more as a set of conclusions than as a starting point. Read as both a place and an effect of a reductionist orientation, the Treatise shows a common threat which, in spite of sometimes important problems met on the spot, never breaks.

This thesis critiques contemporary Latter-day Saint scholarly efforts to validate the historicity of the Book of Mormon through textual criticism by presupposing its historic authenticity, then combing the text for evidence of literary elements that may suggest ancient Hebrew authorship. Chapter 2 surveys current Latter-day Saint scholarship and arguments for internal evidence in support of the historicity of the Book of Mormon. Chapter 3 assesses the importance of King David’s influence over the biblical and non-biblical Hebrew cultural and religious identity to determine the likelihood and anticipated portrayal of the king’s appearance in the Book of Mormon. Given the Book of Mormon’s scant and peculiar nature of references to the fabled king, this chapter also argues that a competing testimony against the book’s historicity is produced. Chapter 4 offers concluding remarks.

In this thesis I have examined Anti-Natalism, specifically arguments by David Benatar, which conclude that human procreation is under all circumstances wrong, and Seana Shiffrin, which concludes that procreation is a “moral hard case.” I provide objections and responses to each argument of my own, as well as those from Saul Smilansky, Rivka Weinberg, and David Wasserman. I also examine the manner in which female unemployment rates (as well as aggregate female and male) unemployment rates in a year between 2005 and 2014 impact fertility rates in the following year (from 2006-2015).

This dissertation argues that Book IV of the canonical Hebrew Psalter (Pss 90–106) sustains the hope that God will keep his covenant with David by installing a future king from David’s line. Chapter 1 introduces the debate, states the thesis, surveys the history of psalmic interpretation, and summarizes recent canonical views that see David either diminished or sustained in Book IV. Chapter 2 presents an eclectic canonical methodology that honors the five-book division, accounts for superscriptions, incipits, and closings, senses a broad narrative progression, acknowledges psalmic collections, recognizes lexical, thematic, and structural resonance beween psalms, and considers inner-biblical allusions. Chapter 3 explores the covenantal contradiction in Psalm 89 and proposes that Psalm 90 continues and complements the lament in Psalm 89 which questioned the character and reign of God due to the fallen Davidic throne and the severed Davidic line. Chapter 4 analyzes Psalms 90–92 and argues that a reimagined Moses enters Book IV to intercede for Israel (90) in response to the unfulfilled Davidic covenant in Psalm 89. Psalms 90–92 then allude to Deuteronomy 32–33 and progress from pained petition (90) to promised protection (91) to restored rejoicing (92). Chapter 5 explores the message and function of Psalm 101 and argues that its intra-book links, Davidic title, royal voice, lamenting tone, future orientation, inter-psalm allusions, and strategic placement make it a central psalm sustaining Davidic hope in Book IV. Chapter 6 explores the lexical and thematic resonance among Psalms 90, 102, and 103 and argues that the afflicted Davidide in Psalm 102 applies and echoes the plaintive prayer of Moses in Psalm 90 and that the Davidic praise in Psalm 103 answers both Psalms 90 and 102. Thus David is forgiven and restored along with the people in Psalm 103. Chapter 7 concludes by reviewing the evidence from each chapter and proposing that the overall structure and message of Book IV sustains the hope that God will keep his covenant with David.

Informe de Seminario para optar al grado de Licenciado en Filosofía / La finalidad de este escrito fue estudiar la doble definición de causalidad en el Tratado de la naturaleza Humana de David Hume. Lo anterior se desarrolló principalmente desde la interpretación de dos comentaristas y el contraste que emerge entre ellos. Cabe destacar que no se busca dar una respuesta definitiva a tal problemática, sino que cimentar ciertas bases para un trabajo de profundización ulterior. La clave interpretativa se llevó a cabo a través del libro Hume on causation de la filósofa Helen BeeBee, la cual contrasta su postura con la lectura co -extensiva del filósofo Don Garrett. Por lo tanto, se consideraron ambas posturas con la intención de tener una mirada enriquecedora respecto a los contenidos. De manera análoga, se buscó contextualizar históricamente la filosofía de Hume a través de una escueta revisión a la metafísica cartesiana, específicamente en la III Meditación. A raíz de lo anterior, se sugiere que hay una resistencia al innatismo, lo cual origina una nueva noción de causalidad ajena al intelecto. Respecto a la doble definición de causalidad, se propone entenderla a la luz de una cierta autonomía entre cada una de ellas, pero además poseen un grado de influencia bajo ciertos respectos que serán abordados en la parte final del escrito. Se describe los términos de la co -extensión entre las definiciones según Don Garrett en Cognition and Commitment, pero no es una lectura plausible ya que se aleja de las afirmaciones que hizo Hume tal y como lo deja en evidencia BeeBee. Por último, para una ampliación de esta investigación se requiere mayor bibliografía secundaria y también mayor conocimiento de la obra humeana. En consecuencia, se buscará profundizar en otros textos del filósofo escocés para una comprensión más acabada.