<p> This dissertation is an examination of how epistemologies that I participate in that are mapped/mappable, in terms of authenticity, through three coordinates: the biological/political, the cultural and place. These coordinates are then processed through the interlocutor (in the case of this dissertation, the reader) who filters the data through the lenses of their positionality. This work necessarily recognizes that the interlocutors frames of reference are, like mine, shaped by their positionality. </p><p> The three prime ethos/culture based epistemologies that are examined are the NDN (more commonly referenced as Native American), the United States Marine and the Academic. The analysis performed is done through my personal experiences, as processed through a number of theoretical frames. While this limits the scope of the work to my interactions through and within the epistemology, it also recognizes that these epistemologies are keys to formulating identities that are living, moving, contradictory shifting concepts. </p><p> I conclude that the various Ideological State Appartatuses (Althusser) and Panoptic policing or disciplining discourses/structures (Foucault) that shape and authenticate these three discourses of authenticity are both internally contradictory and mutually contradictory in ways that illuminate several hegemonic processes at play in the contemporary US and NDN country. While recognizing the inherent limits of an autoethnographic methodology, I believe I have elaborated an approach that can be widely used in examining not only these three but other identity-based communities.</p>

<p> The purpose of this descriptive correlational research was to identify the relationship between nursing expertise, defined as embodied nursing knowledge, nurse&rsquo;s educational background and experience, and client outcomes. Hierarchical multiple regression and Pearson product moment correlation were used to determine the strength of the relationships between embodied nursing knowledge and home health outcome improvement measures in a convenience sample of 107 home health registered nurses. Embodied nursing knowledge was measured by Minick&rsquo;s <i>Manifestations of Early Recognition </i> instrument. Scores on the Outcome and Assessment Information Set, version C (OASIS-C), measured client outcome improvement. There were no significant differences between participants&rsquo; knowledge of their clients, knowledge of the system and institution, knowledge of their own and colleagues&rsquo; skills, level of nursing education and experience, or total years of home health nursing experience and mean total clientcentered improvement. Age had a significant, negative relationship to the mean percent score on the OASIS for improved client-centered outcomes. The outcome improvement measures from the nine home health agencies were at or above the state and national averages, which created a restricted data range for the findings. The restricted data range of the outcome improvement measures may have lessened the validity of the findings in this study and advocates that future studies may need to employ the use of purposeful selection of the sample population in home health. The concepts of knowledge of clients and their families, knowledge of the home health system, and knowledge of registered nurses own skills may not be the same construct in home health as in acute care nursing practice. Further research should explore those concepts that may be used specifically in home health. Understanding the characteristics of home health has the potential to assist home health agencies understand how to support their registered nurses to provide quality care thereby achieving improved clinical outcomes by developing rich structured information base practice.</p>

This thesis examines what are for us two great sources or causes of error. The first arises from the influence of various cognitive biases upon our thinking, while the second emerges as a result of our wide-ranging dependence upon others for a vast amount of our beliefs about the world. Through both we can come to adopt false and harmful beliefs, a fact that naturally has both veridical and moral significance. One response is to suggest that we should increase our reliance upon experts in order to help us better acquire true beliefs and avoid false beliefs. By examining the historical, theoretical, psychological, and linguistic character of epistemic authorities and relationships, this avenue will be argued to be problematic. Scepticism in relation to epistemic authority is avoided in favour of an adoption of a critical attitude with respect to social sources of belief. The epistemology of testimony is next looked at, to see whether any lessons can be drawn from the nature of epistemic dependence to how we should epistemically approach others. Reductive versus non-reductive conceptions of the justification of testimony are explained, with the former conception being seen as naturally lending itself more to a critical treatment of social sources of belief. The question of why we should be rational at all is then examined. The positions of William K. Clifford and Karl Popper on the matter are explained, and my own views set forward. Finally, in light of the preceding groundwork, it is argued that there is a philosophical place and a social need for public education with respect to the broad epistemic situation in which we find ourselves.

In this study three apologetic methodologies (evidentialism, Reformed epistemology, and presuppositionalism) are analyzed to determine which method is most coherently related to Reformed theology. It is argued that comparing how each methodology relates the doctrine of Scripture with the doctrine of the resurrection can demonstrate which method is best suited to defending Christianity in its Reformed interpretation. The doctrine of Scripture is taken to be that of full plenary inspiration and inerrancy, and the question is which apologetic method can be successful in defending that position. After contemporary arguments for the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus Christ are surveyed, each of the three respective apologetic methodologies is subjected to an examination and critique. Each method is intra–systematically evaluated to determine whether it suffers from internal contradictions or incoherencies. Each method is further tested to determine whether, on its own internal principles, it is capable of a logical defense of a high doctrinal view of Scripture. The respective methods are also compared and contrasted with each other. A prominent issue is the direction of the methodology, i.e., its sequence. Some strands of evidentialism attempt to move from the historical fact of the resurrection to their doctrine of Scripture; Reformed epistemologists do not necessarily require any historical argumentation at all; presuppositionalists take their doctrine of Scripture and the resurrection as both necessary and mutually reinforcing points in their worldview. In the final analysis, it is the presuppositional methodology which emerges as that which is most capable of coherently defending a doctrine of Scripture that includes full inspiration and inerrancy. This is due to the transcendental nature of the argument that it presents. It is urged in this study, however, that evidences, historical details, and logical analysis are all critically important for a fully–orbed apologetic system. Presuppositionalism needs to be ramified with evidential arguments, even if they are transposed into a transcendental key, as supporting details in a transcendental framework. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Dogmatics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

This thesis considers how Wikipedia justifies, structures, and legitimizes its production of knowledge. To do so the thesis positions Wikipedia as a site of conflict over the epistemic values between its wiki and encyclopaedic traditions. Through the literature review, the wiki epistemology is argued to be composed of six values: self-identification, collaboration, co-construction, cooperation, trust in the community, and constructionism. While these values are explicit, encyclopaedism’s were not found to be equally defined. To fill this gap, the thesis conducts a genre analysis of encyclopaedism. It first identifies the genre through its communicative purposes to create a universal system of total knowledge and to use this system to educate the public. Second, an analysis of recurrent social contexts within Chambers’ Cyclopaedia (1728), Diderot & d’Alembert’s Encyclopédie (1751–72), the Encyclopaedia Britannica (1771–), and Wikipedia (2001–) finds that the communicative purposes are achieved through the use of five epistemic values: utility, systematic organization, authority, trust in experts, and consistency. Third, a comparison spanning 240 years between Wikipedia and the Britannica’s article headings finds that the value of systematic organization structures Wikipedia’s articles using seventeenth century categories of knowledge. Having established two sets of values that determine Wikipedia’s production of knowledge, the thesis sets the stage for future research to analyze how Wikipedia’s epistemology is articulated in its different production spaces. Ultimately, such research may not only describe the shifting values of Wikipedia’s epistemology but also explain how knowledge is transformed and produced in the network society.

In this study three apologetic methodologies (evidentialism, Reformed epistemology, and presuppositionalism) are analyzed to determine which method is most coherently related to Reformed theology. It is argued that comparing how each methodology relates the doctrine of Scripture with the doctrine of the resurrection can demonstrate which method is best suited to defending Christianity in its Reformed interpretation. The doctrine of Scripture is taken to be that of full plenary inspiration and inerrancy, and the question is which apologetic method can be successful in defending that position. After contemporary arguments for the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus Christ are surveyed, each of the three respective apologetic methodologies is subjected to an examination and critique. Each method is intra–systematically evaluated to determine whether it suffers from internal contradictions or incoherencies. Each method is further tested to determine whether, on its own internal principles, it is capable of a logical defense of a high doctrinal view of Scripture. The respective methods are also compared and contrasted with each other. A prominent issue is the direction of the methodology, i.e., its sequence. Some strands of evidentialism attempt to move from the historical fact of the resurrection to their doctrine of Scripture; Reformed epistemologists do not necessarily require any historical argumentation at all; presuppositionalists take their doctrine of Scripture and the resurrection as both necessary and mutually reinforcing points in their worldview. In the final analysis, it is the presuppositional methodology which emerges as that which is most capable of coherently defending a doctrine of Scripture that includes full inspiration and inerrancy. This is due to the transcendental nature of the argument that it presents. It is urged in this study, however, that evidences, historical details, and logical analysis are all critically important for a fully–orbed apologetic system. Presuppositionalism needs to be ramified with evidential arguments, even if they are transposed into a transcendental key, as supporting details in a transcendental framework. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Dogmatics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

This study assessed the relationship between children’s, adolescents’, and adults’ epistemological development and their evaluations of different teaching methods. Participants were presented with different teaching scenarios in which the domain (scientific or moral), nature (controversial or noncontroversial), and method (lecture or discussion) were varied to determine if this affected participants’ rating of the scenarios. Epistemological development was assessed in three domains: aesthetic, value (moral), and physical truth (science). Ninety-six participants (7–8-, 10–11-, 13–14-year-olds, and college students) were included in the study. In general, it was discovered that older participants (13-14-year-olds and college students) preferred discussion methods, while younger participants (7-8 and 10-11-year-olds) did not discriminate between lectures or discussions. However, all participants took the domain, nature, and method into consideration. Epistemological development was predictive of participants’ preference for teaching methods, but only in the value domain.

This study assessed the relationship between children’s, adolescents’, and adults’ epistemological development and their evaluations of different teaching methods. Participants were presented with different teaching scenarios in which the domain (scientific or moral), nature (controversial or noncontroversial), and method (lecture or discussion) were varied to determine if this affected participants’ rating of the scenarios. Epistemological development was assessed in three domains: aesthetic, value (moral), and physical truth (science). Ninety-six participants (7–8-, 10–11-, 13–14-year-olds, and college students) were included in the study. In general, it was discovered that older participants (13-14-year-olds and college students) preferred discussion methods, while younger participants (7-8 and 10-11-year-olds) did not discriminate between lectures or discussions. However, all participants took the domain, nature, and method into consideration. Epistemological development was predictive of participants’ preference for teaching methods, but only in the value domain.

There’s a widespread conviction in the norms of assertion literature that an agent’s asserting something false merits criticism. As Williamson puts it, asserting something false is likened to cheating at the game of assertion. Most writers on the topic have consequently proposed factive norms of assertion – ones on which truth is a necessary condition for the proper performance of an assertion. However, I argue that this view is mistaken. I suggest that we can illuminate the error by introducing a theoretical distinction between the norm of a practice and its goal. In light of this distinction, we can see that proponents of factive norms tend to mistake the goal of a practice for the norm. In making my case, I present an analogy between the norms and goals of placing wagers and the norms and goals of assertion. One may place a bet and lose without being subject to criticism, while one may win and be worthy of criticism. Whether one wins or loses is irrelevant to the normative evaluation of a bet. What is relevant is whether the bet maximizes the bettor's expected value, which is a function of what might be lost, what might be gained, and how likely those prospects are, given the bettor's evidence. Similarly, I argue, whether one's assertion is true or false is not strictly relevant to the normative evaluation of an assertion. What is relevant is whether the speaker has adequate supporting reasons for the assertion, and that the necessary conventional and pragmatic features are present. However, context will determine what count as supportive reasons for a given proposition, what counts as relevant, and what count as conventional and pragmatic elements possessing that relevance. My proposed norm, the Supportive Reasons Norm, is thus sensitive to the context of assertion and shifts from context to context.

This thesis arises at the meeting place of a philosophical and a thanatological treatment of the book of Qohelet. A philosophical treatment is defended on the grounds of previous studies of the type of thinking evidenced in the text, as well as a comparison with ancient notions of philosophy which suggest that philosophy concerns the type of questions asked, the method of answering the questions, the answers to the questions, and the purpose of the endeavour. A thanatological treatment is defended both on the grounds of previous studies of the text as well as on the grounds of clear evidence that the text is very concerned with the issue of death. From a philosophical perspective it is assumed the book says something about such themes as beauty, knowledge, states of being, ethics, and the benefits of a philosophical outlook. These philosophical categories are combined with the text’s thanatology. The thesis therefore presents: a death aesthetic, in which death can be beautiful; an epistemology of death, in which we are shown to possess certain knowledge of our own mortality in contrast to the lack of understanding we possess about the events of life; a phenomenology of death, or a study of the state of being dead, in which it is seen that death can only ever be the object of our gaze, and we can never experience our own death; an ethics of death, or more precisely an ethics of suicide, in which it is asked, if suicide is appropriate, under what conditions it is better to be dead than alive; and, finally, the death-based nature of the philosophy itself, in which it is seen that one cannot be wise without thinking on death, and that such thoughts confer a particular sort of life on the wise person.