Thesis advisor: Susan M. Shell / This study looks to the philosophy of Immanuel Kant to investigate the relationship between anthropology (i.e., an account of the human) and politics, and, in particular, to think through what sort of human being liberalism at its best (or most civic-minded) requires or seeks to form. Chapter II turns to Kant’s idea of historical progress to draw out the link between his account of the human and his liberal republican politics. The role of hope, as a necessary product of our reason, proves to be central both to Kant’s politics and to the question of human nature. For Kant, we are above all defined by our striving to remake the world.Focusing primarily on the A Preface of the 1781 edition, Chapter III argues that the Critique of Pure Reason can be understood to be advancing a “transcendental anthropology” (which is distinct from Kant’s later anthropology from a “pragmatic point of view”) in that it seeks to provide “the conditions of the possibility” of human experience. The tension between freedom (or morality) and nature (or self-interest) emerges as the defining characteristic of human life. Chapter IV takes up Kant’s attempt to bridge this “gulf” between freedom and nature in the third Critique, specifically by examining Kant’s aesthetic theory to understand how the human being might be represented indeterminately through a regulative principle of reflective judgment. It argues that employing his aesthetic theory, Kant offers throughout his late writings symbolic or even poetic images that depict the human being’s unity and the moral striving toward such unity. Chapters V and VI consider two such images. The former returns to the question of progressive history. Now integrated into Kant’s critical system through an “as if” postulation of reflective judgment, the idea of history encourages an “admiration” and gratitude for the natural order that counteracts the harmful moral and civic effects of reductive materialism. In Chapter V, however, we face Kant’s less sanguine notion of “radical evil,” an apparent obstacle to progress that emerges from within his own philosophy. And yet, I argue that one can understand radical evil as a symbol of Kant’s striving human being by reading it in light of the aesthetic framework provided in the CPJ. In this way, the symbol of radical evil helps us make sense of the strife inherent in our moral experience and provides a noble, or even heroic, image of the human. The conclusion raises the question of whether the idea of progress, and the anthropology underlying it, can still grip us today and, if not, whether liberalism can do without something like the sober hope Kant seeks to inspire. As Kant himself saw in 1789, hope, when unrestrained, becomes destructive of the world it aims to overcome. Even so, Kant reminds us of the inevitability of hope’s role in human life and politics. Nonetheless, in light of the ambivalence of hope, and in the spirit of Kant’s rational questioning, one might still wonder whether the end of reason is to remake the world. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Political Science.

This is a study of official documents published by and for the Cape colonial Parliament from the mid nineteenth century, when the parliamentary system of government began in South Africa, to the early years of the twentieth century, when the Cape colony was incorporated into the Union of South Africa. The constitutional framework within which government and parliamentary publishing took place is outlined, and the relevance of each type of document to the work of Parliament and the present-day researcher is explained. Emphasis has been placed on the administration of the publishing process from conceptualization through the printing stages to distribution and finally to the disposal of surplus material. The study concludes with an investigation of the current status of Cape parliamentary publications respecting preservation issues and the exploitation of the material for research purposes in libraries and archives, and some remarks on future trends. Particular attention has been given to use of the Dutch language in the predominantly English language Cape Parliament and the hitherto neglected effect this had on official publishing. Copious footnotes and seven appendixes have been supplied to make this study thoroughly comprehensive. / Information Science / M.Info. (Information Science)

This dissertation examines local congregations in Puerto Rico to help articulate a theology of sustainable hope revealed through their outreach practices and ecclesiologies of public and political participation. Nurtured by qualitative research with six Christian congregations in Puerto Rico, the work moves from an articulation of context, hope, practice, and future to reveal its aim of liberation through sustainable hope. Puerto Rico’s continuous colonial history, and most recently its devastation during and after Hurricane María, heightened the socio-economic crisis that continues to hinder the hope of Puerto Ricans inside and outside the island. In this dissertation, I analyze the operations of political systems that suppress hope in Puerto Rico. I weave the theme of a theology of hope, with the fields of ecclesiology, memory studies, postcolonial and decolonial theory, liberation theology, and the study of social movements to build a model that puts hope at the center of our practices and moves toward a recipe for a hope that is sustainable in practice. Along with many other theologians and theorists, I converse with the work of theologians Rubem Alves and Ellen Ott Marshall. Alves shapes the definition of hope in this dissertation by challenging how society is organized and revealing how this organization oppresses imagination and people’s liberative agency. Marshall describes hope as elastic, making room for the expectation of a hopeful future that coexists in tension with the challenges of our daily lives. My writing is framed by an ecclesiological context; an articulation of a hope that does not remain static and responds to the challenges of colonialism, the erasure of memory, and oppression; and a liberation theology of creation. I present a way to articulate a hope that is able to sustain the people of Puerto Rico through their practices of hope. / 2021-07-23T00:00:00Z

We examined an additive and interactive model involving domestic partner violence (DPV) and hope in accounting for suicidal behaviors in a sample of 98 community adults. Results showed that DPV accounted for a significant amount of variance in suicidal behaviors. Hope further augmented the prediction model and accounted for suicidal behaviors beyond DPV. Finally, we found that DPV significantly interacted with both dimensions of hope to further account for additional variance in suicidal behaviors above and beyond the independent effects of DPV and hope. Implications for the role of hope in the relationship between DPV and suicidal behaviors are discussed.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Boston University, 2001. / Abstract. Date on title page differs from degree date. Degree awarded, 2001. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 187-194).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, 2006. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 126-132).

Thesis (Doctoral)--University of Freiburg (Breisgau), 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 430-440).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Boston University, 2001. / Abstract. Date on title page differs from degree date. Degree awarded, 2001. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 187-194).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Boston University, 2001. / Abstract. Date on title page differs from degree date. Degree awarded, 2001. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 187-194).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, 2006. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 126-132).