This thesis is a comparative study between Michelangelo Buonarroti's ceiling frescoes in the Sistine Chapel and John Milton's Paradise Lost. The parallels discussed arise out of the Renaissance humanism shared by both of these artists and expressed their works of art. Beginning with Michelangelo, I will establish the relation of Renaissance humanism to the Sistine Chapel ceiling decoration and define Michelangelo's specific conception of the theories associated with this movement. Subsequently, the same critical approach will be applied to Milton's Paradise Lost, which will be revealed to be notably humanistic despite its positioning at the end of the Renaissance in a Protestant country. After exploring the individual works of Michelangelo and Milton separately, I will then consider the views shared by these two in their treatments of the myth of the Fall of humanity: both artists believe in the ultimate dignity and freedom of humankind, and portray both Adam and Eve as free and autonomous individuals; the Sistine ceiling frescoes and Paradise Lost likewise emphasize the regenerative rather than the damning aspect of the Fall of humanity, expressing the humanistic insistence on the value of human experience; finally, the humanistic notion that art, both literary and visual, instructs its audience while entertaining it, provides the governing artistic theory behind the works of both Michelangelo and Milton. Although the commonalities between Michelangelo's Sistine ceiling and Milton's Paradise Lost are extensive, I will not attempt to claim that Milton was specifically influenced by Michelangelo's frescoes. However, my study will reveal the potential for interart analogies to provide greater insight into the individual works of art and literature being analysed.

Denna uppsats har skrivits i samarbete med Uppsala Parkering AB (UPAB) arbetar med att implementera olika energitekniska lösningar för att elbilsladdande i Uppsala inte ska påfresta ett redan överbelastat elnät. Dessa lösningar innebär bland annat förändringar i hur och när människor laddar sina elbilar. Genom ett etnologiskt perspektiv undersöker denna uppsats hur människor skapar mening till ägandet, körandet och laddandet av sina bilar för att ge en ökad förståelse för hur el- och hybridbilsägare talar om och interagerar med sina bilar. Genom att analysera intervjuer med elbilsägare utifrån fenomenologiska och posthumanistiska begrepp visar uppsatsen hur elbilsägande och dess praktiker förstås som ett alternativt stig-val. Elbilsägandet som ett alternativt stig-val relateras till andra praktiker i elbilsägandet som körning och laddning och förklarar vilken mening de kopplar till dessa praktiker. Detta system av mening kan delas upp i tre riktningar: att elbilsägandet är något gott, något som är hotat och något som fungerar. Elbilskörandet och laddandet upplevs utifrån alla dessa tre riktningar vilket framkallar flera olika känslor och upplevelser. Oro och irritation känner elbilsförarna men också bra känslor av att köra och ladda miljövänligt och billigt. Körandet och laddandet upplevs också vara roligt och positivt utmanande, där materiella förutsättningar som bristande räckvidd och infrastruktur för laddning blir till en tävling i problemlösning. Genom att se på elbilsägandet och dess praktiker som sammanlänkade av mening, kan en urskilja vad som uppfattas vara viktigt i elbilsägarnas praktiker och hur olika känslor och intentioner hänger samman i elbilsägarnas förståelse för sin vardag.

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BakgrundBakgrunden till att det står kristen tradition och västerländsk humanism i läroplanen är utifrånPiltz (1992) betänkande inför den förra läroplanen (Skolverket 1994, SOU 1994:92, bilaga 8 iSkola för bildning), som handlar om att Piltz anser att kristen tradition är det som formatsamhället. Sigurdsson å andra sidan ifrågasätter vilken kristen tradition som Piltz bygger sittbetänkande på, eftersom det har funnits flera kristna traditioner i samhället. Vidare tasforskning upp kring hur religionskunskapsundervisningen i mångkulturella skolor på ettfördelaktigt sätt kan få elever att skapa sig förståelse för varandras trosuppfattningar.Den teoretiska ramen bygger på Bakhtins (1991) teori om att människor ska föra dialog, föratt skapa sig förståelse för varandra. Bakhtins teori om dialogismen har Dysthe (1996)applicerat i klassrummet. Det dialogiska klassrummet handlar om att det finns ett samspelmellan lärare och elever och mellan elever. Det finns alltså flera röster i klassrummet ochallas erfarenheter, uppfattningar och värderingar är betydelsefulla och lyssnas till. Detmonologiska klassrummet är dock vanligast, och innebär att det är läraren som är auktoritäroch säger hur ”det” är och ”fyller” eleverna med fakta. Det finns alltså en röst som förmedlarinformation och det är lärarens (Dysthe 1996).SyfteSyftet med föreliggande studie är att undersöka några årskurs-4-6-lärares syn på att förmedlakristen tradition och västerländsk humanism inom området etik, i religionskunskapsämnet påmångkulturella skolor.MetodStudien är gjord enligt en kvalitativ metod, genom intervju som redskap. Informanterna ärlegitimerade årskurs-4-6-lärare, som har behörighet och erfarenhet i att undervisa i ämnetreligionskunskap. Lärarna arbetar på olika skolor i västra Sverige. Lärarnas svar har noggrantanalyserats, enligt ett kodningsschema. Den teoretiska ramen har varit till hjälp för att förstålärarnas syn på olika frågor.ResultatStudiens resultat visar att vissa elever ges dubbla budskap. Skolan förmedlar sin värdegrund,medan hemmet förmedlar sina värderingar. Dessa värderingar behöver inte alla gångerstämma överens, vilket gör att elever ibland uttrycker motsättningar i undervisningen. Det göratt det kan bli svårt att prata om vissa moraliska frågor, som sexualitet och jämställdhet.

I denna uppsats utforskar vi icke-mänskliga varelser och den mänsklighet vi som betraktare ger dem, både i position som mediekonsumenter samt producenter. Med en frågeställning som fokuserar på hur vi ska gestalta varelser i relation till antropomorfism, och genom granskning av den vaga gräns som existerar mellan fantasivarelser och verkliga djur, tar vi hjälp av teorier främst från Donna Haraway, Boria Sax, Jennifer Parker-Starbuck och Fanny Ambjörnsson. Ändamålet består i att belysa antropomorfiska stilgrepp, om hur och varför vi applicerar beteenden som antas styras av motiv liknande människans på djur, samt att öka förståelsen för den mänskliga linsens inblandning. Genom tidigare forskning, tecken- och färglära, samt en ständig medvetenhet kring posthumanism och mänskliggörande av djur, tar vi oss an att gestalta nyanserad antropomorfism i 3D. I vår undersökning framkommer det att ett kontinuerligt reflekterande krävs vid tillskrivande av attribut på varelser, eftersom vi ständigt tolkar omvärlden genom en mänsklig lins. Argument finns för att de varierade förutsättningarna olika djur är försedda med ger upphov till en helt annan iakttagelseförmåga än den människan besitter. Det behövs både ett kritiserande av människans natur och ett ifrågasättande av att som människa försöka uppfatta världen genom en icke-mänsklig varelses sinnen, när vad vi besitter är ett utifrånperspektiv till djurlivet. / In this bachelor thesis, we investigate non-human beings and the human traits we apply on them, both in a position as media consumers and as producers. The research question focuses on how to portray creatures in relation to anthropomorphism, and with an examination on the vague boundary that exists between imaginary animals and real animals, we explore anthropomorphism mainly through the theoretical lenses of Donna Haraway, Boria Sax, Jennifer Parker-Starbuck and Fanny Ambjörnsson. Our purpose is to illuminate the idea of anthropomorphism – how and why we apply human-like behaviours on animals – and to increase our understanding for the influence of the human lens. With previous research, semiotics, as well as an awareness about posthumanism and humanizing of animals, we come to terms with the depiction of nuanced anthropomorphism in 3D. Through our research it appears that we need to reflect constantly on our choices during application of attributes on creatures, due to our human interpretation of the world. There is discussion concerning the varying qualities among different kinds of animals, which declares that these attributes cause animals to possess a completely different perception than humans hold. It requires both a questioning about the nature of humans, and a criticizing of how we humans try to apprehend the surrounding world through the lens of a non-human creatures and their senses, when all we have is an outside perspective of the wildlife.

Thesis (MTh)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The goal of this thesis is to present a historical-theological inquiry regarding secular humanism in Malawi. Some Christians have tried to respond, but there has been no detailed historical-theological response from the Church or theologians, nor has there been any critical investigation into the philosophy and underlying assumptions of secular humanism (understood as a specific movement and a broader intellectual current). (SHOULD BE REMOVED) The study is both historical and theological in perspective. It is historical, in that secular humanism is dealt with from a historical dimension, whereby its development over centuries is traced and lessons are learnt on how to respond to this movement in Malawi today. This study is also theological, in that it explores whether Christian humanism can engage constructively with concerns raised by secular humanists. It describes secular humanism on the level of its underlying assumptions, which are laid bare and their possible weaknesses exposed. The researcher holds that a critique of the assumptions is of greater merit than that which ends only on the level of specific arguments. Such a method of critiquing is borrowed from Klaus Nürnberger, who in his book Richard Dawkins’ God Delusion: A Repentant Refutation, critiqued Dawkins on the level of assumptions as well as Alister and Joanna McGrath who, in their book The Dawkins Delusion? Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine, challenged Dawkins at representative points, leaving it to readers to judge the overall reliability of his evidence and position. This is not to throw away specific arguments for it is through such arguments that we discern assumptions. This study is a critical engagement with the assumptions of secular humanism in Malawi, with the goal of responding to the challenges posed by their critique of religiosity. The study seeks to offer a constructive and adequate way of engaging Secular humanists and at the same time, explores whether Christian humanism is ideal in engaging concerns raised by secular humanists. The Christian humanist John W. de Gruchy is studied. He drew from John Calvin and Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the study also shows how he made use of their insights. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie tesis is om ‘n histories-teologiese ondersoek aangaande Sekulêre humanisme in Malawi in te stel. Sommige Christene het probeer reageer, maar tot dusver was daar nog nie ‘n georganiseerde en sistematiese histories-teologiese reaksie van die Kerk of teoloë nie, daar was ook nog nie enige kritiese ondersoek na die filosofie en onderliggende aannames van Sekulêre humanisme (hier verstaan as ‘n spesifieke beweging en ‘n breër intellektuele stroming). (SHOULD BE REMOVED) Hierdie studie is sowel histories as teologies in perspektief. Dit is histories, in dat Sekulêre humanisme vanuit ‘n historiese dimensie benader word, waardeur die ontwikkeling oor eeue heen gevolg word en lesse geleer word oor hoe om te reageer op hierdie beweging tans in Malawi. Die studie is ook teologies, in die sin dat dit van die aanname uitgaan dat Christelike humanisme konstruktief met die vraagstelling wat Sekulêre humaniste op die tafel plaas, kan omgaan. Dit beskryf Sekulêre humanisme op die vlak van die onderliggende aannames, wat uitgelig word en waarvan die moontlike swakhede ontbloot word. Die navorser voer aan dat ‘n kritiek van die aannames van groter meriete is as een wat eindig op die vlak van spesifieke argumente. Hierdie metode van kritisering word geleen van Klaus Nurnberger, wat is sy boek Richard Dawkins’ God Delusion: A Repentant Refutation, Dawkins kritiseer op die vlak van aannames, asook Alister en Joanna McGrath, wat in hulle boek The Dawkins Delusion? Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine, Dawkins op verteenwoordigende punte uitdaag, wat dit aan die lesers oorlaat om die oorhoofse geloofwaardigheid van sy bewyse en standpunt te bepaal. Dit is nie om spesifieke argumente weg te gooi nie, aangesien dit deur sulke argumente is wat ons aannames onderskei. Die studie is ‘n kritiese omgaan met die aannames en filosofie van Sekulêre humanisme in Malawi, met die doel om te reageer op die uitdagings wat deur hulle kritiek van godsdiens gebied word. Hierdie studie poog om op ’n konstruktiewe manier met Sekulêre humaniste om te gaan en bied terselfdertyd Christelike humanisme aan as die ideaal in die omgaan met die vraagstellings wat Sekulêre humaniste opper. Die Christelike humanis John W. de Gruchy is ‘n voorbeeld van hoe ‘n Christelike humanitiese veldtog uitgevoer kan word. Hy bou op Johannes Calvyn en Dietrich Bonhoeffer en die studie dui ook aan hoe hy van hulle insigte gebruik maak.

Thesis (DLitt (English))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / The introductory chapter of this thesis – in which I place Mphahlele's works within the Afrocentric, postcolonial theoretical context within which he wrote – consists of three sections that explain the three different ways in which I contextualise my investigation of the ways in which Mphahlele represents his concept of African humanism in his narrative writings. In section 1.1 I detail the historical background and context within which Mphahlele's philosophy of African humanism will be shown to have evolved, alongside my analysis of a selected few of his poems and all of his narrative writings, articulated in the main body of the thesis. I approach this introductory sketching of the historical context by tracing the development over time of antecedent concepts articulated by other writers, followed by a chronological tracing of the progressive, successive articulations of the idea of African humanism in Mphahlele’s own discursive writing . This is followed in section 1.2 by an outline of the theoretical notions or concepts from various sources by means of which the analysis is executed, some of which are Edward Said's notion of "the integrated vision", Fanon's idea of "national culture" and Bhabha's metonymic notion of "mimicry". Section 1.3 dwells on a description of the conceptual approach I use throughout the thesis – that of viewing literature as anchored in the empirical milieu constituting the referential framework of its subject matter. In this section I also highlight the analytical method of scrutinising Mphahlele's works from the sociolinguistic point of view that links dialogue and the symbols yielded by fiction to the local cultural orientation of the people for whom artefacts were composed. The organisation of the later chapters of this thesis according to literary genre is also explained and rationalised in section 1.3.

Der Aufsatz argumentiert, dass der entscheidende Punkt an Ortholph Fuchspergers "Dialectica deutsch" der Nachweis ist, dass es möglich ist, in deutscher Sprache zu argumentieren. Dies richtet sich gegen die alleinige Verwendung der lateinischen Sprache als wissenschaftlicher Sprache. Fuchsperger zieht damit eine Konsequenz aus der humanistischen Umbestimmung des ars-Begriffes als einer deskriptiven und nicht normativen Verfahrensweise.

This thesis offers a reassessment of Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s painting Children’s Games (1560, Kunsthistoriches Museum, Vienna). Addressing the lack of historically accurate interpretations of Bruegel’s panel, I use a wide range of sixteenth-century sources to develop fresh insights into how the work might have been understood by its original audience. The Introduction opens with a description of the painting’s iconography, provenance, current condition and conservation history. A review of previous literature relating to the panel sets Children’s Games within the trajectory of scholarship on Bruegel and other related works in his oeuvre and serves to highlight areas of scholarly difficulty and disagreement as well as current methodological trends. Considering the reception, rather than the inception, of Children’s Games, the third part of the Introduction outlines broader cultural developments which shaped habits of looking in the sixteenth century, including encyclopaedic texts, atlases, Wunderkammern and memory systems. Surmising that Bruegel’s viewers would have been adept at searching for arguments within abundant collections of material, I then introduce a number of sixteenth-century sources which detail contemporary attitudes towards game-playing. The Introduction ends with an outline of the structure and methodological approach of the thesis. Chapter 1, 'Artistic Precedents: Illuminated Manuscripts', considers the panel in relation to the iconography of popular games found in the borders of illuminated manuscripts produced in France and the Netherlands in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century. After highlighting areas of shared iconography, I discuss how Children’s Games differs from illuminated manuscripts, concluding that Bruegel rejected the 'game of the month' tradition found in the calendar borders and instead amalgamated a variety of children’s games and festive customs to create a humanistic encyclopaedia of children’s culture. A second sixteenth-century source which details popular games is François Rabelais’s book Gargantua (1532). Chapter 2 presents my research into why Rabelais’s writing is relevant to Bruegel scholarship, including archival evidence that Rabelais’s books were available in Antwerp and an analysis of the Songes drolatiques de Pantagruel (1565), a collection of woodcuts which combined Rabelais’s name with Bruegelian imagery. I then compare Children's Games with the list of 217 popular games played by Gargantua and discuss how these fictional lists related to the factual compilations of the period. Gargantua’s game-list occurs in the context of his humanist education, a context which is also relevant to Bruegel’s panel. During the sixteenth century a wealth of material on children’s play and deportment emerged in the form of humanist school colloquies and treatises. A number of these were closely related to the education system in Antwerp and were penned by members of Bruegel’s circle of associates. These have never been brought to bear on Children’s Games, and are used in chapter 3 to develop a new, historically-accurate reading of the painting. The pedagogical texts suggest that during the sixteenth century children’s play was viewed positively and was closely bound to education, and so challenge the canonical view arising chiefly from c.17th emblem books and paintings that Children’s Games makes moral points about adult behaviour. Appendix 1 - Enumerates Bruegel’s games and records comparable depictions found in manuscripts, printed images and paintings from the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Appendix 2 - Presents versions of Gargantua’s game-list from original editions of Rabelais’s text alongside standard translations and modern critical editions.

Christian faith turns on the claim that God revealed Himself in Jesus of Nazareth and that he is the Lord and Saviour for all humanity. This exclusive claim raises many questions in a pluralistic and multi-cultural world. In particular it seems to be both excluding and therefore to presuppose various kinds of violence towards others. This research endeavors to address such questions by seeing what can be learned from the Swiss theologian Karl Barth. Barth is a good test case because of his famous Christological concentration. He is often taken as a paradigm ‘exclusivist’. Situating Barth in his historical and intellectual context I shall argue that Barth formulates a Christologically inclusive humanism that addresses the supposed tolerance of Liberal theology, the actual violence of anti Semitism, secularizing understandings of community and the imperial mentality of Western Christendom towards non-Christian religions. By adapting a scripturally informed rationality which is cultivated in the Christian community, Barth expounds (1) a Christologically based tolerance towards non-Christian others (Chapter one); (2) a covenantal understanding of Jewish-Christian solidarity (Chapter two); (3) an ethic of the neighbours which grounds solidarity with poor, marginalized and oppressed communities (Chapter three); (4) a Christological anthropology which respects the irreducible otherness of others (Chapter four); (5) a politics of community which celebrates the community of near and distant neighbours (Chapter five); and, based on the above understandings, (6) a self-critical theology of religion for grounding interfaith encounter (Chapter six). By way of conclusion, I argue that Barth’s theology should not be understood on postmodern lines but that it accentuates the universal in the particular. For this reason, I claim that Barth’s theology, though Christologically based, is capable of contributing to a global responsibility for building a society of love and justice. As a Chinese scholar, I also argue that Barth can contribute to a burgeoning Chinese theological tradition, advancing a Christologically based humanism in a multi-religious and cultural society.