This dissertation studies how Catholic schools in a post-feminist world approach the topic of educating women both with a professional mindset but also with a Catholic understanding of the importance of motherhood. The theoretical framework of the dissertation draws on second-wave feminism as well as Catholic scholars on feminism, with a special focus on scholars using Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. The study aims to reveal specifically how four faithfully Catholic high schools in geographically different areas of the United States are united in a mission to educate students to live an integrated life, through a personal faith based on reason, virtue ethics, vocation, and exemplars. Through interviews with alumnae, teachers, and administrators, the study concludes that the schools’ vision of a fully integrated virtuous life is a prerequisite for the girls to peacefully make vocational decisions about balancing professional life and motherhood. The alumnae and the school administrators show that while the mission is clear, the execution of the mission in all four schools is fraught with tensions because of the conflicts between the integrated life view and mainstream cultural views regarding happiness and fulfillment.

This psychobiography is focussed on the life of Pope John Paul II, whose historical personage epitomises the redemptive theme of triumph over tragedy and eternal hope. A phenomenological approach to the study allowed the researcher to observe the subject’s lived experience through the theoretical lens of Erik Erikson’s psychosocial development theory as well has having his faith development illuminated by Fowler’s faith development theory. Together, these theories highlighted significant aspects of Pope John Paul II’s personality development, for the greater purpose of uncovering the significance of his historical personage by reconciling his spiritual, political and academic attributes. This psychobiographical undertaking was grounded in qualitative research in the form of a single case. Two methodological strategies were used in this study. Firstly, Alexander’s model was used to organise, extract, prioritise and analyse data. The indicators of salience ensured that all significant parts of biographical data were carefully considered for analysis. Guba’s criteria for trustworthiness guided the methodology to ensure reliable data extraction and interpretation. Posing specific questions to the data enabled the researcher to extract units of analysis relevant to the aim of the study. Secondly, the use of conceptual frameworks and matrices enabled the longitudinal exploration, categorisation and description of the stages of psychosocial and faith development. The findings of this psychobiographical study of Pope John Paul II strongly support the importance of Erikson’s (1950) theory in understanding the processes of personality development in an individual life. In this psychobiographical study, the complex process of adaption and growth was highlighted by Erikson’s (1950) theory and placed periods of Pope John Paul II’s development in context. This study also demonstrated that gaining meaning in life through faith (Fowler, 1981) provides the individual with greater internal support when adjusting to life changes. Furthermore, greater intentionality on the part of therapists to thread faith and spirituality into their practice, is evidence of the eugraphic impact of this study.

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Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The central idea developed in this thesis is that meaningful work provides the normative standard of what work should be for all human beings, based on the normative idea that being human entails a realization of one’s potential and the expression of one’s intellect and creativity as a necessary part of living a full and flourishing life. Thus the key ethical foundation upon which my argument was built rests primarily upon classic Aristotelian ethical theory as well as more contemporary adaptations thereof. In reality, however, research reveals that up to eighty percent of people engage in work that is not meaningful in the sense that they are unable to experience both excellence and enjoyment through their work. This problem has been labeled as “employee disengagement” and has been acknowledged by organizations as a disturbingly growing trend particularly because of the financial cost it carries through lost productivity. My objective in this thesis was to outline the scope of the problem, and to make a strong case for the recognition of employee disengagement as a moral problem, and not simply as an economic one. Thus a major focus of this thesis was to unpack the concept of meaningful work and to argue for its moral value. Throughout my thesis, the importance of understanding meaningful work as a balance between both the subjective and objective elements that make work meaningful for the individual was emphasized. Having established employee disengagement as a moral problem, my attention then turned towards analyzing the potential causes of the problem at a systemic, organizational and individual level. My primary conclusion was that the modern paradigm facilitated a certain way of organizing business activity as well as a certain way of construing the relationship between work and life that has ultimately had a deep seated causal effect upon the absence of meaningful work. Thus addressing the problem entails a detachment from this paradigm and challenging some of the basic assumptions about organizational life. Finally, I proposed a business model that serves as a framework for a new way of working which has the capacity to be more fulfilling to the human spirit. This model assumes the tenets of virtue ethics as its core. In this model, individual employees, the organization as a community and leaders in the business all have specific roles and responsibilities to bring the model to life, and thus the quest for meaningful work has to be undertaken as a collaborative effort. The field of business ethics, with a refreshed Aristotelian mindset, has a lot of value to add in offering much needed ethical guidance to help steer this radical, yet exciting workplace transformation process in the right direction. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die kerngedagte van hierdie tesis is dat betekenisvolle arbeid die normatiewe standaard sou skep van wat werk vandonderstel is om vir die mensdom te beteken. Dit berus op die veronderstelling dat menswees meebring dat die individu se volle potensiaal, intelligensie en kreatiwiteit sal lei tot ‘n betekenisvolle bestaan. Die sleutelargument steun primêr die klassieke Aristoteliese etiese teorie asook hendendaagse aanpassings daarvan. Navorsing bewys egter dat tot 80% van die arbeidsmag betrokke is in betekenislose (sinlose) arbeid in die sin dat hulle geen genot of uitnemendheid ervaar nie. Die probleem word geetiketteer as “werknemersonttrekking” en word deur maatskappye beskou as ‘n onstellende tendens ten opsigte van die finansiële impak en die gepaardgaande verlies van produktiwiteit. Die oogmerk van die tesis is om die omvang van die probleem uit te lig en om redes aan te voer dat werknemers onttrekking as ‘n morele vraagstuk aangespreek moet word en nie net gesien sal word as ‘n finansiële dilemma nie. Die beweegrede van die tesis is om die begrip van betekenisvolle arbeid te ondersoek en om die morele aspek daarvan te debatteer. Die belangrikheid van die begrip, betekenisvolle arbeid, as ‘n balans tussen beide die subjektiewe en objektiewe beginsels word deurgaans onderstreep. Aangesien “werknemersonttrekking” as ‘n morele probleem beskou word is die oogmerk om die oorsake van die probleem te analiseer, op ‘n sistematiese, organisatoriese en individuele vlak. Die gevolgtrekking is dan dat die moderne paradigma ‘n sekere invloed het op die organisasie se besigheidsaktiwiteite en is ook ‘n metode om die verhouding tussen werk en bestaan te bepaal, wat uiteindelik ‘n diepgesete redegewende invloed het in die afwesigheid van sinvolle arbeid. ‘n Skeiding van die voorbeeld en die basiese veronderstelling van georganiseerde bestaan word benodig om begenoemde begrip te bevraagteken. Laastens is daar ‘n besigheidsmodel wat dien as ‘n raamwerk vir ‘n nuwe manier van werk, wat sal meebring dat werk meer vervulling aan die menslike gees sal bied. Díe model, veronderstel die beginsel van eerbare etiek as die grondslag. Werknemers van organisasies, die organisasie as ‘n gemeenskap en besigheidsleiers het spesifieke rolle en verantwoordelikhede, om lewe te gee aan die model. Daarvolgens moet die soeke na sinvolle arbied as ‘n kollektiewe poging beskou word. Die gebied van besigheidsetiek , met ‘n vernuwende Aristoteliese denkwyse, het tot voordeel , ‘n waardevolle bydrae tot ‘n onmisbare etiese leiding, om hierdie radikale maar opwindende transformasie in die werkplek mee te bring.

This thesis examines the intellectual environment in which Pope John Paul II's thought operates, especially as it pertains to his writings on the truth. The pontiff's thinking faces open hostility toward Christianity, as exemplified by Friedrich Nietzsche and Michel Foucault. The pope's theology pays attention and builds links to modern thought through its positive engagement with phenomenology and personalism, as well as through its opposition to materialism. Despite these connections, this theology fails to fit well with (post)modern thinking, as it takes a wider view of things in two ways: (1) By offering a spiritual sense of things, it goes beyond thought and takes into account supernatural sources of knowledge, sources which are both a one-time event (the Resurrection of Jesus Christ) and part of the ongoing journey of the Christian community; (2) By boldly referring to traditional, outmoded language, as with the words obedience and humility, with the same level of reverence and fullness of their sense as they were used before the secular-feminist era condemned these virtues. The strange and unique qualities of John Paul II's thinking issues from these two practices. It also arises from his bold ability to engage with modern thought without becoming defensive and without hiding behind the Bible or Catholic piety, though he uses both of these generously. John Paul II offers a clear alternative to the chaos and confusion of post-Enlightenment thought, in both his thought's style and substance. The Holy Father's words cause us to reflect more deeply than those of modern or postmodern thinkers, and call us away from the relativism of Richard Rorty, Foucault, and so many others. The pope's thought succeeds in part because he takes a much wider vista of things, in that he digs more deeply into Western and Christian thought and that he enters this heritage as an inheritor rather than as a skeptical scientist-researcher as in Foucault's case. The pope's thought also succeeds because he assigns spiritual meaning to this journey of Christian and world people. In this sense, his thought is also radically inclusive. / Systematic Theology & Theological Ethics / D. Th. (Systematic Theology)

This thesis examines the intellectual environment in which Pope John Paul II's thought operates, especially as it pertains to his writings on the truth. The pontiff's thinking faces open hostility toward Christianity, as exemplified by Friedrich Nietzsche and Michel Foucault. The pope's theology pays attention and builds links to modern thought through its positive engagement with phenomenology and personalism, as well as through its opposition to materialism. Despite these connections, this theology fails to fit well with (post)modern thinking, as it takes a wider view of things in two ways: (1) By offering a spiritual sense of things, it goes beyond thought and takes into account supernatural sources of knowledge, sources which are both a one-time event (the Resurrection of Jesus Christ) and part of the ongoing journey of the Christian community; (2) By boldly referring to traditional, outmoded language, as with the words obedience and humility, with the same level of reverence and fullness of their sense as they were used before the secular-feminist era condemned these virtues. The strange and unique qualities of John Paul II's thinking issues from these two practices. It also arises from his bold ability to engage with modern thought without becoming defensive and without hiding behind the Bible or Catholic piety, though he uses both of these generously. John Paul II offers a clear alternative to the chaos and confusion of post-Enlightenment thought, in both his thought's style and substance. The Holy Father's words cause us to reflect more deeply than those of modern or postmodern thinkers, and call us away from the relativism of Richard Rorty, Foucault, and so many others. The pope's thought succeeds in part because he takes a much wider vista of things, in that he digs more deeply into Western and Christian thought and that he enters this heritage as an inheritor rather than as a skeptical scientist-researcher as in Foucault's case. The pope's thought also succeeds because he assigns spiritual meaning to this journey of Christian and world people. In this sense, his thought is also radically inclusive. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / D. Th. (Systematic Theology)