There is a close relationship between art and philosophy. From time to time, philosophy attempts to make art its theme. Invariably it has to acknowledge the very qualities of art that it seeks to explain - art’s elusiveness and its indeterminateness. On the other hand, it is the nature of art to philosophise within itself, about itself, and about the world. In this sense it operates as tacit philosophy. The language of art and the language of philosophy differ in form; but recent turns in philosophy have led to the expression of its truth in terms that transcend language and question its own epistemic structure. At the same time, art has always acknowledged its approach to ‘truth’ and ‘knowledge’ as being ‘other’ to that epistemology. This ‘otherness’ to traditional ways of knowing is recognised in philosophical discourse as ‘alterity’. The thesis posits that in art alterity has always been, and remains, tacit and integral to art’s being. Thus, by exploring the ways in which – through alterity – art and philosophy intersect and interweave, the thesis aims to reveal a new kind of knowledge that transcends the rational and the empirical but is nonetheless not only valid, but of the very highest integrity. That knowledge is transmitted through a particular critical and creative approach to philosophy and to art that opens the possibility of the ‘event’ of Alterity. The thesis uses a discourse of philosophy and critical theory to reveal Alterity in philosophy, principally through the work of Derrida, Heidegger, Adorno, and Levinas; Alterity in art through the works of Fra Angelico, Pollock, Fantin-Latour, Malevich, Vermeer, and Saitowitz; and Alterity in my own art practice through a set of six sculptures.

The present study is an assessment of archaeological evidence obtained from systematical archaeological surveys conducted in the territory of Klazomenai, which is one of the Ionian poleis located on Urla-&Ccedil / esme peninsula at Izmir. The main objective of the study is to explain the polis formation process in Klazomenai from Early Iron Age to Roman period with the aid archaeological evidence in the light of historical and epigraphical evidence. I here discuss the polis formation through the concepts of urbanization and state formation, which are defined as the subset processes of polis formation within the context of the study. The settlement patterns for each archaeological period from Early Iron Age period to Roman Period are defined with the aid of spatial analysis and GIS analysis are also integrated for determining the parameters for site choice for being able to explain the dynamics that caused the shifts in settlement patterns. Methods are applied for estimating the land potential and demographic trends as well, which are complementary concepts of settlement patterns. Within the context of the work also Greek polis as a concept is discussed since the subject of the work is an Ionan polis. Archaeological survey as a method also discussed for being the method for obtaining the raw data of the work. The study consists of mainly six chapters including the conclusion and three appendices. First chapter includes the scope and the objectives of the work as well as the nature of the evidence. In the second chapter the methods of analyses are explained and discussed. Third chapter is merely confined to discussions revolving around the concept of polis and the terminology used. Fourth chapter includes a brief history of settlement and the complementary archaeological evidence provided with the archaeological excavations conducted at the settlement center. Fifth chapter consists of the assessment of the evidence and the application of methods and results, whereas the final chapter is the conclusion of the study.

By framing his deconstruction of Plato’s Phaedrus and Timaeus as a response to Platonism, Jacques Derrida overlooks the possibility of a Platonic philosophy beyond dogma and doctrine. This thesis argues that Derrida’s deconstructions target a particularly Platonist abstraction of the dialogues, and thus, his critique relies on the underlying assumption that Plato defends the metaphysics of presence. Derrida attempts to show how the thesis that Being is presence undermines itself in both dialogues through hints of différance like pharmakon and khôra. To answer the Derridean critique, I analyze the hermeneutics of Derrida’s deconstruction of Plato and identify what in the dialogues lies beyond the limits Derrida’s reading, for example Derrida’s notable exclusion of ἔρως.

By framing his deconstruction of Plato’s Phaedrus and Timaeus as a response to Platonism, Jacques Derrida overlooks the possibility of a Platonic philosophy beyond dogma and doctrine. This thesis argues that Derrida’s deconstructions target a particularly Platonist abstraction of the dialogues, and thus, his critique relies on the underlying assumption that Plato defends the metaphysics of presence. Derrida attempts to show how the thesis that Being is presence undermines itself in both dialogues through hints of différance like pharmakon and khôra. To answer the Derridean critique, I analyze the hermeneutics of Derrida’s deconstruction of Plato and identify what in the dialogues lies beyond the limits Derrida’s reading, for example Derrida’s notable exclusion of ἔρως.

Current debates on space reveal a dichotomy between two apparently conflicting understandings of space: on the one hand, space is understood as a physical, tangible entity that has an impact on how we perceive, feel and emotionally inhabit the world, and on the other hand, space is conceived as an abstract entity, suggesting that space has no active role (a productivity) within everyday life, being solely a conceptual product of intellectual reasoning. As a result, the commonly used word: ‘space’, will be discussed as an ontologically paradoxical, ambiguous and elusive concept; a concept that cannot be captured within a single definition. This thesis consequently researches the ontology of space by informing a framework that embraces the complexity of space as an ambiguous and unrepresentable entity. It aims to reconcile the multiple understandings of space, liberating it from the binary thinking that opposes the abstract to the physical, disclosing its potential productivity. This thesis thus proposes a methodology departing from a transdisciplinary approach that addresses the variability, multiplicity, paradoxicality and ambiguity of space through a ‘bastard’ epistemology that defies binary logic by considering what falls out of order and norm. To research an ontology through a bastard epistemology is to work outside of (but in combination with) the intelligible and sensible realms, through a framework that is non-representational, but instead enactive and performative, driven by experience, affect and aesthetics; thus allowing access to an entity that is both ambiguous and also unrepresentable. In doing so, this thesis argues that space is diversely implicated in the constitution of research methodologies through its interactions with order and structures, as well as agential in the constitution of understandings of human interactions with the world; and therefore, it will be argued, space has methodological purchase. The consequence of this methodological purchase is that space can reveal itself if a research strategy is implemented that works through the multiple dimensions of space. Within this context the diagram will be introduced as a productive path because enables a bastard epistemology to work through the multiplicity of space, since the diagram, is a performed, materialised outcome of multiple experiences of the making of order through the interaction between physical and conceptual dimensions. In synthesis, the diagram is used to recursively research an ontology of space, showing the main contribution of this thesis: of how without negating its complexity and multiplicity, space can be useful, constructive and productive within contemporary contexts of research methodologies.

Doctoral dissertations: Philosophy of Education and Hermeneutics of the Chorismos Author: Zbyněk Zicha ABSTRACT: The dissertation addresses two areas of philosophical thinking, philosophy of education and an area of thinking of chorismos. The task of this dissertation is to indicate the possibility of rethinking their mutual concurrence. The work explores the philosophy of education as idiosyncratic ground of thought capable of receiving inspiration coming from thinking of chorismos. The author was inspired by interpretations of chorismos written with regard to Jan Patocka's thinking. The dissertation starts with an opening (the first chapter.) and with an introduction to problems (2nd ch.). The next chapter focuses on searching for the the meaning, essence and basic opportunities of philosophy of education (3rd ch.) that is followed by preliminary inquiry of hermeneutics of chorismos in relation to the philosophy of education (4th). There is a key section reflecting on the importance of hermeneutics of chorismos for philosophy of education (4.4) in the 4th chapter. Hermeneutics of chorismos is not perceived not only as an interpretation of chorismos, but foremostly as a philosophical inquiry of essential problems of philosophy and philosophy of education thought with regard to problem of chorismos. The...