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“Fictions of Discernment in Late Medieval England” argues that secular modes of social vigilance and pastoral practices of the discernment of spirits (discretio spirituum) come together to form a broader epistemic culture of interpersonal watchfulness, one that takes bodily demeanor as its main material of analysis. My work reconfigures current critical conversations around the late medieval “interior turn” by reading the period’s complex meditations on interiority as literary artifacts of social interplay rather than as correlates of introspective practices. Middle English texts as varied as penitential manuals, contemplative treatises, and works of epic and chivalric romance abound with imaginative scenarios in which contenaunce, chere, and other forms of outward comportment are scrutinized for what they reveal about the person. These ubiquitous scenarios, what I call “discernment fictions,” test out methods of extracting knowledge about the human interior from bodily demeanor, envisioned as a fertile but uniquely challenging object of intellectual inquiry. These skills of discernment are incorporated into self-reflective practices through a refractive process, as one comes to understand that one’s own body is also an interpretive object available to others. It is in quotidian accounts of intersubjective scrutiny that some of the medieval period’s most dynamic experimental thinking on the problem of other minds takes place. I suggest that the explosive production of Middle English narrative literature in the late fourteenth century is powered by these depictions of interpersonal diagnosis, and by the epistemological interests from which they spring.

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This thesis develops a critique of the methodology of mainstream academic moral philosophy, based on insights from feminist and more generally anti-oppressive political thought. The thesis consists of two parts. In the first, I loosely characterise a certain dominant methodology of philosophy, one based on giving an important epistemological role to existing, 'pre-theoretical' moral attitudes, such as intuitions. I then argue that such methodologies may be critiqued on the basis of theories that identify these moral attitudes as problematically rooted in oppressive social institutions, such as patriarchy and white supremacy; that is, I identify these attitudes as ideological, and so a poor guide to moral reality. In the second part, I identify and explore of a number of themes and tendencies from feminist, anti-racist, and other anti-oppressive traditions of research and activism, in order to draw out the implications of these themes for the methodology of moral philosophy. The first issue I examine is that of how, and how much, moral philosophers should use abstraction; I eventually use the concept of intersectionality to argue for the position that philosophers need to use less, and a different type of, abstraction. The second major theme I examine is that of ignorance, in the context of alternative epistemologies: standpoint epistemology and epistemologies of ignorance. I argue that philosophers must not take themselves to be well placed to understand, using solitary methodologies, any topic of moral interest. Finally, I examine the theme of transformation in moral philosophy. I argue that experiencing certain kinds of personal transformation may be an essential part of developing accurate ethical views, and I draw out the political implications of this position for the methodology of moral philosophy.

Thesis(MA) -- Stellenbosch University, 1949. / No abstract available

Thesis (DTh)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation explores the topic of epistemology and the use of Scripture in pastoral care and counseling. It examines the epistemological foundations of all theology and ministry in order to provide clarity and guidance for pastoral care within our current early twenty-first century context. The key problem that is implied in the topic ‘Epistemology and the use of Scripture in pastoral care and counseling’ is the following: What normative and methodological role should the Bible play in the counseling situation and what is the basis for this role? This problem essentially deals with the interaction between biblical and extra-biblical data in the pastoral encounter and how they are to be related. The following dynamics exist in systemic relationship: understanding and use of Scripture; epistemological foundations; theological method; ministry practices. The key assumption is that theology and pastoral care must deal with epistemological concerns, and that failure to do so has negative consequences. An indissoluble link exists between theory and practice: the elements of epistemology, methodology and practice should be consistent and in line with each other. This serves as a vital criterion for the integrity and validity of the various theories and practices that are examined and proposed in this dissertation. Pastoral care and biblical counseling are examined in terms of these dynamics. Comprehensiveness in epistemology, basic theological method, and pastoral practice is recommended. This is proposed as the best response to specific challenges posed by our current postmodern and pluralistic context. This research argues that it is possible to have a comprehensive and inclusive approach to knowledge, with a related comprehensive and organic practice of biblical counseling, while retaining an emphasis on the uniqueness of Jesus Christ and the key normative role of the Scriptures, all within a valid epistemological grounding. The issue of validation or warrant for this proposal is neither strictly foundational nor relative. It exists somewhere in between and finds its locus ultimately in God. Such a stance is firmly placed within the dynamics of faith as it interacts with reason and experience. There is therefore no ultimate, empirical proof that can be given, but this is true for knowledge and truth claims in all disciplines and realms of knowledge.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Education / Master / Master of Education