This thesis sought to explore the lifeways of second-millennium AD inhabitants of Great Zimbabwe through the analyses of material objects housed in museums. Great Zimbabwe comprises walled stone enclosures and non-walled settlements covering approximately 720ha. A number of data acquisition techniques, such as desktop survey, analyses of museum collections, supplementary field survey and excavations, were employed to collect relevant datasets to address the research questions. The sampling strategy adapted for this research enabled the study of material objects from different components making up Great Zimbabwe. The main conclusions drawn from this study are as follows: (i) Within varying temporal scales, the nature and distribution of local and imported objects are largely similar across the site; (ii) chronologically and typologically speaking, there is evidence that different parts of the site were occupied and abandoned at different times; and (iii) based on the similarities in material objects and associated production debris and infrastructure, it is likely that different components were self-sufficient units. This study has underscored the significance of existing collections in developing new interpretations of Great Zimbabwe's past lifeways, thereby motivating for the need for similar work to understand the hundreds of similar settlements scattered across southern Africa.

Ordinary material objects, such as guitars and houses, do not seem to pose any serious philosophical problems. However, the nature of the material objects and their part-whole relation raises serious questions about fundamental ontologies. Furthermore, part-whole relations are not necessarily spatial; they can be temporal as well. My dissertation investigates the problems posed by ordinary material objects, and the different ontological views that attempt to provide answers to these problems. I then present a new and radical view, which I call Nihilist Perdurantism (NP). NP claims that objects have temporal parts, but not spatial parts. I arrive at this view by first exploring and arguing against different views on composition, with a focus on arguments against common sense ontologies of ordinary objects. I then discuss the nature of mereological simples and argue against several views that claim that qualitatively heterogeneous simples are possible (Markosian and McDaniel). Next, I present my arguments against perdurantist, endurantist, and presentist view of persistence. I especially focus on endurantism, and use the aforementioned argument against the possibility of qualitatively heterogeneous simples to construct a similar argument against endurantism. Finally, I argue in favor of my view, NP. This view combines a mereological nihilist view (defended at various times by Unger, Van Inwagen, Merricks, and Sider) about spatial parts with a perdurantist view (defended at various times by Lewis, Hawley, Heller, and Sider) of temporal parts. Therefore, according to NP, there are no guitars, trees, or houses. The only objects that exist are NP objects; these are line-shaped objects that extend through spacetime. With respect to the three spatial dimensions, these objects have no parts. However, with respect to the temporal dimension, NP objects do have parts in the form of points and line segments. My work shows that NP has better solutions to many of the puzzles and problems posed by material objects, such as the puzzle of change, over the three standard views. Hinchliff argues that change is puzzling because in order for there to be real change, then the following four intuitions must be true: (1) The candle persists through the change. It existed when it was straight, and it exists now when it is bent…(2) Shapes are properties not relations. They are one-placed, not many-placed…(3) The candle itself has the shapes. Not just a part but the candle itself was straight, and not just a part but the candle itself is bent…(4) The shapes are incompatible. If the shapes were compatible, there need not have been a change. The puzzle of change is the mutual inconsistency of these four intuitions. I argue that perdurantists must deny intuition (3), endurantists must deny intuition (2), and presentists must deny intuition (1). I then argue that only NP can accommodate all four intuitions about both macroscopic and microscopic change while resolving the inconsistency of the four intuitions. My dissertation presents a new view that provides a fresh perspective on the debate about the nature of material objects. My development of NP touches on a number of other philosophical problems. In Chapter One, I discuss the role of intuitions in metaphysics, and argue that many supposedly “common sense” intuitions are already philosophical positions. In Chapter 2, I argue against Korman’s and Markosian’s common sense ontologies of ordinary objects. In Chapter 3, I argue that the endurantist view of persistence is inconsistent and should be rejected. In addition to making the case for NP and its solution to the puzzle of change in Chapter 4, I also argue that NP can solve the problem of motion in a homogenous substance. Finally, in Chapter Five, I argue against the possibility of both gunky and junky material objects.

When period instruments first appeared, audiences were highly skeptical of their musical value. It was not until the early-1900s—and performers like Arnold Dolmetsch—that they began to become not only accepted, but increasingly mandated for early music performances. However, while criticisms regarding their use persisted into the 1940s, it has never received the type of intense debate other details of performance practice have. Perhaps because of this lack, scholarship has also neglected to consider what ideological roles period instruments have played in historical performance. Why does the role of period instruments matter?  Partly because most writing about early music includes assumptions about them and their importance; for instance, mid-20th century performance practice guides implicitly assign them considerable authority over the ever-contested designation of “authenticity.” However, this is not the only role period instruments play. I argue that early advocates for period instruments like Arnold Dolmetsch used them to create a type of “intimacy” crucial to many aspects of performance practice. Created through both the instruments' materially and their timbres, this intimacy closes temporal and spatial historical gaps, allowing performers and their audiences to connect with distant musics in a modern way—and allowing “old” music to develop a living musical value.

Monistic substantivalists believe that material objects and regions of space-time are not two distinct kinds of fundamental of entities. For the monist, objects either are identical with regions or are somehow derivative from them. Dualistic substantivalists view regions and objects as distinct kinds of fundamental entities. One virtue monists claim over dualists is that their view is more ideologically parsimonious than dualism because monists can do without a primitive notion of location. In this paper I provide an argument that undercuts some of the theoretical edge that monists claim over dualists. The assumption that the monist can provide a reduction of location unique to her position rests on a false assumption about the possible structures spacetime can have. If it is metaphysically possible for two distinct regions to coincide with respect to all their significant spatiotemporal properties and relations (call these 'coincident regions'), then analyses of location unique to monism will turn out to be inadequate. / Master of Arts / You, I, a rock on the ground, electrons, and galaxies all have something in common: we are all material objects. Material objects are often defined as the things that have locations within spacetime. But what is it to have a location within spacetime? Some authors, monists, believe that to have a location in spacetime is to be no more than a bit of the spatiotemporal manifold. Others, dualists, think of spacetime like a box that objects get placed into. For them having a location is to “take up” part of the room in this box. As the debate currently stands, many philosophical considerations look to point in favor of monism over dualism. In this paper I discuss a novel argument that this assessment does not stand up to scrutiny. The argument makes use of contemporary theories in physics and advanced geometry to argue that distinct parts of spacetime can be located at one another. This is shown to undermine many of the considerations which are thought to favor monism over dualism.

This study is about 1-3-year-old children and their meeting with the documentation made available to them by preschool teachers. Eight preschool teachers in seven different preschools were interviewed. These interviews were combined with observations of the preschool environments to be able to view the documentation that was made available to the children. In this study we examine what happens in the meeting between children and material objects in documentation practises. We also sought to understand how material objects play a role in children’s participation in documentation practises. In this study we therefore use Karen Barads (2007) theory of agential realism to analyse the relationship between humans and the material environment. Basing the analysis on agential realism by viewing material objects as active agents instead of passive, we were able to gain insight into how photographs of children taking part in earlier activities or pictures of insects played a part in the activities and negotiations around the documentation. The youngest children’s handling of the documentation made available to them did not always coincide with the expectations of the preschool teachers. The documentations hanging on the wall would be worn out or taken down by the youngest children. Understanding the potential meaning behind the worn-out corners was made possible by using an agential realist approach where the child is seen as entangled in a constant intra-action with the human and non-human environment. We found that an agential realist approach has the potential to contribute to a versatile understanding of documentation practices with preschools youngest children.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The present dissertation purports to analyze the relationship between the notions of reference and ontology in the Peter Frederick Strawson‟s philosophy. Strawson wants to defend an ontological realism, in which the basic entities are material bodies. We have occupied ourselves with the analysis of the role of identifying reference in his argumentation. In the first Chapter, we analyze how the ontological problem is formulated by Strawson, within ordinary language. The phrase Linguistic Turn‟ is used to denote the set of issues around this topic. Our analysis concluded that ordinary language is the most general and pervasive language, which also has the means necessary for metaphysical researches. In the second Chapter, we deal with the elucidation of the conditions in which an identifying reference is successfully made. The analysis showed that, when referring to particulars, to consider the contextual requirements it is necessary to make a successfully identifying reference, which necessarily include spatio-temporal elements this condition is not necessary when we refer identifyingly to general things. Thus, we use the term spatio-temporal particulars to designate a class of items, which are, in a philosophical sense, concretes. In the Third Chapter, we examine how Strawson uses the notion of identifying reference to get the notions of independent and basic, which ought to be attached to the notion of materials bodies, if the philosopher intends to be a metaphysical realist. Through the analysis of the concept of reference, Strawson comes to the notion of a unified framework of knowledge of particulars, which is necessary for us to refer non-demonstratively to spatio-temporal particulars. However, a condition of this unity is the independent existence of spatio-temporal particulars. Although material bodies are basic in the category of spatio-temporal particulars, the identification of particulars of various subcategories rests on the identification of material objects. In the end, discuss some criticisms of Strawson‟s arguments and make another argument in support of Strawson‟s argument. / A presente dissertação tem como objetivo analisar a relação entre as noções de referência e ontologia na filosofia de Peter Frederick Strawson. Strawson pretende defender uma ontologia realista, onde suas entidades básicas são objetos materiais e pessoas, assim, ocupamo-nos em elucidar o papel que a noção de referência identificadora cumpre nessa argumentação. No primeiro Capítulo, analisamos o modo como o problema ontológico é formulado, por Strawson, no âmago da linguagem ordinária. A expressão Giro Linguístico‟ é tomada para designar o conjunto de questões em torno desse tópico. Nossas análises obtiveram como conclusão que a linguagem ordinária é a mais geral e penetrante, a qual também disporia dos meios necessários para as investigações de caráter metafísico. No segundo Capítulo, ocupamo-nos com a elucidação das condições em que uma referência identificadora ocorre com sucesso. As análises mostraram que, quando nos referimos a particulares, é necessário, para o sucesso em referir, a consideração de requerimentos contextuais, os quais necessariamente incluem aspectos espaços-temporais e são dispensáveis na maioria das referências a entidades gerais. Destarte, passamos a usar o termo particulares espaço-temporais‟ para designar um conjunto de itens, os quais seriam, num sentido filosófico, concretos. No terceiro Capítulo, analisamos o modo como Strawson usa a noção de referência identificadora para chegar até as noções de independente e básico, as quais devem estar relacionadas com a noção de objetos materiais, caso o filósofo pretenda defender um realismo metafísico. Através das análises da noção de referência, Strawson chega até a noção de quadro unitário de conhecimento de particulares, o qual é necessário para que possamos referir não-demonstrativamente para particulares espaço-temporais. Porém, uma condição dessa unidade consiste na existência independente de particulares espaço-temporais. Não obstante, objetos materiais são básicos na categoria de particulares espaço-temporais, pois, a identificação de particulares de várias subcategorias descansa sobre a identificação de objetos materiais. No final, serão analisadas algumas críticas aos argumentos de Strawson e será indicada a possibilidade da formulação de outro argumento em suporte da argumentação de Strawson.

This study examines the functions of objects in a selection of British colonial travel accounts about Africa. The works discussed were published between 1863 and 1908 and include travelogues by John Hanning Speke, Verney Lovett Cameron, Henry Morton Stanley, Mary Henrietta Kingsley, Ewart Scott Grogan, Mary Hall and Constance Larymore. The author argues that objects are deeply involved in the construction of pre-modern and modern spheres that the travelling subject moves between. The objects in the travel accounts are studied in relation to a contextual background of Victorian commodity and object culture, epitomised by the 1851 Great Exhibition and the birth of the modern anthropological museum. The four analysis chapters investigate the roles of objects in ethnographical and geographical writing, in ideological discussions about the transformative powers of colonial trade, and in narratives about the arrival of the book in the colonial periphery. As the analysis shows, however, objects tend not to behave as they are expected to do. Instead of marking temporal differences, descriptions of objects are typically unstable and riddled with contradictions and foreground the ambivalence that characterises colonial literature.

Gegenstand der Untersuchung ist die Rekonstruktion und Analyse der Mainzer Karmelitenbibliothek von ihren frühesten archivalischen Zeugnissen in den 30er-Jahren des 15. Jahrhunderts bis zur Aufhebung des Klosters im Jahr 1802. Das Fehlen historischer Kataloge und eine lückenhafte archivalische Überlieferung zur Klostergeschichte bestimmten die Methodik der Analyse, deren Basis die Exemplare des Rekonstruktionsbestandes darstellten.(Hauptbestand in Mainz, Streubestände in Deutschland, Frankreich und den USA). Per autoptischer Ersterhebung konnten bislang 1589 Bände aus Mainzer Karmelitenprovenienz ermittelt werden, darunter 39 Handschriften und 289 Inkunabeln und Frühdrucke bis 1520. Die Arbeit steht im Forschungszusammenhang der Rekonstruktion klösterlicher Büchersammlungen, deren Ziel die De-Fragmentierung zerstreuter historischer Ensembles und die Bergung verschütteter Wissensräume geistlicher Gemeinschaften über ihre Bibliotheken ist. Sie macht sich Erkenntnisse, Methoden und Ergebnisse exemplarspezifischer Forschung zu eigen und leistet einen Beitrag zur anthropologischen Bibliotheksgeschichtsschreibung. Der Untersuchung lag das erkenntnisleitende Interesse zugrunde, die Sammlungsphysiognomie der Karmelitenbibliothek als Quelle für interdisziplinäre Forschungen wieder zugänglich zu machen. Im Dreischritt von Spurensuche, Spurensicherung und Spurendeutung wurde der Rekonstruktionsbestand auf Titel- und auf Exemplarebene analysiert und nach Verdichtung und Reflex des spirituellen und intellektuellen Profils in der Karmelitenbibliothek gefragt und geprüft, inwieweit sich klösterliche Wissensräume und Vernetzungen über Buchbesitz und Buchgebrauch in der erhaltenen Bibliothek abbildeten. Dabei standen die besonderen Wachstumsparameter einer mendikantischen Gebrauchsbibliothek, ihre Bestandszusammensetzung und die Strukturen der Bibliotheksverwaltung im Zentrum der Analyse. / The subject of this study is the reconstruction and analysis of the Mainz Carmelite library from the beginning of the 15th century (documentation of the earliest archival material) until the closure of the convent as a result of the secularisation in 1802. Lacking a catalogue and considering the existence of only few documents, the research project is mainly based on the surving copies once belonged to the convent: until today are registered 1589 copies with the provenance „Mainz Carmelites“, including 39 manuscripts and 289 incunables and early printed books until 1520. The study intends to be a contribution for the reconstruction of monastic libraries with the aim to unify surviving fragmentary collections. The known copies of the former Carmelite library have been looked into for their bibliographic and copy-specific records in order to get an idea of the intellectual and spiritual knowledge. Provenance research based on both personal as well as institutional ownership was done, including also information on circulation, acquisition and handling of the material in and outside monastic life.

The world we live in is full of material objects that serve as signs and thus are an important tool in literary texts. The purpose of the present essay is to illustrate how material objects are used to portray personalities of female characters, their inner world and attitudes, their ways of life and position in society. It is especially interesting in the context of the 20th century in the Western world, when the culture of consumption was gaining momentum and the role of a woman was gradually changing. The short stories analysed in the essay are written in the Western context in the 20th century, which are “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” by J.D. Salinger, “Moments of Being: ‘Slater’s Pins Have no Points’” by V. Woolf and “The Bottom Line and the Sharp End” by F. Weldon. The material objects mentioned in the texts are classified and analysed due to their role and purpose in the short stories.