In this dissertation I examine our relationship with the Earth and our natural environment by clarifying what it means to be human. I do this by looking at the interpenetration of spheres of being or philosophical anthropology to articulate how the human being is the dynamic meeting point of life and spirit. In this interpenetration of life and spirit, the task of the human being as loving flashes forth. On the basis of this task, it is possible to realize a loving relationship with the Earth and our natural environment that is not based on domination or use. To understand further how we are situated in relation to the earth and our natural environment, I discuss shortcomings of both the conservation and deep ecology movements. I also discuss problems with traditional philosophical anthropologies to highlight how some of these presuppositions have been incorporated into our relationship with the earth and our natural environment. To illuminate how life and spirit are enmeshed in one another, I describe Nicolai Hartmann's new ontology and Edmund Husserl's regional ontology as well as Scheler's philosophical anthropology since all of these philosophers ground their reflections in experience. However, since Scheler grounds being human in loving, his approach is unique and not only resolves the supposed dualism between life and spirit but gives us a fresh outlook on the responsibility inherent to being human. This opens the possibility for living a loving relationship with the earth and our natural environment.

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Akademisk avhandling--Uppsala. / Extra t.p. with thesis note included in pagination. "Använd och citerad litteratur": p. [4]-7.

Thesis--Cologne. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 134-147).

Ce travail prend pour objet la correspondance sur la tragédie échangée par Lessing, Mendelssohn et Nicolai entre 1755 et 1757 selon une double approche. Un volume propose une traduction intégrale des lettres, accompagnées de textes qui en permettent une meilleure contextualisation. Un autre volume en établit une première interprétation, afin de la situer dans la genèse de l’esthétique philosophique en Allemagne. Il s’appuie donc sur une thèse liminaire : l’esthétique n’est pas d’abord une doctrine, mais le résultat, dans le milieu philosophique, du grand mouvement de constitution du système des arts qui traverse l’Europe au XVIIIe siècle. Il montre comment, en se rapportant chaque fois de manière différente à l’héritage baumgartenien et à la théorie de l’art française, chaque auteur se détache de la poétique classique de Gottsched qui constitue la référence intellectuelle en Allemagne à cette période. Abandonnant toute stratégie de légitimation du genre, Nicolai développe une approche critique, qui fait valoir l’autonomie du champ littéraire dans la détermination des règles d’écriture de la tragédie et en réfute toute fonction morale. Lessing, en revanche, développe une approche poétique et critique renouvelée, qui veut défendre à la fois l’autonomie du champ littéraire et l’utilité morale de la tragédie. Elle implique de redéfinir la pitié de manière inédite, puis finalement la nature de la moralité. Mendelssohn, enfin, défend contre Lessing une perspective esthétique : l’autonomie du champ et son absence d’ambition morale. Il en établit alors la légitimité grâce à la notion de plaisir esthétique, plus élevé en dignité que le plaisir sensible car intellectuel. / The topic of the thesis is the 1755-1757 correspondence between Lessing, Mendelssohn and Nicolai about tragedy. One volume does not only contains a full translation of the letters but also some other texts in order to better sketch its historical context. Another volume contains an interpretation of the corpus that aims to highlight its place in the historical genesis of philosophical aesthetics in Germany. This work relies on a preliminary basis : aesthetics is not a doctrine, but rather the result, in the philosophical field, of the constitution of the system of arts that goes through the entire Europe in the XVIIIth century. It shows how each of them leaves the classic poetics of Gottsched – the reference in Germany at that time – and how each of them does it by referring in a different way to the legacy of Baumgarten and the French art theory. Hence, Nicolai gives up any strategy of recognition regarding the tragedy and takes a critical perspective. He underlines the autonomy of the literary field concerning the rules of tragedy. He denies any moral function. Lessing takes a poetical and critical perspective in a new sense. He stresses the autonomy of the literary field as much as the moral function of tragedy. This implies to redefine pity in a way never seen before, if not the essence of morality itself. As for Mendelssohn, he fights Lessing and adopts an aesthetical perspective. The aesthetical field is autonomous and has no moral ambition. What makes it legitimate is then the aesthetical pleasure for it has more dignity than the simple sensitive pleasure as it is more intellectual.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1985.

This essay deals with ruins from the perspective of their cultural values ​​and the impact of add-ons, protective add-ons and caring actions affect these values. The issues in the essay are; What are the cultural values of a ruin?  How have ruins been used?  How are ruins treated today? Initially the definition of the concept “ruin” is discussed, what is a ruin? A building has an architectural biography: the creation, destruction, change and the decay. The concept of ruin is considered to be a state of this decay, rather than a dead building. This leads to that if a ruin is added or rebuilt, once again it becomes a building. Ruins has meant a lot to people even long ago, the history of the caring of ruins goes long back, in Italy to the 5th century AD. In the Nordic countries the protection of ancient remains came a bit later, in Sweden the first legislation is from the year 1666th. The ruins were preserved to show the greatness of ancient societies and the changes that led to the decay of the buildings. During the 18th century a cult grows around ruins, which later have been called the romance of ruins. This ideology is developing into constructing "new" ruins in the castle parks, ruins become a status symbol. The essay deals with three case studies as reference objects in a discussion regarding their cultural value. The ruin of the dome in Hamar, Norway, over-built with a protective roof that directly affects the cultural environment. The arguments for this operation are the task of conservation, but the goal is to use the building as a cultural arena. The castle ruin on Visingsö in the lake Vättern has an action plan with a clear cultural value description. The age of the ruin and bearer of abstract memories are emphasized values. The last example is the rebuilding of St Nicholas church ruin in Visby and how designers are taking into account its cultural value. Finally, the definition of the general cultural values ​​of a ruin is presented, in comparison with the reference objects included in the paper. The age of the ruin, structural engineering in past societies, the use of the ruins and the changes of extensions or restorations are the values ​​that occur in the examples. The conclusion is that the change is perhaps the value of most importance. Since the "ruin" is a stage rather than a fixed object the change is a fact. To freeze a moment of decay may remove one of the most important cultural values of a ruin. / Uppsatsen behandlar ruiner utifrån deras kulturhistoriska värden och vilka konsekvenser tillbyggnader, skyddstillbyggnader och vårdande insatser påverkar dessa värden. Uppsatsens drivande frågeställningar är : Vilka är en ruins kulturhistoriska värden? Hur har man brukat ruiner? Hur behandlas ruiner idag? Inledningsvis definieras begreppet ruin, vad är en ruin? I diskussionen tas en byggnads biografi upp med Tillblivelse, nedbrytning, förändring och förgängelse. Begreppet ruin anses vara ett tillstånd av varande förfall snarare än en död byggnad. Detta medför sig att en ruin som till- eller ombyggs åter kan bli en byggnad. Ruiner har betytt mycket för människor även långt tillbaka, ruinvårdens historia går, i Italien, tillbaka till århundradena efter vår tideräknings början.  I Norden kom skyddet för fornlämningar lite senare, i Sverige finns den första lagstiftningen från år 1666. Ruinerna skulle bevaras för att visa på forna samhällens storhet och på förändringar som lett till byggnaders förfall. Under 1700-talet växer en kult fram kring ruiner, som sedan kallas ruinromantiken. Denna ideologi utvecklar sig till att man uppför ”nya” ruiner i slottsparker, ruinen blir en statussymbol. Uppsatsen tar upp 3 fallstudier som referensobjekt i en diskussion kring de kulturhistoriska värdena. Hamar domkyrkoruin i Norge överbyggdes med ett skyddstak som direkt påverkar kulturmiljön. Argumenten för insatsen är av bevarandekaraktär men målet är att använda byggnaden som kulturarena. Visningsborgs slottsruin på Visingsö i Vättern har ett vårdprogram med en tydlig kulturhistorisk värdebeskrivning. Ruinens ålder och bärare av abstrakta minnen tas upp som viktiga värden. Sist tas ombyggnaden av S:t Nicolai kyrkoruin i Visby upp som exempel på hur arkitekterna tar hänsyn till de kulturhistoriska värdena. Slutligen definieras de allmänna kulturhistoriska värden som en ruin innehar i jämförelse med de referensobjekt som tagits upp i uppsatsen. Ruinens ålder, byggnadskonst i tidigare samhällen, ruinens användning och den förändring som skett i form av tillbyggnader eller restaureringar är de värden som återkommer i exemplen. Slutsatsen blir att förändringen är kanske det värde som är högst. Eftersom ”ruin” är ett stadium snarare än ett fast objekt blir förändringen ett faktum. Att frysa ett ögonblick av förfall kan alltså ta bort ett av de viktigaste kulturhistoriska värden som en ruin innehar.