During the 20th century, numerous philosophers of science pointed out several problems afflicting scientific communication. Communication in accounting is also problematic. In both cases (science and accounting) there seems to be a tension between objectivism and subjectivism. The former emphasizes the objects of knowledge while the latter prefers to rely on the human subject. In science one of these approaches seems to prevail in different periods. In accounting there seems to be an oscillation or ambiguity between the two tendencies (subjectivism and objectivism) which remain side by side. A polarity seems to emerge as statutory disclosures are influenced by objectivism, while contextual disclosures are inclined towards subjectivism. With reference to the philosophy of Herman Dooyeweerd subjectivism and objectivism are interpreted as emphasizing certain modal aspects to the detriment of others. Although this problem can be regarded as the cause of many difficulties in annual reports, this article focuses on communication problems. It is suggested that a better approach can be adopted by paying attention to all the modal aspects, in particular to those which tend to be neglected under a certain approach (objectivism or subjectivism). The final sections of this article provide a few concrete examples of how to improve communication in corporate reports by taking into account the neglected modal aspects. / MPhil, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

This thesis compares philosophers Ken Wilber (Integralism) and Leonard Peikoff (Objectivism), who argue that Western philosophy is saturated with a fallacious mind/body dichotomy, which they trace historically and psychologically. Wilber’s and Peikoff’s agendas, worldviews and starting points are contrasted, specifically, Wilber’s holons, Kosmos model, the Big Three Value Spheres and Peikoff’s metaphysical axioms. Their definitions of consciousness are reviewed, along with their mutual epistemological emphasis on knowledge as contextual. Wilber makes mystical validity claims supported by stages of cognitive development. Discussed attributes of the mind/body dualism are: regression and repression; control versus chaos; hedonism, uniformity and authoritarianism; Subjectivism and Intrinsicism; Ego-agency versus Eco-communion. Both philosophers maintain that each partial strategy collapses into the dysfunctions of the opposite strategy. Their respective models of resolution through integration are presented in conclusion, particularly Wilber’s case for nondual Self-realization.

This study aims to uncover the relationship of the objectivist philosophy of Ayn Rand with architecture. After examining the philosophical bases of Randian objectivism, and how the philosophy is related to architecture via contemporary modernism, especially the modern architectural understanding of Frank Lloyd Wright, the study concentrates on how objectivism interprets architecture. The aim here is to describe what kind of an architectural aspect inspired Rand and how Rand used architecture in order to propagate her philosophy. Objectivist interpretations of architecture simply means how objectivism&rsquo / s basic assumptions perceive and respond to architecture as revealed in Rand&rsquo / s writings. In order to understan the architectural interpretations, the focus of analysis is the objectivist literature by Rand such as fictions, movies and articles. The resultant emphasis of the analysis on the relationship between Rand&rsquo / s objectivism and architecture, is on the tension in architectural relations between the individual and the state, the individual and the society, and the individual and history, which are defined as against settled social and traditional values

During the 20th century, numerous philosophers of science pointed out several problems afflicting scientific communication. Communication in accounting is also problematic. In both cases (science and accounting) there seems to be a tension between objectivism and subjectivism. The former emphasizes the objects of knowledge while the latter prefers to rely on the human subject. In science one of these approaches seems to prevail in different periods. In accounting there seems to be an oscillation or ambiguity between the two tendencies (subjectivism and objectivism) which remain side by side. A polarity seems to emerge as statutory disclosures are influenced by objectivism, while contextual disclosures are inclined towards subjectivism. With reference to the philosophy of Herman Dooyeweerd subjectivism and objectivism are interpreted as emphasizing certain modal aspects to the detriment of others. Although this problem can be regarded as the cause of many difficulties in annual reports, this article focuses on communication problems. It is suggested that a better approach can be adopted by paying attention to all the modal aspects, in particular to those which tend to be neglected under a certain approach (objectivism or subjectivism). The final sections of this article provide a few concrete examples of how to improve communication in corporate reports by taking into account the neglected modal aspects. / MPhil, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Contemporary Christian ethical decision making includes a move toward responsibility, that is, ways in which responsibility should qualify Christian ethics in general. Linking the ways in which responsibility should qualify Christian ethics with the process of ethical decision making itself as an ideal type, it clarifies the prejudices which make for responsible use of the Bible in Christian ethical decision making. When the prejudices influencing the hermeneutical task in Christian ethical decision making are conformable to the ways in which responsibility should qualify Christian ethics, the Bible is used in a responsible way in Christian ethical decision making. Responsible use of the Bible is linked with the hermeneutical notion that prejudices constitute the link between past text and current interpreter. This lead to the text being understood in new way(s) in each new historical situation. In this way it is able to undo the notion that the link between past text and current interpreter can be had from historical objectivism, with its prejudice against prejudices in Biblical interpretation, and which holds that the meaning of a text is restricted to what the original author intended. Once this original meaning has been uncovered it becomes valid for all times and under all circumstances, and can therefore be closed. This closure is then linked with an ethics of conviction, as opposed to the ways in which responsibility should qualify Christian ethics. In exegeting Romans 1: 26-27, as an example, within an ideal type of Christian ethical decision making, it is shown how the interpretation of the text is influenced by the ways in which responsibility should qualify Christian ethics in general. This makes for a new understanding of the text related to the context in which the interpretation happens. As an example it is thus able to show how prejudices can influence the hermeneutical task in Christian ethical decision making. It makes for a responsible reading of the text for the prejudices which are allowed to influence the hermeneutical task are conformable to the ways in which responsibility should qualify Christian ethical decision making. In this way the exegesis of the text is able to show that the understanding of a text, in an ideal type of Christian ethical decision making, is subject to prejudices as that which makes all understanding, also understanding for moral action possible. Copyright / Dissertation (MA(Theol))--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Dogmatics and Christian Ethics / unrestricted

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Since the late 1950s, Russian-American novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand has been “the ultimate gateway drug to life on the right.” Her philosophy – “Objectivism” – combined militant atheism, libertarian natural rights, and a philosophical commitment to what she called “the virtue of selfishness,” and earned her the admiration of such luminaries as Alan Greenspan: a remarkable achievement for an immigrant woman who learned to speak English in her late 20s. What is less-often observed is that Rand’s work, especially her mature novels The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957), bear a close stylistic resemblance to the Soviet Socialist Realist novel. This thesis identifies these similarities and attempts to answer the question of why a heavily Soviet-inflected writer was able to reach such cultural and political prominence in, of all places, America.

Several contemporary virtue ethicists have provided systematic presentations of normative virtue ethics. The virtue ethical literature, however, does not contain much information on the meta-ethical roots of virtue theories. The present paper seeks to address this deficiency by examining the neo-Aristotelianism of Rosalind Hursthouse in an effort to ascertain what meta-ethical commitments are most consistent with her theory; these commitments are shown to be cognitivism, objectivism, and (in some form) naturalism. These positions are then put into dialogue with Moore’s seminal metaethical arguments against naturalism and agent-relative value. Ultimately I show that the literature on normative virtue ethics is rich enough to provide powerful responses to Moorean criticisms.

Man, his ideals and place in this world is a constant question for all people.How should man act in accordance with others? How should he perceivereality and himself? This essay attempts to answer these questions by lookingat Terre des Hommes (Wind, Sand and Stars) by the author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944) with an Objectivist perspective (the philosophy of AynRand). The essay analyzes the book by applying the four main principles ofObjectivism: reason, reality, rational self-interest and capitalism. It begins bylooking at how both Saint-Exupéry and Rand perceive the machine and laboras rational ways of self-sustainment and discovery. The machine serves as aphysical representation of rationality which furthers productivity and alsoeases labor. Later, the essay analyzes how charity, rational egoism and theirrepresentations in the book correspond with Objectivist philosophy.Afterwards it analyzes how reality and truth are represented with language asits proxy of representation and discovers that both authors perceive reality asan absolute and truth as its recognition. Lastly, the essay analyzes therelationship between war and ideology and Rand's and Saint-Exupéry'sthoughts on the subject. It finds some similarities between the two: they bothfind war distasteful and ultimately destructive. However, a difference wasdiscovered concerning the use of ideology. Saint-Exupéry finds little to nouse of it, whereas Rand sees it at man's main defense against philosophicalfallacies. Therefore, the final conclusion is that Terre des Hommes is notentirely an Objectivist book, but there are objectivist principles presented init.