This study focuses on the attitudes of museumgoers toward the exhibition of human remains in modern Swedish museums. More specifically, it deals with how their attitudes toward remains are shaped and informed by museums’ materiality and institutionalized authority, whether they think of remains as humans or objects, as well as how these dead bodies ultimately become culturally meaningful to us who are still alive. Through the use of ethnographic field methods including go-along interviews and participant observation, the behaviors and opinions of museumgoers are recorded. With the help of Emmanuel Levinas’ ethical phenomenology and Annemarie Mol’s theory of multiple ontology, the cultural background against which these attitudes have taken shape is examined. The study shows that museumgoers are generally positive toward the exhibition of human remains in museums—an attitude which is influenced by the history, scientific authority, and carefully designed materiality of the museum. Among the perceived benefits of exhibiting human remains, visitors cite the ability of the remains to arouse their curiosity and serve as links to the past, as well as provide material proof that validates the museum’s claims to knowledge. However, this positive attitude is dependent on whether the remains are treated and displayed with respect. This call to treat the dead respectfully can be seen as a universal reaction to the ”face-to-face encounter” as described by Emmanuel Levinas, but at the same time, museumgoers’ interpretation of respect is culturally contingent and heavily influenced by contemporary values such as individuality, scientific objectivity, and equality. Furthermore, the perceived need to treat remains respectfully is directly tied to the perceived humanity of the remains. This is in turn dependent on how close the remains are to us in terms of appearance and temporal distance. By focusing on museumgoers instead of professionals, and through using ethnographic fieldwork to note opinions and their cultural backgrounds, this study attempts to add a fresh perspective and new knowledge to what is currently one of the hottest debates in museology: whether remains even belong in museums. Further, by recognizing that no opinion is formed in a vacuum, the narrow question of displaying death can tell us something bigger about the norms and values of Sweden today.

This essay consists of a comparative study of the ontological argument for the existence of God asformulated by St. Anselm of Canterbury and René Descartes. The comparative analysis itselfconsists of two parts. Firstly, a comparative study of the argument itself, and an examination of theunderlying metaontological commitments that form the basis of the respective arguments, whichare then likewise contrasted. The stated purpose is to examine whether two versions of theontological argument that appear to be similar may have an underlying framework that makes themfundamentally fundamentally distinct in a way that is not immediately apparent. The analysis foundthat this was the case, and that there are significant differences in how the argument is formulated.This is of interest especially as these two thinkers wrote in and were influenced by widely differingcultural, intellectual and academic contexts, which may be reflected in their work. Ontologicalarguments for the existence of God as a phenomenon is a metaphysical argument that seeks toprove that God exists without relying on empirical and observational evidence. Rather, one seeksthrough these ontological arguments to show that the existence of God is self-evident.With Anselm and Descartes this happens in a seemingly very similar yet fundamentally differentway. The results of this study demonstrate differences that appear primarily in the starting point forthe respective discourses, as well as in the methodology that is applied. Anselm bases his discourseon a distinctly neoplatonic foundation regarding the highest good, which he later extrapolates to amore comprehensive reasoning regarding the distinction between different natures according togreatness, of which goodness is one such greatness. Descartes, on the other hand, anchors hisdiscourse in scholastic philosophy and especially the idea of the causal principle of transference,especially in relation to human consciousness and the idea or the concept of God which manifeststherein. These results have been achieved primarily by examining Anselm's arguments based onsecondary sources that relate both directly and indirectly to his ontological argument, which in itssimplicity otherwise consists almost in its entirely of a self-evident descriptive definition of whatGod is. However, the differences that emerge are not of such a degree that a division of these twoargument into different categories can be made with a high degree of confidence. On the otherhand, it is of interest to analyze these underlying frameworks for ontological arguments in order toalso be able to analyze the potential influence or impact of various contextual aspects such as place,time and prevailing academic culture as this essay attempts to do.

This thesis intends to explore whether endurantism is compatible with realism. This is done by presenting an alternative approach, where instead of starting with Quine’s postulate, that being and existence are the same thing, those are treated as different things. By using minimal realism, where you only say that something exists independently of a creature, and an ontological theory based on affordances, a thesis that endurantism is compatible with realism is presented. Affordance ontology means that what something is depends on what actions it can offer a certain human. Objections that this might lead to relativism are answered, as actions are independent of a specific creature. Objections that minimal realism isn’t realism are answered on the grounds of it being independent of a human, and thus is realism. Finally, the thesis is concluded to be true, but more work is needed to explain temporal facts. / Uppsatsen syftar till att utforska om endurantism är förenlig med realism. Detta görs genom att presentera en alternativ ansats, där man istället för att utgå från Quines postulat att vara och att existera är samma sak, särskiljer dessa. Med hjälp av minimal realism, där man bara konstaterar att något existerar oberoende av en varelse, och en ontologisk teori byggd på affordanser, så presenteras tesen att endurantism är förenlig med realism. Affordansontologi innebär att vad något är är beroende av vilka handlingar det kan erbjuda en viss människa. Invändningar som att det skulle leda till relativism bemöts, då handlingar är oberoende av en specifik människa, och att minimal realism är så intetsägande att det inte rör sig om realism, bemöts med argumentet att det är oberoende av en människa, och därmed är det faktiskt realism. Slutligen konstateras att tesen är sann, men att mer arbete behövs gällande tid och affordansontologi, för att förklara tidsatta fakta.

<p>The purpose of this essay is to discuss the base of sociology from an existentialistic perspective. The discussion takes it's position in the debate on the crisis of sociology, and aligns with Alvin Gouldner's understanding of the crisis. Gouldner believed that the crisis of sociology was mirrored in a sociological method that failed to describe the social reality that it meant to describe; a lack in self-criticism and self-reflexivity, a lack in self-containment in relation to state interests and a lack in moral engagement. This raises a number of questions, which I discuss in the essay. What is the role of sociology in our society? How shall we form a method that responds to the social reality that we sociologists aim to describe? How can we make sociology more moral?</p><p>Existentialism offers a starting point to describe these questions. I argue that the existentialistic description of man as essence carries implications for the social science. By constituting a critique of a computable moral, existentialism points at the necessity of a standing self-criticism and dialogue. An existentialistic description of man as non-essence carries implications for the theory and method of sociology. Man's possibility of radical exceeding of himself means the impossibility to reach theories that describe reality as it is. At the same time, method and theory are necessary to create knowledge about social phenomenon. I read existentialism as an imperative for a sociology that is reflexive in the sense a) a reflexivity in relation to the basic presumptions (value philosophical and ontological) that effect our sociological examinations b) a self-reflexivity that amount to an understanding of the scientists own role relation to his study and the object being studied. Furthermore, I read existentialism as an imperative for a radicalization of dialogue as method.</p>

Denna essä är en ontologisk och epistemologisk undersökning av bland annat etiska och medvetandefilosofiska implikationer av en konsekvent fysikalistisk hållning. I detta kontrasteras mot en transcendentalistisk hållning, som den av T. M. Scanlon, den skeptiska empirismen av David Hume, reciprokt baserade moraliska system (e.g. J. L. Mackies självreferentiella altruism) samt en medvetandesyn i linje med Galen Strawsons kriterier för en realistisk fysikalism som i min mening löser alla så kallade psykofysiska problem. / This paper contains an ontological and epistemic analysis of the implication of a consistently physicalist view of reality. This in polemic contrast with transcendentalist positions as that of T. M. Scanlon. I follow along the lines of a sceptical empiricism that I ascribe to Hume and from which, I argue, consistently follows guidelines as set by for example J. L. Mackie and Galen Strawson on topics of self-referential altruism and realistic physicalism respectively.

The purpose of this essay is to discuss the base of sociology from an existentialistic perspective. The discussion takes it's position in the debate on the crisis of sociology, and aligns with Alvin Gouldner's understanding of the crisis. Gouldner believed that the crisis of sociology was mirrored in a sociological method that failed to describe the social reality that it meant to describe; a lack in self-criticism and self-reflexivity, a lack in self-containment in relation to state interests and a lack in moral engagement. This raises a number of questions, which I discuss in the essay. What is the role of sociology in our society? How shall we form a method that responds to the social reality that we sociologists aim to describe? How can we make sociology more moral? Existentialism offers a starting point to describe these questions. I argue that the existentialistic description of man as essence carries implications for the social science. By constituting a critique of a computable moral, existentialism points at the necessity of a standing self-criticism and dialogue. An existentialistic description of man as non-essence carries implications for the theory and method of sociology. Man's possibility of radical exceeding of himself means the impossibility to reach theories that describe reality as it is. At the same time, method and theory are necessary to create knowledge about social phenomenon. I read existentialism as an imperative for a sociology that is reflexive in the sense a) a reflexivity in relation to the basic presumptions (value philosophical and ontological) that effect our sociological examinations b) a self-reflexivity that amount to an understanding of the scientists own role relation to his study and the object being studied. Furthermore, I read existentialism as an imperative for a radicalization of dialogue as method.

Cardiovascular diseases and diabetes are increasing worldwide due to unhealthy lifestyle habits. Behavior change support systems (BCSS) are a new means of promoting a sustainable lifestyle change. These systems are more effective when behavior change theories are applied. The aim of this thesis to integrate well-known behavior change theories into a conceptual model of behavior change progress to form the basis for the BCSS. The research question of this thesis is: what parameters of behavior change should be included in a conceptual model of behavior change progress? The model was created by integrating concepts and their relationships from existing behavior change theories. Next, the model was the validated by experts in behavior change. The outcome is a conceptual framework that can be function as a tool for understanding causal relationship between behavior change concepts, for presenting feedback, and building automated assessments. Furthermore, the model extends already existing knowledge networks. / På grund av allmänhetens ohälsosamma vanor ökar Diabetes och kardiovaskulära sjukdomar i hela världen. Olika stödsystem för beteendeförändringar (BCSS) är ett nytt sätt att främja en hållbar livsstilsförändring. Dessa system är mer effektiva då beteendeförändringsteorier tillämpas. Syftet med denna avhandling är att integrera välkända teorier om beteendeförändring i en konceptuell modell av beteendeförändringsframsteg som kan ligga till grund för BCSS. Forskningsfrågan i denna avhandling är: Vilka parametrar för beteendeförändring ska ingå i en konceptuell modell för beteendeförändringsframsteg? Modellen skapades genom att integrera koncept och deras relationer från befintliga teorier om beteendeförändring. Resultatet är ett konceptuellt ramverk som kan fungera som ett verktyg för att förstå orsakssambandet mellan beteendeförändringsbegrepp, för att presentera feedback och för att bygga automatiserade bedömningar. Dessutom utökar modellen redan befintliga kunskapsnätverk.

The writings of Yuk Hui, bringing together technical and philosophical insights, provides new theory for the digital, something desired by many in archival research. The aim of this study is to assess the use of Hui’s theories on digital objects and web ontologies as a unifying theory for archival studies, looking at the concept of digital records in particular. Two types of ontology are needed in order to understand digital objects according to Hui: (1) ontologies which relates to the technical language and hierarchies of knowledge representation, like metadata; (2) Ontology, which is the question of Being in the tradition of Heidegger’s phenomenology, the understanding of what it is to be in the world. Both of these ontologies are needed to account for the nature of the digital object. Further, digital objects are produced and constituted through their relations, which can be divided into discursive (technical and logical) and existential (the understanding of being in the world) relations. Digital objects must be approached both as technical formal entities, and as beings in the world. The first register is common, the second – more existential approach – is rarely applied. Using a metatheoretical and hermeneutic method, different conceptions of digital records are discussed, in order to find commonalities and possibilities in relation to Hui’s theory. The digital record as: a process of becoming, information as affordance, context, temporality and evidence are all related to and structured through the application of Hui’s perspective.   The thesis ends with the contribution of a possible redefinition of digital records: A digital record is constituted and concretised as material by discursive and existential relations, that taken together function as a persistent representation. Further, Hui’s digital object theory is suggested as a structuring and unifying theory. In relation to digital records Hui’s theory on digital objects can function as a metatheoretical measure, and a method of critical reading. / Yuk Hui för samman tekniska och filosofiska perspektiv och erbjuder ny teori för det digitala, något som ofta efterfrågas inom arkivvetenskapen. Syftet med denna studie är att applicera Huis teori om digitala objekt och webontologier som en förenande teori för arkivstudier, specifikt i förhållandet till konceptet digitala records. Två typer av ontologi behövs för att förstå digitala objekt enligt Hui: (1) ontologier som relaterar till tekniskt språk och hierarkiska kunskapsrepresentationer, så som metadata; (2) Ontologi som frågan om varat i fenomenologen Martin Heideggers bemärkelse; förståelsen av vad det är att vara i världen. Båda dessa ontologier behövs för att redogöra för det digitala objektets natur. Vidare produceras och konstitueras digitala objekt genom sina relationer, som kan delas upp i diskursiva (tekniska och logiska) och existentiella (förståelsen av att vara i världen) relationer. Digitala objekt måste förstås både som tekniska formella entiteter och som varelser i världen. Det första perspektivet är vanligt förekommande medan det andra – mer existentiella förhållningssättet – sällan tillämpas. Med hjälp av en metateoretisk och hermeneutisk metod diskuteras olika föreställningar om digitala records för att hitta likheter och möjligheter i relation till Huis teori. Digitala records som: en process av tillblivande, information som affordance, kontext, temporalitet och bevis är koncept som relateras och struktureras genom tillämpningen av Huis perspektiv.   Uppsatsen bidrar med en möjlig omdefinition av digitala records: Ett digitalt record konstitueras och konkretiseras som materiellt genom diskursiva och existentiella relationer vilka, tillsammans, fungerar som en ihållande representation. Vidare framhålls Huis teori för digitala objekt som en strukturerande och förenande teori. I relation till digitala records kan Huis teori om digitala objekt fungera som ett metatoretiskt mått och en metod för kritisk läsning.

This thesis is focused on the material known as the Mesolithic portable art. Earlier research have interpreted the material as representative art relating to ideology, mythology, prestige, ritual practices,and tribalism. Such interpretations are based on theoretical frameworks that build on hylomorphism and Cartesian metaphysics. By a change of theoretical framework, to a new animistic perspective based on a combination of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari’s rhizome theory, Tim Ingold’s meshwork and Giordano Bruno’s theory of bonds in general, followed by the use of ChantalConneller’s method rhizomatic chaîne opératoire, I conclude that the motifs on the tools and pendants are communications to the animated subjects that make up and inhabit the environment. Furthermore, I conclude that the binary positions of function and ritual cannot be applied when studying the formgenerating process of this material, as the tools and pendants along with their applied motifs are a result of what is in between these binary positions.

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