Systematic Theology, like all other disciplines, are subject to basic assumptions about its first principles, which is determinant for the way the discipline understands itself and does its work. The consequential perception the discipline has of knowledge acquisition and method of research in turn determines its interpretation of the knowledge acquired. The three areas of understanding (metaphysical assumptions, epistemological theories and ethical praxis) together form a cycle that builds the basis of a paradigm. Paradigms are continually present and are by nature developmental. The development from the macro-, to the messo-, and micro-levels in the structure of a paradigm is described through the three areas of understanding, providing a method for analysing paradigms. Using a developmental method of observation (affective awareness), analysis (ontological way of understanding), theorising (a different way of thinking) and application (ethical responsible living) suggests a fundamental reconsideration of the task of all disciplines, including systematic theology. / Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics / M. Th.(Systematic Theology)

To accomplish the purpose of this thesis an examination of the hermeneutical method expounded by Athanasius will be made. There are three books that comprise Contra Arianos so the progression of this thesis will follow the progression of the stated Athanasian work. This thesis will also review the relevant passages that Athanasius utilizes to present his case for the Eternal Sonship of Jesus Christ. This review will adequately demonstrate the Athanasian Trinitarian concept of eternal, functional subordination of the Son to the Father. The thesis will also review the word ”homoousios” in order to support the conclusions of Contra Arianos. The word ”homoousios” was the term that became the official recognized position of orthodox Christology at the Council of Nicea. The need for such a review arises from the academic concern that the word ”homoousios” may exclude the idea of functional subordination. A review of this word (along with its history) seems appropriate. However, the conclusion (and defense of that conclusion) that will be presented is that homoousios is not mutually incompatible with the idea of ”functional subordination” in a temporal or eternal relationship. This term and concept will adequately demonstrate that an eternal, functional subordination relationship exists between the Father and Son from the Athanasian point of view. Historical and background studies, which will help interpret and clarify cultural meanings, will also be employed to enhance the study of this thesis. Finally, certain conclusions will be presented showing the results of the study. The conclusions will attempt to answer questions that have undoubtedly arisen in the mind of the informed reader of ancient theology and may help identify and even address contemporary issues concerning the Christological and Trinitarian doctrines. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Theological Studies)

My dissertation focuses on an analysis of postmodern narrative strategies in Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being (ULB) and The Book of Laughter and Forgetting ( BLF) . By analysing the postmodern ab/use of narrative strategies, I argue that postmodern fiction marks a decided shift from both classical realism and modernism. My dissertation has predominantly been motivated through my contention that postmodern fiction is not elitist as it has been perceived to be. Rather, I suggest that postmodern fiction ab/uses narrative strategies to deconstruct the ontological boundaries between the political and private and fiction and 'fact'. Consequently, postmodern fiction interrogates the contrived intelligibility of History. A further argument that I raise is that postmodern fiction through its (re) appropriation, subversion and use of parodic structures creates.narrative space for the Other. In order not to canonize Kundera's texts, I situate both ULB and BLF as 'nodes' within a diffuse network of intertextual discourse. My analyses of the postmodern narrative strategies in ULB and BLF, attempt to interrogate the diffuse 'nature' of postmodern fiction which resists both authorative analysis and closure. In exploring the relationship between recuperation and postmodern narrative strategies in ULB and BLF and other works and/or texts of fiction, I argue that postmodern fiction does not revel in its narrativity, it constitutes, instead, a political strategy / Afrikaans and Theory of Literature / M.A. (Theory of Literature)

This thesis argues that Heidegger’s thought offers crucial insights into the structural challenges that modernity poses to being an ethical and religious person. I argue that these difficulties come down to an instrumentalist conception of truth, a denial or repression of finitude as the condition of meaningfulness, and a philosophical anthropology that is both too subjectivistic and too objectivistic. Yet while Heidegger was good on the diagnosis, he was reluctant to give more than digressive and opaque prescriptions to these problems. My thesis seeks to respond to this lacuna by putting Heidegger’s critical observations in the service of articulating a positive religious ethics. To that end, it seeks to locate—as well as redefine from an ontological perspective—the human dispositions and practices that expose truth in a non-instrumental light, that show finitude as a positive condition of meaningfulness, and that reveal the essence of the human being in non-subjectivist and non- objectivist terms. I argue that these include listening and gratitude—dispositions and practices I claim should form the backbone of any religious ethics, and yet which I also claim should not be limited to those who believe in a personal, theistic God. My thesis contributes to the fields of modern theology and Heidegger Studies in four ways. First, it shows that Heidegger’s critics (such as Levinas and Adorno) are wrong to oppose ontology to ethics. Second, it shows that Heidegger’s critics (such as Marion and Jonas) are wrong to oppose ontology to theology. Third, it shows that Heidegger’s own ambivalence about the ethical and theological relevance of his thought allows for the development of a deeply ethical and theological posture. And fourth, it offers a unique, post-Heideggerian interpretation of gratitude, one in which it is understood as a structure of Dasein that is both “always already” and “not yet” operative.

Resource integration, as it relates to value creation, has recently been a key aspect of the discussions about service-dominant (S-D) logic. However, the majority of research pays relatively little explicit attention to the process of theorizing and the epistomological and ontological assumptions upon which the theorizing process is based. This article addresses these issues. The processes that relate to theorizing and developing strong theory are discussed. We then examine how to conceptualize ‘resources’ and ‘resource integration’ following differing ontological and epistemological assumptions that guide the theorizing process. Research recommendations to help navigate through the finer details underlying the theorizing process and to advance a general theory of resource integration are developed.

In my Master's thesis, I focus on the problem of dependence and independence of elementary propositions in the Tractatus and Some Remarks on Logical Form. The main issue I wish to analyze in my investigation is the question of whether the independence of elementary propositions (asserted in the Tractatus) is necessary for the maintenance of Tractarian truth-functional analysis of propositions. The motivation behind this is the fact that, in the SRLF, Wittgenstein explicitly rejects, after precise argumentation, the independence of elementary propositions concerning characteristics allowing gradation. After analyzing the essential arguments and precise rendering of independence of elementary propositions in the Tractatus and considering arguments for their dependence in the SRLF, I argue that (based on my analysis of both works) the mutual dependence of some elementary propositions is not problematic for Tractarian truth-functional analysis.

Jacques Joseph Scientific Realism and the Natural World M.A. thesis Abstract The main topic of this work is the relation between the natural world and the world of the natural sciences, and furthermore the relation of both these worlds to our conception of an external reality "as it really is". The core of the work is rooted mainly in the Anglo-American analytical philosophy of science, namely the debate concerning scientific realism, with a section dedicated to Husserl's conception of the relation between the natural world and natural sciences (as described in his Krisis). The goal of this work is to show scientific realism as broken beyond repair, and to then offer an alternative. The problems that plague realism run deep into its roots, many of which it shares with its opponents, the new alternative theory therefore needs to be completely different. This work suggests the "Natural ontological attitude" (NOA) presented by Arthur Fine, a theory that tries to salvage the intuitions that made realism seem so attractive. NOA is then developped, using texts by W. V. O. Quine and D. Davidson, as a minimalistic metaphysics based strongly on language that still manages to provide a relation to an extra-linguistic reality.

During the past ten years, European politics experienced a rise of far right-wing parties because of intensified levels of insecurity among the public (Falasca & Grandien, 2017). These parties organize their political discourse around topics of nationalism and a strong opinion against immigration, the Euro and the European Union (Breeze, 2019; Häusler, 2018). One of these parties is the Alternative for Germany (AfD) which celebrated a major success in the federal elections in 2017 where it became the third largest party in the German Bundestag.   The present study aims to analyze the campaign posters of the AfD as one element of their strategic political communication for the 2017 election period in the context of the party’s growing popularity among German society. To accomplish that goal, the qualitative method of multimodal critical discourse analysis (MCDA) is applied. The MCDA analyzes written and visual content. The study seeks to identify the narratives implemented by the party and analyze them by drawing on the concept of nationalism. Furthermore, the analysis aims to identify the frames created around the main issues addressed in the party’s political agenda by discussing them in relation to the concepts of ontological security and existential anxiety by Giddens (1991) and the framing theory by Goffman (1974).   The study reveals that the AfD highlights in its political communication one main conflict: The German public versus the immigrants. The immigrants are framed as the threatening strange other whose cultural values, and religious beliefs contradict with those of the Germans who are depicted as the victims. This is achieved through the posters which seek to elicit fear and hatred towards the strange new to increase the insecurities perceived by the public. The party, on the contrary, represents itself as the savior of the German nation, its traditions, and values which they aim to maintain and protect from Muslim influence.

O objetivo deste trabalho é pesquisar e classificar as diversas concepções filosóficas sobre o mundo físico e a ciência em um grupo específico de físicos: professores do Instituto de Física da Universidade de São Paulo. O trabalho começou com a criação de um questionário envolvendo julgamentos ou opiniões sobre alguns assuntos da física, sempre procurando abordar conceitos fundamentais da filosofia da ciência, como verdade, realismo, reducionismo, determinismo, natureza do tempo físico, objetivos da ciência e visões religiosas. De posse desse questionário realizamos entrevistas com dez professores do Instituto de Física da USP e então partimos para as análises dessas respostas. A metodologia utilizada seguiu os princípios da pesquisa qualitativa associada à análise de conteúdo. Isso que nos permitiu o estabelecimento de critérios de classificação para as diversas concepções filosóficas encontradas nas respostas dos entrevistados e a criação de categorias que foram ilustradas com representações diagramáticas. Com esta pesquisa, pretende-se deixar abertos caminhos para que, no futuro, possam ser investigadas conexões com o ensino na sala de aula, os livros didáticos, práticas pedagógicas, estratégias de ensino, novas sequências didáticas, etc. Além disso, espera-se que essa pesquisa possa tornar-se um forte aliado no processo de ensino-aprendizagem de determinados fenômenos, influenciando também a maneira como a natureza da ciência é apresentada e como a Física é ensinada. / The aim of this study is to investigate and classify the various philosophical conceptions about the physical world and science in a specific group of physicists: teachers of the Institute of Physics at the University of São Paulo (USP). The work began with the creation of a questionnaire involving judgments or opinions on some subjects of physics, addressing fundamental concepts of philosophy of science, such as truth, realism, reductionism, determinism, nature of physical time, aims of science, and religious views. With this questionnaire, interviews were conducted with ten professors from the Institute of Physics of USP, and then an analysis of the answers was made. The methodology used followed the principles of qualitative research associated with content analysis. This enabled us to establish criteria for classification for the various philosophical concepts found in the answers of the respondents, and to create categories that were illustrated with diagrammatic representations. We hope that in the future this research can be connected to issues in classroom teaching, textbooks, teaching practices, teaching strategies, new didactic sequences, etc. In addition, we hope that this research can become a strong ally in the teaching-learning process of certain phenomena, influencing the way the nature of science is presented and how physics is taught.

Submitted by JOSIANE SANTOS DE OLIVEIRA (josianeso) on 2017-10-17T11:29:03Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Gustavo Henrique de Souza_.pdf: 1079480 bytes, checksum: 8fd3bb0bd31939c3ff6017311f7f7863 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-10-17T11:29:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Gustavo Henrique de Souza_.pdf: 1079480 bytes, checksum: 8fd3bb0bd31939c3ff6017311f7f7863 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-07-18 / Nenhuma / O assunto carreira passou por significativas evoluções nas últimas décadas, trazendo uma nova perspectiva da proeminência do indivíduo sobre a organização. A carreira passa a ser compreendida como uma sequência constituída por todas as experiências profissionais do indivíduo ao longo de sua vida. Esta dissertação propõe um modelo ontológico e um sistema de tutoria para gestão de carreiras voltado à aprendizagem de estratégias meta-cognitivas de gestão da carreira. O modelo formaliza as variáveis causais descritas por King para a gestão pessoal de carreiras e está orientado para a carreira de Tecnologia de Informação (TI). Para tanto foi necessário uma análise empírica do mercado de trabalho em TI a fim de elicitar o plano de carreiras desta área, posteriormente formalizada por uma ontologia especificada em OWL. A abordagem pedagógica do sistema de orientação de carreiras MaxMentor, construído para demonstrar à aplicabilidade do modelo, utiliza o conceito de situação problema discutido por Perrenoud (2000). Após apresentar as principais características tecnológicas e arquiteturais do sistema MaxMentor, a dissertação se encerra com a apresentação dos resultados preliminares da avaliação empírica e da usabilidade do sistema, que mostram boas evidências da utilidade do sistema para auxiliar na vida profissional e no pensamento crítico sobre como gerir a própria. / The subject career has undergone significant evolutions in the last decades, bringing a new perspective of the prominence of the individual on the organization. The career begins to be understood as a sequence consisting of all the professional experiences of the individual throughout his life. This dissertation proposes an ontological model and a mentoring system for career management aimed at learning meta-cognitive strategies of career management. The model formalizes the causal variables described by King for personal career management and is career oriented in Information Technology (IT). For this, an empirical analysis of the labor market in IT was necessary to elicit the career plan of this area, later formalized by an ontology specified in OWL. The pedagogical approach of the MaxMentor career guidance system, built to demonstrate the applicability of the model, uses the problem situation concept discussed by Perrenoud (2000). After presenting the main technological and architectural characteristics of the MaxMentor system, the dissertation concludes with the presentation of the preliminary results of the empirical evaluation and the usability of the system, which show good evidence of the usefulness of the system to assist professional life and critical thinking about how to manage their own.