Thesis advisor: Michael J. Himes / This study will offer a systematic reflection on the topic of a personal relationship between God and human persons. / Thesis (STL) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

My thesis explores what is involved in attaining an integrated sense of self, a question which is both interesting in its own right and which can also provide one enlightening means of comparing the disciplines of theology and psychology. The first two chapters establish the theological method to be followed and provide an ideological context. I describe why the relationship between theology and psychology is a particularly problematic one and outline why I think some of the methods so far proposed for relating them are unsatisfactory. I suggest instead that in some respects the two disciplines may be seen as providing alternative strategies for securing the unity of the self. With the aid of Charles Taylor's philosophy of personhood, I set out what I mean by the self and what constitutes the unity of the self. I describe how the modem self has developed historically through the relation of individuals to sources of value, and I suggest that theology and some forms of psychology can be understood as offering expressions of complementary sources of such value and hence can be related to one another. I consider postmodern attacks on the unified self and conclude that our contemporary context is one which demands less strongly ordered forms of integrating the self than those which have come down to us in the Western intellectual tradition. The next four chapters focus on the work of key representatives of the theological and psychological traditions. From the side of theology, I describe Augustine's conviction that an individual might move from a state of fragmentation to a state of wholeness through being remade in the image of the one God (chapter 3). From the psychological side, I consider Freud's methods for enabling us to move from a state of neurosis to limited self-mastery (chapter 4), and Jung's suggestion that wholeness is attained though discovery and acceptance of the natural realm lying within the psyche (chapter 5). 1 then review the proposals for uniting the self behind the project of self-actualisation that have been developed by the humanistic psychologists, in particular Fromm, Maslow and Rogers (chapter 6).In conclusion (chapter 7) 1 suggest some ways in which Augustine's theology needs to be revised if it is to be relevant to our contemporary self-understanding, and show how the most promising strategy for unifying the self is likely to arise from a combination of an Augustinian theistic outlook with the insights of these modem psychologists.

Aim: The aim of this thesis is to elaborate a theological understanding of health care at its most vulnerable point: the meaning and exercise of personhood itself. Personhood, as I develop the concept, is understood in relational terms. Through this exploration of the relational dimensions of the human person, I provide a conceptual framework in which health care is able to derive fresh vigour and inspiration. This approach accomplishes two things: it establishes a role for theological insights in the public discourse of health care; secondly, it demonstrates that theology is able to assist health care to better understand itself and renew itself. As an exercise in Practical Theology, the investigation is interdisciplinary in nature, drawing on insights from philosophy, health care and various dimensions of theology. Scope: Historically, the focus of theologically motivated contributions to health and medicine has been on ethical dilemmas that arise in clinical practice. In this thesis, however, the focus is on bringing theology and health care into dialogue in order to advance the conversation between the two disciplines. The thesis, therefore, has three elements that determine its scope. Firstly, advancing the place of the human person in health care theory and practice: hence, this thesis is an exercise in practical theology. Secondly, situating theology in a field of engagement with wider contemporary culture—especially the culture of health care—in a genuinely interdisciplinary manner. Thirdly, critiquing current theory and practice in health care, and reinvigorating the central meanings and values that inform and motivate health care. Conclusions: There are five substantial conclusions deriving from the research and argument of this thesis: Firstly, and the basis for other conclusions, the theology developed in the thesis argues that a relational model of the human person is indispensable to contemporary health care. Secondly, while relational personhood is not a panacea for all the dilemmas posed by modern health care, thinking about personhood in relational terms opens the possibility of a dialogical approach to ethical dilemmas in health care. Thirdly, relational personhood represents a fundamental shift in the discourse of health care and of theology. Fourthly, a focus on relationships inspires a priority for the vulnerable and gives rise to an ethic of responsibility. Fifthly, a practical theology of relational personhood can bring about a rapprochement between religious concerns and health care.As I note in the conclusion to the thesis: “These are not dramatic claims but they do have the capacity to transform both disciplines and to enable them to more adequately meet their own goals.”

Roger Smith has noted that theology has been overlooked within studies looking at early modern contructions of personhood. This thesis looks at the Lutheran pastor Christian Scriver’s (1629-1693) Gottholds zufälliger Andachten (1667), a popular seventeenth-century devotional, in order to investigate the way in which the author utilized his understanding of theology in order to help the people under his spiritual care refashion a sense of both self and identity within the turbulent decades following the Thirty Years’ War. This study challenges current historiographies which either marginalize the place of theology within early modern discussions of personhood and identity, or which treat theology’s contribution as being nothing more than a fostering of a radical affective-interiority. It also complicates the received historiographical caricature of Scriver as an uncritical proponent of Arndtian spirituality. Scriver’s zufälliger Andachten illustrate a rich social and interpersonal conception of what it means to be human, built upon the foundations of a Lutheran theological anthropology. Combined with Scriver’s adaptation of medieval exemplarism, and set within Luther’s reformation of the medieval practice of devotional reading, Scriver’s Andachten offer a useful glimpse into the way in which early modern devotional writings contributed to the creation of confessional identities through a process of what Lance Lazar has called “devotional modeling.” At the same time, I argue for a more thorough engagement with theology among historians as a formative part of early modern cultural discourse.

Roger Smith has noted that theology has been overlooked within studies looking at early modern contructions of personhood. This thesis looks at the Lutheran pastor Christian Scriver’s (1629-1693) Gottholds zufälliger Andachten (1667), a popular seventeenth-century devotional, in order to investigate the way in which the author utilized his understanding of theology in order to help the people under his spiritual care refashion a sense of both self and identity within the turbulent decades following the Thirty Years’ War. This study challenges current historiographies which either marginalize the place of theology within early modern discussions of personhood and identity, or which treat theology’s contribution as being nothing more than a fostering of a radical affective-interiority. It also complicates the received historiographical caricature of Scriver as an uncritical proponent of Arndtian spirituality. Scriver’s zufälliger Andachten illustrate a rich social and interpersonal conception of what it means to be human, built upon the foundations of a Lutheran theological anthropology. Combined with Scriver’s adaptation of medieval exemplarism, and set within Luther’s reformation of the medieval practice of devotional reading, Scriver’s Andachten offer a useful glimpse into the way in which early modern devotional writings contributed to the creation of confessional identities through a process of what Lance Lazar has called “devotional modeling.” At the same time, I argue for a more thorough engagement with theology among historians as a formative part of early modern cultural discourse.

THIS THESIS IS IN THE PROCESS OF EXAMINATION / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Philosophy / unrestricted

This thesis is an ethnographic study carried out with the Bororo people in Central Brazil. It focuses on how Bororo people’s moral experiences are transformed through modernisation, evangelisation and globalisation. It will demonstrate that in spite of the cultural and communicational transformations entailed by the villages’ global interconnections, the significance of two cultural prohibitions—moiety endogamy and the aije spirits (men’s secret)—continue to inform the moral actions of contemporary Bororo. Through the use of filmmaking and film elicitation methods, the thesis investigates each of these prohibitions and contends that they are constitutive of the Boe gendered person. The study argues that in the midst of radical cultural and communicational transformation, it is through the construction of the gendered person that continuity is ensured. The thesis describes the radical transformations in two Bororo villages with particular attention to the youths’ participation on social media networking through the Internet. It also stresses the importance of the notion of ‘romantic love’ in contemporary village life whilst also demonstrating how the prohibition on moiety endogamous marriages continues to inform the experience of Bororo multividuals. In order to investigate this issue, I explored the themes of ‘romantic love’ and moiety endogamy through the making of the visual ethnography In Search of a Bororo Mr. Right which accompanies the thesis. Whilst I investigate moiety endogamy through the making of a film, the significance of the aije spirits emerged in a process of feedback screenings, which unexpectedly turned into film elicitation sessions for the film medium, brought to the surface the strength of women’s fear of these beings. Drawing on the analysis of the two prohibitions taken together, I argue that the Boe gendered person is constructed through the mediation of village relations with ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ others. In this sense, women are responsible for the manipulation of marriage alliances and the inspection of new babies (who are dangerous ‘others’) about whom they have the power over life or death. By the same token, men are primarily responsible for mediating relationships with ‘outside’ others (spirits, animals, non-indigenous peoples). They are in charge of unmaking dead bodies and conducting new souls to the village of the dead. Whilst the Boe gendered person is what ensures continuity in the midst of radical change, the village relations with the ‘inside’ and the ‘outside’ are in the process of transformation for the presence of the media, and the Internet in the villages is multiplying otherness and the spaces it inhabits.

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While most scholars know, or think they know, what Plato says about the soul, there is less certainty regarding what he says about the self. Some scholars even assert that the ancient Greeks did not possess the concepts of self or person. This dissertation sets out to examine those passages throughout Plato's dialogues that most clearly require some notion of the self or the person, and by doing so to clarify the logical lineaments of these concepts as they existed in fourth century Athens. Because Plato wrote dialogues, I restrict myself to analyzing the concepts of self and person as they appear in the mouths of various Platonic characters and refrain from speculating whether Plato himself endorses what his characters say. In spite of this restriction, I find a number of striking ideas that set the stage for further philosophical development. After an introductory chapter, in Chapters 2 and 3 I argue that the identification of the person with the soul and the identification of the human being with the composite of soul and body make possible a conceptual split between person and human being. In Chapter 4, I argue that the tripartite account of the soul suggests an ideal identification of the person with the rational aspect of the soul rather than the lower aspects of one's psychology. Finally, in Chapter 5 I argue that the analogical link between rationality in us and the rational order of the cosmos leads to the conclusion that the true self is, in some sense, divine.

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