The most influential contribution to the philosophy of religion made by American pragmatism is A Common Faith (originally delivered as the Terry Lectures at Yale University), in which John Dewey calls our attention to the difference between religion and the religious. Dewey believed that traditional religions debilitate our experience of the religious in large part because they insist on a belief in the supernatural. His project calls for a new naturalistic faith based on a democratic community applying the methods of science. Dewey's American context was primarily Christian, as it still is today. It seems obvious that if Dewey's faith is to become truly 'common', then it must successfully engage the Christian majority. My thesis is that it is not possible for Dewey's common faith project to be established within a Christian majority context The development of Dewey's own philosophy of religion is considered, with a special focus on the dramatic change in religious worldview demonstrated in his own life. Dewey's common faith project is presented, along with the four major arguments that have been raised against it (that he misunderstood the nature of the supernatural that he misunderstood traditional religions, the he misunderstood the proper object of faith, and that he misunderstood basic human nature). An effort is made to provide Dewey's project with the philosophical foundation needed to successfully engage a Christian majority community by drawing on four key parallels identified between Dewey's philosophy and traditional Christian teachings: community and koinonia, sympathy and agape, God and logos, and growth and audzano. The conclusion is that Dewey's faith cannot successfully engage its intended context. The increased religious pluralism found in America today only magnifies the weaknesses in Dewey's common faith project Other than the thesis, the two most original contributions to the philosophic dialog found in this dissertation are a new analysis of the supernatural based on the notion of dimensions as developed in string theory, and demonstrating that Christians cannot be both sympathetic and tolerant. A brief exploration of how Dewey's common faith project might engage other contexts is included as well / acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu

The research described in this thesis studies the corneal swelling dynamics that arise from the initial-phase inflammatory response following epithelial debridement of the rabbit cornea. Previous work has demonstrated that there is apoptosis of stromal keratocytes as well as stromal swelling following epithelial debridement. For this study's experimental series, adult New Zealand White rabbit corneas were topically treated in-vivo with inflammatory pathway inhibitors---a synthetic inhibitor of metalloproteinases (SIMP-1), a specific COX-2 inhibitor (DFU), a serine protease inhibitor (aprotinin), IL-1 Receptor Type II, a Ras farnesyltransferase inhibitor (gliotoxin), or as a control the specific vehicle used for each of these inhibitors alone. The corneas were mounted in endothelium-perfused chambers; the corneal epithelium was removed using a rotating bristle brush and the bare stromal surface covered with silicone oil to block fluid movement. Subsequently, corneal thickness was monitored over a period of 1 hour. The swelling responses were analyzed using a trend analysis technique as well as a computational model designed to simulate corneal hydration dynamics. The stromal swelling following epithelial debridement was significantly reduced by pre-treatment with aprotinin, SIMP-1, DFU, or IL-1 receptor type II. Gliotoxin was not effective in reducing the stromal edema. The trend analysis concluded that the swelling curves were representative of a biphasic response. The computational model produced a good fit of both the internal and total swelling dynamics by simulating proteolysis and fluid redistribution due to tissue compression. Our results are consistent with involvement of the COX-2 enzyme, the matrix metalloproteinase family, plasminogens, and interleukin-1 in the trauma-induced inflammatory response of the rabbit cornea. (Abstract shortened by UMI.) / acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu

The elucidation of ion-pair structures of transition metal-organic salts was approached through detailed conductance measurements on tetrahydrofuran (THF) and acetonitrile solutions of bis(triphenyl-phosphine)iminium and alkali salts of carbonylates, hydridocarbonylates, cyclopentadienylcarbonylates, and cyanocarbonylates. The derived conductance parameters were correlated with other physical probes and with chemical reactivity The large bis(triphenylphosphine)iminium cation ({PPN}('+)) was shown to be extensively associated to the above-mentioned anions in THF solution. Ion-pair center-to-center contact distances a were obtained from analysis of conductance-concentration data and compared with known crystallographic parameters. The slightly larger a values were attributed to an equilibrium in solution between contact and solvent-separated ion pairs. The solution geometry of the species {HFe(CO)(,4)}('-) as its {PPN}('+) salt was established from infrared intensity data and demonstrated to be very similar to that found in the solid state structure Interactions of Na('+), {(H(,3)C)(,4)N}('+), and {PPN}('+) with several of the mentioned anions were analyzed. The charge delocalization of the {PPN}('+) cation was shown to be so great that ion-pair interactions produced no perturbation of the anions, as observed via IR, but the sodium ion interacts directly with a carbonyl oxygen or with the cyanide group of the anionic species. Charge-dispersal considerations were used to explain the relative values of (nu)(CO) frequencies. Conductance data indicated all salts to be associated in THF solution and the differences among the cations were apparent. The existence of specific cation interaction in Na('+){HFe(CO)(,4)}('-) was shown to greatly increase the reactivity of the carbonylate towards oxidation (O(,2)) and also towards carbonyl-ligand exchange with gaseous ('13)CO Systems in which the transition metal-organic moiety is cationic were also studied. Conductance measurements established that {((eta)('5)-C(,5)H(,5))Fe((eta)('6)-C(,6)H(,6))}('+) and {((eta)('5)-C(,5)H(,5))Fe((eta)('6)-C(,6)Me(,6))}('+) as salts with several of the anions {BF(,4)}('-), {PF(,6)}('-), {SbF(,6)}('-), and {BPh(,4)}('-), as well as {((eta)('5)-C(,5)H(,5))Fe(CO)(,2)L}('+){BF(,4)}('-), are all associated in THF solutions. Attempts to detect ion-pairing effects on the chemistry of those species, or in locating precise sites of interaction, were unsuccessful The influence of the solvent medium on ion-pairing was addressed in several parts of this work. A closer comparison of the solvent properties of THF and CH(,3)CN, as determined by the actual values of solution conductances and derived parameters, was also made. The dissociation constants in CH(,3)CN were 10('2) to 10('4) larger than those observed in THF, yet the salts were still found to be somewhat associated in the former solvent, despite its much greater polarity. The Fuoss electrostatic expression used to calculate the a values in THF can not be applied to acetonitrile solutions. The approach of Hanna, Pethybridge, and Prue was used instead. However, no unique center-to-center distances could be obtained / acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu