What is pain, what does it mean that the subject has a relationship with it, and how does this affect his identity and existence? My definition of pain is derived from that proposed by scientists such as Melzack and Wall, and Freud. Pain is a dynamic, multilayered, diverse collection of experiences which impact and influence the subject throughout life. Pain is a kind of conglomerate of past, traumatic, neurobiological, psychological and emotional imprints--pain as in suffering or being in pain. The aim of this thesis is to argue that it is not pain, as such, but the relationship of the subject to (his/her) pain which is most significant to his/her processes of life. In examining the combination of two theories of pain, namely, Freud’s psychosexual theory of development and Melzack’s theory of the Neuromatrix, my thesis endeavours to evidence my theory by using case study methodology. The similarities in the theories which are a hundred years apart have sparked my interest to propose that there is the distinct possibility for the existence of what I have named a Psychomatrix--patterns of pain (loss - abandonment, grief, rejection, desire) imprinted from infancy within an innate matrix that are specifically translated by their own ‘psychological and emotional neural loops’ and therefore, similar to the neuromatrix concept. As pain is triggered these ‘loops’ become more ingrained as information is analysed and coded to create a continuous (subjective) experience of suffering or being in pain. This is also true for positive emotions, such as love and joy, however I suggest that pain is the primary, and most significant emotion that needs to be understood in order to understand the others which are triggered by the same neural – psychological and physical – pathways as incidental emotions of the quality of existence. A vast spectrum of (on-going) research has identified the impact of cultural, religious, social and political factors on pain and pain management. I suggest that all of these figure in the conglomerate. Using a psychoanalytical frame of reference this is a theoretical and conceptual thesis. My final conclusion is that pain becomes an object that compels the subject to respond accordingly and consequently, from birth to death, defining his/her identity and existence.

Music’s allure lies in its power to stir the emotions. But the relation between the physical properties of an acoustic signal and its emotional impact remains an open area of research. This paper reports the results and possible implications of a pilot study and survey used to construct an emotion index for subjective ratings of music. The dimensions of pleasure and arousal exhibit high reliability. Eighty-five participants’ ratings of 100 song excerpts are used to benchmark the predictive accuracy of several combinations of acoustic preprocessing and statistical learning algorithms. The Euclidean distance between acoustic representations of an excerpt and corresponding emotionweighted visualizations of a corpus of music excerpts provided predictor variables for linear regression that resulted in the highest predictive accuracy of mean pleasure and arousal values of test songs. This new technique also generated visualizations that show how rhythm, pitch, and loudness interrelate to influence our appreciation of the emotional content of music.

No description available.

This thesis is a study of the theories of pleasure as proposed in Plato’s Philebus, Aristotle’s EN VII.11-14 and EN X.1-5, with particular emphasis on the value of pleasure. Focusing on the Philebus in Chapters 1 and 2, I argue that the account of pleasure as restorative process of a harmonious state in the soul is in tension with Plato’s claim that some pleasures are good in their own right. I show that there are in fact two ways in which pleasure (and other processes of the soul) can have value in the Philebus. The tension in Plato’s position arises because he focuses exclusively on only one way in which pleasure can have value. Chapter 3 deals with Aristotle’s response to Plato in EN VII.11-14. According to the standard interpretation only complete activities (such as thinking and seeing) can be pleasures in their own right, but not incomplete activities (such as eating and drinking). Since this interpretation attributes to Aristotle both an implausible view and a bad response to Plato, I offer a novel interpretation of EN VII.12 according to which the central contrast is not between complete and incomplete activities, but between states and their use. This interpretation is more faithful to Aristotle’s text and gives him a better response to Plato. In Chapter 4 I turn to the central claim of EN X.4-5 that pleasure perfects an activity. I argue that we cannot understand how pleasure functions unless we take into account the state whose activation is perfected by pleasure. In particular, the agent’s disposition of being a lover of a certain activity (an attitude which belongs to the activated state) is crucial for explaining why the agent takes pleasure in it. The focus on the agent’s attitude highlights that the value of pleasure does not depend solely on the value of the activity (as many interpreters assume). I suggest instead that pleasure is valuable when and because it is an appropriate response to a given situation.

Syftet med denna uppsats bestod dels i att undersöka hur musik och dess tempo påverkar kunders emotioner, beteende och upplevelse i butik, men syftade även till att undersöka i vilken omfattning pleasure, arousal och dominance predicerar tillfredsställelse, närmande- undvikande sökbeteende, generell närmande- undvikande beteende samt upplevelse av servicescape. Undersökningen genomfördes som ett fältexperiment i butiksmiljö (N= 431), utifrån en oberoende mellan-individ-design. Musik användes som oberoende variabel (högt tempo, lågt tempo och frånvaro av musik). De beroende variablerna var pleasure, arousal och dominance, tillfredsställelse samt närmande- undvikande beteende vari även köp och spenderad tid i butik inkluderades. Datainsamlingsmetod utgjordes av en enkät. Resultatet visade signifikant att musik påverkar ny dominance utifrån att musik med högt tempo leder till lägre grad av kontroll. Resultatet visade även att kunders emotioner så som pleasure, arousal och dominance signifikant förklarar kunders tillfredsställelse, närmande- undvikande sökbeteende, generell närmande- undvikande beteende samt upplevelse av servicescape. / The purpose of this study consisted in examining how the music and the tempo affect customers' emotions, behavior and experience in stores but also aimed to examine the extent of pleasure, arousal and dominance predicts satisfaction, approach-avoidance search behavior, generalized approach-avoidance behavior and experience of servicescape. The survey was conducted as a field experiment in a retail environment (N= 431), based on an independent between-subject design. Music was used as the independent variable (high speed, low speed and absence of music). The dependent variables were pleasure, arousal and dominance, satisfaction and approach-avoidance behavior whereby purchase and time spent in the store was included. Data collection method consisted of a questionnaire. The results showed significant that music tempo affects new dominance based on the music with high tempo leads to lower degree of control. The results also showed that customers’ emotions such as pleasure, arousal and dominance significantly explains customers satisfaction, approach-avoidance search behavior, generalized approach-avoidance behavior and experience of servicescape.

Although the Epicurean ethical system is fundamentally egoistic and hedonistic, it attributes a surprisingly significant role to friendship. Even so, I argue that traditional discussions of Epicurean friendship fail to adequately account for the value (or pleasure) of individual friends. In this thesis I present an amended notion of Epicurean friendship that better accounts for all of the pleasure friends afford. However, the success of my project requires rejecting an Epicurean ethical principle. Because of this, I explore textual evidence both in favor and against the amended notion I propose and the problematic ethical principle. After arguing against the problematic ethical principle and dispelling additional objections to my project, I conclude that Epicureans should endorse the amended notion of friendship I have developed.

No description available.

This thesis is comprised of a series of paintings that study historical representations of styles, forms and symbols found in gardens. It is less a research project into the history, meaning, and rules of these different gardens throughout time and more of an appreciation, appropriation and reinvention in fantastical form. There is no attempt in these paintings to represent objects or things that exist in the physical world, but instead a desire to create a new fantasy world. The image of ‘garden as paradise’ has been part of our human mythos for a very long time. The image of ‘garden of eden’ appears in the old testament of the Bible. There was a similar early image of ‘garden as paradise’ in Zoroastrian beliefs in ancient ‘Persia’. / Master of Architecture

This report describes the plans for, implementation of, and results of a reading club program conducted at a middle school. This program was a modification of an unsuccessful one that was criticized by the staff and students for lack of structure and meaning. The literature supported the need for students taking time out of the school day for pleasure reading. Krashen (1993), Atwell (1998), and Irvin (1998) all have recommended that students should be permitted to read appropriate reading materials of their choice and that they should be provided with a wide range of materials from which to choose. Therefore, a revised club program, the Take Time To Read Club, designed to offer an alternative to pullout clubs, was agreed upon by a club revision committee. Three objectives were established. The 1st objective was to increase the amount of time students spent reading for pleasure. The 2nd objective was to improve the perception of the reading club program as measured by an 80% positive response rate to a faculty survey. The 3rd objective was to increase reading achievement levels by at least 5% as measured by Metropolitan Achievement Test and Grade 8 Early Warning Test (New Jersey State Department of Education, 1997) scores. None of the 3 objectives was completely realized as the result of this practicum. However, increases did occur in pleasure-reading times in instances when motivational factors were present. Also, teachers' positive perceptions did increase by 22% to 57%. There were slight increases in test scores in the 6th and 7th grades.

Submitted by Rosivalda Pereira (mrs.pereira@ufma.br) on 2017-05-22T19:09:18Z No. of bitstreams: 1 MarcioCosta.pdf: 570818 bytes, checksum: 7133c5ab460889c9d5ebfa5ab644b9e3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-22T19:09:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MarcioCosta.pdf: 570818 bytes, checksum: 7133c5ab460889c9d5ebfa5ab644b9e3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 216-05-08 / The use and addiction on psychoactive substances have been a noticeable concern nowadays. Be it for its constant presence in the media or because it is a challenging matter for researchers and jurists, we consider this to be a relevant issue for our society. In such context, through theoretical research, based on the lacanian return to the freudian theories , we aim to analyze the phaenomenon of toxicomania through the perspective of the psychoanalysis. As we work with toxicomania through the psychoanalytic point-of-view, it implies that the unconsciousness is the basis of our considerations, so that our objective and interest is not the drug itself, but the effects on the subject which engages in such addiction. Taking into consideration that the subject cannot be reducted to individuality, we intend to analyze how the toxicomania refers also to the social structure. We aim to search for the theoretical foundations that justify the assumption that toxicomania is not a particular symptom, but one that relates to our current social structure. In order to meet these purpouses, it was necessary to articulate our major issue with concepts such as pleasure, repetition and jouissance. / O consumo e dependência de substâncias psicoativas têm ocupado um lugar de destaque na atualidade. Seja por sua presença constante nos veículos midiáticos, seja pelo desafio que representa tanto para o legislador quanto para o pesquisador, consideramos que essa é uma temática premente para nossa sociedade. Nesse cenário, por meio de uma pesquisa teórica, fundamentada no retorno a Freud realizado por Lacan, interrogamos o fenômeno da toxicomania pela perspectiva da psicanálise. O trabalho com a toxicomania pela via psicanalítica implica considerar o inconsciente como suporte de toda consideração que aqui realizamos, de modo que nosso ponto de partida e foco de interesse não é a droga, e sim o que se passa no nível do sujeito que pode se engajar nos tóxicos. Levando em consideração que o sujeito não é redutível ao individual, objetivamos analisar como a toxicomania concerne ao social. Buscamos situar as balizas teóricas que justificam a proposição de que a toxicomania não é um sintoma particularizável, mas que concerne ao nosso modo atual de organização social. Para tanto, se impôs a nós o trabalho de articulação de nosso tema central com noções como prazer, repetição e gozo.