The dissertation pursues the thesis that although Karol Wojtyła makes great strides in expanding the notion of subjectivity beyond consciousness and then establishing the other as acting subject as the foundation for ethical personalism, his analysis could be significantly enhanced through engagement with the classical Confucian interpersonal ethical sensibility. After all, Wojtyła reviles both individualistic and collectivistic forms of ethics. With Jean-Paul Sartre functioning as a foil for the purposes of appraisal, we can see how Wojtyła extends the notion of subjectivity into the dimension of action and how he establishes the person and, moreover, the other as subject, that is, as acting subject. Subjectivity understood on the basis of action instead of (as reducible to) consciousness is compatible with the personalistic ethical postulate “to treat the other not as an object but as a subject.” On Wojtyła’s account, ethical action is an interaction ipso facto and implies intersubjectivity insofar as one’s action is guided by the other’s subjectivity. What is more, Wojtyła contends not only that the subject is the person but also that person is act. In so doing, he has set the stage for an interpersonal ethics that is the middle way between individualistic and collectivistic forms of ethics. The trajectory of Wojtyła’s ethics bends toward the interpersonal dimension of the human condition, but, perhaps held back by his metaphysics and soteriology, he never fully or methodically develops this interpersonal ethical sensibility. It is regarding this lack that an appeal to Confucius and classical Confucianism is auspicious. Indeed, there is a somewhat surprising but striking compatibility between Wojtyłan personalist ethics and classical Confucian humanistic ethics. They are both built around the interpersonal dimension. While the interpersonal ethical sensibility of the classical Confucians lacks modern theoretical development, unlike Wojtyła they provide vivid descriptions of interpersonal ethical conduct and a clearer vision for an interpersonal ethical program. What emerges from adapting Wojtyła’s ethics to the classical Confucian interpersonal ethical sensibility is enhancement of the Wojtyłan interpersonal ethos and a comprehensive interpersonalist ethics.

This thesis addresses a major trend (what might be termed a “post-Buddhism”) within contemporary Western Buddhist thinking, and hence practice, emphasising the epistemic, existential and ethical autonomy of self as it engages with the Asian Buddhist traditions. Aligning its enquiry with a corresponding hermeneutic of the Buddha‘s biography in his “second renunciation” (his social-psychological and praxiological relinquishment of the structures of religious authority) it focuses on the work of contemporary Western dharma teachers Stephen Batchelor, David Loy and Alan Clements. Their respective emphases of agnostic doubt, ontological groundlessness, and existential-ethical autonomy are investigated in turn, alongside a corresponding reading of the Buddha‘s praxis prior to his enlightenment. Of interest to academic Buddhist Studies, this analysis introduces potential re-theorisations of the meta-epistemic nature of Buddhist praxis and the phenomenology of self and Buddhist ‘non-self’ as it/they engage with both Buddhist and Derridean deconstructive (contemplative and intellectual) praxis. It also considers a re-contextualisation of Buddhist ethics as it is influenced by the deconstructive and ethical strategies of Derrida and Levinas, as well as a (native but under-explored) Buddhist ‘ethics of non-duality.’ (All of these themes might be seen as more or less implicit also in the work of Western Buddhist theorists such as Roger Jackson, John Makransky, José Ignacio Cabezón, Alan B. Wallace, John Pickering and so on, and their deconstructionist counterparts in John Caputo, Robert Magliola, Steven Laycock, Carl Olson and others.) The thesis concludes with a general theorisation of the newly-inflected models of Buddhist enlightenment, praxiology and ethical engagement that necessarily emerge from such a shift of emphasis: a post-secular, non-hierarchical trans-religious culture of self-determination both within and without tradition. The Buddha‘s enlightenment itself emerges as a heterogeneous culture of human freedoms rather than a form of univocal religious transcendence. Similarly, Batchelor, Loy and Clements’ concerns around authenticity can be seen as productive elements of an evolving model of Buddhism within Western culture: one that in paradoxically grounding itself in ‘groundlessness,’ returns to the meta-religious roots of Gotama Buddha‘s own socio-historic transformation of the (religious and other) conditions of his time. Such a transformation becomes characterised by a greater attention to the contingencies of the unique self and its environment, knowledge-acquisition and its constructed character, justice and ethical ambiguity, and the indeterminacy of normative religious claims.

This thesis addresses a major trend (what might be termed a “post-Buddhism”) within contemporary Western Buddhist thinking, and hence practice, emphasising the epistemic, existential and ethical autonomy of self as it engages with the Asian Buddhist traditions. Aligning its enquiry with a corresponding hermeneutic of the Buddha‘s biography in his “second renunciation” (his social-psychological and praxiological relinquishment of the structures of religious authority) it focuses on the work of contemporary Western dharma teachers Stephen Batchelor, David Loy and Alan Clements. Their respective emphases of agnostic doubt, ontological groundlessness, and existential-ethical autonomy are investigated in turn, alongside a corresponding reading of the Buddha‘s praxis prior to his enlightenment. Of interest to academic Buddhist Studies, this analysis introduces potential re-theorisations of the meta-epistemic nature of Buddhist praxis and the phenomenology of self and Buddhist ‘non-self’ as it/they engage with both Buddhist and Derridean deconstructive (contemplative and intellectual) praxis. It also considers a re-contextualisation of Buddhist ethics as it is influenced by the deconstructive and ethical strategies of Derrida and Levinas, as well as a (native but under-explored) Buddhist ‘ethics of non-duality.’ (All of these themes might be seen as more or less implicit also in the work of Western Buddhist theorists such as Roger Jackson, John Makransky, José Ignacio Cabezón, Alan B. Wallace, John Pickering and so on, and their deconstructionist counterparts in John Caputo, Robert Magliola, Steven Laycock, Carl Olson and others.) The thesis concludes with a general theorisation of the newly-inflected models of Buddhist enlightenment, praxiology and ethical engagement that necessarily emerge from such a shift of emphasis: a post-secular, non-hierarchical trans-religious culture of self-determination both within and without tradition. The Buddha‘s enlightenment itself emerges as a heterogeneous culture of human freedoms rather than a form of univocal religious transcendence. Similarly, Batchelor, Loy and Clements’ concerns around authenticity can be seen as productive elements of an evolving model of Buddhism within Western culture: one that in paradoxically grounding itself in ‘groundlessness,’ returns to the meta-religious roots of Gotama Buddha‘s own socio-historic transformation of the (religious and other) conditions of his time. Such a transformation becomes characterised by a greater attention to the contingencies of the unique self and its environment, knowledge-acquisition and its constructed character, justice and ethical ambiguity, and the indeterminacy of normative religious claims.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:36:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MariaELL_TESE.pdf: 2064229 bytes, checksum: 1ae0570b9ab0f0212407e10c7193b281 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-07-14 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / This research, whose theme is related to climacteric, aims to know the social representation of menopause developed by the nurses working for Estrat?gia Sa?de da Fam?lia (Family Health Strategy) in Jo?o Pessoa PB, as well as identifying its structure and verifying the way it interferes with the assistance and educational practices to the climacterial user. In the theoretical level, it is based on a model that articulates the social representations theory, the central nucleus complementary theory and the central concepts of Pierre Bourdieu s praxiology: habitus, cultural capital, social field and symbolic power. A hundred and forty-seven female nurses who work for Estrat?gia Sa?de da Fam?lia (Family Health Strategy) in Jo?o Pessoa (PB) took part in this research, and the data collection period was from February 2008 to March 2009. As to the methods and techniques, we used the method to determine the central nucleus based on the free association of words, a questionnaire to identify certain regularities that constitute the nurses habitus, and the semi-structured interview to explore opinions and attitudes when facing assistance situations and educational practices and to collect other relevant information. The data analysis was developed, when referring to the free associations, with the help of the EVOC software, which is a group of articulated programs which carry out the statistical analysis of the evocations and the identification of the possible elements of both the central nucleus and the peripheral system of the social representation. As to the questionnaire, we used the descriptive statistical analysis and the analysis of correlation between the variables. The interviews were submitted to a categorical analysis of the content. The EVOC result indicated that the cognition hormone was the only element of the central nucleus of the social representation of menopause. Due to its symbolic value and structuring power, this central nucleus ensures the strict and, at the same time, flexible character of the representational content. The analysis of the social advancement, of some fundamental features of the group habitus, as well as the analysis of its insertion in the health field and of the attitudinal opinions and dispositions concerning the assistance given to the climacterial user, and the analysis of the pedagogical dimension of this assistance, all these analyses lead to the conclusion that the nurses who took part in this research share a social representation of the menopause resulting from the association of different technical and scientific knowledge. These derive from the biomedical pattern as well as from hegemonic values which disqualify old age and overvalue youth, from pedagogical conceptions arising from patterns that are presently regarded as authoritative and old-fashioned and from cultural references (responsible for the semantic variations concerning the central nucleus) which are specific to the subgroups the nurses belong to. This research enables the creation of opportunities for discussion between active nurses working for Estrat?gia Sa?de da Fam?lia, and the nurses who are teachers at institutions of higher education, aiming at linking theory to practice, so that they can find ways of thinking about the climacteric and working, in a more comprehensive way, with users who are experiencing this stage of life / Esta pesquisa, cuja tem?tica est? relacionada com o climat?rio, buscou conhecer a representa??o social de menopausa, constru?da pelas enfermeiras vinculadas ? Estrat?gia Sa?de da Fam?lia, na cidade de Jo?o Pessoa (PB), identificar sua estrutura e verificar como ela interv?m na assist?ncia e nas pr?ticas educativas voltadas ? usu?ria no climat?rio. Tudo isso constituiu os objetivos que orientaram o estudo. No plano te?rico, apoiamo-nos num modelo que articula a teoria das representa??es sociais, a teoria complementar do n?cleo central e os conceitos centrais da praxiologia de Pierre Bourdieu: habitus, capital cultural, campo social e poder simb?lico. Participaram da pesquisa cento e quarenta e sete enfermeiras, vinculadas ? Estrat?gia Sa?de da Fam?lia, na cidade de Jo?o Pessoa (PB). O per?odo de coleta de dados estendeu-se de fevereiro de 2008 a mar?o de 2009. Quanto aos m?todos e t?cnicas, utilizamos o m?todo de determina??o do n?cleo central baseado na associa??o livre de palavras, um question?rio para identificar determinadas regularidades constitutivas do habitus das enfermeiras e uma entrevista semi-estruturada para explorar opini?es e atitudes diante de situa??es de assist?ncia e de pr?ticas educativas e colher outras informa??es relevantes. A an?lise dos dados concernentes ?s associa??es livres foi realizada com o aux?lio do software EVOC, conjunto de programas articulados que procedem ? an?lise estat?stica das evoca??es e ? identifica??o dos poss?veis elementos do n?cleo central e do sistema perif?rico da representa??o social. Quanto ao question?rio, procedemos ? an?lise estat?stica descritiva e de correla??o entre vari?veis das quest?es. As entrevistas, por sua vez, foram submetidas ? an?lise categorial de conte?do. O resultado do EVOC apontou a cogni??o horm?nio como o ?nico elemento do n?cleo central da representa??o social de menopausa. O n?cleo central, devido ao valor simb?lico e poder estruturante, assegura o car?ter r?gido e ao mesmo tempo flex?vel do conte?do representacional. A an?lise da trajet?ria social, a de algumas caracter?sticas fundamentais do habitus do grupo, a da inser??o deste no campo da Sa?de, a das opini?es e disposi??es atitudinais ante a assist?ncia ?s usu?rias no climat?rio e a da dimens?o pedag?gica dessa assist?ncia, tudo isso permite concluir que as enfermeiras pesquisadas compartilham uma representa??o social de menopausa resultante da fus?o de saberes tecnocient?ficos. Estes s?o oriundos do modelo biom?dico, de valores hegem?nicos que desqualificam o envelhecimento e supervalorizam a juventude, de concep??es pedag?gicas derivadas de modelos considerados autorit?rios e ultrapassados e de referentes culturais (respons?veis, por seu lado, pelas varia??es sem?nticas relativas ao n?cleo central) espec?ficos dos subgrupos a que as enfermeiras pertencem. Este estudo possibilita a abertura de espa?os para discuss?o entre os enfermeiros assistenciais, vinculados ? Estrat?gia Sa?de da Fam?lia e os enfermeiros docentes, vinculados ?s institui??es de ensino superior, numa proposta de articula??o entre teoria e pr?tica, a fim de juntos encontrarem formas de pensar o climat?rio e de atuar, com maior abrang?ncia, com as usu?rias que vivenciam essa fase de vida

Orientador: Lílian Aparecida Ferreira / Resumo: Os conflitos ocorrem nas relações entre pessoas e/ou grupos, o que inclui as situações escolares, sobretudo, aquelas presentes nas aulas de Educação Física, caracterizadas por divergências/antagonismo envolvendo motivações variadas. Existem diversas perspectivas sobre os conflitos, a que utilizamos no presente estudo pautou-se pela sua compreensão enquanto construção social, cultural e histórica. Embora os conflitos possam ocorrer em diferentes relações humanas, nosso recorte investigativo esteve nos conflitos que aconteceram nas aulas de Educação Física, especificamente, nos jogos de handebol e de futsal. Neste sentido, os objetivos do presente estudo foram identificar e mediar os conflitos vivenciados pelos estudantes nas aulas de Educação Física, além de analisar as possíveis implicações das estratégias pedagógicas nas mediações dialógicas e nas problematizações. O estudo orientou-se pela abordagem qualitativa, com características da pesquisa-ação, e sua realização ocorreu em uma escola da rede estadual do interior de São Paulo. Participaram 63 estudantes de duas turmas de 6º anos, durante um semestre letivo nas aulas regulares de Educação Física, sendo desenvolvidos jogos de handebol e de futsal, articulados com as identificações e mediações dialógicas dos conflitos. Os instrumentos de coleta dos dados sobre os conflitos foram: a) observação das aulas (diário de aula do professor, com registros gerais e também anotações das rodas de conversa e encenações dos estudantes), ... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Conflicts occur in the relationships between people and / or groups, which includes school situations, especially those present in Physical Education classes, characterized by divergences / antagonism involving varied motivations. There are several perspectives on the conflicts, which we use in the present study, based on their understanding as a social, cultural and historical construction. Although conflicts may occur in different human relationships, our investigative cut was in the conflicts that occurred in Physical Education classes, specifically in handball and futsal games. In this sense, the objectives of the present study were to identify and mediate the conflicts experienced by students in Physical Education classes, as well as to analyze the possible implications of pedagogical strategies in dialogic mediations and in problematizations. The study was guided by the qualitative approach, with characteristics of the action research, and its realization occurred in a school of the state of São Paulo. 63 students from two 6th grade classes participated during a semester in the regular Physical Education classes, and handball and futsal games were developed, articulated with dialogical identifications and mediations of conflicts. The instruments for collecting the data on the conflicts were: a) observation of the classes (teacher's class diary, with general records and also annotations of the students 'talk wheels and statues), b) students' diary, c) narratives and d) q... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

American Public Administration (PA) theory and practices have lacked adequately articulated or formalized normative foundations since the formal founding of the American State. Discussions regarding how PA theory derives from individual and collective critical reflection on practices (praxiology) and how that knowledge can inform future actions (praxis) virtually have been absent in all organizations. The recognition of the political legitimacy of PA has been lacking. The placing of a viable and critical social theory that posits conscious, responsible, and committed human practices within the context of the administration of the American Constitutional State, a politically narrow context, has been lacking as well. This dissertation establishes the works of social theorists Orion White, Jr., Michael Harmon, Robert Denhardt and Bayard Catron as the foundation for understanding how individuals do and can contribute to the collective administration of the complex state, including how they operate daily in organizations they join, critique and are capable of changing. These scholars understand the dynamics of human being and present discussions of human actions and practices that are capable of tackling the challenges associated with administering the American State. The work of John Rohr has established the other missing links—the constitutional legitimacy of PA and the clarification of constitutional values to which American administrative actions and knowledge must adhere. This dissertation asserts that it is the placing of human theory and action within the distinctly American theory and practices of the State that constitutes the solid normative foundations for American PA Praxis and Praxiology that constitutes a viable and formal founding of American Public Administration in word and deed. / Ph. D.