Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on September 19, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Assignment (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.T.S.)--Catholic Theological Union, 1984. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-68).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Michigan State University, 2008. / Adviser: Jim Bingen. Includes bibliographical references.

Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2009.

This thesis contributes to the recent scholarly re-evaluation of Karl Barth’s moral theology through an examination of the theme of human responsibility in his thought. The language of responsibility recurs throughout Barth’s ethical writings, and its frequency and strategic significance in his articulation of the nature of the active human agent in Christian ethics means it is worthy of scholarly consideration. To date, no extended study of this topic in Barth’s thought exists, and, apart from critical summaries of his use of responsibility language in select parts of the Church Dogmatics in corners of the secondary literature, responsibility-ethicists have tended to ignore Barth’s work on this topic. My intention, through exegetical reading of several key texts, is to provide explication, clarification, and analysis of his understanding of human responsibility. On the basis of this exegetical work I shall argue that the idea of responsibility is in fact a key component of Barth’s theological ethics and significantly informs his presentation of human agency. Following the introductory chapter, the central chapters of the thesis are exegetical readings of human responsibility in three major texts from the Barth corpus: the Ethics lectures; the ethics of CD II/2; and the special ethics of CD III/4. The fifth and final chapter is a synopsis of the development of Barth’s understanding and his articulation of human responsibility across these texts. My constructive proposal as to how we may understand Barth’s overall account is based on the preceding exegetical work. I argue that the ethics of the Church Dogmatics ought to be read together, and that in doing so we see that the mature Barth offers: 1) a theological description of human responsibility, which I argue is a kind of moral ontology in which the human agent is called to inhabit a particular space in relation to God; and 2) concrete indications of the kind of responsible actions that represent and enable the embedding of that description in human life. He develops what I term “indicative practices” which give shape to human lives, enabling human agents to navigate the moral space into which they have been placed. These two elements taken together are, I suggest, the sum of Barth’s account of human responsibility.

The thesis argues that, were there any moral obligations, they would be categorical; but there are no categorical requirements on action; therefore, there are no moral obligations. The underlying claim is that, because of this, morality itself rests on a mistaken view of normativity. The view of categoricity I provide rests on there being 'external reasons' for action. Having explained the connections between oughts (in particular the ought of moral obligation) and reasons for action in the first part of the thesis, I then develop and defend a version of reasons internalism that I call 'recognitional internalism'. The basic idea, which is not itself incompatible with categoricity, is that to have a reason one must be able to recognise that one has that reason. However, I work this basic claim into a substantive truth-condition for reason-statements and argue that the reasons one is able to recognise are controlled by one's subjective motives. I use this to argue that there are no categorical moral obligations. Nonetheless, I also argue that the substantive challenge internalism poses morality is importantly different, indeed more pressing, than usually thought. This is to justify the objective supremacy of the reasons for action constitutive of moral obligation.

Nos travaux visent à mettre en tension d'une part l'usage privilégié, voire excessif, qui est fait des représentations chiffrées dans les organisations, et d'autre part une forme de déresponsabilisation constatée des managers, dans le cadre d'un contexte de crise, consécutif à un certain nombre de scandales financiers. Ce lien n'est pas documenté dans la littérature, mais chacun des termes de notre problématique l'est. Nous avons défini le concept de responsabilité à partir de la définition de Ricœur, le manager, comme étant un individu, dont les décisions orientent les organisations, et la représentation chiffrée, comme étant tout chiffre, tableau ou assemblage de chiffres quel qu'il soit, à partir du concept de représentation de Fourez. Par usage privilégié, nous entendons un usage prioritaire sans qu'il y ait questionnement quant à sa construction. Notre recherche théorique nous a permis en effet de souligner le fait que les managers sont peu enclins à interroger les chiffres qu'ils utilisent massivement, et que leur formation ne les y encourage guère. Notre revue de la littérature nous a également amenée à envisager cinq variables explicatives du lien étudié, déclinées en sous-éclairages, qui nous ont permis de construire notre dispositif empirique.Sur le terrain, nous nous sommes orientée vers la collecte de données primaires dans le cadre d'une démarche exploratoire. Le recueil des données s'est effectué auprès de managers aux profils variés, ayant une expérience professionnelle minimale, par le biais d'entretiens semi-directifs, visant à encourager le récit. Le matériau recueilli est constitué d'opinions, de narrations, de situations vécues, d'anecdotes… Nous avons choisi pour l'analyser, une méthode d'analyse qualitative de discours, en essayant toutefois de multiplier les clés d'entrée, avec notamment une analyse de contenu, grâce à l'outil NVivo. Ceci nous a permis de coder nos trente entretiens, par déduction à partir des éclairages issus de notre recherche théorique, mais aussi et surtout, par induction, en faisant émerger du matériau, de nouveaux éclairages sur le lien étudié.Nos résultats empiriques confirment ce que nous avions induit de nos lectures mais ils révèlent également quatre éclairages ou variables complémentaires. Nous avons pu en outre clarifier et parfois redéfinir chacun des éclairages retenus, mettre en évidence des pratiques et des représentations intériorisées corroborant notre thèse, mais aussi observer quelques signes d'évolution et de distance au chiffre, ainsi qu'un réel intérêt du monde des pratiques pour notre questionnement, nous permettant de souligner la pertinence et le bien fondé de notre problématique et de notre projet de recherche. / This work contrasts the favoured and sometimes excessive use of figures in organisations with the diminishing sense of responsibility observed in managers in the crisis context following on from the different financial scandals that have occurred in recent years. The literature does not document this link, but it does document each of the terms included in my research problem. I base my definition of the concept of responsibility on that of Ricœur. I define the manager as a person whose decisions orient the organisation, and, based on Fourez' concept of representation, I define figures as any figure, table or grouping of figures. I define favoured use as use that is given priority, whose construction is not questioned. My theoretical research revealed that managers are ill-inclined to question the figures that they use extensively, and that their training hardly encourages them to do so. From my literature review, I identified five variables to explain the link being studied, which I divide into sub-variables; I used these variables to construct my empirical research.In my exploratory fieldwork, I collected primary data from a range of managers with different levels of experience, using semi-structured interviews to encourage narratives. The material I collected is made up of opinions, accounts of personal experiences, anecdotes and so on. I then performed a qualitative discourse analysis, trying to identify as many key topics as possible using, among other tools, NVivo software to perform a content analysis. I used this analysis to code the thirty interviews, by deduction from the insights gained from my theoretical research, but also, and above all, by induction, gaining new insights from the material I had collected into the link under study.My empirical results confirm what I had induced from my review of the literature, but they also reveal four additional insights or variables. They also enabled me to redefine or clarify each of these insights, and to highlight practices and internalised representations that confirm my thesis. They also reveal some signs of change: practitioners showed great interest in my questions, some are beginning to question the predominance of figures, and even the figures themselves. These facts highlight the relevance and solid basis of my research problem.

Este estudo dedica-se a compreender a responsabilidade social e política da Universidade na contemporaneidade diante dos desafios que lhe são postos. O foco da investigação apreende a responsabilidade da Universidade na atividade da pesquisa. Trabalhamos a responsabilidade social e política entendida como o cuidado com o outro e com o mundo. Estudamos o caso dos professorespesquisadores, líderes de grupos de pesquisa da área de Ciências Humanas/Educação da Universidade do Estado do Mato Grosso Campus Sinop/MT. Objetivamos conhecer e compreender as percepções destes sujeitos sobre a concepção de responsabilidade social e política da Universidade a fim de analisar como essa concepção perpassa nas suas atividades de pesquisa. Utilizamos como fontes de informação a entrevista semiestruturada e os documentos da Instituição. Nos procedimentos da análise trabalhamos com os dados na perspectiva metodológica da análise textual discursiva como um processo integrado composto pelas dimensões do aprender, comunicar e interferir no discurso. O movimento sugere, a partir da leitura do texto, a unitarização de informações, a categorização, a construção de metatextos e por fim, os textos interpretativos. Como categorias interpretativas foram discutidas: política de pesquisa, grupo de pesquisadores, socialização do conhecimento, crise, interesse público e pertencimento. A partir dessa pesquisa, podemos dizer que para os sujeitos da investigação, a responsabilidade social e política da Universidade e essa responsabilidade na atividade da pesquisa tem sido o compromisso com o local e com a realidade para conhecê-la, compreendê-la e provocar possibilidades. Esse procedimento se dá via pesquisa, que exerce nesse instante sua função social e política dando retorno à comunidade provocando mudança na qualidade de vida dos cidadãos. O papel da pesquisa é conhecer a realidade de maneira sistemática, organizada e planejada para poder conscientemente interferir nela como ciência edificante e socialmente relevante. Contudo, conforme evidenciado, inúmeras são as dificuldades do professor-pesquisador quanto aos aspectos operacionais da atividade da pesquisa. A instituição ainda não possui uma política de pesquisa clara e estável que inclua financiamento e garantias de estabilidade para a realização das atividades da pesquisa e tem privilegiado determinadas áreas do saber em detrimento de outras. Consideramos que os professores-pesquisadores podem contribuir com a potencialização da Universidade com responsabilidade social e política à medida que são valorizados, incentivados profissionalmente e na realização das suas pesquisas com condições concretas que garantam o custeio das necessidades básicas para a efetivação do seu trabalho. Também potencializam a construção de uma Universidade pautada no cuidado com o outro e com o mundo quando se inserem na sociedade através dos grupos de pesquisa, interdisciplinares, heterogêneos, formados pelos diferentes componentes, o que auxilia um olhar global sobre a realidade e possibilita articulações em setores da sociedade considerados instâncias democráticas do Estado. / This study aims to comprehend the social and political responsibility of the contemporaneous university according to imposed challenges. The focus of this investigation is the research activity as well as its social and political responsibility considering it as a care for the other and for the world. It was studied a group of teachers-researchers, group leaders of research on Human/Education Science from the State University of Mato Grosso Campus Sinop/MT. It was aimed to know and understand the individuals’ perceptions on the conception of social and political responsibility of the University to analyze how it crosses the research activity. It was used a semi structured interview and some institutional documents as search of information. The analyses procedure adopted textual discourse analyses methodology as an integrated process composed by the dimensions of learning, communicating and interfering on the discourse. It suggests since the text reading to join information, categorize, build metatexts and then make interpretations. The discussed categories were the following: research politics, researcher groups, knowledge socialization, crises, public interest and belonging. Since the research we may say that for the investigated subjects, the social and political responsibility of the university is being a compromise with the local and its reality to know, to understand and provoke possibilities. The role of the research is to know the reality in a systematic, organized and planned way to be able to interfere on it as a constructive and social relevant science. However, it was evidenced several teachers-researchers difficulties according to some operational aspects of the research activity. The institution does not have a clear and stable research politics that includes financials and guarantees to make research, besides it still privileges some fields of knowledge and not others. Therefore, this study considers that teachers-researchers may contribute to reinforce the university with social and political responsibilities as they are valorized, professionally recognized and with concrete conditions to guarantee their basic necessities to work. They also reinforce the construction of a university which cares for the other and the world, when inserted in the society through groups of interdisciplinary, heterogenic research, formed by different components, that provide a global look on the reality and articulates inside a society sector considered democratic.

The current study examined the psychometric properties of the Pathways to Inflated Responsibility Beliefs Scale (PIRBS; Coles & Schofield, 2008), a measure designed to assess the theoretical pathways posited to contribute to responsibility beliefs in individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD; Salkovskis et al., 1999). The primary aim of this study was to examine the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the measure in a diverse sample as well as to compare the properties of the scale across ethnic groups. The current sample consisted of 442 university students who completed questionnaire packets or an online survey. The results of an exploratory factor analysis suggested that a four-factor model with three items removed from the original PIRBS scale best fit the data. Confirmatory factor analyses in groups of African American and Caucasian participants indicated that neither the original PIRBS model nor the EFA-derived model adequately fit the data, but the latter model demonstrated comparable indicators of validity as well as an improvement in the internal consistency of the PIRBS Overprotection subscale. Evidence of the convergent and discriminant validity of the PIRBS was obtained through its associations with OCD-relevant constructs, including OC beliefs domains and symptoms, trait anxiety and worry, depression, parenting styles, a measure of childhood responsibility, and religiosity. Some differential associations were observed in these relationships across ethnic groups. Suggestions for future research and the clinical implications of research in this area are discussed.