Like a number of early compositions by Schumann, the Impromptus, Op. 5, was considerably revised in later years. It is one of only several works whose early and later versions are both included in the complete edition of his works published by Breitkopf and Hartel. Brahms, co-editor with Clara Schumann of this edition, was probably responsible for the inclusion of the two separate versions, recognizing the distinct virtues of the first, possibly even its superiority to the second. [TRUNCATED]

Táto diplomová práca sa zaoberá optimalizáciou validačných testov pre produkt firmy Robert Bosch určený na úpravu výfukových plynov vznetových motorov, tzv. Denoxtronic 5.x, konkrétne jeho najkomplikovanejšiu časť – Pump Module. Zhrnutím a analyzovaním porúch objavujúcich sa v reálnej prevádzke tak poskytuje spätnú väzbu pre oddelenie vývoja a navrhuje, akým mechanizmom by mali byť v budúcnosti validačné testy optimalizované.

The calling orientation to work represents the seed that has germinated into the exponentially growing ‘work as a calling’ literature. It was first articulated by Robert Bellah, Richard Madsen, William Sullivan, Ann Swidler, and Steven Tipton within Habits of the Heart in the 1980s. The following critical analysis of the ‘work as a calling’ literature, and of the moral foundation of the calling orientation more specifically, is intended for two particular audiences. The first audience broadly includes an interdisciplinary group of scholars working within business ethics, management, organizational psychology, and vocational psychology, among other fields of study. Amidst these scholars’ exponentially increasing interest in the idea of ‘work as a calling,’ the anatomical structure of their research remains remarkably similar. Their notions of ‘work as a calling’ stress that work should provide individuals with a deep sense of personal fulfillment. In particular, they suggest that work should be a therapeutic source of individual meaning. To secure this meaning, they exhibit an apparent centeredness on the self and an emphasis on the unconstrained pursuit of personal preferences. In most cases, scholars within the ‘work as a calling’ literature tend to proffer notions of ‘meaningful work’ that are divorced from moral considerations about ‘good work.’ While this broad group of scholars copiously references the calling orientation within their research on ‘work as a calling,’ a deep-seated misunderstanding pervades the literature to the extent that notions of ‘meaningful work’ have been divorced from notions of ‘good work.’ To this broader audience, I demonstrate herein that they do not realize how antithetical their scholarly literature on ‘work as a calling’ is to the moral foundation of Bellah et al.’s calling orientation. Namely, I argue that the construal of calling as an orientation to work would not exist within the literature if Bellah et al. had not first articulated the calling orientation as a buffer against the unregulated pursuit of personal preferences. Therefore, I claim that this broader group of scholars either needs to abandon the notion of ‘work as a calling’ or engage with the appropriate virtue framework that undergirds the calling orientation. I suspect, however, that several of these scholars will be hesitant to take up the virtue framework that is inextricably linked to the calling orientation. For this reason, much of the work following chapter 2 is devoted to a narrower audience of MacIntyrean business ethicists. It is also dedicated to a few scholars from the broader ‘work as a calling’ group whom I trust will not wish to remain accidental contributors to the language of individualism that pervades the literature once I have unmasked it. Perhaps, in time, they will even become MacIntyrean business ethicists. Indeed, the appropriate moral framework that undergirds the ‘work as a calling’ literature is actively being worked out by a narrower group of MacIntyrean business ethicists, all of whom represent my primary audience for the research herein. To the MacIntyrean community, I hope not only to provide a complete list of tendencies within the ‘work as a calling’ literature that must be resisted, but also a picture of all of the ways that Bellah et al.’s calling orientation is wholly bound up with MacIntyre’s moral philosophy – particularly his theory of the virtues and the common goods that the virtues sustain. Bellah et al.’s calling orientation rests upon a vision of ‘good work,’ and this vision of ‘good work’ hinges on a MacIntyrean account of the virtues that is directed toward the achievement of three distinct types of common goods: (a) the good and worthy ends of workplace practices, (b) the goods of an individual life, and (c) the goods of communities – or, more broadly, the interests of a good society. Furthermore, it will be shown to the MacIntyrean community that visions of ‘good work,’ which are sustained by the calling orientation, are accompanied by a nuanced vision of pluralistic collaboration that MacIntyre and Bellah et al. share. (I anticipate that this will be surprising to many readers who are familiar with the typical and misleading characterization of MacIntyre as a sectarian). Bellah et al. as well as MacIntyre’s vision of pluralism matters for research on the calling orientation because these figures demonstrate that individuals within the late modern workplace are informed by a plurality of religious and humanistic traditions, all of which account for ultimate meaning and goodness in different ways that ought to be recognized. Distinctive religious and humanistic visions of ultimate meaning indeed impact the perceived goodness of one’s calling. Hence, we must attend to the polysemic and multivocal nature of accounting for the goodness of any one particular calling (i.e., a Buddhist doctor within the Western medical tradition is likely to articulate the goodness of his calling differently than a Jewish doctor working within the Western medical tradition). Still, however, Bellah et al. and MacIntyre’s account entails a hopefulness in the possibility of pluralistic, (or, what I shall call inter-traditional) striving for the achievement of common goods that are practical enough to agree upon.

Proceeding from the general judgment that The Ring and the Book is, indeed, Browning's greatest achievement, and that it, more than any other of his works, was responsible for establishing him in an extraordinary position of public acceptance and esteem, I propose, in this study, to examine the four features of The Ring and the Book which have most frequently attracted critical attention and to which the greater portion of analysis and review of The Ring and the Book have been devoted.

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The purpose of this study has been to present different arguments regarding felony disenfranchisement. What was also investigated was if the practice could be compatible with Robert A. Dahl and his model of democracy. Finally, the findings were presented and what they meant. The material of the study consisted of texts produced in the purpose of arguing either for or against the practice. The content of these texts was presented through an argument analysis. They were presented fractionated by themes depending on what the argument was stating.  The results of the analysis were that there were some recurring arguments, both for and against the practice. Furthermore, it became obvious through analyzing the arguments that the model of democracy and its five criterias could not be compatible with the practice. Lastly, it could be stated that what it meant was that nothing regarding the practice of felony disenfranchisement could be compatible with Robert A. Dahl’s idea of democracy.

This research study breaks new ground in exploring differences in how managers’ reflection patterns, do or do not differ across levels of adult development as delineated by Robert Kegan’s Constructive-Developmental Theory. It was a basic qualitative study exploring upper-level managers’ thought processes and patterns of reflection in revisiting and reinterpreting episodes of conflict and change that had emerged in past organizational experiences. The purpose was to discern in what ways, if at all, those processes vary with the manager’s Stage in adult development in Robert Kegan’s adult Constructive-Developmental Theory that stipulates generally what one can reflect upon impartially as object—or what one cannot. Transcripts of fifteen Subject-Object Interviews (SOIs), that were previously conducted for the purpose of examining interviewee reasoning characteristics in relation their stage of adult development and had been professionally scored and certified for interviewee developmental level, provided the primary data for this study. These were sourced as a stratified, purposeful sample from an archival database of 148 interviews conducted by the Center of Creative Leadership between 2007-2009. Five each of the sample of 15 SOIs were selected to meet the criteria for one of three specific Stages or levels of complexity on Kegan’s adult constructive-developmental scale representing the Instrumental to Socializing transition, the fully Socializing equilibrium, and the fully Self-Authoring equilibrium. Without The managers’ individual developmental levels being revealed, the researcher blindly coded the individual SOI transcripts and inductively analyzed and synthesized the data of each to discern patterns in the interviewee’s reflection. In a final step, the known, certified SOI scores were revealed to the researcher, who was then able to explore the relationship between patterns of reflection he had discerned and the individual interviewee’s actual developmental level—in particular to see in what ways, if at all, those processes vary and are engaged in differently—or similarly—depending on the manager’s Order of Mind or Stage of Adult development as delineated by Robert Kegan’s Constructive-Developmental Theory. Mediating consideration of findings, the 5-participants-per-development-level samples were small and results thus not generalizable, and the interviews were conducted for the purpose of investigating reasoning as correlated with adult developmental level. Within that context, relatively consistent differences in patterns of reflection while either recollecting or currently reflecting upon past incidents that involved change and/or conflict were discerned in the following areas: granularity in description of emotion; recollection of inner dialogue; “stepping onto the balcony” for a changed perspective on issues; variations of “stance,” in terms of degree of self-focus rather than a relational or organizational one and demonstration of self-examination—mediated by what was at stake for the interviewee. Depending on developmental stage, current experience or, or recollection of past negative emotion could be either a prompt for self reflection or a barrier to it. Constructive-developmental theory posits different Ways of Knowing in adulthood; each denoting an internally consistent meaning-making system that shapes the ways one makes sense of and interprets experience. An in-depth descriptive analysis of the managers’ reflections within and across cases revealed different orientations toward the process of revisiting and interpreting experience with important variations across participants. To explain those individual variations, constructivedevelopmental theory (Kegan, 1982, 1984) appeared to be a valuable theoretical lens to shed light on some of the differences within and across the three different Ways of Knowing represented in the sample. This study overall supports the growing trend in the learning and development field toward paying more attention to supporting the development of leaders’ inner meaning-making structures as those will influence how they engage in, and take perspective on, their experience—and ultimately help their organizations and their members to learn. The researcher, blinded to adult developmental levels of the managers until after analyzing data for patterns of reflection, found the clusters of personally discerned patterns to closely match those that would to their subsequently revealed, certified developmental levels. This congruence suggests that Subject-Object Interviews may prove an insight-full source for further research on the difficult-to-probe subject of reflection-on-action.

This bachelor essay departs from my artistic development over time. The text reflects on the transformation from story based painting rooted in memories towards a work focused on construction and materiality. This essay examines this transformation in relation to chosen references and tries out the term intertextuality in an attempt to understand my own work today. In doing so, this text seeks to explore the informal dialogue between artistic works.

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No description available.