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This dissertation is an examination of presidential communication, focusing primarily on how Mbeki promoted a fringe group of researchers (the Virodene researchers) and a discredited scientific position (the AIDS dissidents). It employs aspects of critical discourse analysis in order to examine Mbeki's speeches, articles, interviews and letters dealing with HIV/AIDS from 1998 to 2003 in order to identify how his views and beliefs on the epidemic changed from the orthodox position that HIV causes AIDS to a dissident view, which led to him asserting that it was impossible for one virus to be the single cause of a wide range of illnesses defined as AIDS. In addition, it examines briefly how civil society, particularly the TAC, responded to Mbeki's unconventional approach to HIV/AIDS, and how Mbeki reacted to criticism of his views on HIV/AIDS. By using the relations of antithesis, entailment and equivalence, this dissertation finds that, although Mbeki moved from an orthodox to a dissident position on HIV/AIDS, there are common threads running through all his discourse. These threads include an intense interest in science and a concern with the plight of the "underdogs", namely those that he feels have been discriminated against by the scientific establishment particularly the pharmaceutical industry. Mbeki's dissident views were not a crude assertion that HIV does not cause AIDS, as has been suggested by other researchers, or those of a sophist seeking excuses for his government's inability to deploy adequate resources to HIV/AIDS. His interest in dissident theory is considered and he has clearly engaged with the scientific arguments of the dissidents. However, this is not the case when Mbeki deals with his critics. It is a matter of concern that Mbeki used the power of the Office of the President to undermine and discredit his opponents by accusing them of being racists or "Uncle Toms" for opposing his dissident views on HIV/AIDS. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2003.

This study investigated one central aspect of the political views of John Withexspoon: His steadfast belief in the right of resistance. A product of the Reformation and Enlightenment movements, this doctrine offered justification for questioning the authority of magistrates acting contrary to their sovereignty: it further compelled disobedience to unjust laws and the removal of unjust officials to protect the instituted social order. The context of post-Union Scottish society provided a distinct setting for Witherspoon's introduction to resistance theory. As a devout Scottish Presbyterian and a learned Enlightenment scholar, Withexspoon commanded a thorough understanding of this civil-religious right and duty to protect society.Through his education at Edinburgh University, Witherspoon became acquainted with the substance of Scottish Enlightenment philosophy. Edinburgh instructors utilized the writings of Commonwealth theorists and the classical writers to construct their views of society and social obligation: Society was a constituted civil order, restrained by law, preserved by the efforts of every individual citizen. Witherspoon's Scottish ecclesiastical heritage served to vindicate his Enlightenment education by echoing a similar view of restraint and balance.Covenant Pianism, the product of the 16th-Century reformer John Knox and the Westminster Assembly of the 1640s, invoked the supremacy of a sovereign God over all instituted states. In the Scotsman's view, human depravity and selfish ambition would destroy government if not for the diligent vigil of involved, virtuous citizens. Members of society were thus obliged to oppose tyranny -the unjust, illegitimate exercise of civil-religious authority. Hence, both academic enterprise and doctrinal conviction provided Witherspoon a firm theoretical foundation to support the right of resistance.As President of Princeton during the Anglo-American crisis of the 1770s, Witherspoon directed the education of many future leaders of the new American nation. He was certainly not an idealistic crusader nor a reluctant follower, but consistently argued for the right of American colonists to resist the tyranny of England's Parliament. An early supporter of independence, Witherspoon was the only clergyman to sign Jefferson's Declaration. His most significant contributions, though, were made as a committee member in the Second Continental Congress. / Department of History

The goal of this research is to show that the Scottish reformer, John Knox, while seen by many as a political figure, was religiously motivated in his thought, writings, and ministry. Knox saw himself as an Old Testament style prophet who sought to blow his Master's trumpet by proclaiming an unpopular message to the realms of both Scotland and England. Knox was deeply rooted in the Old Testament theology of the covenant. He believed that following an idolatrous path, most notably in the continuing practice of the Catholic Mass, meant the breaking of the covenant with God, as with the transgression of the people of Israel in the Old Testament. He proposed that an aristocratic resistance by the lesser magistrates would result in deposing the idolatrous rulers and restore the realms of Scotland and England to a genuinely covenanted relationship with God.

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Bibliography: leaves 29-340 / 340 leaves ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, 1988

Doctorat en philosophie et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Doctorat en philosophie et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Doctorat en philosophie et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

M.A. (History) / Please refer to full text to view abstract