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The fact-value distinction has structured and still structures ongoing debates in metaethics, and all of the major positions in the field (expressivism, cognitivist realism, and moral error theory) subscribe to it. In contrast, I claim that the fact-value distinction is a contingent product of our intellectual history and a prime object for questioning. The most forceful reason for rejecting the distinction is that it presupposes a problematic understanding of the subject-object divide whereby one tends to view humans as the sole source of normativity in the world. My dissertation aims to disclose the background against which human ethical praxis is widely seen as a unique and special phenomenon among other phenomena. I show that ethical norms, as delimited by utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics, etc., derive from an originary proto-ethical normativity at the heart of the real itself. Every object, human and nonhuman, presents itself as a bottomless series of cues or conditions of appropriateness that determine adequate and inadequate ways of relating to it. That is, objects demand something from other objects if they are to be related to; they condition other objects by soliciting a change in disposition, perception, or sense, and for this reason are sources of normativity in and unto themselves. Ethical norms, or values, are the human expression of the adequacy conditions with which all objects show themselves. In the post-Kantian landscape it is widely thought that human finitude constitutes the origin of ethical norms. Consequently, the world is divided up into morally relevant agents (humans) on one side, and everything else on the other. Adopting a deflationary view of agency, I argue that human-human and human-world relations differ from other relations in degree rather than kind. Thus, instead of a fact-value distinction, value is inextricably bound up with the factual itself. The critical upshot of my project is that traditional subject-oriented ethical theories have served to conceal the real demands of non-human objects (such as animals, plants, microorganisms, and artificially intelligent machines) in favor of specifically human interests. Such theories have also been leveraged frequently in exclusionary practices with respect to different groups within the human community (e.g. women and those of non-European descent) based on arbitrary criteria or principles.

solid objects is a collection of objects and its cultural life, where the roles of the object, artist, collector, museum, writer, publisher and curator are suspended to reemerge in other possible forms. In this work the text becomes an object, the pocket a museum, the collection a persona, the artist its curator, the writer a sign.

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Speculative realism/historical fantasy are labels coined by Stanford University’s Ramon Saldivar. Saldivar describes this genre as “a way of documenting things that have happened, or could happen” (the realist component), but warping realism into science fiction and fantasy, blending and bending the genres (Dickason). In his 2013 article “The Second Elevation of the Novel: Race, Form and the Postrace Aesthetic in Contemporary Narrative,” Ramon Saldivar brings an interesting perspective to how a new generation of authors have taken this genre and exposed utopia as fraud. He argues that as many writers (often members of minorities) seek to challenge the status quo and explore new territories with their prose, a new genre has been born from the utopian and dystopian schools- the genre he coins “speculative realism.” Implicit in his labelling of a new genre is the assumption that existing genres (created and nurtured by the dominant groups in society) are inadequate vehicles for the sort of work these authors seek to do, and in order to make their unique contributions, they have had to become pioneers in the field. Specifically, these authors have focused on utopian and dystopian worlds and have exposed the ruling class ideology hidden in the resolution. This new genre provides perfect material from which to draw texts that encourage students to grapple with the difficult concepts of how society should be organized, and what means might be required to achieve it. This project was developed with high school pedagogical practice in the forefront, therefore texts are chosen based on genre, grade level/interest, and thematic/ideological content. Within each group, the texts are chosen to highlight the deliberate indoctrination present within the current curriculum, and through comparison demonstrate how substituting speculative realist and historical fantasy for dystopian and historical fiction novels both educates and empowers students. In the dystopian genre, the commonly taught Lord of the Flies by William Golding is compared and contrasted with Octavia Butler’s Earthseed series. To explore novels based on history, The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd is contrasted with the historical fantasy The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead.

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The increasing ecological impact of textiles and textile overproduction creates both local and global environmental concerns. Through the theoretical framework of speculative realism and the concept of alienation this paper investigates how textile art can be used to discuss the dark emotions connected to climate change. The project uses a method of material exploration to find new life to waste material from textile industry in Sweden. Through the zombie metaphor the life and death of waste is discussed. The paper finds that by giving material new life, creating zombie weaves; the darkness within the topic can be reached. The tactile qualities of the work bridges to counteract the alienation created from the lack of insight and understanding of material values. The project finds that embracing the darkness and getting to know the monster can make room for new solutions to the ecological crisis.

The research question addressed by this thesis is: To what degree the results of the statistical analysis will corroborate the main theoretical assumptions of the proposed theoretical model of new authentic transformatory cultural tourism experience as transmodern phenomenon of equality of two Cartesian levels of reality, material (objective authenticity) and experiential (constructive authenticity) in informing the intrapersonal existential authenticity as outcome transformatory tourist experience. The main reason for undertaking this study is to resolve the evident crisis of postmodern authenticity discourse arising from a failure of postmodern theoretical framework to integrate three social authenticity theories into a coherent authenticity discourse. The research design adopted in the study is theory-testing theory-building paradigm which incorporates both deductive and inductive logic and was applied in three successive phases. In the first phase the new theoretical model of transformatory cultural tourism experience was proposed, underpinned by transmodern flat ontology and philosophy of the Speculative Realism. In the second phase the main theoretical assumptions of equal contribution of objective and constructive authenticity as independent variables in informing the transformatory experience as dependent variable were empirically tested by standard multiple regression analysis. In the last deductive phase the results of all empirical tests were inferred onto initial theoretical assumptions of the original model and new modified model of transformatory cultural tourism experience has been proposed with an addition of two newly identified transmodern experiential constructs, epistemological and ontological authenticity. For a primary data collection the instrument was a self-administered questionnaire and the sampling strategy was a non-probability sampling. The data was collected during the period 01st and 18 April 2011 at two sites, Constitution Hill and Hector Peterson Memorial in Johannesburg. The sample size from two sites was N=406. The scales of measurements were already developed in the earlier questionnaire and the confirmatory factor analysis was used to confirm the variables contained in each factor, namely objective and constructive authenticity as independent variables and transformatory experience as the dependent variable. The results of a standard multiple regression analysis confirmed the importance of the model as independent variables explained 30.7% of the variances (R2=.307) in the model. An unexpected result was that objective authenticity explained 34.5% of the variance in the model (β = .345) which is significantly higher than 30.5% of variance explained by constructive authenticity (β = .305). The results of standard multiple regression analysis confirmed the main theoretical assumption of the model of equality of material and experiential levels of Cartesian duality in informing the new transformatory experience regarded as a transmodern phenomenon. The standard, stepwise and hierarchical multiple regression tests were further conducted to establish if any moderating variables should be added into the original model containing two independent variables. The tests included five demographic variables (gender, place of residence, connection with culture, and two items of education (pre-tertiary education and Bachelors degree) and none of the variables explained a level of variability which warranted their inclusion into the model. Consequently, the results of the retests of the model did not change its initial conceptualisation. Finally, the t-test and Mann-Whitney U tests identified a significant difference between the two groups in the level of authenticity of their experience derived from two sites. A group having stronger inclination for authenticity is identified as Cultural Creatives, who are known as the forerunners of transmodernism. Based on the results of all statistical tests the final model was modified to reflect the important theoretical findings pertaining to two new types of transmodern authenticity. Epistemological authenticity denotes combined effects of objective and constructive authenticity in feeding the ontological authenticity of transformatory experience. The ontological authenticity is further identified as a confirmation of authentic-self which is required by Cultural Creatives. With proposition of new modified model the theory-testing theory-building research design came to its conclusion. The importance of research findings presented in this study lies not only in resolving the current crises of authenticity discourse in tourism but in the proposed New theoretical and conceptual model of transformatory cultural tourism experience underpinned by objective ·and constructive authenticity which will open a whole new field in tourism research arising from new transmodern experiential paradigm. / PhD (Tourism Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The research question addressed by this thesis is: To what degree the results of the statistical analysis will corroborate the main theoretical assumptions of the proposed theoretical model of new authentic transformatory cultural tourism experience as transmodern phenomenon of equality of two Cartesian levels of reality, material (objective authenticity) and experiential (constructive authenticity) in informing the intrapersonal existential authenticity as outcome transformatory tourist experience. The main reason for undertaking this study is to resolve the evident crisis of postmodern authenticity discourse arising from a failure of postmodern theoretical framework to integrate three social authenticity theories into a coherent authenticity discourse. The research design adopted in the study is theory-testing theory-building paradigm which incorporates both deductive and inductive logic and was applied in three successive phases. In the first phase the new theoretical model of transformatory cultural tourism experience was proposed, underpinned by transmodern flat ontology and philosophy of the Speculative Realism. In the second phase the main theoretical assumptions of equal contribution of objective and constructive authenticity as independent variables in informing the transformatory experience as dependent variable were empirically tested by standard multiple regression analysis. In the last deductive phase the results of all empirical tests were inferred onto initial theoretical assumptions of the original model and new modified model of transformatory cultural tourism experience has been proposed with an addition of two newly identified transmodern experiential constructs, epistemological and ontological authenticity. For a primary data collection the instrument was a self-administered questionnaire and the sampling strategy was a non-probability sampling. The data was collected during the period 01st and 18 April 2011 at two sites, Constitution Hill and Hector Peterson Memorial in Johannesburg. The sample size from two sites was N=406. The scales of measurements were already developed in the earlier questionnaire and the confirmatory factor analysis was used to confirm the variables contained in each factor, namely objective and constructive authenticity as independent variables and transformatory experience as the dependent variable. The results of a standard multiple regression analysis confirmed the importance of the model as independent variables explained 30.7% of the variances (R2=.307) in the model. An unexpected result was that objective authenticity explained 34.5% of the variance in the model (β = .345) which is significantly higher than 30.5% of variance explained by constructive authenticity (β = .305). The results of standard multiple regression analysis confirmed the main theoretical assumption of the model of equality of material and experiential levels of Cartesian duality in informing the new transformatory experience regarded as a transmodern phenomenon. The standard, stepwise and hierarchical multiple regression tests were further conducted to establish if any moderating variables should be added into the original model containing two independent variables. The tests included five demographic variables (gender, place of residence, connection with culture, and two items of education (pre-tertiary education and Bachelors degree) and none of the variables explained a level of variability which warranted their inclusion into the model. Consequently, the results of the retests of the model did not change its initial conceptualisation. Finally, the t-test and Mann-Whitney U tests identified a significant difference between the two groups in the level of authenticity of their experience derived from two sites. A group having stronger inclination for authenticity is identified as Cultural Creatives, who are known as the forerunners of transmodernism. Based on the results of all statistical tests the final model was modified to reflect the important theoretical findings pertaining to two new types of transmodern authenticity. Epistemological authenticity denotes combined effects of objective and constructive authenticity in feeding the ontological authenticity of transformatory experience. The ontological authenticity is further identified as a confirmation of authentic-self which is required by Cultural Creatives. With proposition of new modified model the theory-testing theory-building research design came to its conclusion. The importance of research findings presented in this study lies not only in resolving the current crises of authenticity discourse in tourism but in the proposed New theoretical and conceptual model of transformatory cultural tourism experience underpinned by objective ·and constructive authenticity which will open a whole new field in tourism research arising from new transmodern experiential paradigm. / PhD (Tourism Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Cette thèse étudie les différents types d'artistes-curateurs qui se manifestent depuis plus de deux siècles au moment où les artistes organisateurs d'expositions sont de plus en plus présents sur la scène artistique contemporaine. Par-delà le phénomène de mode, une vue d'ensemble des artistes-curateurs est dressée, une typologie de ceux-ci proposée. L'ensemble des réflexions et des recherches porte sur les liens entre art et réception de l'art à travers l'étude de la french theory (Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, Jean-François Lyotard, Jacques Rancière, Jacques Derrida), du réalisme spéculatif (Quentin Meillassoux, Graham Harman) et de l'heccéité (Jean Duns Scot). En s'appuyant sur une étude épistémologique, les différents caractères existants de la position d'artiste-curateur sont analysés. À travers des expériences artistiques et curatoriales subjectives, la visibilité des fondements véritables de cette double pratique, assumée comme telle, est pensée. L'objectif est de rendre compte de la définition possible de l'artiste-curateur comme avant tout un créateur de lieu, de dispositifs, et d'espace d'exposition au service des autres. Les rapports qu'entretiennent les artistes avec les commissaires d'expositions sont rendus visibles, tant dans leurs relations harmonieuses que conflictuelles. Des pistes pour l'avenir se conçoivent dans le prolongement de la poétique de la relation développée par Édouard Glissant. / This thesis shows that, under various guises, the artist-curator model has been operating for more two centuries when the artists who curate exhibitions are ever more visible on the artistic scene. Across the fashion phenomenon, an overview of the more prominent artist-curators is erected, a typology of these practitioners is proposed. He particularly focuses his reflections and researches on the links between art and theory, the study of the reception of French Theory (Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, Jean-François Lyotard, Jacques Rancière, Jacques Derrida), speculative realism (Quentin Meillassoux, Graham Harman) and haecceity (Jean Duns Scot). Using epistemological methodology and analyzing the state of variables, he details the various characteristics which co­exist in the artist-curator position. The author uses his own artistic and curatorial experience : he founded and curates the artist-run space Immanence. He aims to bring to life the real foundations of this double practice. The thesis posits the possible definition of the artist­curator both as the author of a creative act in place visibility and display, and simultaneously as a creator at the service of the others. At the heart, are the relationships between curated artists and artist-curator : the cooperation, consensus and correspondence, as well as the dissent and conflicts. Finally, the author looks to the possible futures drawing from the poetics of relation developed by Édouard Glissant.