In this project, I contribute to ongoing debates regarding proper conceptions of “political Islam” or “Islamism” by bringing greater attention to the roles that Islamic mysticism, or Ṣūfism (taṣawwuf), has played in shaping theories and practices of virtue and character formation in Islamist movements. I do so by undertaking a genealogical study of the discourse concerning the practice of “commanding right and forbidding wrong” in classical Islamic thought as well as in that of modern Sunnī Islamism. Figures such as medieval scholarly giant al-Ghazālī (d. 505/111), Ḥasan al-Bannāʾ (d. 1949), founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Saʿīd Ḥawwa (d. 1989), a leading thinker of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, and ʿAbd al-Salam Yassine (d. 2012), who established the Moroccan Justice and Spirituality Association, all appropriated the discourse of commanding and forbidding in differing ways and for differing reasons to put forward activist visions of Islam; however, they all stressed the need for spiritual and ethical formation (tarbīya) and relied on Ṣūfism to accomplish this. Attention to the ways in which this “Ghazalian” tradition of Islamist thought and practice adopted Ṣūfī organizational structures and models of ethical formation challenges conceptual frameworks which have described Islamist groups primarily as products of modernity or as political ideologies. Additionally, study of this Ṣūfi-centric Islamist tradition offers a contrast to scholarship which has focused almost exclusively on Islamism’s exoteric scripturalism and fixation on the law. Such insights are crucial when attempting to understand and engage Islamist actors for purposes ranging from scholarly enquiry to cross-cultural understanding to policy formulation. / A Dissertation submitted to the in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in partial fulfillment of the 2017. / Spring Semester 2017. / March 20, 2017. / al-Banna, al-Ghazali, Islamist activism, Sufism, virtue ethics / Includes bibliographical references. / John Kelsay, Professor Directing Dissertation; Jeffrey Ayala Milligan, University Representative; Helen Boyle, Committee Member; Sumner B. Twiss, Committee Member; Adam Gaiser, Committee Member.

This thesis investigates criteria used by research agencies that publish ratings of business organisations in respect of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance and the relationship of these criteria to underlying ethical principles. Companies are rated according to CSR criteria. Observation of different rating agencies' results for the same, or similar organisations, shows a significant variation in results. Variations in rating must result either from different criteria being applied or from criteria addressing similar topics being assessed in a different way. Criteria from different rating agencies are found to be comparable. Thus if rating criteria are derived from an ethical view of the responsibilities of business organisations, then inconsistent results may be explained by variations in the ethical basis of corporate social responsibility used by agencies. Subject companies are rated under broad categories such as corporate governance, human rights and the environment. These categories contain specific criteria. My investigation compares the criteria used by major rating agencies and identifies the ethical basis, if any, that can be attributed to each criterion. The study finds that there are clearly identifiable links between a number of criteria used by each rating agency and the ethical theories selected for evaluation. Further, there is sufficient difference between the agencies to characterise each in relation to one or more of the ethical theories selected. There is inconsistency, however, within each agency's basis of principles as well as between agencies, which indicates an unsatisfactory lack of explicit relationship between the general, and reasonably consistent, definition of corporate social responsibility and application of coherent ethical principles. In practical terms around 10% of all investments in the United States, representing 2.3 trillion dollars, are invested in ethical or screened funds that rely on these and similar rating agencies results to determine CSR performance of firms. The large variation in results demonstrated in my thesis suggests that very significant financial decisions are based, at least in part, on inconsistent data. I suggest in my conclusion that if agencies were to consider, justify and clearly state the ethical basis from which their criteria derive, then investment managers and their clients could be more certain that their CSR principles were being upheld.

This thesis undertakes to investigate the influence of the sixth commandment on Paul’s ethics in Romans and 1 Corinthians. Our primary methodology is to develop a lens for reading Paul from a study of the murder commandment in the Scriptures and ancient Jewish writings. This involves an appreciation for the intertextual nature of the Scriptures and Jewish writings. We also seek to recognise the implications of Paul’s Second Temple reading context and his apostolic writing context. A preliminary question, however, must first be resolved before our research question can be meaningful: does the sixth commandment refer to killing or murdering? We conclude with an overall analysis of the influence of the murder commandment on Paul’s ethics in Romans and 1 Corinthians. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

There is interest in Spinoza in a range of disciplines with a focus on embodiment, agency and affect that has resulted in revisiting Spinoza as an alternative to the transcendence of dominant Cartesian thought. Spinoza offers a different understanding of reason that incorporates embodied experience through his alternative to abstract universals, the common notions. The role of affect and its relation to reason in Spinoza are discussed in relation to Descartes. Jonathan Bennett and Edwin Curley’s views on affect are discussed. It is argued that Deleuze’s discussion of expression in Spinoza is limited by the application of liberal ideas of power to Spinoza. Genevieve Lloyd and Moira Gatens offer a productive application of Spinoza’s thought to contemporary issues through a rethinking of imagination in the light of the focus in cultural studies on ‘imagined communities’. However, the inability of philosophy to distinguish abstract universals from alternatives such as Spinoza’s common notions has limited its ability to embrace embodied experience, which in turn limits the possibilities for applying Spinoza’s insights from within philosophy. The common notions are an alternative to abstract universals, and are able to confront the conflicting meanings and differences within them / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This thesis is an investigation of Karl Barth’s theology in the turbulent and dynamic years of his nascent career: 1915 – 1922, with a special focus on the manner in which he construed Christian and ecclesial existence. The thesis argues that Karl Barth developed his theology with an explicit ecclesial and ethical motive, that is, he developed his theology as a deliberate attempt to shape the ethical life of the church in the context within which he lived and worked. It contends that criticisms suggesting that Barth does not have an ethics are inaccurate assessments of his work, and in fact, that although it is evident that his ethical thought continued to develop throughout his career, major trajectories of Barth’s development are present in germinal form even at this early stage. Following the lead and suggestion of John Webster, the thesis adopts a chronological and exegetical reading of Barth’s work from his initial dispute with his liberal heritage circa 1915 until the publication of the second edition of his commentary on Romans. Materials examined from this period include sermons, lectures, book reviews, personal correspondence and biblical commentaries, with particular care being taken to identify the occasion and historical context within which Barth presented his thought. This reading seeks to uncover and present the development, structure, content and logic of Barth’s own thought, in hope that the central concerns of this thesis will be validated. Examination of these materials has indeed shown that Barth developed his theology with an ecclesio-ethical motive. The significance of this thesis is twofold. First, it contributes to broader understanding of Barth’s theology both in its early development, and with regard to his ecclesiology and ethics. Second, it provides a significant framework and material for contemporary ecclesial reflection on its own identity and mission.

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. / The growing concern about the role of ethics in western society has also touched documentary film-making. Yet, since the emergence in the late 1980s of the first journal articles discussing documentary ethics, the theoretical exploration of the key arguments in this field has been fitful. Debates amongst filmmakers about ethics are often immersed in topical discussions of production issues or issues relating to a few controversial films. With the exception of a few insightful works, there is little new analysis or examination devoted to exploring ethics in this discipline. This dissertation adds to the available body of work by examining in depth the ethics encountered in the production of a documentary film, Tagged, with young people, especially the ethics encoded in the aesthetic and discursive elements of the film. Theoretical discussions about ethics range from the analytical focus on the ethics of representation, through the use of subjective modes of expressivity and filmic techniques to epistemological analyses of specific issues such as privacy and the nature of consent that draw on legal and medical models. A study of relevant documentary films reveals the variety of approaches to the moral values reflected in their discourses and visual representations, and a range of authorial voices, heavily influenced by the relationship between filmmakers and subjects and by the production circumstances of each film. In Australia, broadcasters, funding bodies and production companies dominate the documentary film-making environment and their codes, editorial policies and protocols influence the whole sector of documentary filmmaking. By categorizing documentary within the broad scope of factual programming, they reflect an institutional gaze that fails to acknowledge those individuals including children and youth, who participate in its production. Through my examination of ethics in both the theory and practice, I address the relevant question of whether there should be a code of practice for documentary film-making. In focussing on my own ethical position and its translation into practice through the making of Tagged, I explore the ways in which the ethical stance that I established is pivotal to the documentary and represented both in the text and in the pragmatic choices of production. This led me to conclude that the development of an ethical position specific to a current project is an effective focus on the potential ethical conflicts in a production. From this I argue that while a broad code of conduct can provide valuable guidelines, it cannot replace the filmmakers’ investigation of their ethical practice and their establishment of an ethical statement and stance for their films thus creating a platform from which ethical conflicts can be understood and either avoided or resolved.

Genetic medicine is an emerging area of healthcare which constantly raises novel ethical challenges in the clinical realm due to its capacity to reveal information that has deeply personal meaning. Genetic tests can reveal more than is strictly essential for immediate medical care because they can diagnose conditions that cannot be cured, treated or effectively managed. The diagnosis of a genetic condition in one individual can have repercussions throughout an extended family, and genetic knowledge has created innovative, technologically driven, reproductive options. For clients of genetic counselling, moral choice does not readily result from uncluttered logic or easy personal preference, nor does it involve the application of sterile principles and laws, but is a much richer process involving personal history and culture, as well as reflection upon personal values, current resources and projected life goals. For these reasons, I question the validity of the exclusive use of a narrow version of Principlism, as it is commonly operationalised, for the medical sub-specialty of clinical genetics. Its heavy emphasis on individual autonomy, which has become synonymous with clinical medicine, does not take into account the fact that most genetic tests have little or no immediate clinical utility, or that genetic medicine is primarily about the way in which genetic conditions pass through families, and management of recurrence risks by choice of reproductive options. Therefore, the aim of this dissertation is to develop and explore a broader contextual moral framework, which is better suited to deliberation about complex ethical dilemmas in clinical genetics, than the current dominant approach which tends to follow a restrictive and non-inclusive application of Principlism. To achieve this aim, I have started with a review of relevant history and socio-political forces that have shaped the current status of the genetic medicine, and examined the evolution of current attitudes that underpin recognition, analysis and management of the ethical challenges in genetic medicine. I have analysed the manner in which Principlism and other normative theories are employed by bioethicists and clinicians in response to ethical dilemmas, and presented an alternative approach which employs a broader contextual ethical framework. I have devised an approach which attends to the importance of both current social opinion, and the tradition of evidence-based medicine, with reference to selected traditions in philosophical analysis. vi In conclusion, I advocate attention to concrete circumstances, which includes recognition of historical development, which has shaped current medical and wider social values, beliefs, norms and attitudes political context, including critical analysis of relevant political motivations social context, particularly situational power structures, trust relationships and relational obligations personal values, resources and experiences of the stakeholder(s) the range of realistically available options for the stakeholder(s) the impact of economic limits, which might be institutional and / or personal And, to achieve this objective of building a ‘thick’ ethical discourse, I propose a series of questions, which can be readily utilised by genetic and non-genetic health professionals as well as other members of society to work towards resolutions that represent a balance of fairness, economic responsibility with scarce resources, and socially acceptability. This approach appropriately attends to the relational and communicative aspects of moral dilemmas in clinical genetics, and is likely to yield more meaningful (and less likely paternalistic) conclusions, which would be of greater value to our morally pluralist society.

In the scholarly literature on invasive species management, there exists a tendency to neglect the moral relevance of sentience when determining best possible management strategies regarding sentient members of invasive species. In addition, there is also a negative bias against invasive species, where such species are viewed as inherently "bad." Because of this negative bias, many wildlife managers, conservation biologists, and ecologists share the default view that invasive species are nuisances and must be gotten rid of, using the most cost-effective and efficient means possible. The neglect or omission of sentience within the literature often carries over into the implementation of invasive species management techniques, where sentient members of invasive species are often not treated as humanely as possible. / In this thesis, I defend Bernard Rollin's animal ethic, where sentient beings are those capable of having interests, and which are also capable of self-valuation, which is necessary for possessing intrinsic value (on Rollin's view). Because such beings are capable of having interests which can be fulfilled or thwarted, they are objects of moral concern on this view. While I defend Rollin's view, any moral theory which considers sentience morally relevant at all will be compatible with the majority of my arguments regarding our treatment of sentient members of invasive species. If sentience is a morally relevant criterion, I argue that it continues to be so even when sentient beings are members of species which are considered to be "invasive." This claim is strongly supported by the large-scale vagueness and disagreement over terms such as "invasive," "native," and "exotic" within the literature. / Because sentience is a morally relevant criterion when determining best possible management practices regarding invasive species, members of such species should be treated as humanely and in accordance with their respective telos as much as possible. Typically, this will entail prioritizing nonlethal and preventive methods of control over lethal methods. However, even when lethal control is deemed to be the best possible type of management strategy in a given situation, it should be implemented as humanely as possible. / In addition to arguing for sentience as a morally relevant criterion when determining best possible management strategies regarding invasive species, I also argue that the negative bias against invasive species as inherently "bad" is ultimately unfounded. I support this claim by providing evidence of a variety of potential negative, positive, and neutral aspects of invasive species. Because invasive species are not inherently "bad" or "good," I argue that our attitudes toward and management of members of such species should be developed on a case-by-case basis. / It is also important that the assessment of invasive species on a case-by-case basis be combined with the moral relevance of sentience. The bias against invasive species may serve to perpetuate the omission of sentience as a morally relevant criterion of invasive species management. The omission of sentience may also perpetuate the negative bias against invasive species. Understanding the moral relevance of sentience may help to diminish the negative bias against invasive species, and vice versa. / After considering and responding to several objections to my arguments, I provide an overview of different sorts of lethal, nonlethal, and preventive methods of invasive species management, and discuss how each of these can be implemented in a more humane fashion, in order to present ways in which my arguments and view can be successfully applied in a variety of real-world scenarios.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 234-236).

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2006. / Title from title screen. Timothy Renick, committee chair; Kathryn McClymond, Timothy O'Keefe, committee members. Electronic text (48 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Apr. 24, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 47-48).