Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 268-279).

Thesis (Th. M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 83-93).

The highest task of Philosophy, according to Socrates, is to teach man to die, to face death in the right way - the death in which the particular and the general are united, the death that concerns every one of us and at the same time does not concern anyone other than oneself . I agree completely with Socrates in his understanding of death - given that I have understood him correctly - and I believe that we should talk more about death and also dare to reflect upon the difficult issues that are related to it. This is not at all dangerous. But I take a very critical position in regard to his argument for immortality, the immortality of the soul, that is, the continued existence of the soul after the bodily, physical, death. Certainly, there may be a theoretical possibility that the soul somehow continues to exist after the physical death, but I do not think so. The only thing that remains of us, or rather after us, is the memory and the result of our actions in this life, that is, the result of the good or evil we have done against our fellow beings in this life. Death, in my opinion, understood as event or condition, is consequently one of the supernatural phenomena that makes us, we humans, human: a continuous inception and uncompleted wonder.

Teaching is a call to the sacred in life, for it is the field of self-knowing and ultimately of transformation. My conceptual exploration of the inner life of the teacher represents an experiment in educational research wherein I define the qualities of the "True" teacher and show how a heightened teaching "presence" cultivates a classroom of compassion and soulful learning. I have invited the voices of other writers from the fields of psychology, philosophy, spirituality and education to co-habit this text, offering their unique insights into searching/educating for spirit. This auto-ethnography presents a personal narrative of my teaching/living experiences revealing the pre-requisites necessary to be fully present in the classroom, and honoring the humanity both in myself and in my students. I examine the essential qualities of the True teacher as manifested in her presence, and in the acts of "myth-making," "witnessing," "compassion," and "knowing." Throughout my writing, I juxtapose my personal/professional inquiries with a more academic discussion revealing the tension between these two voices within myself. As well, I locate my personal inquiries in the experiences of the body honoring the kinesthetic wisdom that I have too long ignored. What emerges is a conversation between teacher and person, both identities searching for communion with the other. The classroom is the site of that communion as I come to inhabit my body and my spirit more fully, and begin to recognize the barriers and bridges to my True self/ teacher within my pedagogy and my life. This autobiographical writing is a healing journey locating transcendence within the everyday experiences of a teacher's life.

Plato’s late works contain an unexpectedly consistent treatment of the physics and metaphysics of souls. In the course of showing this, I argue that: (1) the mid- dle period dialogues Phaedo and Republic assume, but do not mention, a Form of Soul; (2) the Timaeus contains a physical theory according to which all changes of every kind are forms of spatial motion; (3) Plato’s view of souls as self-movers is identifiable in more of his late dialogues than is usually recognized (namely, in the Statesman as well as in the Phaedrus, Timaeus, and Laws); (4) in the definition of souls as self-movers, “motion” should be read as “spatial motion” rather than “change” in general, and (5) neither the Phaedrus nor the Timaeus contains the claim that human souls are immortal, while both dialogues contain a concept of “soul-stuff,” a material from which individual souls are manufactured.

In Treatises 19 (I, 2) and 20 (I, 3), Plotinus unfolds several ‘grades’ of virtue by interpreting the Platonic dialogues. Beginning with the goal of Theaetetus, “likeness to god”, Plotinus frames his discussion with a glance to the virtue exhibited by World Soul, giving a cosmic significance to the Delphic command, “know thyself”. Within this cosmic framework, the limited sphere of human, “political” virtues is subordinated to higher forms of purification. Purificatory virtue is revealed as the missing step between the political virtues and their archetypes. This step is mediatory and dynamic; as a lower form of purification, civic virtue is dignified as the necessary condition for the soul’s divinisation. World Soul is the exemplary possessor of perfect virtue, and as such operates as the mediatrix for human souls. This particular mediation illustrates the foundation of virtue for Plotinus: the non-anthropocentric, providential activity of the most contemplative of all souls.

The Prolegomena begin by pointing out the present lack of detailed, critical work on Plotinus., Then, after a resumé of the events of Plotinus' life, the problem of the date of composition of V 1, and its title, are discussed. Space is devoted to discussion of the purpose of the treatise, which, despite its title, is protreptic, to lead the soul to the Intelligible World and beyond by reminding it of its high status. The methodology of the Commentary is outlined, and a list of passages is given in which textual readings have been proposed which differ from those in the text of Henry and Schwyzer. The Prolegomena conclude with a detailed analysis of the contents of the treatise, included in order to show that the treatise is not a mere random collection of thoughts. There follows a translation which aims not so much to be stylish - for Plotinus was no stylist - but to give an accurate idea of what Plotinus actually wrote. The bulk of the thesis is taken up with the Commentary. The Commentary is exegetical, discussing difficulties in the treatise line by line. Since by the time Plotinus wrote his philosophical ideas were already formulated, it contains as many cross-references as possible to other treatises in the Plotinian corpus. Each chapter begins with a short introduction, and,in the body of the work, textual difficulties and the readings of previous editors, as well as difficulties of philosophical interpretation, are fully discussed. The translations of Ficino, Bréhier, Harder, Cilento and MacKenna are taken into account. Among the longer notes might be mentioned the note on 3,8 on the meaning of logos, that on the relationship between the reasoning and the undescending soul (on 3,13) 9 and the treatment of the difficult passages 6,17-19 and 7,11-17. The thesis concludes with a full bibliography.

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Thesis (Ph. L.)--Catholic University of America, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-82).

Thesis (Ph. L.)--Catholic University of America, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-82).