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O presente trabalho procura mostrar que para Hume poder fazer as distinções que ele pretende fazer no início do Tratado da Natureza Humana, entre impressões e idéias e entre idéias da imaginação e idéias da memória, Hume precisa ter recurso a elementos que não são dados empiricamente, como a crença em um mundo externo, atitudes em relação a percepções (crença) e propensões da mente. No entanto, argumentamos que estes não são nem pressupostos irrefletidos de Hume, nem medidas de contenção usadas quando problemas começam a aparecer, mas que constituem elementos imprescindíveis de sua filosofia, amplamente trabalhados por ele, e sem os quais a compreensão de sua filosofia ficaria severamente prejudicada. / The present work tries to show that, for Hume to be able to make the distinctions he intends to make at the beginning of A Treatise of Human Nature, between impressions and ideas, and between ideas of imagination and ideas of memory, Hume needs to make use of elements which are not given empirically, such as belief in an external world, attitudes towards perceptions (belief), and propensities of the mind. However, we argue that they are neither unexamined presuppositions made by Hume, nor accessory measures used to solve problems as they begin to show up in his philosophy; rather, they are necessary elements of his philosophy, thoroughly worked by him, and without which the understanding of Hume’s philosophy would become very limited.

O presente trabalho procura mostrar que para Hume poder fazer as distinções que ele pretende fazer no início do Tratado da Natureza Humana, entre impressões e idéias e entre idéias da imaginação e idéias da memória, Hume precisa ter recurso a elementos que não são dados empiricamente, como a crença em um mundo externo, atitudes em relação a percepções (crença) e propensões da mente. No entanto, argumentamos que estes não são nem pressupostos irrefletidos de Hume, nem medidas de contenção usadas quando problemas começam a aparecer, mas que constituem elementos imprescindíveis de sua filosofia, amplamente trabalhados por ele, e sem os quais a compreensão de sua filosofia ficaria severamente prejudicada. / The present work tries to show that, for Hume to be able to make the distinctions he intends to make at the beginning of A Treatise of Human Nature, between impressions and ideas, and between ideas of imagination and ideas of memory, Hume needs to make use of elements which are not given empirically, such as belief in an external world, attitudes towards perceptions (belief), and propensities of the mind. However, we argue that they are neither unexamined presuppositions made by Hume, nor accessory measures used to solve problems as they begin to show up in his philosophy; rather, they are necessary elements of his philosophy, thoroughly worked by him, and without which the understanding of Hume’s philosophy would become very limited.

Mysterium Cosmographicum is a musical chronicle of an astronomy treatise by the German astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630). Kepler's Mysterium cosmographicum (Tubingen, 1596), or "Secret of the Universe," was a means by which he justified the existence of the six planets discovered during his lifetime. Kepler, through flawless a priori reasoning, goes to great lengths to explain that the reason there are six and only six planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) is because God had placed one of the five regular solids (tetrahedron, cube, octa-, dodeca-, and icosahedron) around each orbiting body. Needless to say, the publication was not very successful, nor did it gain much comment from Kepler's peers, Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) and Tycho Brahe (1546-1601). But hidden within the Mysterium cosmographicum. almost like a new planet waiting to be discovered, is one of Kepler's three laws of planetary motion, a law that held true for planets discovered long after Kepler's life-time. Mysterium Cosmographicum is a monologue with music in three parts for orchestra, narrator/actor, and computer music on tape. All musical data structures ape generated via an interactive Pascal computer program that computes latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates For each of the nine planets as seen From a Fixed point on Earth For any given time Frame. These coordinates are then mapped onto selected musical parameters as determined by the composer. Whenever Kepler reads From his treatise or From a lecture or correspondence, the monologue is supported by orchestral planetary data generated From the exact place, date, and time oF the treatise, lecture, or correspondence. To the best oF my knowledge, Mysterium Cosmographicum is the First composition ever written that employs planetary data as a supporting chronology to action and monologue.

Ce mémoire propose une analyse de l’imagination, ou connaissance du premier genre, dans la philosophie de Baruch Spinoza, qui vise à mettre de l’avant son rôle de constitution du réel. Pour ce faire, nous aborderons la manière dont la pensée de Spinoza a évolué, en nous inspirant des thèses d’Antonio Negri. Cela nous permettra d’apercevoir chez Spinoza le développement d’un concept d’imagination qui soit essentiellement positif et constitutif, et seulement accidentellement cause de l’erreur. Nous expliquerons ainsi les causes de l’interruption de la rédaction de l’Éthique pour celle du Traité théologico-politique, en exposant la double nécessité (à la fois socio-politique et philosophique) qui impose à Spinoza le thème de la positivité de l’imagination, à travers laquelle le monde se constitue lui-même, sans besoin aucun de transcendance. Nous verrons ainsi avec Negri que c’est l’imagination qui permet à Spinoza d’enfin concevoir pleinement l’immanence. Le rôle constitutif de l’imagination est chez Spinoza à la fois ce qui résulte et ce qui lui permet de dépasser l’horizon philosophique traditionnel désirant organiser le monde par la Totalité, ou la Substance, qui conserverait toujours dans cet horizon une trace de transcendance par rapport au monde qui est à organiser. Par la suite, nous définirons l’imagination, en nous appuyant principalement sur le texte de l’Éthique, avant d’exposer le processus constitutif du réel qui lui est propre. Nous montrerons ainsi la portée de la puissance constitutive de l’imagination, en expliquant le processus de constitution des objets, du temps, du sujet pratique, à travers l’habitude et la mémoire, puis la constitution de toute forme de société et de toute vie sociale à travers l’imitation des affects. Nous terminerons ce parcours en jetant un regard sur les thèses politiques qui découlent immédiatement du rôle constitutif de l’imagination, et qui répondent à l’exigence socio-politique qui a poussé Spinoza, face à l’intolérance religieuse et au retour sauvage de la monarchie en Hollande, à se pencher sur ces questions. / This work offers an analysis of the concept of imagination, also called knowledge of the first kind, in order to put forward its constitutive role. For this, we will first discuss the way Spinoza’s philosophy evolved, following Antonio Negri’s interpretation. We will then account for Spinoza’s approach of imagination, making it essentially positive and constitutive, and only accidentally the origin of error. With this, we will explain what causes Spinoza to interrupt his work on the Ethics to write the Theological-Political Treatise, by exposing the need (both socio-political and philosophical) forcing Spinoza to develop imagination’s positivity and power, through which the world constitutes itself without any transcendence whatsoever. We will see, along with Negri, that this positive concept of imagination enables Spinoza to fully embrace immanence. This is how he can go beyond the traditional philosophical horizon which wants the world to be organized by Totality or, in Spinoza’s case, by the Substance, which in this horizon always retains a hint of transcendence. Subsequentially, we will define imagination, mainly from the Ethics, and then we will present the scope of imagination’s constitutive power by presenting the process by which are constituted objects, subjects and time, by means of habit and memory, and then the process by which are constituted all kinds of society and even all types of social life, by means of imitation of the affects. We will conclude our research by looking at the political theory immediately resulting of imagination’s constitutive role. This will also reveal how Spinoza’s positive concept of imagination answers the socio-political need that motivated him, while witnessing religious intolerance and the resurgence of monarchy in Holland, to reorient his work towards these questions and towards the role of imagination.

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Customer satisfaction is a key concern in any business strategy. It is often assumed that customer satisfaction can be enhanced using e-services. E-service is defined as interactive service received via the Internet (Jiang et al., 2013). E-service has contributed to business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce by providing on-demand solutions to customers. The relationship with the customer is enhanced by introducing self-service options, product customisation and variety. However, there may also be negative impacts, such as techno-stress and lack of online customer assistance. The primary aim of this research was to develop a conceptual framework to describe the correlation relationship between the factors that influence customers’ adoption of e-services. Organisations use the Internet to attract customers, to conduct financial services and obtain information. This research focussed specifically on online shopping. The Grounded Theory research methodology was chosen for its flexibility and iterative comparison of data. A quantitative survey was conducted to determine the relative significance of the factors uncovered by the Grounded Theory methodology and to validate the hypothesis of the conceptual model. Customer adoption is attained where customer satisfaction is high, where the customer sees value in the service, and where there is customer loyalty or trust. To date, research has focussed primarily on developed countries. Many challenges face South Africa as a Newly Industrialised Country (NIC). The negative factors facing developing countries in terms of e-service adoption include: lack of infrastructure, economic constraints and an emergent socio-political framework. The aim of this research was to build a conceptual model for explaining interrelationships between the identified factors that have an impact on customer e-service adoption. The customer’s perception of technology-driven services affects the organisation’s reputation, which in turn affects profitability. This research will be beneficial to ii managers in local organisations that thrive on e-services. An understanding of customer preferences will lead to improvement of customer services in South Africa. / Art History, Visual Arts & Musicology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Art History)

In the wake of the 19th century, the protestant reformation in Europe that led to the formation of mainline reformation traditions began impacting and shaping ministry in Africa, through missionary activities. But the clarion call for Africa’s renaissance was also a wakeup call for the African church to move from being consumers of the ‘imported’ theology brewed from a European perspective and take some responsibility in producing her own theology, which can be viewed and understood with an African cultural lens. If Africa must achieve the much needed renaissance, the church certainly has an indispensable role to play. But how can there be a meaningful church praxis in African polities without a solid contextualized theological foundation? Therefore in this project, I justify the need for a biblio-centric African theology by making a case for the Cameroon Baptist Convention in the Republic of Cameroon. I argue that, to be able to solidify its foundation and enhance its Christian theological praxis in the society, a Cameroon Baptist Theological Treatise is needed in the Cameroon Baptist Convention. One that would contain well delineated and defended theological tenets required of an independent Christian denomination in Africa. Central to the development of this treatise is the development of a soteriology with a cognitive theological understanding of divine predestination. To develop a correct soteriology for this purpose, a process is required, one that would need to use sound theological principles to ensure a biblically accurate and theologically sound doctrine of soteriology as the point of departure. As an evangelical systematic theological research, I attempt in this project to deconstruct biblical and theological paradigms from scriptures and reformation traditions, which the Cameroon Baptist Convention leaders could use as tools in the process of delineating and defending their own tenets on soteriology in the proposed theological treatise. It begins by gathering data from reformation traditions and scriptures on predestination and moves on to construct theories that would not only help the Cameroon Baptist Convention leaders to develop a soteriology but also be fundamental to developing other relevant doctrines needed in the proposed Cameroon Baptist Theological Treatise. / Philosophy & Systematic Theology / D. Th. (Systematic Theology)

La question de Hume, au regard de l'identité, n'est pas de savoir en quoi consiste l'identité ou s'il y a une identité, mais comment il est possible de l'affirmer. Elle concerne en fait, la question du fondement de l'identité. Il s'agit de prouver comment, à partir de la définition d'un soi envisagé comme faisceau de perceptions, les perceptions du soi peuvent être unifiées entre elles. Les conclusions auxquelles Hume parvient, dans le Livre I du Traité de la nature humaine, sont l'admission d'un échec : sa théorie de la connaissance ne permet pas de fournir ce principe unificateur des perceptions. Dans la présente recherche, partir de laquelle la doctrine nous examinons l'hypothèse à des relations de Hume, plus précisément celle de contiguité temporelle, jette une lumière nouvelle sur la question de l'identité et représente une voie possible pour en élucider l'énigme.

O tema desta dissertação encontra-se na filosofia moral de David Hume, e este trabalho busca lançar luz sobre sua fundamentação a fim de esclarecer algumas dificuldades e ambiguidades. O problema aqui apresentado refere-se à natureza da simpatia e dos sentimentos morais na filosofia humeana, e visa determinar qual é o objeto adequado dos juízos morais e o status moral da simpatia enquanto produtora de conteúdo moral ou enquanto mecanismo de comunicação de sentimentos, bem como tratar de uma ambiguidade referente ao objeto próprio dos juízos morais e ao objeto próprio da simpatia. Isto será feito através de uma análise dos livros 2 e 3 do Tratado da Natureza Humana e nas Investigações dos Princípios da Moral das ocorrências do princípio da simpatia, atentando para seu papel no contexto de cada passagem e sua relação com as noções de prazer e dor, aprovação e desaprovação, no contexto da teoria moral humeana A tese de que apenas o caráter do agente ou motivo da ação pode ser objeto próprio de avaliação moral será problematizada através das relações que Hume estabelece entre os sentimentos de prazer e dor produzidos por ações e nossos sentimentos morais, onde não se trata do caráter ou motivo do agente, mas sim seus efeitos que constituem o objeto de avaliação moral, o que (tal como aponta o comentador Bernard Wand) poderia gerar ambiguidade em relação ao objeto próprio dos juízos morais ou dificuldades na explicação humeana para as avaliações morais. Minha intenção é esclarecer estas dificuldades e, através do exame de alguns outros comentadores da obra humeana, afastar a interpretação de Wand esclarecendo que não há ambiguidade ou circularidade entre causa e efeito dos juízos morais na teoria humeana. Ao longo deste procedimento, serão examinadas dificuldades que também dizem respeito às correções e às condições necessárias de operação adequada do mecanismo da simpatia, a fim de oferecer uma explicação coerente com os propósitos de Hume de explicar as origens de nossa aprovação e desaprovação morais a partir de um princípio geral de explicação. / The subject of this dissertation is in David Hume's moral philosophy, and this work seeks to cast light on its fundaments in order to clarify some difficulties and ambiguities. The problem here presented refers to the nature of sympathy and moral sentiments in Humean philosophy, and is aimed in determinate the proper object of moral judgment and the moral status of sympathy as source of moral content or as a mechanism of communication of sentiments, as well as solve an ambiguity concerning the proper object of moral judgments and the proper object of sympathy. This shall be done through an analysis of the books 2 and 3 of the Treatise of Human Nature and the Enquiries Concerning The Principles os Morals of the occurrences of the principle of sympathy, paying attention to its role in the context of each account and its relations with the notions of pleasure and pain, approval and disapproval in the context of the Humean moral theory The thesis that only the agent's motive or character can be the object of moral valuation will be problematized through the relations Hume establishes between the feelings of pleasure and pain produced by actions and our moral feelings, where it is not the agent’s character or motive, but its consequences, which constitute the object of moral appraisals, and this (as Bernard Wand points) might constitute an ambiguity concerning the proper object of moral evaluation. My intention is to clarify this difficulties and, through the analysis of other critics of Hume, refusing Wands interpretation and clarifying that there is no ambiguity and no circularity between the cause and effect of moral judgment in Hume’s theory. Throughout this procedure, difficulties will be examined concerning the corrections and the necessary conditions for sympathy’s proper operation, in order to offer a coherent explanation with Hume purposes of explaining the origins of our moral approval and disapproval from a general principle of explanation.