Thesis (MTh)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Yale Center for Faith and Culture has held seven Consultations on God and Human Flourishing, 2007 to 2013, where it was affirmed that human relation to God is reason enough for human flourishing. The seven consultations indicate a growing conversation on God and human flourishing in theology. With this is mind the three female theologians are considered and argued to be important as participants in a conversation on God and human flourishing. The three female theologians are Serene Jones, a feminist theologian, Ellen Charry a systematic-pastoral theologian, and Jennifer Herdt, a virtue ethicist. Serene Jones is presented in the thesis as the first voice to engage theologically with the notions of happiness and human flourishing from a feminist critical position. Serene Jones argues, by means of feminist theory, that gendered constructions of women’s nature are present in readings of doctrine and Scripture. The way in which happiness and human flourishing is understood to characterise the lives of women is consequently challenged and critiqued. Due to the oppressive logic inherent in gender insensitive readings of doctrine and Scripture, Serene Jones opts for a re-reading where the agency of women is affirmed. The doctrines of justification and sanctification are re-formulated by Serene Jones as justifying and sanctifying grace. Grace is described by Serene Jones as an envelope that enfolds the substance of women, presenting women with a redemptive narrative that they are able to identify with. Serene Jones’ contribution lies in her affirmation of the graced agency of women. Ellen Charry, a female theologian who is concerned with the salutary effect of knowledge on an individual represents the second voice. Ellen Charry understands the dichotomy between goodness and pleasure established by modernity to be false. In the notion of asherism Ellen Charry seeks to bridge the gap by asserting that obedience to God’s commandments evokes both goodness and pleasure. Pleasure is described as the enjoyment of God and creation. Ellen Charry goes further by affirming that God enjoys creation when creation flourishes. A mutual enjoyment between God and creation takes place which brings about a happy disposition. Happiness accordingly is a way of life established through a particular knowledge of God attained when one obeys God’s norm for living. In addition, happiness is not just marked by an excellent life but also by the enjoyment of both God and creation. Ellen Charry contributes to the conversation by affirming that happiness is established when humans and God flourish. Jennifer Herdt, a virtue ethicist, starts with the secularisation of moral thought present since the sixteenth century. The secularisation of moral thought caused morality to be separated from its religious moorings. A shift in emphasis occurred, moving from the person doing the action to the action itself. With this shift in emphasis the possibility of virtue to bring humans into relation with God through grace was negated. The result was a recapitulated Augustinian anxiety of acquired virtue. Jennifer Herdt seeks to negate the Augustinian anxiety by returning the emphasis to the agent of the action. Jennifer Herdt delineates an account of mimetic performance, where she argues that by imitating a divine exemplar through virtue, grace progressively brings one into relation with God. Virtue is a means by which an individual partakes in and is formed by a liturgy. As virtue is practiced the agent participates in God, an act denoting happiness. Jennifer Herdt’s account of human happiness takes into consideration how virtue assimilates an agent to Christ. From the three female perspectives, happiness and human flourishing is understood to pertain to one’s relation to God, a perspective which resonates with the God and Human Flourishing Consultations. In light of the female theological contributions, the suggestion that each female theological voice may be important for a diverse conversation on God and human flourishing as well as future initiatives for God and Human Flourishing is warranted. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die “Yale Center for Faith and Culture” het sewe konsultasies gehad, 2007 tot 2013, oor “God and Human Flourishing” waar daar beklemtoon is dat die menslike verhouding tot God genoegsame rede is vir menslike florering. Die sewe konsultasies weerspieël ʼn toenemende gesprek oor God en menslike florering in teologie. Dié toenemende gesprek het daartoe gelei dat drie vroulike stemme geidentifiseer word en geargumenteer word dat hulle belangrike deelnemers in ʼn gesprek rondom God en menlike florering is. Die drie vroulike stemme is Serene Jones, ʼn feministiese teoloog, Ellen Charry, ʼn sistematies-pastorale teoloog, en Jennifer Herdt, ʼn deugde etikus. Serene Jones word in die tesis eerste aangebied om teologies, vanuit ʼn feministies kritiese oogpunt, in gesprek te tree met die konsepte van geluk en menslike florering. Serene Jones argumenteer, deur middel van feministiese teorie, dat geslagskonstruksies van vrouens se natuur teenwoordig is in die lees van die Bybel en leerstellings. Die konsepte van geluk en florering, wat beskrywende woorde is, moet daarom ook krities gelees word en by tye uitgedaag word. Weens die geslags onsensitiewe lees van die Bybel en leerstellinge, onderneem Serene Jones om die leerstellings van regverdiging en heiligmaking te heroorweeg, met die klem op vrouens se agentskap. Die leerstelllings van regverdiging en heiligmaking word heroorweeg en benoem as geregverdigde en geheiligde genade. Genade word deur Serene Jones beskryf as ʼn koevert wat die wese van vrouens omvou. Vrouens word hiermee van ʼn verlossingsnarratief voorsien waarmee hulle kan identifiseer. Serene Jones se bydrae lê dus in haar prioriteit teenoor vrouens se genadigde agentskap. Ellen Charry, ʼn vroue teoloog wat besorg is oor die pastorale effek van kennis, verteenwoordig die tweede stem. Ellen Charry is krities oor die tweedeling van goedheid en genot wat deur die modernisme ingestel is en beskou dit as vals. Deur die konsep van asherisme probeer Ellen Charry die tweedeling oorbrug deur te argumenteer dat gehoorsaamheid aan God se gebooie beide goedheid en genot meebring. Sy beskryf genot as die wedersydse plesier wat mense beleef wanneer hulle God geniet deur gehoorsaam te wees aan God. Ellen Charry gaan verder deur te verduidelik dat God ook die mensdom geniet wanneer die mensdom floreer en God daardeur floreer. Die wedersydse florering van beide skepping en God bring ʼn gelukkige disposisie mee. Geluk word vervolgens beskryf as ʼn manier van leef, gebaseer op die uitlewing van die kennis wat deur God se gebooie geopenbaar word. Ellen Charry dra by tot die gesprek van geluk en florering deur die wedersydse genot wat mens en God beleef as kardinaal te beskou vir die verstaan van geluk. Jennifer Herdt, ʼn deugde etikus en die derde vroulike stem, begin met die verwêreldliking van moraliteit wat sedert die sestiende eeu teenwoordig is. Die verwêreldliking van morele nadenke het moraliteit en godsdiens van mekaar geskei. Die skeiding van moraliteit en godsdiens het tot gevolg gehad dat die klem verskuif is van die agent na handeling self. Met dié verskuiwing is die rol van genade om die agent geleidelik in gemeenskap met God te bring ondermyn. Die resultaat was die herhaling van die Augustiniese angs oor verkrygde deugde. Jennifer Herdt probeer die Augustiniese angs vermy deur die klem weer op die agent te laat val. Die konsep van nabootsende uitvoerings word deur Jennifer Herdt gebruik om te beskryf hoe die individu wat deugde beoefen, deur die nabootsing van Christus, toenemend in verhouding met God gebring word deur middel van genade. Deugde is ʼn wyse waarop ʼn persoon deelneem aan en gevorm word deur ʼn bepaalde liturgie. Wanneer die persoon deugde beoefen, word daar deelgeneem aan God deur Christus, ʼn daad wat geluk vergestalt. Jennifer Herdt se weergawe van menslike geluk neem in ag hoe ʼn persoon geassimileer word tot God deur deugde te beoefen. Deur die drie vroulike stemme se bydrae word daar verstaan dat geluk en die florering van mense verband hou met hulle verhouding tot God, ʼn perspektief wat resoneer met die “God and Human Flourishing Consultations.” In die lig van die onderskeie vroulik teologiese bydrae, is die voorstel dat elke stem belangrik is vir ʼn gediversifiseerde gesprek oor God en menslike florering so wel as toekomstige initiatiewe waar daar besin word oor God en menslike florering geregverdig.

This thesis examines Pieter Bruegel the Elder's Fortitude, 1560, a print from the Seven Virtues series. Fortitude stands out as an anomaly within the cycle because it contains several allusions to the Book of Revelation. The linkage of Fortitude to the writings of St. John is important because it challenges previous iconographic and iconological analyses of the composition. Analysis of Fortitude's compositional elements is provided, along with an examination of the virtue tradition. Additionally, an exploration of sixteenth-century apocalypticism is included, as well as an examination of the artistic influences that may have inspired Bruegel. This thesis concludes that Fortitude's apocalyptic allusions do not seem unusual for an artist familiar with St. John's prophecies, influenced by Hieronymus Bosch, and living in an age of apocalypticism.

Submitted by JOSIANE SANTOS DE OLIVEIRA (josianeso) on 2018-04-23T14:04:49Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Aléssio da Rosa_.pdf: 1394720 bytes, checksum: ef91e726476eaddec06212ba1db71f6a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-23T14:04:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Aléssio da Rosa_.pdf: 1394720 bytes, checksum: ef91e726476eaddec06212ba1db71f6a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-03-02 / Nenhuma / O advento do iluminismo durante o século XVIII, na Europa, abalou as bases da moralidade, até então sustentadas pelas filosofias de herança clássica e medieval. Alasdair MacIntyre, em 1981, com a publicação da obra After Virtue, empreendeu um projeto filosófico pautado na reabilitação de uma forma de pesquisa racional na qual estariam implícitas as práticas que constituiam as narrativas e tradições morais, fundamentadas e atualizadas a partir do conceito seminal de virtudes, de base Aristotélico-Tomásica. MacIntyre, ao interligar os conceitos - vulnerabilidade, dependência e autonomia racional - estabelece a percepção das virtudes como um traço comunitário e cooperativo, sem reduzi-las à qualidade de caráter individual, social ou traços meramente emocionais. O presente trabalho tem por objeto aferir a plausibilidade da ética das virtudes, recontextualizadas por MacIntyre, como um paradigma de referência para a política contemporânea. Procuramos arguir sobre a viabilidade do modelo ético das virtudes e as implicações desta para a sociedade atual, caracterizada como pluralista e multicultural. Argumentamos em favor de uma ética que possa ser uma alternativa efetiva na superação do individualismo hedonista/consumista contemporâneo, buscando uma possível política das virtudes segundo a concepção de MacIntyre. Uma nova política, que possa ser uma alternativa à visão dicotômica e obliterada de uma vida decantada em projetos empenhados unicamente para a obtenção de lucro, em detrimento ao bem-estar da coletividade, em sintonia com a natureza e demais seres vivos. Para tal intento, apresentamos as bases principais da ética das virtudes pensada e atualizadas por MacIntyre, sua plausibilidade, bem como as principais objeções e questionamentos dos adversários e críticos desse modelo ético. / The advent of the Enlightenment during the eighteenth century in Europe undermined the foundations of morality, hitherto supported by philosophies of classical and medieval heritage. Alasdair MacIntyre, in 1981, with the publication of the work After Virtue, undertook a philosophical project based on the rehabilitation of a form of rational research in which the practices that constituted the moral narratives and traditions, based and updated from the seminal concept of virtues Aristotle-Tomasic basis. MacIntyre, by interconnecting concepts - vulnerability, dependence and rational autonomy - establishes the perception of virtues as a communitarian and cooperative trait, without reducing them to the quality of individual or social character or merely emotional traits. The present work aims at assessing the plausibility of the virtue ethics, recontextualized by MacIntyre, as a reference paradigm for contemporary politics. We seek to argue about the viability of the ethical model of virtues and its implications for today's society, characterized as pluralistic and multicultural. We argue in favor of an ethic that can be an effective alternative in overcoming contemporary hedonist / consumerist individualism, seeking a possible policy of virtues according to MacIntyre's conception. A new policy, which can be an alternative to the dichotomous and obliterated vision of a life decanted in projects committed solely for profit, to the detriment of the well-being of the community, in harmony with nature and other living beings. For this purpose, we present the main bases of the ethics of the virtues thought and updated by MacIntyre, their plausibility, as well as the main objections and questions of opponents and critics of this ethical model.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:20:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Alvaro Luiz Travassos de Azevedo Gonzaga.pdf: 590552 bytes, checksum: bfde2e6cc655a3269b496b5fa892bc03 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-08-03 / This thesis will study the platonic thinking under the Natural Law perspective, especially in The Republic, and its following concretization and integration in Laws. We aim to observe how the platonic doctrine does not change radically, but rather completes itself with the combination of the two mentioned works, for which we shall weave our analysis setting out from the logical temporal proposition in the platonic thinking, considering also the research of his conception of Justice in order to verify the maturity of its posture as it relates to the organization of the polis / A presente tese predispõe-se a estudar o pensamento platônico na perspectiva do Direito Natural, em especial na República, e sua consequente positivação e integração na obra As Leis. Visamos apresentar como a doutrina platônica de justiça não muda radicalmente, mas se completa com a conjugação das obras mencionadas. Para isso, partiremos da proposta temporal lógica do pensamento platônico, bem como da pesquisa de sua concepção de Justiça a fim de verificarmos a maturidade de sua postura com relação à organização da pólis

This study sought to conceptualize forgiveness-granting communication as a facework phenomenon through utilizing the concepts of face concerns, degree of face loss, and facework strategies. Participants from public speaking courses (N = 248) completed a self-report survey questionnaire asking them to recall a recent forgiveness episode. Statistical analyses were conducted to discover the relationship between face and forgiveness-granting communication. The results of this study indicated the following important findings: (a) the greater one’s self-face concern, the less likely one’s forgiveness-granting communication is to be direct; (b) self-face concern positively predicted conditional forgiveness-granting communication; (c) degree of face loss was a positive predictor of non-expressive forgiveness-granting communication; and (d) facework strategies were the best predictors of forgiveness-granting communication. This study revealed face as a useful theoretical paradigm for understanding forgiveness-granting communication. Although the sample was fairly homogenous and three scales had undesirable reliabilities, this study has provided greater understanding of both the role of face within the forgiveness process and how communicators choose certain strategies to grant forgiveness. Based on this study, future directions were also discussed.

Bas van Fraassen argues that inference to the best explanation (IBE) is a probabilistically incoherent rule (1989). Anyone following IBE is open to being Dutch booked. According to one of the most interesting and popular responses to van Fraassen’s argument, van Fraassen misrepresents IBE in probabilistic terms. With the proper probabilistic representation, it is claimed, IBE is not inconsistent with Bayesian rationality constraints. Building on the work of IBE’s proponents, I first propose a minimal account of what makes one explanation better than another. I then argue that, even on this minimal account, the alternative probabilistic model of IBE does not work, and hence fails to successfully respond to van Fraassen’s argument.

This thesis examines the concept of civil disobedience, and the role the latter can play in a democratic society. It aims to offer a moral justification for civil disobedience that departs from consequentialist or deontological considerations, and focuses instead on virtue ethics. By drawing attention to the notion of civic virtues, the thesis suggests that, under some circumstances, an act of civil disobedience is the very act displaying a virtuous disposition in the citizen who disobeys. Such disposition is interpreted in light of a duty each individual has to respect her fellow citizens as autonomous agents. This grounds, in turn, a moral obligation to respect the law. The central claim of the thesis is that the obligation towards the law is fulfilled not only through acts of obedience but also, under different circumstances, through acts of disobedience. The status of non-violence as a necessary component of civil disobedience is questioned, and it is argued that a degree of force or violence may be permissible in civil disobedience, when it is compatible with the duty to respect others’ autonomy. Subsequently, the thesis offers an analysis of ‘reasonableness’ as a civic virtue, and by comparing three different approaches to the issue of reasonable disagreement among democratic citizens, it defends the deliberative approach as the most suited for treating fellow citizens as autonomous agents. The last two chapters focus on the importance, for an act of civil disobedience, of the agent’s willingness to accept the legal consequences of her law-breaking behaviour. It is argued that a civil disobedient has an obligation to face the prospect of being punished for the breach of the law. However, in considering the behaviour of a virtuous civil disobedient who appears at her criminal trial, it is also claimed that she should plead not guilty and aim to persuade her fellow citizens that she does not deserve to be punished, because what she did does not constitute a criminal wrong. In doing so, this thesis depicts civil disobedience not as a merely permissible form of behaviour, but as a morally praiseworthy conduct within a democratic community.

Bas van Fraassen argues that inference to the best explanation (IBE) is a probabilistically incoherent rule (1989). Anyone following IBE is open to being Dutch booked. According to one of the most interesting and popular responses to van Fraassen’s argument, van Fraassen misrepresents IBE in probabilistic terms. With the proper probabilistic representation, it is claimed, IBE is not inconsistent with Bayesian rationality constraints. Building on the work of IBE’s proponents, I first propose a minimal account of what makes one explanation better than another. I then argue that, even on this minimal account, the alternative probabilistic model of IBE does not work, and hence fails to successfully respond to van Fraassen’s argument.

In this essay I make an attempt to define the abilities that helped me in my antisocial choices that as a woman to become a decorator and throw me into the male construction industry. I use the metaphor of the wolf pack, which may symbolize hierarchies, norms, and even gender. What helped me to take my place among the males? Is it practical knowledge to deal with new antisocial environments, or what is it? I have not only survived, but also survived in the industry. In the pursuit of abilities and its knowledge of relevance, I analyse different stories from my 25 years in the profession and how I 've handled it encountered. These abilities I have then analysed on the basis of gender and Aristotle and Nussbaum's concept of knowledge, mainly Fronesis and various virtues. All in a try to see if it has to do with knowledge to survive in unfamiliar terrain. / I den här essän gör jag ett försöka att definiera förmågor som hjälpt mig i mitt normbrytande val att som kvinna bli målare och kasta mig in i den manliga byggbranschen. Jag använder mig av metaforen vargflocken som får symbolisera hierarkier, normer och även genus. Vad är det som hjälpt mig att ta min plats bland hanarna? Är det praktisk kunskap att hantera nya normbrytande miljöer eller vad är det? Jag har inte bara överlevt utan levt i branschen. I jakten på förmågor och dess kunskapsrelevans analyserar jag olika berättelser från mina 25 år i yrket och hur jag har hanterat det som uppstått. Dessa förmågor har jag sedan analyserat utifrån genus och Aristoteles och Nussbaums kunskapsbegrepp, då främst fronesis och olika dygder. Allt i ett försöka att se om det har med kunskap att göra att överleva i okänd terräng.

Nous posons que la tauromachie met en spectacle des valeurs agonistiques fondamentales. Dans une première partie, nous étudions l’Iliade, ainsi que d’autres œuvres poétiques de la Grèce archaïque, pour dégager un modèle du héros : il s’agit d’un combattant aux valeurs guerrières. Dans la deuxième partie, nous montrons comment ce modèle héroïque est revivifié au 19ème siècle par Nietzsche. Les valeurs morales des héros homériques sont alors reprises et systématisées par Nietzsche qui se les réapproprie et leur redonne un sens et une portée philosophique générales : maîtrise de soi, courage, force, intelligence, loyauté, noblesse, honneur, honte, supériorité, gloire. Enfin, dans la troisième partie, nous appliquons ce modèle héroïque au torero, comme il arrive à Nietzsche de le faire lui-même allusivement. Nous complétons cette étude d’éthique par une approche esthétique du spectacle taurin : les mêmes sources grecques, repensées par le philosophe Nietzsche, nous permettent d’avoir une double approche tragique et épique de la corrida. Tragique car le spectacle repose sur un combat terrible entre l’homme et l’animal, où l’on voit un torero apollinien aux prises avec une force dionysienne ; épique car les spectateurs sont émerveillés par ce fait d’armes et cette joute extraordinaires. / This study presents bullfighting as a show of fundamental agonistic values. In the first part, I present a study on Iliad and other archaic Greece minor poets that defines a model of heroism : a warrior fighting for agonistic values. In the second part, I show how the philosopher Nietzsche systematizes this heroic model : self-control, courage, strength, intelligence, loyalty, nobleness, honor, shame, superiority and glory. Finally, I apply this heroic model to the torero, as Nietzsche himself suggests it. I add to that study in ethics an esthetic vision of bullfight : thanks to the same Greek authors, rethought by the same modern philosopher, I show how bullfight is both tragic and epic. Tragic because the fight opposes a Apollo-like torero to a Dionysus-like bull ; epic because spectators are ravished by an extraordinary fight.