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archives@tulane.edu / 1 / Yuntong Bai

Abstract Not Provided / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

In this thesis, I argue for the viability of Wilhelm Dilthey’s theory of world-views as a form of meta-philosophy by defending its response to the challenge of history that arose in Germany in the second half of the nineteenth century. I show that Dilthey’s account of philosophy as a universal activity that is rooted in our psychological need for stability successfully integrates history’s insight into the contingency and plurality of philosophical systems without abandoning their truthfulness or tradition. To demonstrate and qualify the success of Dilthey’s theory, I apply it to Albert Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus which I argue fails to sufficiently address its own historical contingency when it presents its account of and response to the problem of absurdity as a descriptive fact of critical consciousness. I show that Dilthey’s concept of reflective historical consciousness has the necessary resources to overcome Camus’ lack of reflection upon historical contingency. I argue further that Camus’ work reveals the inadequacy of Dilthey’s typology of philosophical world-views by resisting classification by its categories. My thesis therefore contributes to contemporary work on meta-philosophy by showing that Dilthey’s theory of world-views, while limited by its typologies, offers its history of philosophy as a viable form of meta-philosophy. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA) / In this thesis, I aim to clarify how philosophy should attune itself to historical knowledge by analyzing Wilhelm Dilthey’s theory of world-views. More specifically, I aim to investigate the utility of Dilthey’s theory as a response to history’s insight into the contingent nature of philosophy. I argue that Dilthey’s view of philosophy as a natural extension of our psychological need for stability is capable of accounting for the contingency and plurality of philosophical systems without sacrificing philosophy’s claim to a unique and universal essence. To support my argument, I use Albert Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus as a characteristic case of philosophy failing to incorporate historical knowledge and show that Dilthey’s theory can overcome this failure through its account of reflective historical consciousness.

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Mötesplatsen i Edesta syftar till att sammanföra en fragmenterad landsbygdsmiljö i sydvästra Södertälje genom att lyfta områdets existerande kvaliteter, såsom odling, hantverk och utbildning på en gemensam plats i ett historiskt nav. Byggnadens gestaltning har resulterat i en korsform för att möta upp dessa kvaliteter och skapa rum däremellan. Vidare samspelar dess form med ladugårdens invid för att betona sin tillhörighet i sammanhanget. Tillsammans med det långa växthuset med uthyrbara lotter skapar dessa tre enheter ett tun med en sida öppen mot vägen för att bjuda in allmänheten.  Med ett fokus på odling syftar mötesplatsen till att öka människors välmående och inkludering i ekosystemet samtidigt som den biologiska mångfalden främjas. Byggnaden är tänkt att ge ett permanent uttryck genom massiva material samtidigt som den i sin enkla form vill vara flexibel för kommande förändringar. Materialen har i sin tur till stor del valts utifrån vad som finns tillgängligt lokalt och ter sig mer skonsamt mot naturen, däribland lera, gran och furu. / Meeting Place Edesta strives to unite a fragmented rural area in the Southwest of Södertälje by elevating its existing qualities, such as farming, handicraft and education on a common place in a historical hub. The building's formation has resulted in a cross-shape to meet these qualities and create rooms in between. Furthermore it’s shape interacts with the barn beside it to emphasize it’s affiliation in the context. Together with the long greenhouse, with rentable lots, these buildings form a rural square with one side open to the road to invite the public.  With a focus on farming the meeting place serves to increase the wellbeing of humans and their inclusion in the ecosystem as well as the biological diversity is favoured. The building is thought to give a permanent impression through the use of massive materials whilst it wants to be flexible for forthcoming changes through it’s simple shape. The materials have in turn been chosen from what’s available locally and more environmentally friendly, such as clay, fir and pine.

<p> The contents of this paper consist of two independent but correlated topics. In Part I the history of nineteenth and twentieth century philosophy of science is traced in an effort to demonstrate the essential phenomenological aspects of the scientific methodology. Part II, on the other hand, is a technical exposition of some foundational aspects of quantum mechanics based on quantum logic. An effort is made to retain the theme that quantum mechanics is largely a phenomenological theory. As a summary, Part III constitutes an attempt to correlate the first two parts and to present tentatively some consequent reflections on the metaphysical significance of the quantum mechanical formalism.</p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

This project proposes a performing arts center in Chattanooga, Tennessee, a 170-year old industrial city. As part of the city revitalization, the design seeks to build up a "stage", and create a piece of edge at the city's northern boundary. Two folded bands, one made of skeletal steel and surfaced with copper connecting the river and the mountainous landscape beyond with the city, the other made of reinforced concrete folded to form a spatial intersection housing a series of activities: performing, spectating, and exhibiting. A curved metal screened circulation wall opens at the bottom to allow the copper band to pass as an entrance into the lobby to develop its folded intersection. Through it, an industrial stack in the middle of the site is isolated from busy city, and anchored with the building as a monument. Along the west side, an additional element characterized as the education box hovers over the ground, with unobstructed views of the river and the old steel bridge on one end, and the green hill on the other. / Master of Architecture

In contemporary downtown historic area renovation, conflicts between the new building and the environment always exist. To better solve the problem, a concept of Scene Container was introduced into the New Craig County Hall design, achieved by framing views from the new building towards historic scenery outside. Layered spaces with differing degrees of enclosure also help to build visual contact between new and old. / Master of Architecture

This study investigated perceptual and cognitive issues relating to manipulations in geometric field-of-view (GFOV) in perspective displays and the effects of incorporating virtual environment enhancements in the interface based on visual momentum (VM) techniques. Geometric field-of view determines the field-of-view (FOV) for perspective displays. Systematic errors in size and distance have been shown to occur in perspective displays as the result of changes in the GFOV. Furthermore, as humans' normal FOV becomes restricted, their ability to acquire spatial information is reduced resulting in a incomplete formulation and representation of the visual world. The magnitude of the resulting biases increase as task difficulty increases. It was predicted that as VM increases in the interface, the ability to overcome problems associated with restricted FOVs will also increase. Sixty participants who were pre-tested for spatial ability were required to navigate through a virtual office building while estimating space dimensions and performing spatial orientation and representation tasks. A 3 x 2 x 2 mixed-subjects design compared three levels of GFOV, two levels of VM, and two levels of Difficulty. The results support the hypothesis that 60° is the optimum GFOV for perspective displays. VM increased accuracy for space dimension estimates, reduced direction judgment errors, improved distance estimates when task difficulty was increased, improved participants' cognitive maps, and reduced the error for reconstructing the spatial layout of objects in a virtual space. The results also support the hypothesis that wider FOVs are needed to accurately perform spatial orientation and representation tasks in virtual environments. Spatial ability was also shown to influence performance on some of the tasks in this experiment. This study effectively demonstrates that the spatial characteristics of architectural representations in perspective displays are not always accurately perceived. There is a clear tradeoff for setting GFOV in perspective displays: A 60° GFOV is necessary for perceiving the basic characteristics of space accurately; however, if spatial orientation and representation are important, a 90° FOV or larger is required. To balance this tradeoff if symbolic enhancements are included in the virtual environment, such as VM techniques, larger FOVs are less of a concern. / Master of Science