Notre travail porte sur la théorisation de la nature et du mécanisme de la foi en milieu franciscain, de 1230 à 1330. Le corpus comprend des questions disputées issues d’œuvres théologiques écrites par plusieurs auteurs franciscains et ceux qui les ont influencés. Nous avons cherché à comprendre quelles instances psychologiques sont mises en jeu pour assurer la fermeté de l’assentiment de la foi et de quelle façon nos auteurs justifient le fait même d’avoir une foi, par opposition par exemple à une connaissance, et le fait d’avoir un assentiment de foi donné, catholique, par opposition à un autre. Selon nous, il existe deux courants historiques : celui qui mène d’Alexandre de Halès et Bonaventure à Olivi et celui qui mène d’Henri de Gand et Godefroid de Fontaines à Duns Scot. D’après nous, ces deux mouvements se caractérisent par la combinaison de deux tendances. La première consiste en une naturalisation de la foi : le rôle de l’action divine surnaturelle dans la production de l’habitus et de l’acte de foi se réduit. La seconde consiste en une « volontarisation » de la foi : la volonté joue un rôle de plus en plus crucial dans l’accomplissement de l’acte de foi et intervient d’une manière de plus en plus large dans la production des croyances humaines en général. Ces tendances se perpétuent au XIVème siècle, par exemple chez Ockham et Holkot. Les justifications de la foi suivent ces deux mouvements : les modèles volontaristes appellent des justifications pratiques plutôt que spéculatives et la naturalisation implique que rien dans le processus de production de la croyance ne puisse, pour le croyant, différencier l’assentiment propre à la foi catholique des autres. / We have chosen to study the theories of the nature and mechanism of religious belief put forward by Franciscan thinkers, from 1230 to 1330. Our corpus is comprised of disputed questions from a diversity of theological works written by Franciscans and those who influenced them. We tried to understand what psychological acts and faculties come into play to ensure the firmness of the assent of faith, and in what way our authors justify the very fact of having faith as opposed, for example, to knowledge, and the fact of having a given faith, the catholic one, as opposed to another. According to us, there exist two historical movements: the one which leads from Alexander of Hales to Bonaventure to Olivi and the one which leads from Henry of Ghent to Godfrey of Fontaines to Duns Scotus. We show that these two movements are characterized by the combination of two tendencies. The first one consists in a naturalization of faith: the role of supernatural divine action in the production of the habitus and act of faith is reduced. The second tendency consists in a “voluntarization” of faith: on the one hand, the will plays a more and more crucial role in the carrying out of the act of faith and, on the other hand, the scope of its intervention in the production of human beliefs in general is ever larger. These tendencies still exist in the 14th century, for example in Ockham and Holkot. The justifications of faith follow these two movements: voluntarist models demand practical rather than speculative justifications while the naturalization of faith entails that nothing in the process of production of belief can, for the believer, distinguish the assent of catholic faith from others.

Selon la version courante du « dilemme d’Euthyphron », on considère que lorsque les théistes tentent de décrire la relation entre Dieu et la morale, ils doivent choisir entre volontarisme théologique et objectivisme robuste (le réalisme moral, en particulier). Selon la première option, les statuts moraux fondamentaux dépendent essentiellement des volontés contingentes, ou nécessaires, de Dieu. Selon la deuxième, Dieu agit en conformité avec un ordre moral objectif et nécessaire, en lui-même indépendant de sa volonté, comme il l’est de tout type de volonté ou de pro-attitude, au moins pour ce qui est des statuts moraux fondamentaux (et les propriétés morales sont conséquentielles aux propriétés non morales, sinon réductibles à elles). Ici nous argumentons en faveur de l’existence d’une troisième possibilité pour les théistes, refusant l’externalisme moral assumé par les deux premières options. Selon cette troisième option, on nie qu’objets, états de choses, actions ou personnes puissent posséder une valeur ou générer des obligations morales indépendamment de l’ensemble de nos pro-attitudes et des fins que nous sommes inclinés à poursuivre. Nous proposons, contre les objections réalistes en particulier, la défense d’une version universaliste (ou non relativiste) de cette position métaéthique, et tentons de montrer sa compatibilité avec le théisme classique : la théorie anti-objectiviste de la loi naturelle, selon laquelle les valeurs et les normes pertinentes pour nous dépendent de notre complexe motivationnel, en dépendant de nos inclinations universellement partagées et des fins (ou de la fin) en lesquelles (en laquelle) nous trouvons notre achèvement et notre bonheur. / According to the common version of the “Euthyphro dilemma”, it is generally considered that when theists try to describe the relation between God and morality, they must either opt for theological voluntarism or for hard objectivism (moral realism, in particular). According to the first option, fundamental moral statuses depend essentially on God’s contingent, or even necessary, will. According to the second, God acts in conformity to an objective (and necessary) moral order that is in itself independent of His will, as it is of any kind of pro-attitude, will or desire, at least for the most fundamental and prior moral statuses (and moral properties are consequential upon nonmoral ones, if not reducible to them). I argue here for the existence of a third possibility for theists, rejecting the metaethical externalism assumed by the first two options. According to this third option, it is not the case that objects, state of affairs, actions or persons can have value or generate obligations to us independently of all our pro-attitudes and of the ends we are inclined to pursue. I propose a defence, against realist objections in particular, of a universalist (or non relativist) version of that metaethical position and try to show its compatibility with classical theism : the anti-objectivist natural law theory, according to which values and norms relevant for us depend on our motivational set, depending on our – universally shared – natural inclinations or essential dispositions to love and pursue certain ends (or possibly one ultimate end) preferently to others, and to find our completion and happiness in them (in it).

The phenomenon of social work combined with traveling have become known for “voluntourism” and is a common way to travel today. This study investigates the external communication of the commercial volunteer abroad organizations that are offering projects that take place in the African continent. The study focuses on how the volunteer and the recipient of the social work is portrayed in the external communication. The study was conducted by using a critical discourse analysis inspired by Fairclough on four of Swedish commercial volunteer abroad organizations websites. By combining postcolonial perspective with othering as the theoretical framework, the results show that the western volunteer is centralized in the communication, while the recipients of the social work is portrayed homogeneously and objectified.

This thesis examines the key question: can voluntary associations enhance democracy? It tests critical claims made by Habermas and others that voluntary associations have the potential to reinvigorate a public sphere in a state of atrophy. The thesis outlines the major theoretical arguments pertaining to these areas and then presents the results of empirical work within voluntary organisations. Specifically the thesis: Critically examines the concept of the public sphere, being a sphere between the state and civil society and investigates why theorists have advocated voluntary associations, claimed to be the core institutions of civil society, as sites where democratic ideals can be secured; Goes on to examine the concept of civil society and reviews the recent literature that has attempted to define and analyse the role of voluntary associations in contemporary society; Tests empirically the normative ideals that have been advocated on behalf of voluntary associations through the presentation of data obtained using qualitative methodology. The analysis of the data collected during interviews with key employees and members of six voluntary associations in Melbourne, Australia allows for a more informed knowledge regarding the key concepts and themes of the thesis. The thesis ends by directly addressing the following points: whether or not the public sphere is in a state of atrophy; the particular nature of voluntary associations contemporary engagement in the public sphere; and whether voluntary associations can indeed, be sites where democracy can be enhanced and democratic ideals be secured. It is concluded that voluntary associations operate within Habermasian public spheres, counterspheres, and postmodern public spheres and that unitary notions of the public sphere, such as those Habermas proposes, do not adequately explain voluntary associations engagement in the public sphere. Accordingly, it is concluded that voluntary associations have the potential to invigorate public spheres, though not in ways that many theorists writing on the subject suggest.

Over the last decade government policy has transformed many aspects of the welfare state and contracted out to private or voluntary non-government organisations many of the services previously provided by the state. Currently there is very little research on the benefits or disadvantages regarding standards of professional practice and delivery of these services when controlled by voluntary organisations and this research is a case study investigating these concerns. By using the case study method it is possible to understand issues by incorporating concrete examples of practice within the context that it takes place, as it is only when seen in its proper setting that the general and conceptual significance of practice is understood. This case study explores the relationships of power, control and accountability in one such non-governmental organisation, the Royal New Zealand Plunket Society and the implications these have for professional staff in the delivery of the service. The study uses the archaeology and genealogy methods suggested by Foucault. Archival material was gained from the Minutes of the meetings of the Plunket executive (1917-1984), constitution and rules. These serve to demonstrate the historical power relationships in the organisation, Plunket nurses� working conditions and how some nurses were treated. The dominant discourse in the archaeology contains two major themes, one being volunteers� autonomous 'ownership' of the organisation, and the other, the subordination of professionalism through the discipline and management of the nursing workforce. Those same themes are also dominant in the contemporary data studied in the genealogy, which highlights the constraints imposed by volunteer 'ownership' in the contemporary period. It is a feature of the "path dependency" of the organisation that the belief that volunteers had a right to discipline and control the nursing workforce has remained largely unchanged in the contemporary period. The practice and the context are personalised through interviews with some nurses so that their real-life experiences may give an in-depth understanding of the processes going on for them as professionals. This is one of multiple sources of evidence, including reports, reviews and research, used to triangulate the findings. Through the totality of these methods, insight into Plunket�s decision-making is made possible. These serve to underline the continuing lack of accountability for service delivery of nonprofessional 'owners' of the voluntary organisation and the negative impact it can have on the delivery of professional services although the greater depth in the contemporary data also highlights two new subsidiary themes; the dominance of lay knowledge over both professional and managerial knowledge, and volunteers� motives for volunteering. The contemporary interview data demonstrated how the historical culture of the organisation enabled this process to continue through poor workplace conditions, high staff attrition and, in some cases, severe personal pressure akin to workplace bullying. This study exposes the significance of the culture of organisations, and reveals that the substance of apparent altruistic voluntary organisations may be much more complex and problematic than the ideology would lead us to believe. In a field such as this, where an NGO has sole national responsibility for such an important area and where the outcomes are so poor, change must be considered. While a path dependency explanation is pessimistic about change, it is argued that the only option for professional standards of service for this, and other NGOs, lies in much more accountability and democracy in stakeholder relationships. Recommendations are made in that direction.

This thesis analyzes the culture of coercive voluntarism in Georgia during the First World War using studies of legislation and vigilance, the press, and the Georgia Council of Defense. Each of the themes studied demonstrates how organizations attempted to coerce support of the US war effort in Georgia. The study focuses on Georgia as a single state rather than simply as part of the South, as most other studies have done. The purpose is to challenge studies that have emphasized resistance only, which presents an incomplete picture of Georgia’s domestic scene during the war. In fact, many elements within Georgia—at the state, local, and citizen level—actively supported the war, often with the same level of intention, if not the same results, as did other areas of the country. Georgia attempted to comply with federal imperatives while preserving its rights as a state.

In recent years the normativity of thought and meaning has been the subject of an extensive debate. What is at issue is whether intentionality has normative features, and if so, whether that constitutes a problem for naturalistic attempts to account for intentional phenomena. The origin of the debate is Saul Kripke’s interpretation of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s later philosophy, published in Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language. Kripke claimed, on behalf of Wittgenstein, that dispositional accounts of linguistic meaning - accounts, i.e., which attempt to reduce semantic phenomena to facts about how speakers are disposed to employ words - fail to ground the factuality of semantic statements. From this, and other arguments, the far reaching conclusion was drawn by Kripke’s Wittgenstein that there are no semantic facts, that every application of a word is “a leap in the dark”. This position has become known as meaning scepticism. In the present essay, it will be argued that meaning scepticism is incoherent, but that the normativity argument is interesting in its own right. The development of the debate will be traced, primarily through detailed consideration of the writings of Paul Boghossian, who has shifted the focus from the normativity of linguistic meaning to that of belief. It will be contended that even though Boghossian’s attempt to locate a normativity of belief fails, there is a related form of normativity that has to do with the intrinsic badness of false beliefs. Also, suggestions made by Kripke regarding the normativity of intentions will be investigated, and related to contemporary arguments in the philosophy of rationality. The tentative conclusion is that there are some interesting kinds of normativity associated with the intentional, but of a somewhat different variety than those usually discussed.

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Students studying under the new senior secondary school curriculum in Hong Kong can either perform community service under the Other Learning Experiences (OLE) organized by schools or volunteer their time for service. The primary aims of this study are to report the community service involvement of a selected group of secondary school students in Hong Kong, and to explore the impact of different types of community services on students’ intention to volunteer, volunteer satisfaction, and sense of personal and social responsibility. This study also investigates the effects of various individual and volunteering factors on students’ continuation of volunteering in Hong Kong. A quantitative, cross-sectional research design was used to examine the relationship between community service and other variables, namely responsibility, intention and satisfaction on young people in Hong Kong. A total of 1,046 secondary school students aged between 13 and 21 were recruited via purposive sampling from seven secondary schools. The respondents in this study consisted of Forms 5 to 6 students, and they completed the self-administered questionnaire containing 92 items to measure the theory of planned behavior personal and social responsibility, volunteer satisfaction and continuation of volunteering. Based on their participation in community service under the OLE and their self-organized volunteer services, four groups of respondents can be identified. They are: 1) those who participated in both OLE-related community services and self-organized volunteer services (N=461, 44.84%); 2) those who participated in self-organized volunteer services only (N=339, 32.98%); 3) those who participated in OLE-related community services only (N=38, 3.70%) and 4) those who did not participate in any form of community services (N=190, 18.48%). As expected, findings indicate that the factors of gender, level of educational attainment and prior community service involvement are associated with volunteer intention, satisfaction, responsibility and continuation of volunteering. The results also highlight that those who did not participate in any form of community services in the past 12 years had the lowest scores on the Theory of Planned Behavior-Chinese (TPB-C) scale and continuation of volunteering behaviors. Students with only OLE-related community service participation had the lowest scores on Personal and Social Responsibility Scale-Chinese (PSRS-C), and Volunteer Satisfaction Index-Chinese (VSI-C). An Ordinal Logistic Regression analysis showed that the Theory of Planned Behavior, personal and social responsibility, and volunteer satisfaction are predictors of students’ continuation of volunteering behaviors. This study offers further implications for school personnel and youth workers who work closely with young people and promote volunteerism among secondary school students. Students with voluntary community service experience (i.e. those who both participated in OLE-related community services and self-organized volunteer services, and those who participated in self-organized volunteer services only) have higher scores in their volunteer intention, satisfaction and responsibility. Practitioners can engage students with different community service programs in fostering their positive development. Practitioners can also improve service design and related arrangements with reference to the results of the study. For example, practitioners could encourage young people to serve specific targets that will ultimately bring about the most benefit to their continued volunteering. Further research is needed to validate and refine the scales of TPB-C and PSRS-C in the Chinese context, to explore factors in facilitating students’ continuing service involvement, and to develop evidence-based service programs for young people in Hong Kong. / published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Master / Master of Philosophy

Introduction: There is little empirical evidence on voluntariness of participation in clinical trials due to absence of acceptable measures and universally accepted conceptual frameworks of voluntariness. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Zimbabwe to examine participants’ motivations, levels of voluntariness and perceptions about the effect of offers, pressures and threats on decision making. One hundred participants were recruited from an ongoing diagnostic trial. Questionnaires adapted from published research, the Perceived Coercion Scale and Voluntariness Ladder were used for data collection. Results: The need to access diagnostic services and treatment for tuberculosis was the main motivation for enrolment in the trial. Participants were not coerced to particpate in the trial but were offered bus fare. The offer had no effect on their decision to enroll in the trial. Conclusion: Immediate health benefits have a key impact on participants’ decisions to enrol in a clinical trial of a diagnostic technique. A comprehensive conceptual framework together with validated tools for assessing voluntariness in African contexts should be developed. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.