This thesis will explore E. E. Cummings' theory of life and the poetry which concerns this theory. This will involve: a brief explanation of the three major concepts--growth, self-fidelity, and life in the present; those aspects of life which Cummings rejects; Cummings' affirmation; and a general summary statement concerned with Cummings' "complex truth."

This report is an attempt to clarify how religious and non-religious views-of-life [livsåskådningar] are created through the collaboration and opposition of religious and scientific elements/ideas. This with the hope of reaching a fruitful result related to the solution of world-view related conflicts, such as the ones existing between science and religion, on an individual and societal level. This is accomplished with the help of two assertions: (1) Mankind has a need to explain its existence and surroundings. (2) Religion and science has their origins in the same seed and aim to serve the same purpose, or function. Together these two assertions lay the theoretical foundations of this report which implies that all humans have an innate need of sustaining a stable world-view. The result of this report is that a final solution to world-view related conflicts are beyond reach as our mental and physical nature limits us. However there are strategies for minimizing world-view related conflicts effect on society.

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.

<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 research interrogates Bennie van der Walt’s third way as a solution for the “divided soul” of the African people - a divided soul that creates a false dilemma. This division is the creation of political colonialism and neo-colonialism, which impacts negatively on the African socio-economic and political structure. The myth of the superiority of Western culture propagates this vice. Van der Walt’s clarification of the concepts of a world view and culture are depicted in chapter 1. He wrestles with the complexity of culture and world view; showing that a world view is deeply religious and pre-scientific and shapes culture. He also shows how religion, world view and culture relate to one another. In chapter 2 Van der Walt’s comparison and evaluation of the African and Western cultures and their world views is reconstructed. It is pointed out that Van der Walt notices fundamental differences between the two cultures, and that he warns of difficulties in the reconstruction endeavour. He then identifies the underlying presuppositions of both the African and Western cultures. Chapter 3 discusses Van der Walt’s articulation of the impact of the world view clash between African and Western cultures on African society. This impact is felt in the socio-economic-political and educational environment. He considers the Western derogatory approach towards African culture and African reactions towards it. Van der Walt rejects especially ethnocentric approaches to African culture and also the African ethnocentric reaction. In chapter 4, the fundamentals of Van der Walt’s third way is enunciated. He notes that his views are founded on Scripture, acknowledgement of sin and redemption through Christ, the sustaining nature of God’s grace and the recognition of trans-cultural dialogue and non-reductionists ontology. Chapter 5 critically analyses Van der Walt third way. Major strengths and weaknesses of Van der Walt third way are identified. Solutions to Van der Walt’s weak points are recommended for his consideration. Finally, chapter 6 articulates that Van der Walt’s third way aimed to prevent any future damage to African culture as it counters a reductionist ontology prevalent in shaping Africa by propagating a non-reductionist ontology. This ensures that Africa’s problem of a false dilemma, divided soul, and negative ethnocentrism is resolved. / MA (Philosophy), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

This research interrogates Bennie van der Walt’s third way as a solution for the “divided soul” of the African people - a divided soul that creates a false dilemma. This division is the creation of political colonialism and neo-colonialism, which impacts negatively on the African socio-economic and political structure. The myth of the superiority of Western culture propagates this vice. Van der Walt’s clarification of the concepts of a world view and culture are depicted in chapter 1. He wrestles with the complexity of culture and world view; showing that a world view is deeply religious and pre-scientific and shapes culture. He also shows how religion, world view and culture relate to one another. In chapter 2 Van der Walt’s comparison and evaluation of the African and Western cultures and their world views is reconstructed. It is pointed out that Van der Walt notices fundamental differences between the two cultures, and that he warns of difficulties in the reconstruction endeavour. He then identifies the underlying presuppositions of both the African and Western cultures. Chapter 3 discusses Van der Walt’s articulation of the impact of the world view clash between African and Western cultures on African society. This impact is felt in the socio-economic-political and educational environment. He considers the Western derogatory approach towards African culture and African reactions towards it. Van der Walt rejects especially ethnocentric approaches to African culture and also the African ethnocentric reaction. In chapter 4, the fundamentals of Van der Walt’s third way is enunciated. He notes that his views are founded on Scripture, acknowledgement of sin and redemption through Christ, the sustaining nature of God’s grace and the recognition of trans-cultural dialogue and non-reductionists ontology. Chapter 5 critically analyses Van der Walt third way. Major strengths and weaknesses of Van der Walt third way are identified. Solutions to Van der Walt’s weak points are recommended for his consideration. Finally, chapter 6 articulates that Van der Walt’s third way aimed to prevent any future damage to African culture as it counters a reductionist ontology prevalent in shaping Africa by propagating a non-reductionist ontology. This ensures that Africa’s problem of a false dilemma, divided soul, and negative ethnocentrism is resolved. / MA (Philosophy), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The heavenly empyrean was the highest expression of the Medieval Weltanschauung (world view). It served as the outermost sphere of the Aristotelian/Ptolemaic geocentric cosmos while possessing an eminent theological status. This paper explores the importance of the empyrean during the Scholastic Period (eleventh through fourteenth centuries).

This dissertation aims at describing the worldview and the ontological boundary work that descriptions of ”the information society” presuppose as well as understanding how these relate to technocratic descriptions of the world. The theoretical point of origin of this work is that worldviews are communicated, and that when this transpires, three worlds are related to (the objective, the social, and the subjective) which contain ideological components that make them plausible. The material that has been studied is public documents from 1994 – 2004. These materials have been analysed with the help of text analysis, where a reconstruction of the ideological components of the worldview is the objective. The results of the analysis show that these descriptions, first of all, presuppose an objective world where an ontological boundary between technology and values is drawn. Technology is driven by one form of logic and values are driven by another. Technology does not in itself contain values, but when put to use, only certain types of value can be created. The subsequent theoretical consequences are that these values (for instance effectiveness) are presented as objective, independent of value conflicts in society. Second, the analysis shows that descriptions partly presuppose a social world that is divided into a normative centre and a normative periphery, and partly a historicist description of historical development. These two ideological components provide a logical consequence, that in the social world, identifiable groups who live according to lifestyle patterns of the future can already be found today. Third, results show that descriptions presuppose a subjective world that is possible to change and direct. Man is to be made responsive to certain aspects of his existence and unresponsive toward others. This requires causing him to be responsive to change and unresponsive to that which hinders change. The logical consequences become a description of a system integrated information society where the individual is to adapt himself to changes on the system level. All in all, the three results of the study show that the world view which the descriptions presuppose have clear elements of technocracy and the art of social engineering.

The cultures of science and religion have had different levels of conflict throughout the past several hundred years due in part to the development of the theory of evolution. Although many ideas abound in science education as to the alleviation of this struggle, few studies have examined how scientists who profess religious beliefs deal with this conflict. In general, the study sought to understand the cognitive dynamic of the cultural interaction between the scientific and religious culture within a few individuals. Specifically, the study allowed scientists to explain how they found a measure of compatibility between their faith and their scientific endeavors. Within the boundaries of both the general and specific purposes for the study, the following research question was used: How do college science professors describe the interaction between their faith and their scientific knowledge in reference to their transitioning between a naturalistic or scientific understanding and a super-naturalistic or religious understanding? Three theoretical lenses were used as backdrop to view the cultural interaction. World View (Kearney, 1984), Collateral Learning Theory (Jegede, 1995), and Faith Perspective in relation to the Stages of Faith Theory (Fowler, 1981) constituted the theoretical framework. Because of the qualitative nature of the research, the author used a modified naturalistic paradigm that stressed an emergent quality, grounded categorical design, and a modified case study written format that aided in the understanding of data generated through multiple qualitative methods. Three overlapping themes emerged within the data that offer new insights not only into the complex nature of the conflict but also into the ways scientists themselves find a reason to have faith as well as scientific knowledge. Boundaries based upon a philosophical and world view difference, conflict due to culturally integrative ideas, and cultural bridges without distortion made up the overlapping thematic ideas that were consistently demonstrated by each participant. The insights demonstrated by this study may also enlighten the science education community to the importance of both culture and belief in reference to a meaningful learning experience in science.

Tyrimo tikslas – nustatyti Kauno VDU “Rasos” gimnazijos moksleivių asmenybės vertybių ir pasaulėžiūros ypatumus 2004 ir 2007 metais. Hipotezė. Kauno VDU „Rasos“ gimnazijoje vykdomas ugdymo procesas įtakoja moksleivių pozityvius asmenybės vertybių ir pasaulėžiūros pokyčius. Tyrimo uždaviniai: 1. Nustatyti Kauno VDU “Rasos” gimnazijos moksleivių asmenybės vertybių ypatumus 2004 ir 2007 metais. 2. Ištirti Kauno VDU “Rasos” gimnazijos moksleivių pasaulėžiūros ypatumus 2004 ir 2007 metais. Tyrimo metodai 1. Mokslinės literatūros šaltinių analizė. 2. Anketavimas. 3. Matematinė statistika. Išvados 1. Išryškėjo, kad tiriamuoju laikotarpiu dalinai pakito moksleivių Atsakingumo, Tikėjimo, Pagarbos asmenybės vertybės. Visiškai nepakito Jautrumo asmenybės vertybės. Nustatytas statistiškai reikšmingas skirtumas (p<0,05), tarp 2004 ir 2007 metų respondentų, atsakomybės prisiėmimo dėl mokymo rezultatų, duomenų. Atsakomybę už kritikos sulaukusius mokymo rezultatus, prisiimtų 65% (2004 m.) ir 83,3% (2007 m.) jaunuolių. Taip pat pastebėtas respondentų Pagarbos vertybės rezultatų pagerėjimas. Tiriamieji nurodė, jog gerbia kiekvieną žmogų, nepriklausomai nuo jo socialinės, materialinės padėties (2004 - 63,3%; 2007 – 80%) (p<0,01). Tikinčių Meile, respondentų sumažėjo (2004 m.– 58,3%; 2007 – 43,3%) (p<0,05). 45% apklaustųjų jaunuolių 2004 metais teigė tikintys, jog žmogaus likimą valdo aukštesnė jėga (Dievas), o 2007 metais taip manančių gimnazistų išaugo iki 63,3% (p<0,05). 2. Nustatyta, kad... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The aim of the research is - to ascertain Kaunas VDU gymnasium children’s personal worth and world – view peculiarities in 2004 and 2007. The hypothesis of the research is - development effect on children in Kaunas VDU gymnasium is positive. The objectives of the research are: 1. To investigate the peculiarities of children’s world personal worth in 2004 and 2007. 2. To ascertain the peculiarities of children’s world – view in 2004 and 2007. The object of the research is: Personal worth and world – view of children from Kaunas VDU Rasos gymnasium. The methods of the research are: 1. Literature analysis. 2. Survey. 3. Mathematical statistics. The expected research result is: 1. At the experiment’s time from 2004 to 2007 children’s personal worth of the Responsibility, Faith, Respect have been particularly changed. 2. From 2004 to 2007 children’s world – view have not been changed.