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La logique contemporaine a connu de nombreux développements au cours de la seconde moitié du siècle dernier. Le plus sensationnel est celui de la logique modale et de sa sémantique des mondes possibles (SMP) dû à Saul Kripke dans les années soixante. Ces dans ce cadre que David Lewis exposera sa sémantique des contrefactuels (SCF). Celle-ci constitue une véritable excroissance de l’architecture kripkéenne. Mais sur quoi finalement repose l’architecture kripkéenne elle-même ? Il semble bien que la réponse soit celle d’une ontologie raffinée ultimement basée sur la notion de mondes possible. Ce mémoire comporte quatre objectifs. Dans un premier temps, nous allons étudier ce qui distingue les contrefactuels des autres conditionnels et faire un survol historique de la littérature concernant les contrefactuels et leur application dans différent champs du savoir comme la philosophie des sciences et l’informatique. Dans un deuxième temps, nous ferons un exposé systématique de la théorie de Lewis telle qu’elle est exposée dans son ouvrage Counterfactuals. Finalement, nous allons explorer la fondation métaphysique des mondes possible de David Lewis dans son conception de Réalisme Modal. / Modern logic since the end of the Second World War has undergone many developments. Two of the most interesting of these are the Kripkian Possible World Semantics and Lewis’ system of Counterfactuals. The first was developed by Saul Kripke in the 1960s and the second was developed by David Lewis in the 1970s. In some senses we can say that Lewis’ system of counterfactuals or Counter Factual Semantics (CFS) is built on top of the architecture which Kripke created with his Possible Worlds Semantics (PWS). But, what is the Kripkian Possible World Semantics itself built on? The answer it seems is very finely tuned ontology founded on the notion of possible worlds. This paper will attempt to do the following. First, attempt to draw a distinction between on the one hand conditionals and the other counterfactuals and at the same time attempt to look at some of the historical literature surrounding counterfactuals and their application in various fields like the philosophy of science. Second, recapitulate Lewis’ system of counterfactual semantics as developed primarily in Lewis’ book Counterfactuals. Finally this paper will attempt to explore the metaphysical foundations of the possible worlds account argued for by David Lewis in his conception of Modal Realism.

Calculus at the university level is taken by thousands of undergraduate students each year. However, a significant number of students struggle with the subject, resulting in poor problem solving, low achievement, and high failure rates in the calculus courses overall (e.g., Kaput, 1994; Szydlik, 2000; Tall, 1985; Tall & Ramos, 2004; White & Mitchelmore, 1996). This is cause for concern as the lack of success in university calculus creates further barriers for students who require the course for their programs of study. This study examines this issue from the perspective of Tall’s Three Worlds of Mathematics (Tall, 2004a, 2004b, 2008), a theory of mathematics and mathematical cognitive development. A fundamental argument of Tall’s theory suggests that connecting between the different mathematical worlds, named the Embodied-Conceptual, Symbolic-Proceptual, and Formal-Axiomatic worlds, is essential for full cognitive development and understanding of mathematical concepts. Working from this perspective, this research examined, through the use of calculus task questions and semi-structured interviews, how fifteen undergraduate calculus students made connections between the different mathematical worlds for the calculus topics of limits and derivatives. The analysis of the findings suggests that how the students make connections can be described by eight different Response Categories. The study also found that how the participants made connections between mathematical worlds might be influenced by the type of questions that are asked and their experience in calculus courses. I infer that these Response Categories have significance for this study and offer potential for further study and educational practice. I conclude by identifying areas of further research in regards to calculus achievement, the Response Categories, and other findings such as a more detailed study of the influence of experience.

Abstract Drawing on the serious leisure perspective, social world theory, and social network analysis this thesis utilizes an exploratory methodology to develop a structural view of a social world network of 49 social actors comprised of the grassroots associations and the allied organisations expressly concerned with amateur artists in a regional Australian city. Semistructured interviews were conducted with spokespeople in leadership and management roles with the associations and organisations. The purpose of the interviews was to develop an understanding of the key attributes of the grassroots associations and the function of the allied commercial, cultural, and educational organisations, and to discover the patterns of links between these two types of social actors. In addition, the interviews explored the types of social world participation among the associational memberships; and the role, rewards, and costs experienced by the spokespeople who were fulfilling coordinating duties in the grassroots associations. The research found that associations of amateur artists were active in the local community coordinating their memberships, activities, and assets to provide calendars of events for the participants in a regional social world of the creative arts and that, the allied organisations provided complementary goods and services. Further, it emerged that links of varying intensity connecting the associations and organisations coalesced into a network. This comprised a cluster of social actors connected by their concern with actors, dancers, and musicians; a cluster of social actors connected by their concern with craft practitioners, community cultural development workers, visual artists, and writers; and of social actors with bilateral links connecting the two clusters. Also mixed serious leisure emerged as a significant mode of participation among the sample of grassroots association spokespeople who were interviewed and this was important to the sustainability of their associations over time. There are three major outcomes from the research. First, structural concepts from social network analysis in combination with social world theory developed into definition of a community level serious leisure network; second, this definition proved empirically viable in the research context, and third, a model to depict the phenomenon of a community level serious leisure network has emerged from the exploratory process. The findings have both theoretical and empirical implications. Theoretically, they assist research into the structure of community level leisure provision. The findings also encourage investigation of mixed serious leisure. Empirically, the application of network knowledge to improve community leisure resources can improve the outcomes for the social actors involved and the community in which they are embedded.

Abstract Drawing on the serious leisure perspective, social world theory, and social network analysis this thesis utilizes an exploratory methodology to develop a structural view of a social world network of 49 social actors comprised of the grassroots associations and the allied organisations expressly concerned with amateur artists in a regional Australian city. Semistructured interviews were conducted with spokespeople in leadership and management roles with the associations and organisations. The purpose of the interviews was to develop an understanding of the key attributes of the grassroots associations and the function of the allied commercial, cultural, and educational organisations, and to discover the patterns of links between these two types of social actors. In addition, the interviews explored the types of social world participation among the associational memberships; and the role, rewards, and costs experienced by the spokespeople who were fulfilling coordinating duties in the grassroots associations. The research found that associations of amateur artists were active in the local community coordinating their memberships, activities, and assets to provide calendars of events for the participants in a regional social world of the creative arts and that, the allied organisations provided complementary goods and services. Further, it emerged that links of varying intensity connecting the associations and organisations coalesced into a network. This comprised a cluster of social actors connected by their concern with actors, dancers, and musicians; a cluster of social actors connected by their concern with craft practitioners, community cultural development workers, visual artists, and writers; and of social actors with bilateral links connecting the two clusters. Also mixed serious leisure emerged as a significant mode of participation among the sample of grassroots association spokespeople who were interviewed and this was important to the sustainability of their associations over time. There are three major outcomes from the research. First, structural concepts from social network analysis in combination with social world theory developed into definition of a community level serious leisure network; second, this definition proved empirically viable in the research context, and third, a model to depict the phenomenon of a community level serious leisure network has emerged from the exploratory process. The findings have both theoretical and empirical implications. Theoretically, they assist research into the structure of community level leisure provision. The findings also encourage investigation of mixed serious leisure. Empirically, the application of network knowledge to improve community leisure resources can improve the outcomes for the social actors involved and the community in which they are embedded.

Comic books are one of the many popular cultural forms that attract, as part of their audience, a committed readership that engages in a participatory relationship as part of a shared interest in the text. In common with other media forms, this engagement expresses itself in a variety of ways, including interaction with other readers online and face-to-face at conventions, correspondence with producers, and the creation of textual products. Other features of the discourses and practices of this community may be more specific to the comic book readership. One of the most interesting of these is a participatory belief, widely expressed by readers, that they can influence the story content of the published comic book and that comic books are unique among other media forms in this. In this thesis, I investigate several aspects of this belief, in order to offer a more nuanced understanding of the participatory involvement that readers have in comic books, particularly the superhero comic books that dominate American comic book culture. First, I examine whether this participatory belief is supported by evidence from published comic books by undertaking a content analysis of the letter columns and story pages of comic books. Next, I explore the discourses of online comic book culture that relate to authorship and the boundaries of participation and show how the rules of textual engagement that are held by readers shape the interactions between readers and producers. Finally, I look for alternative participatory spaces that are available to comic book readers, finding these in a contested form of engagement with comic books, that of exploring the fictional universes of the text. This approach imagines the text as the representation of a non-actual world, to which the comic book is an incomplete window. Theorising this mode of engagement leads to a conceptualisation of participation that makes visible a participatory space that has been previously overlooked by academic fan studies, and that complicates the existing models of participatory culture.

Comic books are one of the many popular cultural forms that attract, as part of their audience, a committed readership that engages in a participatory relationship as part of a shared interest in the text. In common with other media forms, this engagement expresses itself in a variety of ways, including interaction with other readers online and face-to-face at conventions, correspondence with producers, and the creation of textual products. Other features of the discourses and practices of this community may be more specific to the comic book readership. One of the most interesting of these is a participatory belief, widely expressed by readers, that they can influence the story content of the published comic book and that comic books are unique among other media forms in this. In this thesis, I investigate several aspects of this belief, in order to offer a more nuanced understanding of the participatory involvement that readers have in comic books, particularly the superhero comic books that dominate American comic book culture. First, I examine whether this participatory belief is supported by evidence from published comic books by undertaking a content analysis of the letter columns and story pages of comic books. Next, I explore the discourses of online comic book culture that relate to authorship and the boundaries of participation and show how the rules of textual engagement that are held by readers shape the interactions between readers and producers. Finally, I look for alternative participatory spaces that are available to comic book readers, finding these in a contested form of engagement with comic books, that of exploring the fictional universes of the text. This approach imagines the text as the representation of a non-actual world, to which the comic book is an incomplete window. Theorising this mode of engagement leads to a conceptualisation of participation that makes visible a participatory space that has been previously overlooked by academic fan studies, and that complicates the existing models of participatory culture.

Comic books are one of the many popular cultural forms that attract, as part of their audience, a committed readership that engages in a participatory relationship as part of a shared interest in the text. In common with other media forms, this engagement expresses itself in a variety of ways, including interaction with other readers online and face-to-face at conventions, correspondence with producers, and the creation of textual products. Other features of the discourses and practices of this community may be more specific to the comic book readership. One of the most interesting of these is a participatory belief, widely expressed by readers, that they can influence the story content of the published comic book and that comic books are unique among other media forms in this. In this thesis, I investigate several aspects of this belief, in order to offer a more nuanced understanding of the participatory involvement that readers have in comic books, particularly the superhero comic books that dominate American comic book culture. First, I examine whether this participatory belief is supported by evidence from published comic books by undertaking a content analysis of the letter columns and story pages of comic books. Next, I explore the discourses of online comic book culture that relate to authorship and the boundaries of participation and show how the rules of textual engagement that are held by readers shape the interactions between readers and producers. Finally, I look for alternative participatory spaces that are available to comic book readers, finding these in a contested form of engagement with comic books, that of exploring the fictional universes of the text. This approach imagines the text as the representation of a non-actual world, to which the comic book is an incomplete window. Theorising this mode of engagement leads to a conceptualisation of participation that makes visible a participatory space that has been previously overlooked by academic fan studies, and that complicates the existing models of participatory culture.

Comic books are one of the many popular cultural forms that attract, as part of their audience, a committed readership that engages in a participatory relationship as part of a shared interest in the text. In common with other media forms, this engagement expresses itself in a variety of ways, including interaction with other readers online and face-to-face at conventions, correspondence with producers, and the creation of textual products. Other features of the discourses and practices of this community may be more specific to the comic book readership. One of the most interesting of these is a participatory belief, widely expressed by readers, that they can influence the story content of the published comic book and that comic books are unique among other media forms in this. In this thesis, I investigate several aspects of this belief, in order to offer a more nuanced understanding of the participatory involvement that readers have in comic books, particularly the superhero comic books that dominate American comic book culture. First, I examine whether this participatory belief is supported by evidence from published comic books by undertaking a content analysis of the letter columns and story pages of comic books. Next, I explore the discourses of online comic book culture that relate to authorship and the boundaries of participation and show how the rules of textual engagement that are held by readers shape the interactions between readers and producers. Finally, I look for alternative participatory spaces that are available to comic book readers, finding these in a contested form of engagement with comic books, that of exploring the fictional universes of the text. This approach imagines the text as the representation of a non-actual world, to which the comic book is an incomplete window. Theorising this mode of engagement leads to a conceptualisation of participation that makes visible a participatory space that has been previously overlooked by academic fan studies, and that complicates the existing models of participatory culture.