This thesis explores the work of three theologians, Arthur Peacocke, John Haught and Denis Edwards, each of whom has made a significant contribution to the dialogue between contemporary evolutionary biology and the Christian understanding of God. The thesis explores and analyses how evolutionary theory throws light on key theological themes such as the nature of God's providence, especially in relation to pain, suffering and evil, and the meaning of Jesus Christ. The thesis involves a critical reading of the selected theologians' works, with their respective emphases on classical, process and kenotic types of theological thinking, and also draws on resources from the classical theological tradition, primarily St. Thomas Aquinas. The study gives a positive assessment of the contributions of the three chosen authors. It highlights the critical importance that theological methodology plays in formulating insights into the relationship of God to evolutionary processes. Peacocke emphasises the use of critical realism as the most credible methodology for theology, consistent with its use by science. Haught agrees with this approach stressing, however, that the data of theology is not the same as that for science. Consequently, he argues that theology ought to constitute the deepest layer of explanation for understanding reality and for understanding God as the ultimate explanation for evolution. Edwards argues that we must find a way of talking about God that is consonant with the reality of the world but that this God always remains ultimately Mystery. Peacocke, Haught and Edwards explore the usefulness of kenotic theology for explaining how belief in an omnipotent and supremely loving God can be reconciled with the existence of pain, suffering and evil in the creation. Although a kenotic approach can account for the scientific evidence of a “self-creative” and emergent cosmos along with the presence of suffering and evil, a more comprehensive theological viewpoint must include an understanding of how God is active in creation, sustaining it in existence and drawing it towards its divinely ordained end. Haught's argument for the presence of genuine contingency in the cosmos as evidence of God's on-going creativity is critically examined. Genuinely new possibilities, in evolutionary terms, new species, cannot be explained by material causation alone. In his “metaphysics of the future”, Haught argues that, despite the enormity of pain and suffering evidenced in evolution, God continues to lovingly draw the creation towards a hopeful and promised future in God. This thesis appreciates the value of Edwards’ trinitarian “God of evolution” for it combines a more classical theological approach with evolutionary theory. For Edwards, biological evolution is seen as a process within an ontologically relational creation that reflects the divine relations of the Trinity. The creation of being-in-relation flows out of, and reflects, the divine trinitarian relations of mutual love. Edwards’ insights into the nature of original sin and grace within an evolutionary context are also positively assessed. Both Peacocke and Edwards propose a Wisdom Christology as the most fruitful link between the biblical Sophia tradition and a creation theology, holding together insights on the divine Being, Wisdom and the Christ-event itself. Aspects of process and kenotic theologies can be usefully combined with Aquinas' expansive notion of God as ultimate Being. Through this synthesis, the drama of evolution is more intimately related with the ultimate reality, the Mystery of God. Throughout this thesis, gender-neutral language has been maintained except in some quotations of St. Thomas Aquinas.

La presente Tesis Doctoral se realiza en base a tres MOTIVACIONES. Una motivación personal, gestada en una curiosidad y/o asombro infantil que se perpetúa en la adultez a modo de cuestionamiento filosófico; una motivación por el estudio de la genial obra del filósofo Arthur Schopenhauer, quien a mi entender, es uno de los filósofos más honestos con la verdad y con la propia naturaleza; y una motivación por el tema de AMOR, tema que enraíza directamente con la esencia del ser humano, y que sin embargo, ha sido obviado por la mayoría de los filósofos. La investigación tiene por OBJETIVO por una parte, un estudio historiográfico del Capítulo 44 de los complementos a la obra primaria “El mundo como voluntad y representación” que porta por título “La Metafísica del amor sexual”; y por otra, un estudio filosófico en cuanto que trata de dar respuesta a una pregunta o hipótesis planteada: ¿Es cierto que el amor platónico es una mentira y que el amor propuesto por Schopenhauer es verdad? y, ¿De qué verdad y/o mentira estamos hablando? Ambos objetivos, el estudio historiográfico y el filosófico, se entrelazan entre sí dando lugar a una respuesta unitaria que se soporta en la genial filosofía de Arthur Schopenhauer. El DESARROLLO TEÓRICO de la investigación se realiza mediante una cuidada metodología cimentada en cuatro puntos primordiales: a) Estructura, b) Literatura secundaria, c) Investigaciones Empíricas, d) Osadía creativa. a) Se dota de una estructura explícita a un texto (Cap. 44 de los Complementos “Metafísica del Amor Sexual”) que parece no poseer, a priori, ningún orden prestablecido. Gracias a esta compartimentación en los diferentes temas se hace más preciso el estudio de cada una de las partes. b) Se utiliza el conjunto de la obra fundamental de Arthur Schopenhauer para matizar y ampliar lo expuesto por su capítulo, y se realiza un trabajo de consulta y utilización de literatura secundaria respecto al tema tratado. c) Se dota de mayor rigor científico al capítulo tratado incluyendo las últimas investigaciones científicas que corroboran mayoritariamente las afirmaciones y/o intuiciones del filósofo alemán. d) El conjunto de la tesis doctoral está impregnado de un ímpetu creativo del autor, tratando de dar una particular respuesta en base a todo lo incorporado en el transcurso de la investigación. Este punto se podrá intuir con mayor evidencia en los dos últimos capítulos antes de las conclusiones: Schopenhauer en el Banquete y El amor como solución (provisional) a la existencia subjetiva. La CONCLUSIÓN final y general es que se encuentran evidencias de que el amor platónico es simplemente una mentira, o alegoría, si se quiere, para no mostrar la verdadera naturaleza del amor. El amor, por muchos tintes etéreos del que se quiera revestir, no deja de ser un instinto natural especializado y dirigido a la reproducción. La reproducción no es únicamente el resultado del instinto sino que, en su vertiente metafísica, es la perpetuación (en las nuevas generaciones) de una pulsión ciega y constante que el filósofo alemán conceptualiza como Voluntad. / This Doctoral Thesis is performed on three motivations. Personal motivation, gestated in a curious and / or perpetuating childlike wonder in adulthood as a philosophical inquiry, a motivation for the study of the great works of the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, who in my opinion, is one of the greatest philosophers honest with the truth and with the nature, and motivated by the love theme, rooted issue directly with the essence of the human being, and yet it has been ignored by most philosophers. The research aims on the one hand, a historiographic study of Chapter 44 of the additions to the primary work "The World as Will and Representation" which carries the title "The Metaphysics of Sexual Love" and, secondly, a philosophical study As for trying to answer a question or hypothesis: Is it true that platonic love is a lie and that proposed by Schopenhauer love you? and what truth and / or lie we talking about? Both objectives, historiographical and philosophical study, intertwine with each other resulting in a united response that supports the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer great. The theoretical development of the research is done through a careful methodology founded on four key points: a) structure, b) secondary literature, c) empirical research, d) Daring creative. a) gives an explicit structure to a text (Cap. 44 of Supplements "Metaphysics of Sexual Love") that seems to have, a priori, any preset order. With this partitioning in different subjects is more precise study of each of the parties. b) Use the set of the seminal work of Arthur Schopenhauer to refine and expand the above for their chapter, and they do a consultation and use of secondary literature on the subject. c) It gives greater scientific rigor Chapter treaty including the latest scientific research largely corroborating statements and / or intuitions of the German philosopher. d) The entire thesis is impregnated with a creative impetus of the author, trying to give a particular response based on all built in the course of the investigation. This section may intuit more evident in the last two chapters before conclusions: Schopenhauer in the Symposium and Love as solution (provisional) to the subjective existence. The final conclusion is generally found evidence that Platonic love is just a lie, or allegory, if you will, to not show the true nature of love. Love, for many of ethereal dyes you want coated, no longer a natural instinct to run specialized and playback. Playback is not only the result of instinct but in its metaphysical aspect, is the perpetuation (new generations) of a blind instinct and constant German philosopher conceptualized as Will.

L'objectif de ce travail consiste à identifier les apories inhérentes à ce que d'aucuns appellent la postmodernité. L'impasse actuelle résulte, selon nous, d'une fracture du logos dont le corollaire est la montée des monismes dans la pensée occidentale. Cette fracture pose d'énormes problèmes sociaux, éthiques et sotériologiques. Une solution à l'impasse passe par un retour aux sources de la pensée occidentale. Un retour au logos ne peut cependant advenir qu'à travers une philosophie qui, contrairement à certains monismes, ne serait basée ni sur l'objet ni sur le sujet. Il s'agit dans le cadre de ce travail de faire émerger cette « philosophie du milieu », de définir quels sont ses modes d'applications et quels sont ses concepts opératoires, comme le synéchisme. Il appert que, dans ce que Jean-François Lyotard appelle « les sociétés industrielles avancées », deux visions de l'homme s'affrontent, réduisant toutes deux l'expérience de la réalité à un unique élément, qu'il soit corps ou langage. Il résulte de cette dichotomie soit une dévalorisation de la subjectivité soit un scepticisme antirationaliste. Ces monismes tirent une bonne part de leurs fondements théoriques de la pensée de Ludwig Wittgenstein. Or Wittgenstein n'est ni entièrement positiviste ni entièrement relativiste, comme ses successeurs l'ont interprété; sa pensée n'est fondée ni sur l'objet, comme celle des matérialistes, ni sur le sujet, comme celle des relativistes. Sa conception « transcendantale » de l'éthique, concomitante de sa définition de la limite du langage, fait plutôt de ce penseur un dualiste. Malgré son dualisme, de par son association à la pensée d'Arthur Schopenhauer, Wittgenstein participe de plein doit à cette philosophie « du milieu » que nous tentons de définir. Ayant été confronté, essentiellement, aux mêmes apories et aux mêmes impasses sociales quelque cinq siècles avant l'Occident, la société tibétaine sut trouver, au 15e siècle, un juste milieu entre des conceptions monistes réductrices grâce à la philosophie de Tsongkhapa. Dans le cadre d'une réforme tant éthique que philosophique, ce dernier a habilement marié la réflexion sur la nature ultime des phénomènes à des principes de raison et d'empirisme. Son approche, identique à celle préconisée par Platon deux mille ans plus tôt, s'est réclamée du juste milieu entre l'ultime et le conventionnel. En outre, elle offre à terme une sortie de l'impasse engendrée par le matérialisme et le relativisme en formulant une conception unifiée, disons synéchiste, de la réalité. Philosophe très influent il y a un siècle, mais aujourd'hui presque oublié, Arthur Schopenhauer est au cœur de la pensée postmoderne. Ayant exercé une influence déterminante sur Nietzsche, Freud et Wittgenstein, Schopenhauer a introduit dans la pensée occidentale la notion de maya, ou d'illusion du réel, reléguant au second plan le cogito cartésien. Contrairement à ce l'on croit au sujet de sa philosophie de la Volonté, Schopenhauer assigne à la raison un rôle sotériologique essentiel. Sa philosophie, inspirée de celle de Platon et de Kant, se situe « au milieu » entre le sujet et l'objet. Elle maintient que tout dépassement de l'illusion du réel passe par l'attitude éthique qui aspire à mettre un terme à la soif d'existence. Les parallèles avérés entre sa philosophie et le bouddhisme sont d'ailleurs à même de démontrer que l'approche préconisée par Schopenhauer et fondée sur le synéchisme entre le sujet et l'objet est rigoureusement superposable à celle appliquée au Tibet par Tsongkhapa quatre siècles plus tôt. Enfin, afin d'obvier aux apories soulevées par les monismes et les dualismes, le « synéchisme » est proposé comme concept opératoire permettant de sortir de l'impasse postmoderne. Ce concept initialement développé par C. S. Pierce se révèle approprié autant comme méthodologie que comme conception du langage en donnant un sens précis à l'approche du « milieu » fondée sur l'absence d'en-soi des phénomènes subjectifs et objectifs. ______________________________________________________________________________

Most books written about American drama concern definitions of masculinity, the American dream, and the family in a society that encourages people to surpass their competences and limits. American playwrights of the twentieth century reveal the anxiety and insecurity of men who do not rise up to the standards of the American dream. In concentrating on these themes, most critics have analyzed the main characters and plots but have left aside hints about other myths. This study aims to analyse the extended use of the cowboy, of salesman, and of pirate in Tennessee Williams’s The Glass Menagerie and Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. The recurrence of these three myths touches on the core of American drama that playwrights and critics have tried to define endlessly: the definition of the male in the American society.

Thesis (M.A.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisor: Dr. Barry Faulk, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of English. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 16, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.

This dissertation argues that in the heyday of radio, religious-radio preachers sought to use their programs to counter the secularization of American culture. Ultimately, however, their programs contributed to secularization by accelerating changes already evident in both the conservative and liberal streams of American Christianity. To reach a vast American audience, radio preachers transformed their sectarian messages into a religion more suitable to the masses, thereby altering the very religion it aimed to preserve. This was one of the unintended consequences of American religious radio. Chapter 2 argues that Harry Emerson Fosdick's ministry contributed to a movement away from Protestant orthodoxy. Radio played an important role in Fosdick's successful effort to blaze a new theological trail for the modern era. Chapter 3 shows that Aimee Semple McPherson's experiential religion had an ecumenical appeal that reached areas across the world. As one of the most celebrated Christian figures of the early twentieth century, McPherson's ministry helped make the American church more accepting of important aspects of secularization. Chapter 4 argues that Walter Maier's ministry encouraged millions of people to believe in a simple orthodoxy. The message he broadcast eschewed Lutheran particulars for the bold proclamation of the basic convictions shared by Christian fundamentalists generally. Chapter 5 argues that Charles Fuller's ministry contributed to the transformation of American religion by defining it primarily in terms of evangelism. His success uncovered a particular mood in America: one tired of the militant fundamentalism of the early decades of the century but not ready to abandon the fundamentals of the faith for theological liberalism. Chapter 6 considers religious radio against the backdrop of the emergence of television as the dominant communication medium in America and draws out implications for religion in the modern age of the Internet. To make religion accessible to large and diverse audiences, radio preachers accommodated their messages in ways suited to the medium of radio. Although religious-radio preachers set forth to advance the influence of religion in American society, their choice to limit theological substance ironically promoted the secularization of the American church.

Most books written about American drama concern definitions of masculinity, the American dream, and the family in a society that encourages people to surpass their competences and limits. American playwrights of the twentieth century reveal the anxiety and insecurity of men who do not rise up to the standards of the American dream. In concentrating on these themes, most critics have analyzed the main characters and plots but have left aside hints about other myths. This study aims to analyse the extended use of the cowboy, of salesman, and of pirate in Tennessee Williams’s The Glass Menagerie and Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. The recurrence of these three myths touches on the core of American drama that playwrights and critics have tried to define endlessly: the definition of the male in the American society.

During the 1910s, there was an increasing concerted effort on the part of Canadian artists to create art and literature which would affirm Canada's sense of nationhood and modernity. Although in agreement that Canada desperately required its own culture, the Canadian artistic community was divided on what Canadian culture ought to be. For the majority of Canadian painters, writers, critics and readers, the future of the Canadian arts, especially poetry and painting, lay in Canada's past. These cultural conservatives championed art which mirrored its European and Canadian predecessors. Their domination of the arts left little room for the progressive minority, who rebelled against prevailing artistic standards. In painting, the Group of Seven was one of the first groups to challenge this stranglehold on Canadian culture. The Group waged a protracted and vocal campaign for the advancement of Canadian approaches and subjects. In literature, A. J. M. Smith and F. R. Scott began a similar movement to modernize Canadian poetry and reform critical standards. By examining the poetry, essays, criticism and archival material of these poets and painters, the thesis establishes strong parallels between the modernist campaigns of these two groups and investigates this cross-fertilization between the modern Canadian arts.

Zugl.: Berlin, Humboldt-Univ., Magisterarbeit, 2001

Univ., Diss.--Zürich, 2006.