Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1958. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 558-567).

This Critical Review discusses the significance of the author’s published works and their impact on the history of the emergence of British television between 1926 and 1936. Although events in television within this period have since been well-documented, the related debates have tended to be specialist in scope and restricted to technology-centric or institution-centric viewpoints. Within this period of complex, rapid technological change, the author’s published works introduce the principle of embracing multiple disciplines for comparative analysis. The author’s application of that principle opens up long-established views for further debate and provides a re-assessment of early British television within a broader context. The rewards of this approach are a view of events that not only avoids nationalistic bias and restrictions of a single institutional viewpoint, but also tackles the complex inter-dependencies of technology, of service provision and of content creation. These published works draw attention to the revolutionary improvements that enabled the BBC’s 1936 service and the re-definition of television, yet also emphasise the significance of the previous television broadcast services. The most important innovation within these works has been the author’s discovery and in-depth study of artefacts from that earlier period. His recovery, analysis and presentation of video recordings of historic early television from 1927-1935 is original and remains unique. It has had a significant impact on the field of Media Archaeology, where Ernst considers the book Restoring Baird’s Image as a ‘seminal’ work and the overall restoration project ‘a brilliant case of “Digital Humanities” research’ (Appendix 2). The author’s curation of content from the period 1927-1935 enhances our understanding of a time where previously no direct television footage was thought to exist. The author extends his forensic-level investigative ‘hands-on’ techniques from this recovery to the analysis of the surviving artefacts from the time of John Logie Baird’s claimed first demonstration of television in 1926. The results clarify not only the functions of the equipment but also the circumstances and validity of the event, and hence its true place in the history of television.

No description available.

Ever since the environment and nonhumanity became major ethical topics, human-centered worldviews have been blamed for all that is morally wrong about our dealings with nature. Those who consider themselves nonanthropocentrists typically assume that the West’s anthropocentric axiologies and ontologies underlie all of the environmental degradations associated with our species. On the other hand, a handful of environmental philosophers argue that anthropocentrism is perfectly acceptable as a foundation for environmental ethics. According to Bryan Norton’s convergence hypothesis, "If reasonably interpreted and translated into appropriate policies, a nonanthropocentric ethic will advocate the same [environmental] policies as a suitably broad and long-sighted anthropocentrism" (Norton 2004:11). Norton notes that although adherents to either ism may disagree about the relative importance of the various reasons they have for advocating such policies, they nevertheless share an equal commitment to protecting the environment. Because any form of anthropocentrism must fundamentally favor humanity over nonhumanity, nonanthropocentrists are nevertheless concerned that such favoritism is "nothing more than the expression of an irrational bias" (Taylor 1981:215). They reason that only a nonanthropocentric ethic can guarantee that policies do not arbitrarily favor humans when their interests conflict with those of nonhumans. I argue that critics of convergence fail to appreciate that Norton’s hypothesis is limited to ideologies that he deems "reasonable" and "suitably broad and long-sighted," or else they misapprehend what these terms imply. When it comes to ethics, nonanthropocentrists and anthropocentrists alike vary along a continuum according to whether their overriding intuitions are more aligned with individualistic or collectivistic axiologies and their associated timescales. The most unreasonable, narrow, and short-sighted ideologies are those that are the most individualistic. It is at the collective end of the continuum that Norton’s proposed convergence takes place. I defend a version of anthropocentrism that I term ecological anthropocentrism.

This thesis aims to contribute to ecocentric views by revising and criticising Callicott&#039 / s conception of environment and ecocentric ethics that he develops in the light of ecology and the Copenhagen Interpretation of quantum physics. The thesis also aims to support the ecocentric point of view by suggesting a different approach to the conception of environment in the light of the Existential Interpretation.

This thesis recognises the incompleteness of early television history, specifically as it is articulated in media archeological explorations. Through the process of reenactment, a series of tropes, conceits and insights are suggested which oblige us to reappraise the ontology of television. These insights are not by imitation but by a multiplicity of readings in the viewing of a historical act in the present day through a laboratorial media archaeological arts practice. The thesis interrogates a perceived gap in media archaeology’s body of knowledge through creative, playful and experimental practice borne of archival and historical research, developed from the proposition that both contemporary media archaeology and television historiography do not concentrate on how television is and can be used, only on how it has been used. The practical elements of the thesis focus on one of the formative moments, John Logie Baird’s first television drama (in collaboration with the BBC): The Man with the Flower in his Mouth. The thesis draws upon Media Studies and the discipline of Media Archaeology which both suggest that historical fragments have stable readings and meanings, recognising that both miss the crucial aspect of artistic license, playfulness, and that a laboratorial media archaeological approach, aligned to a considered reenactment process can create a televisual arts practice to tease out the hidden and forgotten. This activated historical account through reenactment keeps the theatrical, the cinematic and the teleportation in a simultaneous presence, digging into the past to address present and future television through this televisual arts practice.

Dans ce mémoire, nous étudierons la place que devrait occuper en éthique environnementale, la notion de valeur intrinsèque de la nature, et nous critiquerons l’approche pragmatique qui rejette cette dernière. Pour Bryan G. Norton, l’un des pères du pragmatisme en éthique environnementale, la notion de valeur intrinsèque est un frein à la mise en place de politiques publiques en environnement. Nous défendrons, au contraire, l’idée que cette notion peut jouer un rôle essentiel en éthique environnementale en servant de base commune à l’établissement de politiques pouvant lutter efficacement contre des problématiques mondiales en environnement. Pour ce faire, nous commencerons par présenter l’approche pragmatique et ses critiques des théories de la valeur intrinsèque de la nature. Dans un second temps, nous critiquerons certains aspects du pragmatisme pour montrer que cette approche possède des défauts pouvant être comblés par la notion de valeur intrinsèque. Le caractère inadéquat d’une approche purement pragmatique face à des enjeux mondiaux en environnement ayant été établi, nous articulerons finalement la notion de valeur intrinsèque de la nature telle que la conçoit J. Baird Callicott. Ce faisant, nous établirons la base métaphysique permettant de soutenir l’existence de ce type de valeur pour les espèces et nous montrerons, grâce à Willis Jenkins, qu’une approche pragmatique peut être compatible avec la notion de valeur intrinsèque de la nature, moyennant certains aménagements. La notion de valeur intrinsèque de la nature peut ainsi jouer un rôle crucial en éthique environnementale et il est de notre devoir de résister aux tentatives de marginalisation la visant. / In this paper, we will study the place that the notion of intrinsic value in nature should take in environmental ethics and we will criticize pragmatism for rejecting the notion of intrinsic value. For Bryan G. Norton, one of the forefathers of environmental pragmatism, the notion of intrinsic value is an obstacle to the establishment of public environmental policies. Contrary to this belief, we will argue that this notion can play an essential part in environmental ethics as a common ground for establishing global politics able to respond to international environmental issues. For this purpose, we will first present the pragmatic approach and its arguments against the use of intrinsic value in nature. On this basis, we will then criticize some aspects of environmental pragmatism in order to show that this position is not flawless and that some shortcomings could be remediated with the use of the notion of intrinsic value in nature. The inadequacy of a purely pragmatic position in regard to global environmental threat having been shown, we will finally present the notion of intrinsic value in nature as conceived by J. Baird Callicott. This presentation will give us the essentials tools to establish the metaphysical foundation of the intrinsic value for species. We will finally show, with the help of Willis Jenkins position, that environmental pragmatism can be compatible with the use of intrinsic value in nature. Intrinsic value in nature can play a crucial role in environmental ethics and we should consequently resist to those who treat this notion as irrelevant.

Thomas Burton, Jack Schrader, and Ambrose Manning of East Tennessee State University began documenting the Appalachian region in the 1960s. Together they came to know many mountain people now recognized as Appalachian Masters. In this DVD we are introduced to Ray Hicks along with his family and friends from Beech Mountain, North Carolina. Thomas Burton serves as our guide. Included are two Burton/Schrader films in their entirety: A film about Ray Hicks and another about Buna Presnell Hicks and Bertha Hubbard Baird, along with video excerpts of Stanley Hicks and Hattie Presnell recorded by Burton and Manning. Please be aware that the film quality of the remastered excerpts reminds us of a time before the digital age. / https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu_books/1095/thumbnail.jpg

Esta dissertação analisou como se deu o filosofar na arte das crianças surdas e na busca por práticas estéticas visuais no processo da construção deste filosofar. Para isto, foram realizadas entrevistas (individuais e coletivas) com 10 sujeitos surdos de uma escola municipal de surdos de Gravataí no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, onde foram apresentadas algumas pinturas dos artistas Da Vinci, Picasso, Portinari e Baird (artista surdo). O objetivo foi o de provocar uma reflexão destes sujeitos, a partir de experiências estéticas, no sentido de que cada um pudesse expressar seus saberes, praticar a vivência do olhar, trazendo suas hipóteses e compreensões sobre as pinturas, observando como estas experiências podiam colaborar para a construção dos filosofares na arte dos sujeitos surdos. Os principais pressupostos teóricos foram os estudos de Michael J. Parsons sobre os níveis estéticos de compreensão da arte, que foram tabulados e sistematizados para uma melhor análise qualitativa dos dados, proposta metodológica optada para a pesquisa. Marly Meira e Walter Kohan perpassam a pesquisa como os alicerces da criação filosófica e o pensar sobre o pensar. Destaco também os estudos de Duarte para a educação do sensível e de Pillar na educação para o olhar. Pôde-se constatar que houve uma notável relação entre as experiências estéticas e os diálogos com a possibilidade de novas compreensões sobre arte e com a criação de novos pensares filosóficos. / This study analyzed the development of the capacity of philosophize in the deaf children art and in search for visual aesthetics practice in the process of constructing this capacity. For this, 10 deaf research subjects were interviewed (individually and collectively) in a municipal deaf school in Gravataí in Rio Grande do Sul state, were they were presented to some pictures from Da Vinci, Picasso and Baird (deaf artists). The goal was to stimulate these subjects to reflect, from aesthetics experiences, in a way of expressing their knowledge and of practicing view experience, bringing their hypothesis and understandings about the pictures and observing how these experiences could contribute to construct the capacity of philosophize in the deaf subject art. The main theoretical support was the Michael J. Parsons’ studies about the aesthetics levels of art understandings which were tabulated and systemized to better qualitative analyses of data. This methodological proposal has been adopted for us in this research. Marly Meira and Walter Kohan’s studies pass through our research as the basis of the philosophical creation and the thinking about the thinking. I would also emphasize the Duarte’s studies in sensitive education and the Pillar’s studies of education for view. We could verify a notable relation between aesthetics experiences and the dialogues with possibilities of new understandings about art and with the creation of new philosophical thinking.

Esta dissertação analisou como se deu o filosofar na arte das crianças surdas e na busca por práticas estéticas visuais no processo da construção deste filosofar. Para isto, foram realizadas entrevistas (individuais e coletivas) com 10 sujeitos surdos de uma escola municipal de surdos de Gravataí no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, onde foram apresentadas algumas pinturas dos artistas Da Vinci, Picasso, Portinari e Baird (artista surdo). O objetivo foi o de provocar uma reflexão destes sujeitos, a partir de experiências estéticas, no sentido de que cada um pudesse expressar seus saberes, praticar a vivência do olhar, trazendo suas hipóteses e compreensões sobre as pinturas, observando como estas experiências podiam colaborar para a construção dos filosofares na arte dos sujeitos surdos. Os principais pressupostos teóricos foram os estudos de Michael J. Parsons sobre os níveis estéticos de compreensão da arte, que foram tabulados e sistematizados para uma melhor análise qualitativa dos dados, proposta metodológica optada para a pesquisa. Marly Meira e Walter Kohan perpassam a pesquisa como os alicerces da criação filosófica e o pensar sobre o pensar. Destaco também os estudos de Duarte para a educação do sensível e de Pillar na educação para o olhar. Pôde-se constatar que houve uma notável relação entre as experiências estéticas e os diálogos com a possibilidade de novas compreensões sobre arte e com a criação de novos pensares filosóficos. / This study analyzed the development of the capacity of philosophize in the deaf children art and in search for visual aesthetics practice in the process of constructing this capacity. For this, 10 deaf research subjects were interviewed (individually and collectively) in a municipal deaf school in Gravataí in Rio Grande do Sul state, were they were presented to some pictures from Da Vinci, Picasso and Baird (deaf artists). The goal was to stimulate these subjects to reflect, from aesthetics experiences, in a way of expressing their knowledge and of practicing view experience, bringing their hypothesis and understandings about the pictures and observing how these experiences could contribute to construct the capacity of philosophize in the deaf subject art. The main theoretical support was the Michael J. Parsons’ studies about the aesthetics levels of art understandings which were tabulated and systemized to better qualitative analyses of data. This methodological proposal has been adopted for us in this research. Marly Meira and Walter Kohan’s studies pass through our research as the basis of the philosophical creation and the thinking about the thinking. I would also emphasize the Duarte’s studies in sensitive education and the Pillar’s studies of education for view. We could verify a notable relation between aesthetics experiences and the dialogues with possibilities of new understandings about art and with the creation of new philosophical thinking.