Inaug.-dis.--Bonn. / Vita. "Die dissertation bildet den 2. hauptteil der schrift: Der begriff des belief bei David Hume, abgedruckt als. nr. xvii der Abhandlungen zur philosophie und ihrer Geschichte, herausgegeben von Benno Erdmann, Halle, Max Niemeyer."--Note (verso of t.-p.)

Thesis--Heidelberg. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2009. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 101-106).

In recent years, the Jewish prayer for healing, the Mi Sheberach (literally, "the one who blessed"), has become a central element of North American liberal (non-Orthodox) religious and ritual life. The growing centrality of these prayers comes at a time when American Judaism has shifted away from congregational and communal life to a more personalized approach to Jewish beliefs, practices and identities; participation in both ritual and prayer practices is now based in personal choice and the desire for an individually-meaningful experience, as well as communal obligation or belief in God. This dissertation seeks to understand the meanings and impacts of these Jewish prayers for healing, by using ethnography as a tool for understanding the lived experience of religious practices, beliefs, and identities. Based in two years of ethnographic field-work in Southern Arizona, it places the relationship between Judaism and healing within the larger social, communal and historical contexts in which both of these concepts acquire meaning. I describe the complexities and contradictions inherent in modern liberal American Jewishness, demonstrating that these modern Jewish American selves are multiply-situated, multi-voiced, and characterized by diversity and dissonance. My research shows that, among liberal American Jews, the individual's search for meaning blends with the collectivist nature of Judaism, in an ongoing process of interpretive interaction between text, tradition, personal experience, and other members of the community. I find that Jewish representations of God are also complex and contradictory. Many people have difficulty articulating their thoughts about God, and their views are dynamic and inconsistent. Furthermore, Jewish belief develops in a multifaceted relationship to Jewish ritual and communal practice. Within this context, healing prayer becomes become one site, among many, through which relationships to Jewish traditions, practices and communities are negotiated and constructed. Healing prayer leads to a feeling of connection to community, ancestors and traditions; it transforms fear and anxiety into comfort, strength and acceptance; promotes spiritual transcendence; and provides a sense of agency and control at times of vulnerability and helplessness. Healing in a liberal Jewish context may involve the physical body, but it more often involves emotions, spirit, relationships to other people, and relationships to Judaism. Prayer may refer to a dialogue with the divine, but it is also a dialogue between the individual and the community, and between Jewish history and modernity. Finally, this dissertation contributes to discussions of religion and secularism, demonstrating that these analytical categories, which emerged out of European Protestantism, are neither sufficient, nor appropriate, for the study of modern Jewish life.

In this paper I wish to trace some connections between Donald Davidson's work (1917-2003) and two major representatives of the classical pragmatist movement: Charles S. Peirce (1839-1914) and William James (1842-1910). I will start with a basic characterization of classical pragmatism; then, I shall examine certain conceptions in Peirce's and James' pragmatism, in order to establish affinities with Davidson´s thought. Finally, and bearing in mind the previous con-nections, I will reflect briefly on the relevance –often unrecognized- of classical pragmatist ideas in the context of contemporary philosophi-cal discussions.

The experiences of grief and mourning in response to loss are fundamentally transformative to the self-identity of the mourner, necessitating an array of ritualized behaviors at the communal and individual levels. These rituals of mourning both create a space in which this transformation may take place and provide the structure that can direct that transformation. My focus is on historical and emerging forms of vernacular commemoration, by which I refer to material forms that are created by, acted upon, or in other ways utilized by a person experiencing grief in the service of regaining a sense of stability in the aftermath of loss. The re-integration of the bereaved, through mourning, back into society in new relation with the departed is often assisted by these vernacular memorial forms. My analysis focuses on three specific forms of commemoration: spirit photographs, ghost bikes, and memorial tattoos. These are vernacular forms of expression in the sense that they have emerged from and cater to individual needs and desires that are not satisfied by the more official and uniform materials and processes of mourning, such as the funeral service and subsequent visits to a gravesite or contemplation of an ash-filled urn. The power of these memorial forms rests in the adaptive and restorative abilities of memory to retain the lost relationship and to pull it forward and reconstitute it in a changed state as enduring and continuing into the future. When faced with the sudden death of a loved one, the traditional rituals that surround modern death may seem too rigid and homogenized to satisfy the wide array of emotions demanding attention in the bereaved. This is where the vernacular rituals and new forms of commemoration discussed in this dissertation spring up and make themselves known. Highly individual, yet often publicly and politically motivated, these new American ways of interpreting death and performing mourning represent the changing needs of contemporary mourners. As death has become increasingly hidden away and discussion of it rendered taboo, the need for personal and direct interaction with the processes of grief and mourning have become more and more important. / 2016-09-29

The starting point of the thesis is an acceptance of the principles of a moderately naturalized epistemology which allow for the traditional questions of epistemology, especially that of empirical justification, to be addressed in a recognizable way. It is argued that naturalism construed in this way is not compatible with scepticism regarding empirical knowledge, at least as far as the justification condition goes. Five general consequences of a moderately naturalistic position are deduced. It is shown how these general conclusions lead to a modest foundationalism, that is, they imply the corrigibility of all empirical beliefs and the basic status of some. The sensory character of basic beliefs is argued for, as is the claim that basic beliefs are not about the character of experience but about physical facts in the subject's immediate environment. The way in which an empirical belief is brought about (its 'dependence relations') is then examined. The important conclusion, for a theory of justification, to be drawn from this examination, is that sensory beliefs depend on no other beliefs but themselves for their empirical justification. This points to the fact that, if they are justified for their subjects, they must be self-evident and prima facie justified. Before explicating the nature of prima facie justification, the general requirements for a satisfactory theory of epistemic justification are set out. Such a theory must account for the reasonableness of the agent in believing as she does; it must accommodate deontological aspects and explain how justified belief is distinguishable from unjustified belief; and it must provide some objective link between the justified belief and its likely truth. It is shown that the theory of prima facie justification of sensory beliefs which emerges from a naturalized epistemology, satisfies these requirements, and that a conception of prima facie justification which ignores naturalistic constraints cannot explain immediate justification. / Philosophy and Systematic Theology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Philosophy)

Master of Science / School of Family Studies and Human Services / Jared R. Anderson / Couples often wait until the very end to seek help for their relationship, with divorce being one of the primary concerns cited in couple’s therapy (Doss, Simpson & Christensen, 2004). While couples appear to be reluctant to seek formal resources, we know that over 50% of individuals are confiding in friends and family about their relationship (Lind Seal, Doherty, & Harris, 2015). Currently, the literature is limited and unable to provide a comprehensive explanation for why individuals do or do not seek help for their relationship. Using an interdisciplinary approach, we adapted a medical model- the Health Belief Model (HBM)- to relationship help-seeking. Based on the success of this model at predicting help-seeking behaviors related to physical and mental health, we believe it could be applicable to relationship help-seeking. In addition to identify factors associated with relationship help-seeking behaviors, we hope to identify factors that mediate both formal and informal relationship help-seeking behaviors. To study this we collected data from 347 individuals in emotionally committed relationships. The results of the analysis showed that the perception of threats, such as greater relationship instability and greater negative social comparison, were linked to more online help-seeking; whereas expectations such as the greater endorsement of stigma of self and masculinity were linked to lower levels relationship help-seeking behaviors and worse attitudes toward help-seeking. Furthermore, greater stigma of self was found to be directly linked to having a worse attitude toward help-seeking, as well as indirectly linked to lower rates of formal and online relationship help-seeking behaviors via the prior effects of attitudes toward help-seeking. The results of this study suggest further areas for investigation in regard to relationship help-seeking, specifically around self-stigma.

Nothing is more important, more strategic and more urgently needed than the local Church (Hybels 1995:203). What people need most in life is to have a relationship with Christ, therefore one of the main thrusts of the Church should be evangelism. Hybels repeatedly declares that lost people matter to God and therefore should matter to the Church (1995:186). The Church has used a myriad of ways to evangelize their communities. A relatively unknown (in South Africa) tool for evangelism is a special service designed to attract and convert seekers. The leaders of Willow Creek Community Church do not believe it is possible to minister optimally to both seekers and believers within the confines of one service. Seekers have a need to hear and receive the gospel message in an atmosphere of anonymity whereas believers, on the other hand, need to regularly participate in worship as a body and to receive biblical teaching that enables them to more fully live their lives as believers. In honouring the needs of both groups, Willow (Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois which is pastored by Bill Hybels) and Saddleback (Saddleback Valley Community Church in Orange County, Southern California which is pastored by Dr. Rick Warren) has chosen to minister to each group through separate services. They believe that seekers can be optimally reached in a type of service geared primarily to them. The type of service that has been developed there, to serve this purpose is the Seeker Service. Although both these Churches employ the seeker service to fulfill the Great commission, they approach the service from different perspectives. Hybels’ version of the seeker service could be more aptly termed a “Seeker-driven service”, whereas Warren’s approach is a “seeker-sensitive service”. In the seeker service, conversion is seen as a process and not a momentary experience, where the so-called “journey of a seeker” is identified and legitimized. Some mainstream Churches and theologians question and oppose the validity of separate services designed to attract and entertain seekers only. They are convinced that the seeker service is a humanistic attempt to please the unchurched and raise the concern for more sensitivity to God and not man. Proponents of the seeker service maintain that although the message of the Gospel should remain untouched, the methods should reform to reach a changing generation with the gospel. They are convinced that the seeker service is an excellent tool to reach the lost. What every Church needs to figure out, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, is how to fulfill the front end of the Great Commission (Hybels 1995:175). The specific goal that I have in mind is to evaluate the seeker service to determine it’s validity as an evangelistic tool for the Church today and the Church tomorrow and to find possible practical recommendations for interested parties. / Dr. Johan Geyser

During the recent exponential rise in the use of alternative medicines (AM) in the West and increasing integration into the health service, little research has been done on AM in the context in which it is practised, or over time to look at changing belief systems. This thesis provides an anthropologically informed analysis of one alternative therapy in depth - homeopathy- explored from the multiple perspectives of biomedical and lay homeopaths, users and students of homeopathy. The ethnography comprised 18 months participant observation in 4 settings in south London: the surgery of a homeopathic GP; a homeopathy adult education class; a vaccination support group; and a low cost homeopathy clinic for victims of crime. The fieldwork is contextualised by a critique of the existing research on users of AM; a review of the history and politics of integration of AM and a review of anthropological conceptions of the body and health. Analysis of the empirical data reveals different groups of users of homeopathy with differing beliefs around health, healing and the body. 'Pragmatic users' had a normative biomedical view of health. 'Committed users' moved away from the normative biomedical position and were enculturated into a different view of health and the body through interaction with lay homeopaths. Inherent in these practitioners' and users' beliefs and practices were a number of oppositions to science-based medicine. Prolonged fieldwork enabled the changing views of users to be charted as they moved from biomedical to alternative views. The medical homeopath stayed allied to many biomedical beliefs about the body and health, partly as a result of general practice constraints of time, colleagues and training. Tensions between his biomedical and homeopathic practice lead to paradoxical behaviours that confused his patients. These findings problematise the notion of integration, of trying to incorporate two opposing ideologies into one system. Implications for alternative medicine more widely are discussed.