No description available.

I will present and defend the notion of what I call Positive Individualism. Its purpose is to set forth a standard by which people are to treat others and themselves. I consider a common conception of individualism, its flaws, and a process of refining it. I formulate Positive Individualism, an idea in which every individual is valuable and therefore ought to be treated with respect and dignity by others. If this conception and the standards set forth were to be applied, communities would be able to function successfully and without compromising the individual since, as I argue, the individual is the root of decision and action.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2004. / Supervisor: Kathleen Stewart. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Africa's tragedy has at different times been subjected to various paradigm shifts ranging from modernisation to neo-Marxist theories with each paradigm identifying different sources of the tragedy. The tragedy, to some scholars, is rooted to the crisis of development. But to some African scholars, a key aspect to the crisis remains the question of 'which and whose democracy?' The central issue for investigation in this thesis is the efficacy of 'best-practice' political and economic templates prescribed by both liberals and socialists for Africa. These templates appear to be producing hybridised political order that breeds crises of political instability, leadership, economic hardship, violent conflicts etc; with no visible solution in sight. There is therefore a need for the reconstruction of Africa's development strategy with unique models based on a foundation of 'best fit' values nurtured by the indigenous grains of the African societies. The thesis adopts critical theory using textual and contextual analysis as its methodology to engage literature on liberal, popular, social, and socialist democracy. It also engages the Africanist and African debate on democracy to discuss what works contextually in Africa and what does not work. The thesis sets out to establish how neo-communitarianism and speconomy can collectively serve as models for development in the sub-Saharan Africa, that is currently mediated by the alienating role of an incoherent public sphere dominated by representations of foreign ideologies which do not seek to create a common consciousness in all citizens but rather to help maintain and perpetuate a fractured image of the Enlightenment.

Things will change from time to time, but human being is the main constituent forever. The principal of existence and development of any social community will be carried out with the awareness of individual ideology and the fulfillment of the community determination, especially depend on the adaptability and transformation that step forward with the elapse of time. Bad adaptability or improper transformation will be difficult to transfer the traditions into modernization, the result will be either underdevelopment or dead with deformity, both of which can hardly have a satisfaction accomplishment. The purpose of this article is to explore how Taiwan adapt to the trend of modernization as a typical Confucian community, and how the members of the community form the consensuses to fully grasp the opportunity of adaptation and transformation to set up a brand new ¡§Confucianism Civil Society¡¨. The dissertation construct with five chapters as follows: Chapter I is introduction for the main concerns of the research, the extent of the research, writing structure, and a thorough analysis of the core ideal of philosophy of Confucian community. Chapter II describes the figure of Confucian traditional community to investigate into its merits and demerits according to the writing structure of the Chapter Da Tong in the Book of Rites. Chapter III examines the real conditions in Taiwan during the powerful governmental era under Martial Law by means of three mainstream ideologies from the western liberalism. Chapter IV observes that disorders are increasing in Taiwan area due to the conflict between Eastern and Western ideology after the removal of Martial Law in Taiwan from a view of communitarianism. Reflection upon the above-mentioned, the author looks forward to rebuild a main stream culture and value ideology which integrate Eastern and Western, penetrate traditional and modern, and connect modern and post-modern. In conclusion with the statements of the Eastern and Western sages, Chapter V outlines the mechanism of ¡§Confucianism Civil Society¡¨ out of the expectation of the author.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-112).

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-112). Also available in print.