O historiador Frederick Jackson Turner (1862-1931) é considerado o grande pai da historiografia moderna nos Estados Unidos. Sua frontier thesis postulava a centralidade da expansão das fronteiras ocidentais no processo de formação da nacionalidade estadunidense e na consolidação da democracia política naquela nação, abandonando uma história política factual e introduzindo uma interpretação calcada em fatores econômicos e sociais, com claras implicações presentistas. Graças a esta análise revolucionária, Turner tornou-se uma espécie de patrono da profissionalização da disciplina nos Estados Unidos, formando toda uma geração de historiadores a partir de seus seminários na Universidade Estadual do Wisconsin e em Harvard. Não só isso, mas a sua teoria encontrou apelo entre elementos da classe política e empresarial, incluindo dois Presidentes da República, Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) e Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921). A explicação para tal sucesso pode ser encontrada na relação entre a frontier thesis e o Mito da Fronteira, através de uma narrativa que fazia uso dos ícones e imagens do Mito enquadrados em uma retórica extremamente persuasiva. Nas páginas dos escritos de Turner, os norte-americanos marcham triunfalmente em direção a conquista de todo o continente, justificada pelo seu amor à democracia e por sua devoção ao progresso material e mental dos homens. Com isso, o historiador conseguiu unir uma valorização do agrarianismo primitivo com um elogio à evolução histórica dos Estados Unidos.

Filósofos contemporâneos tendem a tratar o ceticismo de maneiras frequentemente descuidadas. Seja porque não apresentam uma noção clara do ceticismo, seja porque oferecem reações descabidas a ele. Alguns consideram que a maneira correta de abordar o ceticismo é enfrentá-lo, provando aquilo que o cético visa colocar em questão. Outros consideram que a maneira correta é recusar o desafio cético, pela rejeição das próprias questões levantadas pelo ceticismo. Uma reação diferente pode ser encontrada na forma de “argumentos transcendentais”, tais como aqueles paradigmaticamente utilizados por Peter Strawson em Individuals ([1959] 1971). Barry Stroud (1968) concebe esses argumentos como uma tentativa de mostrar que certos conceitos são necessários para o pensamento e para a experiência; conceitos que são condições para que a dúvida cética tenha sentido. Stroud sustenta que os argumentos transcendentais de Strawson, para terem um real efeito anticético, teriam de contar com um “princípio de verificação” que tornasse aquilo que o cético põe em dúvida suscetível de ser verificado ou falsificado. Em Ceticismo e Naturalismo ([1987] 2008), Strawson parece conceder a essa crítica quando passa a adotar um “naturalismo social”, o qual consiste em recusar tentativas de refutar diretamente o ceticismo, dado que os conceitos questionados pelo cético são, por assim dizer, inevitáveis por natureza, sendo, por isso, “isentos de dúvida”. No entanto, Putnam (1998) aponta uma tensão na postura anticética nessa obra que seria incompatível com os argumentos transcendentais. Frente a esses desenvolvimentos, as questões centrais que esta dissertação se propõe a responder são: como podemos compreender o ceticismo que surge na investigação de Strawson? Stroud está correto em sua objeção, segundo a qual um argumento transcendental exige um princípio de verificação para o seu efeito anticético? Existe apenas um tipo de argumento transcendental? Como deveríamos compreendê-lo? Strawson de fato muda de posição, de um argumento transcendental para um naturalismo social? Essas posições se harmonizam em suas reflexões? Argumentarei que o ceticismo de Individuals é melhor compreendido como uma variedade de ceticismo Kantiano (em oposição a um ceticismo Cartesiano) a partir dos estudos de Conant (2012). Pretendo mostrar a plausibilidade dessa leitura ao abordar detidamente duas espécies de cet icismo na obra, chamadas, “ceticismo sobre a reidentificação de particulares” (Capítulo 1) e “ceticismo sobre outras mentes” (Capítulo 2). A fim de examinar a natureza dos argumentos transcendentais e ver qual é exatamente o argumento encontrado em Individuals, apresento uma terminologia de tipos de argumentos transcendentais a partir de Stern (2000) (Capítulo 3). Isso permitirá mostrar que Stroud “erra o alvo” quando faz a sua objeção, pois o argumento transcendental que ele tem em vista é de outro tipo. Irei por fim explicitar o naturalismo de Strawson, buscando sustentar que o “espírito compatibilista” do autor, juntamente com a sua concepção de metafísica descritiva, oferece unidade à sua postura anticética. Defendo que tanto os argumentos transcendentais quanto o naturalismo social visam estabelecer certas interconexões entre nossos conceitos a fim de esclarecer o esquema conceitual que nós efetivamente temos. / Contemporary philosophers frequently tend to treat skepticism carelessly, either because they don‟t have a clear idea of it, or because they provide unreasonable responses to it. Some of them consider that the right way to treat skepticism is to confront it, proving that which the skeptic seeks to put into question. Others consider that the right way is to refuse the skeptical challenge, by rejecting the very question raised by skeptic. A different reaction can be found in the form of “transcendental arguments”, such as those paradigmatically used by Peter Strawson in Individuals ([1959] 1971). Barry Stroud (1968) conceives those arguments as attempts to show that certain concepts are necessary for thought and experience; concepts that are conditions for skeptical doubts to make sense. Stroud‟s claim is that, in order to have a real antiskeptical effect, Strawson‟s transcendental arguments would have depend on a “verification principle”, according to which what the skeptic puts in question is capable of being verified or falsified. In Skepticism and Naturalism ([1987] 2008), Strawson seems to grant that criticism, adopting instead a “social naturalism” which abandons the attempt to directly refute skepticism, since the concepts questioned by skeptics would be, as it were, naturally unavoidable, and therefore “exempt from doubt”. However, Putnam (1998) points to a tension in such an antiskeptic position, namely, that it would be incompatible with transcendental arguments. Having that debate in view, this dissertation proposes to responds to the following central questions: how can we understand the skepticism raised in Strawson‟s investigation? Is Stroud‟s objection correct, according to which a transcendental argument demands a verification principle to have an antiskeptic effect? Is there only one kind of transcendental argument? How must we understand it? Did Strawson‟s position change, from a transcendental argument to a social naturalism? Could these positions be harmonized in his reflections? Following a terminology proposed by Conant (2012), I will argue that skepticism in Individuals is better understood as a variety of Kantian skepticism (as opposed to Cartesian skepticism). My aim is to show the plausibility of that reading by presenting a careful reconstruction of two variants of skepticism, namely, skepticism about reidentification of particular (Chapter 1) and skepticism about other minds (Chapter 2). In order to examine the nature of transcendental arguments and to clarify what exactly is the kind of argument to be found in Individuals, I will also make use of a categorization of kinds of transcendental arguments proposed by Stern (2000) (Chapter 3). Stroud‟s objection misses its target, given that the transcendental argument that he had in view is not the one Strawson himself employs. Finally, I will try to make explicit the content of Strawson‟s naturalism, seeking to support his “compatibilistic spirit”, showing that his conception of descriptive metaphysics offers a unity to his work. I maintain that both transcendental arguments and social naturalism aim at establishing certain interconnections between concepts for the purpose of clarifying the conceptual structure that we actually use.

Maurice was a man who solicited both keen support and bitter opposition, both during his life time and after. It is only within the last twenty or thirty years that his true worth has begun to be recognised and appreciated. The aim of the thesis is to show that his contribution to the Christian Socialist Movement was an invaluable one. Chapter two describes the working-class conditions and their causes during the first half of the nineteenth century, as well as the role the Church played in social improvement. Chapter three deals with Chartism and the European Revolutions of 1848, and the effect of the Revolutions on Chartism. Chapter four gives an account of the man F.D. Maurice, as well as some of his thoughts and aims. Chapter five is a detailed account of Maurice's contribution to Christian Socialism, showing that he was not the 'practical' leader, and emphasising the importance of his theological beliefs in governing what to do. Intro. p. 1.

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In the year of 1903, the right of Reed Smoot to take his seat in the United States Senate was challenged in a protest signed by nineteen prominent citizens from Utah. The protest was submitted to the Senate Committee of Privileges and Elections, a member of which was Fred T. Dubois, Senator from Idaho. The protest charged that the Mormon Church was still practicing polygamy and exercising political domination of its members and that therefore Reed Smoot, an Apostle and leader of this church, was unfit for senatorial obligations. Dubois, believing the worst concerning these charges, took it upon himself to head the movement against Smoot. He surreptitiously organized national sentiment and caused an investigation of the charges contained in the protest by bringing public pressure to bear on the United States Senate.The Mormon Church turned out to be more the object of the investigation than Smoot. It looked for awhile as though Dubois would be successful in unseating Smoot, but as the case wore on the opposition of the Republican Party, the press, and President Theodore Roosevelt proved to be too much for him. From the time he took up this anti-Mormon fight his lack of success in politics seems to parallel his unsuccessful efforts to get Smoot kicked out of the Senate. In 1906, just prior to the time that the Senate voted to retain Smoot, Dubois himself, was defeated in his bid to be returned to the Senate.Dubois' anti-Mormon fight was a popular issue everywhere but in the west and particularly Idaho. He had plenty of warning that such was the case but he couldn't be reconciled to the fact that the people of Idaho wouldn't accept his anti-Mormonism. His self-deception relative to the iniquities of the Mormon Church were absolute and sincere but fatal to his political asperations.President Roosevelt undoubtedly contributed most to Dubois' defeat. But, it wasn't just his defeat. To the very end he had the sentiment of the women's organizations throughout the country behind him. This probably contributed much to his reluctance to accept the "handwriting on the wall."Dubois used this Smoot controversy for political purposes, but more important than this was the fact that he sincerely thought he was on the side of right and that in the end it would be victorious.

The North Pacific humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) population has been increasing at an average annual rate of ~6% since the early 1990s. In northern Southeast Alaska alone, there are now more whales than estimated for the entire North Pacific several decades ago. An understanding of how this growing population is repopulating traditional foraging grounds will benefit from detailed investigations of their prey preferences and trends in whale abundance and distribution relative to those prey. This dissertation examines these issues from late May until early September 2008 in Frederick Sound and Stephens Passage, a Southeast Alaskan feeding area historically used by humpback whales. The foundation for the study is an analysis of the life histories and abundance patterns of euphausiids, the principal prey of humpbacks in the area, during late spring and summer. Four species, Thysanoessa raschii, T. longipes, T. spinifera, and Euphausia pacifica, were identified in plankton net samples collected at random locations throughout the study site (n = 49) and in locations where a strong scattering layer was observed on a 120 kHz echosounder (n = 48). Both sample types varied in euphausiid species composition. Abundance patterns of immature euphausiids coupled with observations of females carrying spermatophores indicated differences between species in spawning schedules. Thysanoessa spp. began spawning in early April with the spring phytoplankton bloom and continued until late June, whereas E. pacifica began spawning in early June and continued until late August. This protracted recruitment of immature euphausiids was geographically widespread throughout the summer in contrast to adults, which, although present all summer, were found primarily in slope and shallow (< 100 m) areas. To determine if humpback whales preferred one euphausiid species or life-stage over another, net sample and hydroacoustic data collected in the vicinity of whales were compared to similar data collected in random locations throughout the study site. This revealed that whales targeted dense aggregations of adult euphausiids, but did not discriminate between the various species, which was surprising because of presumed differences in the energy density linked to their different spawning schedules. Additionally, whales did not spend time in areas with concentrations of immature euphausiids, which were likely not large enough during the study period to be suitable prey. With this preference for adult euphausiids, the abundance and distribution patterns of humpbacks were examined in relation to prey availability. Whale abundance was lowest at the beginning of the study in late May at ca. 68 whales and peaked in late July at ca. 228 animals – approximately 12% of the region’s estimated abundance for the study year. This study did not detect a concomitant increase in the availability of adult euphausiids, which is unsurprising since immature euphausiids would not recruit into the adult population until after the end of the study, and post-spawning mortality and predation pressure is presumably high during this time. Instead, whales clustered increasingly around comparatively fewer prey as the summer progressed. These observations, combined with a plateau in whale abundance after July, suggest that their abundance in the area was limited by euphausiid availability. Estimates of whales using the study site during the summer have remained similar over several decades despite a dramatic increase in humpback numbers in Southeast Alaska and elsewhere in the North Pacific. The results from this study suggest that, although the study site remains important seasonally to some whales, it is not a significant source of prey responsible for regional population growth in general. More likely, it is part of a network of feeding areas that has influenced the population trend. Further insight into these and the other issues raised in this dissertation could come from several additional analyses. An extended sampling season that captures the recruitment of immature euphausiids into the adult population would reveal whether a given year's prey cohort represents an important resource to whales in that same year, which has potential implications for interpreting mid-late season whale abundance patterns. As well, a photo-identification study would be useful in characterizing whale residency patterns and determining whether the abundance trends reflect a relatively small subset of the regional population using the area for most of the season or a continuous flow of a larger portion of the population. Finally, similar analyses as those outlined here but conducted in other areas within the region would provide additional insight into the network’s capacity to support the recovering whale population. / Graduation date: 2012

The United States Civil War continues to be an intriguing aspect of history to both scholar and layperson. In light of this broad interest, the relatively small amount of scholarly study of music created by American composers during these years is conspicuous. One of the war's significant composers, both in relationship to the composition and publication of songs in America, was George Frederick Root. Not only were Root's compositions numerous, several pieces assumed major positions in the ongoing sociopolitical musings of a nation seeking to process these turbulent years. This document explores Root's development and productivity as a Civil War era composer and publisher. It also considers his music as representative of the scores of popular compositions that reflected the spirit, artistry, politics, religion, and social processing by the people of the United States of America during one of the most defining periods of its relatively short existence.Chapter one serves as an introduction. It identifies the context, scope, methodology, and delimitation of the study.Chapter two provides a brief overview of the social and cultural climate of the country at the time of the Civil War. It identifies how various forms of artistic expression carried the war directly into private parlors and public squares. More specifically, it discusses the role of parlor songs not only as an important cultural expression for the nation, but also as a valuable commodity for composers and publishers of music such as George Frederick Root.Chapter three describes the developmental years of Root as a composer and businessman. From Willow Farm to the first Normal Music Institute, Root built a foundation of experience and skill that set the scene for a significant impact upon American culture. Influenced by musicians such as Lowell Mason, Louis Gottschalk, and Stephen Foster, his musical landscape was diverse and deeply rooted in the language of popular culture. George Root partnered with his brother Ebenezer Root and business associate Cauncey Cady at the Chicago-based publishing firm of Root and Cady to provide a production and delivery system for music that infiltrated all areas of the country.Chapter four is a collection of Root's thirty-six vocal Civil War parlor songs published by the Root and Cady Publishing Company. The songs are reproduced from the original sheet music. Each song is summarized and the entire collection is analyzed based upon musical and textual considerations.Chapter five provides a summary of this project as well as questions for further study. / School of Music

Zugl.: Chemnitz, Techn. Univ., Diss., 2008.

Digitized by Kansas State University Libraries

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