Partindo de um contexto social demarcado por transformações sociais, como o incremento do uso de tecnologia e a inserção da mulher no mercado de trabalho, com a necessidade de maior flexibilização e preparo para nele se inserirem os cidadãos, bem como por transformações no âmbito das relações interpessoais, em especial as familiares, objetivamos, nesta tese, compreender como homens na meia-idade vivenciam esta fase do seu desenvolvimento. A meia-idade é um período demarcado por mudanças, em especial psicológicas para os homens. Isso porque a percepção do envelhecimento, da proximidade da fase adulta dos filhos e a competição com pessoas mais jovens no mercado do trabalho podem deflagrar a chamada “crise da meia-idade”. Esse momento pode tanto levar a uma reflexão e a um re-direcionamento existencial como a uma estagnação, demarcada pelo marasmo e receio de empreender mudanças, pois pode haver uma percepção de que a proximidade da morte faz parte de sua vida. Nosso olhar para os homens, nessa fase do desenvolvimento, norteou-se pelas facetas da paternidade, da sexualidade e de seus projetos de vida. A metodologia utilizada foi a fenomenologia ontológico-hermenêutica de Martin Heidegger em que a interpretação do existir humano é a principal tônica. Foram entrevistados sete homens com idade entre 41 e 52 anos, nível socioeconômico A e B, casados e com filhos adolescentes. Os resultados evidenciam que a inautenticidade – modo de ser em que o referencial são “os outros” – mostrou-se como principal norteadora da vida desses homens, embora a autenticidade – assunção das responsabilidades existenciais –, também tenha se revelado. A afetividade, desvelada na preocupação com os filhos foi o principal sentido dos discursos. A inautenticidade revelou-se quando o futuro pessoal dos homens mesclou-se ao dos filhos, não havendo uma percepção de indivíduo, mas sim de que seu papel social norteia seu existir. A autenticidade foi vislumbrada quando a preocupação com suas relações afetivas e seus projetos de vida foram colocados em pauta. O envelhecimento mostrou-se tanto como impeditivo de mudanças, tendo no comodismo sua principal marca, como despertou questionamentos a respeito do modo de vida individual e afetivo. Esses aspectos evidenciam que a meia-idade, vivenciada no mundo pós-moderno, pode propiciar, por meio dos questionamentos que envolvem o existir humano, oportunidades de transformação no contexto das relações interpessoais, abrangendo o mundo familiar, bem como o social mais amplo. Essa fase do desenvolvimento pode proporcionar às novas gerações valores e crenças que lhes oportunizem reflexões e modelos de conduta que sejam alternativos aos que estão presentes nos relacionamentos sociais. A aproximação entre as gerações e a transmissão de questionamentos, dúvidas e anseios podem ser importantes caminhos a serem trilhados por todos os que se preocupam com o existir humano. Como horizontes, percebemos que os sentidos e significados do existir humano são múltiplos e que a fenomenologia ontológico-hermenêutica pode trazer contribuições para a ampliação da compreensão da existência ao desvelar, por intermédio da linguagem, nosso modo de ser. / Starting from a social context marked by social transformations such as the improving use of technology and the influx of working women in the job market and the necessity of a greater flexibility and education of the citizens to make part of it, as well as the transformations occurring in the interpersonal relations, specially those happening within the family, this thesis aims at understanding how the middle-aged men act and experience this development phase of life. The middle age is a period that is marked by changes, specially those psychological ones to men. This happens due the perception of getting old, the proximity of the adult phases of the children and the competition with younger people in the job market, which can blow up the “middle age crisis”. This moment can lead to a deeper thinking and to a re-direction of his existence as well as it can lead to stagnation marked by apathy and fear of making changes once the perception of the proximity to death makes part of his life. The glancing to the men at this phase of development was given emphasizing aspects as paternity, sexuality and projects of life. The method employed was based on the Martin Heidegger’s ontological-hermeneutical phenomenology, which focuses the human existence as main point. Seven men with age ranging from 41 to 52 years old were interviewed, having a socio-economical level A or B, married, and having adolescent children. The results show that inauthentic existence - a way of being where the reference is based on the “others” - revealed that main guiding line to those men in this period of their life, although the authentic existence – the assumption of existence’s responsibilities – has been shown up. The affection mixed up the deep worries towards the children was the main sense in the discourses. The inauthentic existence appeared when the future of the children was mixed up with their future, not existing a perception of the individual but the social role that guided his existence. The authentic existence was glimpsed when his worries and preoccupations with affective relations and projects of life were put in evidence. The aging process showed as being an obstacle to changes due to the self-indulgence as well as it raised some questions about of his individual and affection way of living. Those aspects put in evidence the middle age happening in a post-modern world may cause by means of questioning the human existence, in a series of transformation opportunities in a context of interpersonal relations, including the family and the society. This phase of development may proportionate to the coming generations values and beliefs that may give them opportunity to reason over the models and behavior patterns that are alternative ones to those present in the social relationships. The coming up of generations and the transmission of questionings doubts and hopes may be important tracks to be followed by those who really worry about the human existence. We can perceive as horizons that the meanings of the human existence are multiple and the phenomenology ontological-hermeneutical may contribute to wide the comprehension of the existence and may unveil by means of the language our way of living.

The advances in online technology has revolutionised online communication. As a result of new emerging web technologies virtual interactions have taken a much more interactive structure. These improvements in technology provide richer communication experiences for the users. Online communities, with the aid of new web 2.0 technology, provide the ideal environment for knowledge sharing. It is the interaction and communication between users of such communities that triggers information and knowledge sharing. Knowledge and information sharing sets the foundation for knowledge creation and co-creation. Meanwhile knowledge is known to be one of the greatest assets of any company or organisation. A significant amount of research has been dedicated to knowledge management. Nevertheless little research has been done to explore knowledge creation and co-creation, particularly in an online community setting. This research is investigating the idea of knowledge co-creation within an online community environment. Knowing that knowledge itself is a subjective entity, which cannot be objectively measured or quantified, the research takes an interpretive approach to finding out how this knowledge is co-created by the users of online communities. One of the main significant factors of this study is that it has used a unique and novel research method to tackle what appears to be a difficult subject. The research uses an interpretive case study method, however without any data collection. The investigation will be exclusively interpretive and philosophically evaluated based on the relevant literature and a set of principles introduced by Klein and Myers (1999). These principles were introduced as a guideline for conducting and evaluating interpretive studies in information systems. Using Klein and Myers’ principles has the advantage of being based on a well-established contemporary literature in information systems (IS) research methodology. The principles have not been used in an exclusively exploratory and interpretive research before. This itself is a major methodological contribution for future researchers to utilise as a practical example. The study develops a conceptual framework around knowledge co-creation, online communities and the technology. This framework is based on a proposed RECI model offered for knowledge creation in online communities. It also investigates the role of technology in the co-creation process. Finally it proposes a set of characteristics and guidelines that facilitate knowledge co-creation in online communities. These characteristics and guidelines would help design and implement future knowledge co-creating online communities, for example, e-learning and knowledge management systems. Furthermore the research lays the foundations for introducing the knowledge co-creation theory within online communities by proposing the initial hypothesis. Subject to appropriate future research and testing, the hypothesis can be developed into a practical theory.

Dr P.W. Marais was an influential preacher in the Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk (Dutch Reformed Church) in his ministerial career during 3 April 1954 until 5 May 1995. He was an evangelistic par excellence with may people who became converted Christians as a result of his preaching. He worked with a preaching theory of observation, information, progress in thought, self-expression or the heuristic method which he attained from the greatest teacher of all times, Jesus Christ. The pedagogue, H.J.J. Bingle, had a great influence in the development of this theory. The research question is: How does Marais’ theory of preaching agree with his preaching practice? The study shows that there seems to be a large agreement between the two. Another question is: What effect should Marais’ preaching have in the contemporary context which differs by far from the context in which he preached. Will he today be able to reach the postmodern person with his preaching approach? In two instances it would have been a problem for Marais to reach the postmodern listener in this context. On account of the lack of Scripture knowledge of the postmodern listener Marais’ use of texts would not be effective. A proper exegesis would have to be done for the postmodern listener. In other words the context of the text and the context of the listener would have to be brought together. Marais’ theory is lacking in knowledge to implement this. Due to his passion for the Scriptures, his sincerety and his logical reasoning, he could have contributed immensely to the modern preaching. / Dissertation (MA (Reasearch in Practical Theology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Practical Theology / MA / unrestricted

The purpose of this research is to explore a mode of resilience within the context of the traditional African divorced men. A qualitative methodological design was followed, allowing unique experiences to emerge. Four men were interviewed and an in-depth qualitative analysis undertaken, in order to explore the subjective experience of resilience during and after the period of separation and divorce. The study‘s results were presented in the form of integrated and descriptive text. The participants stories were re-encountered through the researcher‘s owns frame of reference in which common themes of the divorced process were constructed. These were elaborated on and a comparative analysis was undertaken to link them to the available literature. This information gained from the research could contribute to the existing research on the impact of divorce and the ability to bounce back positively aftermath of divorce by offering this new perspective from traditional men. This project was done within the selected areas of Vatsonga speaking tribes in the Limpopo province. It was found that the most pivotal aspect of resilience as reported were social support, family support and new environment. Apart from this, the research further explored the biblical teaching on the phenomenon and discovered that:<ul><li> The prevalent universality of marriage seems to confirm the biblical traditional marriage as the divine way of recreating humanity. Furthermore, the bible in both the Old and New Testaments view divorce as contrary to the divine intent. It was noted that Deut 24 does not command or encourage divorce; rather, it simply regulates divorce since it was already happening. </li><li> After a thorough exegesis of the passage and survey of the relevant interpretations in (Matthews), it is clear that Jesus forbade divorce for any reason except adultery. Divorce is unthinkable because it destroys the intended order of creation and God‘s creative act in bringing a man and a woman together in accordance with his order. God is the author of marriage; therefore, he inscribed the call to marriage in our very being by creating us as male and female. Marriage is governed by his laws, faithfully transmitted by his bride, which is the Church. </li></ul> / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

La thèse propose une étude de la pensée du jeune Heidegger au prisme de sa philosophie dela religion, reconstituée pour l’occasion dans ses rapports aux philosophies dominantes de sonépoque d’une part, et à l’histoire de la théologie et de l’exégèse d’autre part. Prenant pour fildirecteur le cours « Introduction à la phénoménologie de la religion » prononcé au semestred’hiver 1920/1921 à l’Université de Freiburg, la thèse, qui en amende l’édition officielle en demultiples endroits, se divise en deux grandes parties. Dans la première partie, nous nousattachons à démontrer l’antériorité et l’excès de la vie sur toute théorie en interrogeantsuccessivement la redéfinition de l’acte de penser en tant qu’expérience sui generis,l’explication ambivalente de Heidegger avec Ernst Troeltsch, interlocuteur jadisincontournable sur le terrain de la philosophe de la religion, la quête d’une notion d’historicitéplus fondamentale et plus radicale que celle en usage au sein de la philosophie de l’histoire etde la science historique, et la problématisation d’un outil méthodique énigmatique, l’indicationformelle, en discussion serrée avec la doctrine de Husserl. Dans la seconde partie, noussuivons Heidegger pas à pas dans son explication phénoménologico-herméneutique depassages choisis des Epîtres de saint Paul, son interprétation de la grande Traditionchrétienne, et son dialogue crypté avec les représentants majeurs de la théologie néotestamentaireet de l´histoire des dogmes et des religions dans l’Allemagne de la secondemoitié du XIXe et du début du XXe siècle. L’ensemble se présente comme un commentairecritique tout à la fois historique et systématique du cours précité et veut servir deprolégomènes, non seulement à une approche originale du corpus heideggérien, mais encoreà une philosophie de la religion régénérée dans la dialectique originaire entre le phénomènedu vécu et le phénomène scripturaire. / The topic of the dissertation is the thought of the young Heidegger, more especially hisphilosophy of religion which is reconstructed in its relationship with the great philosophies ofhis time on the one hand, and with the history of theology and exegesis on the other. Followingthe 1920/1921 lecture course “Introduction to the phenomenology of religion”, the dissertationhas two main parts. In the first part, we show the priority as well as the excess of life over anytheory by: (i) redefining the very act of philosophizing as an experience sui generis, (ii)retracing Heidegger’s ambiguous debate with Ernst Troeltsc, (iii) searching for the mostradical concept of historicity, and (iv) inventing the methodological tool known as “formalindication” in discussion with Husserl. In the second part, we follow Heidegger closely in hisphenomenological-hermeneutical explanation of saint Paul’s Epistles, his interpretation of thegreat Christian Tradition, and his silent dialogue with major representatives of 19th centuryGerman theology.

The author is going to argue that Russian evangelical bodies − Stundists, Baptists, Pashkovites, Mennonite Brethren, and Evangelical Christians − had their origins in Western piety; likewise Molokans − in Russian Orthodox piety. Biblical piety became the key factor which united these otherwise different movements. I. V. Kargel’s life was a crossroad of these influences. Having become a key figure among Russian evangelicals Kargel actually embodied many features of these movements long before they united historically. Thus, his writing would qualify as a good source for studying Russian evangelical hermeneutics. The hypothesis for this study is that since Russian evangelicals were primarily pietistic at their roots, their theological hermeneutic is expected to be of pietistic and devotional nature. This means that Scripture would have prime authority. Personal and group studies of the Bible would be carried with the purpose of believers’ edification. The Holy Spirit would be expected to use the pages of Scripture to speak directly to the believers. There would not be much theologizing but rather a desire to “live Christ” in practical life. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Church History and Church Policy / unrestricted

In Zambia, it is true to say that people are politically free but materially still very poor, 49 years after independence which was attained in 1964. Many people lie below poverty datum-line and those that are, most hit, are the people living in rural areas. Many people are flocking from the rural areas to cities, leaving the old people, women and children in rural areas and in poverty. The levels of poverty in Zambia have reached a crisis, that even the president of Zambia, His Excellence Mr. Michael Chilufya Sata, acknowledged this fact during his parliamentary address to the second session of the 11th National assembly broadcast live on Zambia National broadcasting Network in September 2012. The church is challenged by conditions under which the rural dwellers find themselves in. As a church, our political liberation is to be transformed and driven by the will to restructuring and healing our society; thus ultimately developing those individuals who are suffering in the rural areas of the country. In Zambia, the church should accept that the missionaries who brought the gospel from western countries worked very well in the area of community development. The missionaries’ work and their care for the poor should inspire the churches today to be willing to help the poor rural people to be transformed. The good thing the United Church of Zambia could learn from the early missionaries is that the Christian church needs to be committed and involved in the plight of the poor. The church cannot ignore the socio – economic issues that affect rural poor communities. The United Church of Zambia should be transformed and made to understand that human liberation is not possible, if the political and economic issues are not equally addressed, a human being is not only the soul but also, consist of body and mind. The Christian church must bring a holistic ministry to the suffering people. The church; especially the United Church of Zambia, should understand that economic freedom is a reality which cannot be separated from people’s daily life. The church should learn to listen and act as ‘a midwife’ and a place of safety. She must be willing to suffer with the poor, for the sake of the poor. While the church is committed to development issues, let it also not lose sight of spiritual issues. Therefore, the church leadership should serve as a role model in human and community development. The Christian church should use the gospel to change the mind-set of the rural poor in order to help them transform their living standards. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Practical Theology / unrestricted

The foundational hypothesis to this study is that congregations which have a healthy perception and a greater understanding of conflict will develop more effective responses to conflict that will translate into more effective conflict resolution and reconciliation. The process and sustainability of the development of a missional church, the context of the study, is pregnant with potential conflict. Untamed conflict has the propensity to retard, jeopardise or even destroy the development of a missional church. When conflict arises, it must be understood and dealt with theologically. The inherent problem is that conflict appears to be neither understood nor appreciated sociologically and theologically. This knowledge and praxis vacuum has the potential for conflict to translate into inappropriate or ineffective responses that do not always make for effective resolution and reconciliation. The research focuses mainly on an empirical study based on the four practical theological questions of Osmer (2008). Participants for this study were randomly selected from specific sectors of Methodist congregations in the wider Pretoria area. The research explores congregants’ perceptions, understanding and views of conflict; their responses to conflict; and some felt and observed outcomes of conflict. The presupposition is that the development of the local missional church would be more effective and efficient when the management and process of conflict resolution and reconciliation are well led and well managed. This study confirmed that conflict, despite its normalcy and necessity, carries a negative undertone and is mostly avoided in congregations. This is compounded by the evidence that there is little, if any, theological or scriptural understanding of conflict. There is also no indication that churches intentionally and purposefully educate their members to appreciate and understand conflict. In so doing, churches are harming their innate calling as the glory and manifestation of God’s divine grace through faith communities for the transformation of all peoples. Yet, the church understands the dangers of unhealthy conflict, and on occasion even expects conflict to arise, although deeming it inappropriate. Practical theological discernment is sought as to why this may be so and remedial action is proposed to address the problem of conflict within congregations. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Practical Theology / PhD / Unrestricted

Los participantes en deportes extremos usualmente han sido estudiados desde la perspectiva de riesgo. El presente estudio busca alejarse de dicha preconcepción y tiene como objetivo estudiar la experiencia subjetiva emocional. Se empleó una metodología cualitativa con diseño fenomenológico-hermenéutico tomando como herramienta sistemas conversacionales. Los informantes fueron 8 deportistas extremos pertenecientes a un mismo grupo. Dentro de los deportes extremos se incluyen: Escalada de montaña, rapel, puenting, montañismo y bungee jumping. Los resultados indican que el miedo es generador de libertad, puede ser útil, es gratificante y también es promotor de transformaciones personales. Esta investigación otorga valor teórico al porqué del involucramiento en deportes extremos. / Participants in extreme sports have usually been studied from a risk perspective. The present study seeks to move away from this preconception and aims to study the emotional subjective experience. A qualitative methodology with phenomenological-hermeneutic design was used taking as a tool conversational systems. The informants were 8 extreme athletes belonging to the same group. Extreme sports included were: Mountain climbing, rappelling, bungee jumping, and mountaineering.The results indicate that fear is a generator of freedom, it can be useful, it is rewarding and it is also a promoter of personal transformations. This research gives theoretical value to the reason for involvement in extreme sports. / Tesis

I argue that talking about aesthetic injustice implies reflection about some failures on the exercise of aesthetic judgment due to mechanisms of oppression, which have a negative impact on the development of potential aesthetic agents.  I claim that mechanisms of oppression like aesthetic identity prejudice, oppression or lack of recognition of sensitivities, and aesthetic dysfunctionality in sites of enunciation continue undermining the degree of validation of potential aesthetic agents - who mostly belong to historical oppressed groups like women, black people, indigenous, native Americans, among others.  Overall, my aim is to analyze how these mechanisms of oppression continue undermining, marginalizing, and immobilizing the development of potential aesthetic agents. My proposal resides in the idea that these mechanisms of oppression enable aesthetic injustice on three levels: testimonial aesthetic injustice, hermeneutical aesthetic injustice, and aesthetic dysfunction.