By reading mournful poems rhetorically, I expand the concept of the elegy in order to reveal continuities between private and communal modes of mourning. My emphasis on readers of elegies challenges writer-centered definitions of the elegy, like that given by Peter Sacks, who describes how the elegy's formal conventions express the elegist's own motives for writing. Although Sacks's Freudian approach helpfully delineates some of the consoling effects that writing poetry has on the elegist herself, this dissertation revises such writer-centered concepts of the elegy by asking how elegies rhetorically invoke ethical relationships between writers and readers. By reading elegiac poems through Kenneth Burke's rhetorical theories and Emmanuel Levinas's ethics, I argue that these poems characterize, as Levinas suggests, subjectivity as fundamentally structured by ethical relationships with others. In keeping with this ethical focus, I analyze anthology poems, meaning short lyric poems written by acclaimed authors, easily accessible, and easily remembered - including several well-known poems by such authors as Emily Dickinson, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and Robert Frost. Anthology pieces invite ethical evaluation in part because they represent what counts as valuable poetry - and also, by implication, what does not. Because anthology poems are read by broad, diverse audiences, I suggest that a rhetorical methodology focusing on writer-reader relationships is essential to evaluating these poems' ethical implications. This rhetorical approach to poetry, however, questions rhetoricians and aesthetic theorists from Aristotle and Longinus to Lloyd F. Bitzer and Derek Attridge who emphasize distinctions between rhetoric and poetics. I address the ongoing debate about the relationship between rhetoric and poetics by arguing, along the lines of Wayne C. Booth's affirmation that fiction and rhetoric are interconnected, that poetry and rhetoric are likewise integrally tied. To this debate, I add an emphasis on philosophy - from which Plato, Ramus, and others exclude rhetoric and poetry - as likewise essential to understanding both poetry and rhetoric. By recognizing the interrelatedness of these disciplines, we may better clarify poetry's broad, ethical appeals that seem so valuable to readers in situations of loss.

Univ., Diss.--Zürich, 2006.

Abstract in French and English / This dissertation deals with the globalization as a system with transnational vocation aiming at reducing more and more the distance between communities by means of the exchanges in diverse domains: economic, scientific, cultural, multilinguistic, etc. In other words, the deep intention of the upholders of the globalization is to promote the communication or the intersubjectivity between people in the world, and this especially from the viewpoint of the exchange of numerous products that human beings can have. What really makes problem and draws our attention on this topic is that the intrinsic quality of the exchange between peoples leads us to ask what could and should have been made, to ensure that globalization becomes an intersubjective world-wide management system with democratic and philanthropic basis. It is for this reason that we have to point out here the element “communication”, that is the intersubjectivity which should cement this kind of transnational sharing. To date, the intersubjectivity is almost nil from the point of view of the aforementioned kind of sharing. Globalization pays no attention vii to ardent problems which undermine and contradict the real intersubjectivity, such as poverty, terrorism, corruption, hunger, diseases, etc. This is one the reasons why we interpret this fact as being really unusual, because it does not suit to the ostentatious project of the internationalists. Actually, as colonization doesn‟t honestly come with only good intention, globalization by philanthropy is not possible as well as. That is the problem which should be solved. Accordingly,this study proposes possible key milestones that must serve reference tables with the aim of a democratic and philanthropic globalization based on the ethics of sharing worthy of the name. The analytical critique method will be here recoverable for that purpose. / Cette dissertation traite de la mondialisation comme un système à vocation transnationale ayant pour but de réduire de plus en plus la distance entre les communautés par le moyen des échanges dans divers domaines : économique, scientifique, culturelle, multilinguistique, etc. En d‟autres termes, l‟intention profonde des tenants de la mondialisation est de promouvoir la communication ou l‟intersubjectivité entre les peuples, et cela notamment du point de vue de l‟échange des produits divers que les êtres humains puissent avoir. Or ce qui fait vraiment problème et attire notre attention sur ce sujet, c‟est que la qualité intrinsèque dudit échange entre les peuples nous amène à nous interroger sur ce qui pourrait et devrait être fait de sorte que la mondialisation devienne un système de gestion intersubjective à base démocratique et philanthropique. Présentement les principes de mondialisation sont uniquement d‟obédience mercantile. C‟est la raison pour laquelle nous devons entre autres évoquer ici l‟élément communication, c‟est-à-dire l‟intersubjectivité qui devrait consolider ce genre de partage transnational. Jusqu‟à présent l‟intersubjectivité est presque nulle sur le plan dudit partage. La mondialisation n‟a cure des problèmes brûlants qui démentent la vraie intersubjectivité, tels que la pauvreté, le terrorisme, la corruption, la faim, les maladies, etc. C‟est la raison pour laquelle nous interprétons ce fait comme étant vraiment insolite, car il ne cadre pas avec le projet ostentatoire des mondialistes. En réalité, tout comme on ne colonise pas honnêtement, on ne mondialise pas non plus par philanthropie. Cela étant un problème qui mérite d‟être résolu, cette étude propose donc des jalons possibles devant servir des référentiels en vue d‟une mondialisation démocratique arc-boutée sur l‟éthique du partage bien comprise. La méthode analytico-critique sera ici recouvrable à cet effet. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M.A. (Philosophy)

PETR POLA : PROLEGOMENA TO PROBLEMATICS OF SOLITUDE Dissertation abstract The aim of the dissertation entitled Prolegomena to Problematics of Solitude is to introduce solitude as an existential characteristic, explore ways of its surpassing and articulate its relationship to experience of art. The issue of solitude represents for us a possible way to understand modern existence. First we examine the problem of solitude as an problem of isolated existence and formulate the question of its origin. The resolution of existential loneliness and solitude of being come to grasp the possibility of a relationship between isolation and solitude of being as sovereignty of being. Existential solitude means to effacer the relation of one who exists to oneself, which is a precondition for its existence. Finally we formulate a relationship between existential solitude and essential solitude, which is the paradigm for the experience of art especially for M. Blanchot. Deepening the problematics of existential solitude also enables to formulate the basis for discussions on the concept of subjectivity, which recently been revived.

This thesis provides an historical and intellectual summary of the role of the concepts of 'substance,' and 'participation,' in the making of the doctrine of the Trinity. In the concluding chapter, a study is made of the assumptions of deconstruction, which are somewhat hostile to a substance paradigm. We argue for an appreciation of the importance of both substance and participation for the Trinity, and philosophy generally. Chapters are dedicated to individuals who have in some way contributed to perceptions of these two terms, as they pertain to the Christian notion of the Trinity. Additionally, we seek to define some philosophical problems that accompany a Trinitarian metaphysics of 'substance,' and 'participation.' The problems include those of deconstruction: issues such as 'Logocentrism,' and 'Presence.' Finally, we investigate how Trinitarian ontology can provide answers to many of the questions Derrida raises conceming the problematic future of metaphysical thinking. / Philosophy and Systematic Theology / M.Th. (Systematic Theology)

I denna uppsats undersöks hur syrier och syriska flyktingar har porträtteras i fyra bilder som publicerats i svenska dagstidningar, utifrån frågeställningar om just framställning, vilket kontext som framkommer från artiklarna som bilden publicerats i och huruvida publiceringen av bilderna kan anses etiskt försvarbara. Bilderna som analyseras är bland annat fotot på Alan Kurdi, och tre andra, starka nyhetsbilder. Metoden som använts är kvalitativ, huvudsakligen bildanalys med hjälp av semiotik och steg skapade av Terje Hillesund som behandlar bland annat denotation och konnotation, men även ideologi. För att kunna analysera den kontext som bilderna publicerats i (det vill säga artiklarna) har diskursanalys använts. Teorin som bilderna och texterna undersöks genom är filosofen Emmanuel Levinas ansvarsmoral. Resultatet visar att tack vare den distans som personerna avbildas med tillåter man dessa personer respekt. Men barnen i artiklarna beskrivs utan att nämna vanliga barnaktiviteter som exempelvis lek, vilket fråntar dem en traditionell barnroll och särskiljer dem från svenska barn. Gällande den etiska frågan framkommer flera olika sidor, bland annat att bilderna kan väcka ansvar hos den som ser på bilden – ge dem ett val att ta det ansvaret och rikta uppmärksamheten mot kriget i Syrien, men mer problematiska sidor blev tydliga som att barnen i texterna är passiva aktörer. Slutligen framkom det i en intervju med Aftonbladets utrikesredaktör Martin Schori att tidningen var mer försiktig i publicering av bilder från exempelvis terrorattentatet i Stockholm i april och foton från krigets Syrien.

In contemporary philosophy about justice, a contrast between empirical and transcendental approaches can be identified. Hillel Steiner represents an empirical approach: he argues for building an account of justice-as-rights out of the minimal inductive material of psychological linguistic and moral intuitions. From this opening, he ultimately concludes that persons have original rights to self-ownership and to an initially equal share of natural resources. Emmanuel Levinas represents a transcendental approach: he argues that justice arises from a transcendent ethical relation of responsibility-for-the-Other. This relation underpins all subjective cognition, and makes rationality, reasoning, and rights possible. Analysis of each of these positions reveals certain problems. On the one hand, Steiner’s argument contains a number of latent methodological, conceptual, and structural presuppositions. These include the pretheoretical concepts of “person”, “equality”, and “consistency”. These presuppositions prefigure and condition the conclusions which Steiner reaches. On the other hand, Levinas fails to provide a convincing account of how the self comes to be an object of my own deliberations about morality and justice. This amounts to an annihilation of the subject which undermines his argument for the subject as a site of responsible action. As Steiner identifies, justice encompasses equal moral agents. Levinas’s hyperbolic description of the ethical relation’s asymmetry must therefore be revised. Nevertheless, what remains is the strength of Levinas’s argument for the priority of the ethical relation over thematization, rationality, and consciousness. The hidden presuppositions supporting Steiner’s work are evidence of Levinas’s plausibility in this respect. Steiner’s account of justice-as-rights requires a prior ethical relation in which we recognise one another as separate persons, each possessing an ethical status of their own; an attitude of justice motivates Steiner’s description of justice. This attitude is evident in language, which is communication before it is thought. In that individual rights can be conceived only on the basis of a relation of responsibility, rights are primordially the rights of the Other.

No description available.

The main purpose of the present essay is, based on Emmanuel Levinas’s ethics of responsibility,to gain new knowledge about the teaching relationship and the relationship between the selfand the Other in that relation. The overarching question in this essay is what characterizes theteaching relationship in the Epistle to the Philemon from a Levinasian perspective. The purposeis also to develop theoretical tools and models from this perspective to interpret the teachingrelationship in the Epistle to the Philemon and which can also be applied to the teachingsituations in different churches. The questions to which I sought answers included: Whatconditions or prerequisites are present in the teaching relationship? What conditions createopportunities for the recipient to learn something from the Other? How does the ethicalrelationship in the language of the letter to Philemon manifest itself? What theoretical conceptsand models of practice can be developed from a Levinasian perspective for interpreting theteaching relationship that can be applied to teaching in a church context?According to Levinas, ethics is understood as a relation of the infinitive responsibility to theOther person. The underlying assumption in my thesis is that teaching is, above all else, anethical relationship. In this essay I have used a Levinasian approach about the Subject (or Ego)to come into being in its encounter with the other person. In other words, the relationship isfoundational to the existence of the Subject. The key concepts in this essay are intentionality,Saying (in relation to the Said), the Other, the Face, Levinas’s ethical subject, asymmetricalrelationship, and substitution. In their encounter with the data in the letters to Philemon, theconcepts have been freighted with educational significance.An important conclusion based on the material is that the didactic relationship is constituted asan asymmetrical relationship where the persons are related to each other in a double asymmetry.This two-way asymmetry requires a double trust in the didactic relationship, which isindispensable for all pedagogical practice, not least in church contexts. Throughout the study,a relational ethical perspective has been developed as an alternative interpretative tool foranalyzing and reflecting upon the didactic relationship.

Dès sa première apparition dans le recueil de conférences intitulé Le Temps et l’Autre, la notion du féminin mobilisée par Levinas a provoqué un débat interprétatif qui perdure jusqu’à aujourd'hui. Les lectures ont oscillé entre une assimilation du féminin au schème d’une pensée patriarcale dont la philosophie peine à sortir et une compréhension qui vise à justifier son usage en tant qu’autre de la pensée souvent jugée trop virile. Les travaux qui se situent dans cette deuxième veine interprétative cherchent également à complexifier le tableau en faisant appel non seulement à la philosophie de Levinas, mais également à son judaïsme. Dans cette lignée, la présente étude vise une réhabilitation du féminin en l’inscrivant dans l’économie générale de l’œuvre de Levinas. De la relation érotique (Chapitre I : Le rapport érotique), en passant par les mécanismes de constitution de la conscience (Chapitre II : Topologie de l’effacement : subjectivité et discrétion) et jusqu’au messianisme maternel (Chapitre III : Maternité, fécondité et avenir), la notion du féminin sera suivie au fil d’un itinéraire qui scrutera ses diverses transformations, pour finalement converger vers une conception de la subjectivité résolument « féminine ». / As early as its first appearance in the cycle of conferences titled Le Temps et l’Autre, the notion of the feminine discussed by Levinas has provoked an interpretative debate that goes on to this day. The different readings have vacillated between an assimilation of the feminine to the scheme of a patriarchal thought from which philosophy has a hard time freeing itself and a hermeneutics that justifies its use as the other of thought often judged to be too virile. The works that situate themselves in this second interpretative line of thought also seek to paint a more complex picture by calling not only on Levinas’s philosophy, but also on his Judaism. Following this second line, the present study aims to rehabilitate the feminine by inscribing it in the general economy of Levinas’s work. From the erotic relationship (Chapitre I : Le rapport érotique), via the mechanisms of the constitution of conscience (Chapitre II : Topologie de l’effacement : subjectivité et discrétion), to maternal messianism (Chapitre III : Maternité, fécondité et avenir), the notion of the feminine will be followed through an itinerary scrutinizing its many transformations to finally converge on a conception of subjectivity that is resolutely “feminine”.