Some of the most interesting facets of Edgar Allan Poe's fiction are his imaginative speculations concerning the metaphysical experiences of the soul, the individual psychic "identity." His interest focuses primarily on three related aspects of the soul's experiences (1) metempsychosis (or reincarnation and transmigration); (2) suspension between "death" and the after-life or states of unconsciousness and consciousness, sleep and waking; and (3) the terrors, real or imagined, of premature burial.

Sacred stones, or huacas, at the ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu integrated human ritual with the surrounding landscape. I argue that huacas defined the relationship between nature and ritual practice by forcing an esoteric choreography which involved specific postures of the participant in order to visually orient humans to significant natural features of the surrounding environment. Inca stonemasons refined the natural form of the huacas so that they mimic the contours of prominent landscape features such as mountain peaks. This dissertation documents 122 huacas at Machu Picchu using maps of the site to record the exact location of each stone. Every huacas is described in detail, including notation of the specific cardinal orientation; lines of sight established by reference points to prominent landscape features; and the specific posture required to view these lines of sight. The extensive number of huacas at Machu Picchu suggests a highly ritualistic city in which stones and caves were almost certainly considered metaphysical conduits between humans and the divine.

The topics of Grounding and Metaphysical Explanation have been at the forefront of research and debate within metaphysics for the last decade. Grounding is commonly taken to be a relation of non-causal dependence. In this thesis I address the pertinent question as to what sorts of entities are related in instances of grounding. There has so far been little enquiry into this issue, and it therefore requires urgent attention. I argue here that the entities involved in grounding are facts, where facts are true Fregean propositions. True Fregean propositions are abstract entities composed of senses, and are individuated according the senses which they involve. I proceed by setting out some desiderata which the entities involved in grounding will fulfil. Firstly, they will be individuated sufficiently finely as to provide instances of grounding to back all putative cases of non-causal explanation. Secondly, they will ensure that there is unity between instances of grounding and instances of causation. Finally, they will be mind- independent. I survey different types of entity and show that true Fregean propositions are best-equipped to fulfil these desiderata. We therefore have reason to believe that grounding relates facts, so understood. The conclusion of this thesis therefore makes it incumbent upon us to extend our ontology to include true Fregean propositions.

[pt] O presente estudo tem como foco o pensamento de juventude de Nietzsche, bem como o contexto em que se insere. Nosso objetivo geral consiste em apontar os pontos fundamentais para a compreensão de O nascimento da tragédia, sua primeira obra publicada, bem como as influências filosóficas que giram em torno desse período, na Alemanha. O objetivo específico consiste em compreender como sua teoria da arte pôde ser apresentada por intermédio de uma tradução de estados fisiológicos, a ponto dos próprios indivíduos serem considerados as atualizações desses estados. Ao priorizar o uso de figuras de deuses para tornar seus pensamentos intuíveis, ao invés de ater-se à elaboração de conceitos, Nietzsche faz uso de um método alegórico de análise das características fisiológicas que giram em torno da criação artística, que culmina no que mais tarde ele veio a chamar de metafísica de artista, que tendemos a examinar como um uso da linguagem que enaltece as perspectivas, na medida em que a metáfora é colocada ao lado da metafísica. / [en] This study focuses on Nietzsche`s thinking of youth and the context in which it is inserted. Our general aim consists in indicating the fundamental points to The birth of tragedy`s comprehension, his very first published work, as well as the philosophical influences of that time in Germany. The specific aim consists in understanding how his theory could be presented through a translation of the physiological states, on the threshold of being considered, the individuals themselves, the updating of these states. By giving priority to the gods figures usage so as to become his thoughts intuitible, in stead of abiding by elaborations of concepts, Nietzsche utilizes an allegoric method to analyze the physiological characteristics which go around the artistic creation, by culminating in what he would call later the artist metaphysics that we are prone to examine as a language usage to enhance the perspectives in the sense that metaphor and metaphysics are put together.

Architecture has a dualistic social responsibility. To provide relevant buildings with appropriate function and planning that will accommodate user needs, as well as providing habitable environments and spaces that will have positive influence on peoples daily routines. This will allow users to freely dwell within their environments and create a positive community atmosphere. It is the aim of this dissertation to investigate the social responsibility of architecture and how ordinary spaces and buildings that call for pragmatic design solutions can also enter into the realm of the metaphysical spatial experience and to find cohesion between the two. The selected project is a glasshouse complex and plant containment research facility within the Botanical gardens at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. GERMAN: Die Architektur trägt gesellschaftlich dualistische Verantwortung: es ist eine Schaffung von Gebäuden, die räumliche Bedürfnisse von Benutzern erfüllen, sowie auch einer qualitätsvollen Umgebung, die tägliche Routine von einer Gemeinde positiv beeinflussen wird. Es handelt sich um eine freundliche, gemeinde Atmosphäre zu schaffen. Dieses Projekt hat zum Ziel die Gesellschaftsverantwortung von der Architektur überprüfen. Es wird untersucht, wie vernünftige Räume, die eine Antwort für die funktionelle Bedürfnisse sind, gleichzeitig eine metaphysische Erfahrung kreieren können. Die Idee ist ein Zusammenhang zwischen diesen zwei Ansätze zu identifizieren. Das ausgewählte Projekt ist eine gegenwärtige Gewächshäuseranlage, Forschungsanstalt und botanischer Garten auf dem Gelände der Universität Pretoria, Südafrika. / Dissertation (MArch(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Architecture / MArch (Prof) / unrestricted

This collection of poems and paintings seeks to find the places where visual and written communication intersects, and the places where those two media diverge. The collection consists of poems and paintings juxtaposed, as if in conversation with one another throughout the pages. The collection treats each painting and poem as a separate attempt at prayer. As a reader turns the pages, similar questions are asked again and again, but in different settings and with different outcomes. This collection focuses on finding reconciliation between the oral culture of storytelling and the written culture of ideas, all within the context of prayer.

[pt] Esta pesquisa busca analisar a dependência que o sistema metafísico de Schopenhauer possui em relação às filosofias de Kant e Platão. Para tanto, argumentamos a favor de uma maior proximidade de Schopenhauer da matriz racionalista do Ocidente, ainda que pese ser o elemento central de sua filosofia uma coisa-em-si irracional. O trabalho percorre os aspectos epistemológicos, cosmológicos, estéticos e éticos de seu pensamento tanto em relação às suas duas maiores influências, Kant e Platão, quanto em relação ao contexto do Idealismo Alemão. Portanto, o texto investiga como uma metafísica do irracional surge a partir da assimilação, ressignificação e subversão do estatuto racionalista ocidental. / [en] The aim of this research is to analyze the dependence of the metaphysical system of Schopenhauer in relation to the philosophies of Kant and Plato. For such, we argue in favor of a closer proximity of Schopenhauer to Western rationalist sources, even if the central element of his philosophy is an irrational thing-in-itself. This work follows the epistemological, cosmological, aesthetic and ethical aspects of his thought in relation to his two greatest influences, Kant and Plato, as much as to the context of German Idealism. Therefore, the text investigates how a metaphysics of the irrational springs from the assimilation, resignification and subversion of the Western rationalist statute.

[pt] A forma desta tese é a de um longo ensaio filosófico. Ela atravessa o circuito das eras do pensamento metafísico, tendo por questão nuclear o que nela se define pelo conceito de metalugar. O termo metalugar, presente no título do trabalho, remete a uma estrutura labiríntica, ou melhor, à forma de um palíndromo feito não com letras, mas com signos e ideias cuja escrita e articulação convidam a travessias de pensamento pelo âmago de cada era metafísica. A escrita que se desenvolve nesse ensaio excursiona por giros especulativos e possui como inspiração o escudo de Aquiles, artefato e, também ele, uma espécie de metalugar, cuja fabricação pelas mãos do deus Hefesto, na Ilíada, inaugura no Ocidente uma imagem-concepção de mundo. A tese desenha-se na similitude do escudo heféstico, plasmada para pensar forças que imperaram metafísicamente desde as origens do Ocidente, desenhando mundos (ou melhor, eventos) que com base nelas se definiram. Compõe-se de três capítulos: 1) Khôra, metalugar onde a phýsis ganha os traços que lhe dão contornos inteligíveis; 2) Díesis, metalugar de onde emerge o absoluto, onde se inscreve a dúplice composição da natura e da subjetividade; 3) Sýnkhysis, metalugar onde se verte a tradução de Babel em caos turbilhonante da produção das diferenças. A khôra de égide platônica, a díesis de égide cartesiana e a sýnkhysis de égide babélica formam uma tríade dos metalugares. A estruturação triádica da tese, em três capítulos, não se dá por acaso. Corresponde à intuição de que cada era da metafísica vem a ser dominada por um metalugar. Cada era desenha-se sobre a superfície de um metalugar e a ela corresponde a criação de um nome. O nome é como se fosse um escudo. A tese é, em outras palavras, um metalugar que cria nomes de metalugares, a partir dos quais se fiam os conceitos fundamentais que urdem cada era. O metalugar é, em suma, onde se desenha o evento de uma era, o útero de onde se dá a eclosão do seu ser e seu devir. / [en] The form of this thesis is that of a long philosophical essay. It crosses the circuit of the ages of metaphysical thought, having as its nuclear question what is defined by the concept of metaplace. The term metaplace, present in the title of the work, refers to a labyrinthine structure, or rather, to the shape of a palindrome made not with letters, but with signs and ideas whose writing and articulation invite the crossing of thought at the heart of each metaphysical era. The writing developed in this essay tours through speculative turns and is inspired by the Achilles shield, an artifact and, also, a kind of metaplace, whose manufacture by the hands of the god Hephaestus, in the Iliad, inaugurates in the West an image-conception of world. The thesis draws on the similarity of the hephetic shield, shaped to think of forces that have prevailed metaphysically since the origins of the West, designing worlds (or rather, events) that were defined based on them. It consists of three chapters: 1) Khôra, metaplace where phýsis gains the features that give it intelligible contours; 2) Díesis, metaplace from which the absolute emerges, where the double composition of natura and subjectivity is inscribed; 3) Sýnkhysis, metaplace where Babel s translation is seen in turbulent chaos in the production of differences. The platonic aegis khôra, the cartesian aegis díesis and the babelic aegis sýnkhysis form a triad of the metaplaces. The triadic structuring of the thesis, in three chapters, is not by chance. It corresponds to the intuition that each age of metaphysics comes to be dominated by a metaplace. Each era is drawn on the surface of a metalugar and it corresponds to the creation of a name. The name is like a shield. The thesis is, in other words, a metaplace that creates names of metaplaces, from which the fundamental concepts that weave each era are based. The metaplace is, in short, where the event of an era is drawn, the uterus from which the outbreak of your being and your becoming occurs.

[pt] O objetivo central da presente investigação é o de ressignificar o lógos cristão de modo não metafísico. Para dar conta dessa proposta, assumimos a crise das metanarrativas metafísicas caracterizadas por Heidegger como narrativas onto-teo-lógicas. Com a morte de Deus tal qual anunciada por Nietzsche, os supostos ontológicos da ontoteo-logia se deterioraram. Porquanto historicamente a teologia cristã serviu-se das narrativas metafísicas para legitimar seus discursos, torna-se necessário um outro regime de verdade não onto-teo-lógico para estruturar, no tempo da morte de Deus, as narrativas cristãs. Vislumbramos na obra de Jean-Luc Marion uma possibilidade de reestruturação do lógos cristão, uma vez que ele se abre para a possibilidade de inscrever na filosofia a revelação divina para além da onto-teo-logia. Consequentemente, por meio dele, é possível não somente ressignificar de modo não metafísico o lógos cristão, como também relacionar-se criativamente com a tradição teológica cristã. Por um lado, tal possibilidade é garantida por meio do que entendemos por hermenêutica mística, a saber, a interpretação fundada na mística entendida como experiência fruitiva do mistério divino, experiência essa que desvela um novo horizonte (não metafísico) de inteligibilidade dos discursos teológicos da tradição cristã. A partir da caracterização da hermenêutica mística, ensaiamos um confronto interpretativo com as obras de Mestre Eckhart e Martinho Lutero, com o intuito de assinalar o poder interpretativo mística como hermenêutica. Desse modo, tanto Eckhart quanto Lutero desvelam-se à hermenêutica mística de modo não metafísico, o que exemplifica a possibilidade de ressignificação da tradição cristã no tempo da morte de Deus. / [en] The main objective of this research is to reframe the Christian logos of non metaphysical way. To account for this proposal, we assume the crisis of metaphysical meta-narratives characterized by Heidegger as onto-theo logical narratives. With the death of God as is announced by Nietzsche, the ontological assumptions of onto theo-logy deteriorated. Because historically Christian theology served up the metaphysical narratives to legitimize his speeches, it is necessary to another regime of truth not onto-theo-logical to structure, at the time of death of God, the Christian narrative. We see the work of Jean-Luc Marion a chance to restructure the Christian logos, since it opens the possibility to subscribe to the philosophy divine revelation beyond the onto-theo-logy. Consequently, through it, it can not only give new meaning not metaphysical way the Christian logos, as well as to relate creatively to the Christian theological tradition. On the one hand, such a possibility is guaranteed by means of what we mean by mystical hermeneutics, namely, the interpretation based on the mystical understood as fruitive experience of the divine mystery, experience this unveiling a new horizon (not metaphysical) intelligibility of theological discourses Christian tradition. From the characterization of mystical hermeneutics, we rehearse an interpretive confrontation with the works of Meister Eckhart and Martin Luther, in order to mark the interpretive mystical power as hermeneutics. Thus, both Eckhart and Luther unfold to the mystical hermeneutics of non-metaphysical way, which exemplifies the possibility of reinterpretation of the Christian tradition in the time of the death of God.

My interest in Thomas Merton began two years ago in my last year of an M.A. program in Church History at the Wheaton Graduate school outside of Chicago. In particular, I was impressed with Merton's ability to carry on a dialogue with D.T. Suzuki, communicator of Rinzai Zen to the west, while retaining his commitment to Christianity. Hence I chose to work on an aspect of the Merton/Suzuki dialogue recorded in Zen and the Birds of Appetite. The impulse for such a study arose from my own questions regarding Christianity. Did Christianity alone contain the formula for truth or did Christianity contain one of many formulas to find ultimate reality or God? It became evident as I progressed in my research that the kingpin in Merton's dilemma between the Kerygma of Christianity and Zen consciousness was the epistemological question. The epistemological road of Zen Buddhism is that of experience. The epistemological road of Christianity equally emphasizes experience and rationality. Inasmuch as the experience of the reality of the Kerygma is a vital component of Christianity, and inasmuch as this sphere is often downplayed in a society which puts the scientific method on a pedastle, Merton correctly assimilates Zen Buddhist themes in order to inform that neglected aspect of Christianity. However, the irreconcilable difference between Zen Buddhism and Christianity is apparent. Christianity is not just an experiential, romantic feeling of unity with 'the one'. Conversely, Zen Buddhism refuses the imposition of content on its central thrust. I conclude that we are faced with a 'Mexican standoff’ between Christianity and Zen Buddhism inasmuch as in the quest for satori the Zen Buddhist will not include the Kerygma, nor will the Christian eliminate the Kerygma in his quest for the experience of ultimate reality or God. Thus a merger is impossible unless severe compromise is made on both sides. I maintain that while there is a wealth of gold to be discovered in Christianity and Zen Buddhism, it is impossible to equate them. Merton’s theory of the non-religious character of Zen which can shine through any system, enabled him to espouse the Zen-way to a Christian audience. I refute the claim that Zen is non-religious and rather maintain that allegiance to non-thought represents a definite epistemological stance. Also, the authoritative edge in Zen inspired by satori contains the same degree of dogmatism as the Christian allegiance to the deity of Christ. I understand Merton’s assimilation of Zen themes with his evolved Christian thought in the following manner: 1. Disgust with a technological society whose values carried over into the religious sphere. 2. His own poetic, paradoxical nature and obsession with ultimate reality. 3. His desire that Zen Buddhists learn about Christianity in a non-threatening way, and 4. His intuition that Christianity must be more than intellectual assent to dogma which does not: change one’s lifestyle, and his discovery in Zen of a preparatory mode for the breakthrough of truth. He wanted to integrate the heart with the head. I begin with a biographical report of Merton’s life and evolved religious thought. The second chapter focusses on representative thinkers in Merton’s thought beginning with Bernard of Clairvauxs Meister Eckhart and D.T. Suzuki. Finally the third chapter focusses on the dialogue between Suzuki and Merton. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)