Yong-mo Yu (1890-1981) was a supporter of religious pluralism in Korea, advocating for a syncretistic conception of God; and for interfaith spiritual renewal, during a period marked by the rejection of these concepts. A study of his work enriches our conception of the 20th century Korean Christianity. The main goal of my dissertation is to first analyze Yu's theological understanding of God and examine it in relation to the three East Asian major religious traditions as well as a Western ontological understanding of the ultimate reality; and second, through such analyses, to discuss the significance and challenges of Yu's pluralistic theology and spirituality. Yu's own definition of God as Opshi-gyeshin-Haneunim (God who exists as Non-Being) is an ontological understanding of the ultimate reality, which is very different from conservative Korean Protestantism's understanding of God. Yu's understanding of God is very similar to Robert C. Neville's understanding of God as the creator in that both of them define the ultimate reality as absolute Nothingness or Emptiness transcending both being and non-being. Yu's understanding of God was also based on the East Asian religious traditions which are Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. Therefore, Yu defines Christian God as T'ai-chi and Wu-chi, nothingness, and Tao which are concepts that Yu borrows from the East Asian religions. Yu's concept of God as Opshi-gyeshin-Haneunim was formed and developed based on his own spiritual experiences, for example, his experience of spiritual union with God. At the same time, his theological reflection on the ultimate reality also had great effect on his spirituality. In the same tenor, the pluralistic characteristics of Yu's theology and spirituality are the result of Yu's creative combination of his ontological understanding of the ultimate reality transcending various religious contexts and the East Asian spirituality focusing on spiritual discipline to develop the divine power given to human beings. Yu's creative integration of the ontological analysis of God and the East Asian spiritual tradition can provide a new perspective to Korean conservative Protestantism in understanding other religions, and suggest a new type Christian spirituality in plural Korean contexts. / 2017-01-12T00:00:00Z

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The writings of the American pragmatist thinker Charles S. Peirce (1839-1914) provide resources for what this thesis calls the “nested continua model” of theological interpretation. A diagrammatic demonstration of iconic relational logic akin to Peirce’s Existential Graphs, the nested continua model is imagined as a series of concentric circles graphed upon a two-dimensional plane. When faced with some problem of interpretation, one may draw discrete markings that signify that problem’s logical distinctions, then represent in the form of circles successive contexts by which these distinctions may be examined in relation to one another, arranged ordinally at relative degrees of specificity and vagueness, aesthetic intensity and concrete reasonableness. Drawing from Peter Ochs’s Scriptural Reasoning model of interfaith dialogue and Robert C. Neville’s axiology of thinking—each of which makes creative use of Peirce’s logic—this project aims to achieve an analytical unity between these two thinkers’ projects, which can then be addressed to further theological ends. The model hinges between diagrammatic and ameliorative functions, honing its logic to disclose contexts in which its theological or metaphysical claims might, if needed, be revised. Such metaphysical claims include love as that which unites feeling with intelligibility, hell as imprisonment within an opaque circle of interpretation whose distorted reflections render violence upon oneself and others, and the divine as both the center of aesthetic creativity and outermost horizon from which our many layers of interpretive criteria emerge. These are claims made from a particular identity in a particular cultural context, but the logical rules upon which they are based are accessible to all, and the hope of the model is to help people overcome problems of interpretation and orient themselves toward eternity without ignoring the world around them.

Critical theory has historically situated the beginning of the “modern” era of subjectivity near the end of the seventeenth century. Michel Foucault himself once said in an interview that modernity began with the writings of the late seventeenth-century philosopher Benedict Spinoza. But an examination of early modern English utopian literature demonstrates that a modern notion of subjectivity can be found in texts that pre-date Spinoza. In this dissertation, I examine four utopian texts—Thomas More’s Utopia, Francis Bacon’s New Atlantis, Margaret Cavendish’s Description of a New World, Called the Blazing World, and Henry Neville’s Isle of Pines—through the paradigm of Jacques Lacan’s tripartite model of subjectivity—the Imaginary, the Symbolic, and the Real. To mediate between Lacan’s psychoanalytic model and the historical aspects of these texts, such as their relationship with print culture and their engagement with political developments in seventeenth-century England, I employ the theories of the Marxist-Lacanian philosopher, Slavoj Žižek, to show that “early modern” subjectivity is in in fact no different from critical theory’s “modern” subject, despite pre-dating the supposed inception of such subjectivity. In addition, I engage with other prominent theorists, including Fredric Jameson, Jacques Derrida, and Donna Haraway, to come to an understanding about the ways in which critical theory can be useful to understand not only early modern literature, but also the contemporary, “real” world and the subjectivity we all seek to attain.

Why the term 'Anglo-Scottish Struggle' between 1337 and 1346? Why 'The Perspective of English Official Documents'? What influence did the so-called 'Hundred Year's War' have on the Anglo-Scottish relations in the first years of the war? What impact did the 'Scottish issue' have on the policy of the English king during the Anglo-French conflict? How did the perspective of English official documents differ from that of English chronicles or Scottish/French primary sources? What role did the rhetoric of these source play? How was it portrayed? The following thesis will try to analyse some of the aforementioned issues and will strive to prove that the Scottish kingdom had a profound impact on the English policy in multiple respects from the outset of the Hundred Years' War until the battle of Neville's Cross almost ten years later.

This study distils some of the principal political and sociological lines of enquiry that Neville Alexander embarked upon in his published writings. It initially sets out to sketch the political, economic and intellectual milieu that he encountered after his release from Robben Island in 1974, and then it addresses the language question, as a part of the national question, in South Africa. The researcher argues that Alexander’s “dance” in the world of political and educational interventions has at times been solitary but that his discourse is substantively girded by the writings and experiences of established practitioners in the fields of sociolinguistics, political economy and cultural activities. The study concludes that his policy proposals on language in particular, in spite of the fact that the constitutional and institutional infrastructure exists for their implementation, have been put on the back burner because the dominant linguistic interests of the post-apartheid government correspond with the communication interests of market-driven institutions in the country, and not with the interests of the linguistic majorities who populate the nation. / Neville Alexander's thoughts on the language question in South Africa / Language question in South Africa / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Philosophy of Education)

This thesis is a transdisciplinary study of leading South African Marxist intellectual, political activist and sociologist of language Neville Edward Alexander’s written work in English. It is an attempt to explore the “dialogical narratives” as a proposition in my assessment of his work and it is also a description of a method he employs to arrive at his own political and literary compositions. In tracking his formation as a political subject and an activist, Alexander’s and other writers’ interpretations of his meetings with and his stories about people are explored. His writings cover the spectrum of politics, education and language, and he employed a political economy approach in all his written expositions. The study argues that he had an exceptional ability to “argue against himself” because he was a dialectical reasoner and because he embraced the political and sociological toolkit of historical materialism as the philosophical matrix of his work. / History / D.Lit et Phil. (History)

Cette thèse s’ouvre avec des commentaires du siècle dernier sur les opinions de Luther à propos de l’autorité du gouvernement et de l’Église, ainsi que sur la nature humaine et la fonction de la loi. Je présente ensuite où ces critiques situent Luther par rapport à la tradition scholastique et par rapport à la tradition romaine au sein de l’Église. Puis, j’explore les œuvres de Luther pour mettre en lumière ses arguments concernant l’Église, la source de son autorité, ainsi que la relation de celle-ci avec les gouvernements, autrement dit les autorités temporelles. De là, je m’intéresse à la comparaison que le réformateur fait entre la place de l’Église dans la société et celle de l’autorité temporelle. Enfin, j’analyse les écrits de Luther à propos de deux évènements concernant la construction du Royaume de Dieu et plus précisément, dans quelle mesure l’Église dépend, ou non, des autorités temporelles pour construire ce Royaume. Nous allons trouver une réponse surprenante à la question de comment l’église est indépendante de l’autorité temporelle dans l’ouvrage spécifique au royaume de Dieu. Le but de ma thèse est de répondre à certains critiques qui reprochent à Luther de s’appuyer sur l’autorité temporelle pour établir l’Église, et par conséquent de donner au temporel le contrôle sur le spirituel. Nous découvrirons que Luther tire son autorité des Écritures. Nous découvrirons aussi les conséquences que cette autorité a sur sa philosophie politique, c'est-à-dire l’importance de la soumission aux autorités gouvernantes en même temps que la libération des individus de la tyrannie d’une fausse doctrine. / This paper begins by citing some of the past century’s commentaries on Luther’s views on authority in government and the church as well as his views on human nature. I will show where his critics place him in reference to the scholastic tradition as well as the Roman tradition within the church. From here I will consider his writings themselves for the arguments that he made regarding the church and its source of authority as well as its proper relationship to the government, or temporal authority. I will address Luther’s perspective on the church’s place in society as compares with the temporal authority’s role. Finally I will present Luther’s writings in two specific situations concerning how the kingdom of God is built; more precisely, to what extent, if at all, the church is to depend upon the temporal authority for the establishment of the kingdom of God. The aim of this paper is to reply to the charge of some critics that Luther depended on the temporal authority for the establishment of the church and the implication that he gave the temporal authority control over spiritual matters. We will discover that Luther’s final source of authority comes from the Scriptures and the surprising effect that this has on his political philosophy is both to increase submission to the governing authorities as well as to increase freedom from the tyranny of false doctrine.

This thesis analyzes the historiography of Neville Chamberlain and appeasement through the lens of Oswald Mosley and British Fascism, arguing that an acute and unexpected convergence emerges between the ardent radicalism of Mosley and the utter rationality of Chamberlain, illustrating the uncanny degree to which appeasement as a policy dovetailed with fascism as an ideology. Beginning at the Spanish Civil War and ending in March 1939, politicians in the vein of Chamberlain - subsequently dubbed 'appeasers' - pursued appeasement as a means to placate German aggression. The British Union of Fascists, with Mosley at the helm, enthusiastically supported this movement and urged the British Government to intensify the appeasement campaign. Ultimately, the convergence of appeasement and fascism illustrates the severe lack of alternatives available to Chamberlain, and underscores the degree to which his pragmatic politics supported fascism abroad. / by Michael Ortiz. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.