Technology conceptualized as a social entity and a relation has attained new meanings and inquired based on different methodological and theoretical standpoints since 1970s. It was widely recognized as autonomous however it emerges and related to social relations and have a determining role on social, economic and political character of societies. The role of technology in transforming scientific knowledge into needs of society is mostly considered within pragmatic understanding. The aim of integrating and questioning the social character of technology lead to critical contemporary discussions of technology. The goal of this study is to question whether technology is socially shaped and dependent or independent/autonomous social entity. That is whether it is largely external-outside of society, exogenous, supra-social and posses its own path or it is a socially dependent entity. This study thus aims to provide a critical inquiry on technological determinism and the social determinism is examined in the light of in-depth interviews carried out with scientists from Turkey. The social character of technology is related to issues concerning the expansion of capitalist social relations: uncertain, risky and rational.

Free will is a paramount concept that is central to our everyday lives, society and moral judgements. In this thesis, I search for the conditions under which free will can exist. This is done in relation to two topics: determinism and agency. Finally, I also explore the relation between free will and several social and philosophical concepts, and discuss briefly what would be the case if there were no free will.

<p>Embedded microcomputers are used in a wide range of applications nowadays. Avionics is one of these areas and requires extra attention regarding reliability and determinism. Thus, these issues should also be born in mind in addition to performance when evaluating embedded microcomputers.</p><p>This master thesis suggests a framework for performance evaluation of two members of the PowerPC microprocessor family, namely the MPC5554 from Freescale and PPC440EPx from AMCC, and analyzes the results within and between these processors. The framework can be generalized to be used in any microprocessor family, if required.</p><p>Apart from performance evaluation, this thesis also suggests also a new terminology by introducing the concept of determinism levels to be able to estimate determinism issues in avionics applications more clearly, which is crucial regarding the requirements and working conditions of this very application. Such estimation does not include any practical results as in performance evaluation, but rather remains theoretical. Similar to Automark™ used by AutoBench™ in the EEMBC Benchmark Suite, we introduce a new performance metric score that we call ”Aviomark” and we carry out a detailed comparison of Aviomark with the traditional Automark™ score to be able to see how Aviomark differs from Automark™ in behavior.</p><p>Finally, we have developed a graphical user interface (GUI) which works in parallel with the Green Hills MULTI Integrated Development Environment (IDE) in order to simplify and automate the evaluation process. By the help of the GUI, the users will be able to easily evaluate their specific PowerPC processors by starting the debugging from MULTI IDE.</p>

Thesis (M.A.)--Texas State University-San Marcos, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 72-75). Also available on microfilm.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Duquesne University, 2009. / Title from document title page. Abstract included in electronic submission form. Includes bibliographical references (p. 275-284) and index.

Abstract This dissertation examines how online Christian communities reconcile the democratizing, anti-hegemonic effects of dialogic web tools, such as wikis, blogs, and video-sharing sites with the authoritarian characteristics of some organized religions. In the first chapter, I discuss technodeterminism and what I call the theme of "revolutionary architectures" in digital humanities scholarship. This theme occurs in narratives that assume that a new interface, Internet tool, or type of coding will redefine the rhetorical relationship between writers, readers, and site administrators, usually in a benevolent way. I argue that scholars within the field of Computers and Composition use narratives of architectural revolution to inscribe communication technologies with certain inherent values even as they claim that these tools require responsible use from an informed, reflective citizenry. The theme of revolutionary architecture reveals the desire within the field of Computers & Composition to view technology as both a space for ideological conflict and a redemptive tool to cure social ills. In the second chapter I analyze how narratives about the democratizing and collaborative potential of wikis collide with the needs and practices of three Christian wikis. The three wikis--Theopedia, OrthodoxWiki, WikiChristian--are opinionated encyclopedias intended to simultaneously inform and persuade their viewers of each website's respective version of the Christian faith. Opinionated wiki writing complicates assumptions about what should be argued and who should be able to author thesiss. To respond to these complications, the Christian wikis emphasize two different types of ethotic appeals, what I coin "genesis-ethos" and "composed-ethos." Genesis-ethos refers to the rhetor's character outside of the text, whereas composed ethos refers to the textual representation of the rhetor's credibility. I argue that Christian wikis must rely on a combination of genesis and composed-ethos in order to manage a point-of-view argumentative wiki. In the third chapter, I examine how dialogic web technologies have provided the Emergent Church with an opportunity to create an updated gospel narrative. I define and analyze this narrative with a kairotic lens, especially as defined by German theologian Paul Tillich. The leaders of the Emergent Church movement draw upon the ideas, language, and metaphors of post-Web 2.0 technologies to explain how Christianity can thrive in a 21st century world. Several Emergent Church writers recognize that traditional organized religion has become increasingly irrelevant in a culture that prioritizes decentralized decision making, networked organization, and the opinions of the laity alongside more authoritative voices (i.e. clergy, pastors, and church leaders). They view blogging tools, open source technology, and social networks as a way to convey Christianity to a frustrated audience of Christians and non-believers. In the fourth chapter, I speculate on the collaborative possibilities of video-sharing sites, such as YouTube. Even though technologists and compositionists have reinforced a narrative of YouTube as a revolutionary collaborative tool, the website fails to foster intimacy between users. This lack of intimacy stultifies the potential for collaboration between video authors and viewers; in turn, the efforts of writing instructors to use YouTube have not yet taken full advantage of the site's possibilities. One alternative Christian video-sharing site, GodTube, has the potential to engage video authors and viewers in meaningful dialogue and a more intimate online atmosphere. Martin Buber's I-You and I-It relationships are used as a lens to describe the difference between the two video-sharing sites. In the final chapter, I discuss how my research into online Christian rhetoric can be used in writing-intensive classes, especially composition courses. My argument about genesis-ethos applies to previous scholarship on wikis and procedural rhetoric; I speculate on how writing teachers can teach with wikis in new ways. Finally, the rhetoric of the Emergent Church offers an example for how scholars within the field Computers & Composition can articulate their values to students, faculty, and administrators outside of the field of English Studies. In the conclusion, I argue that the counterintuitive uses of these dialogic web tools opens up new imaginative opportunities for their use in the writing classroom.

The Bhagavad Gītā, a classical Sanskrit text, describes a spiritual practice called karma yoga. Central to this practice is niṣkāma karman or action without desire. A number of philosophical issues present themselves in connection with this teaching. First, while the Gītā enjoins action, action seems prima facie problematic in the Gītā in light of metaphysical claims that seem to deny human freedom. Second, Western scholars who hold that desire is necessary for action find the Gītā's desirelessness requirement problematic. Finally, while the sense of karma yoga seems clear enough, the teaching is connected with two notions that are obscure: transcendence of the guṇa-s and surrender of action to Krishna. This dissertation explores and seeks solutions to these problems. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the Gītā's philosophy and selected classical Indian commentaries. Chapter 2 tackles the assumption by some scholars that the Gītā shares tenets of the determinist metaphysics of classical Sāṃkhya. This assumption is shown false and the argument made that the Gītā, as a yogic text, implies voluntarism. Chapter 2 offers an analysis of the Gītā's concept of guṇa (literally 'strand'), and argues that the puruṣa, or self, which is called a 'consenter' exercises agency in consenting. Chapter 3 addresses the worry that niṣkāma karman, or desireless action, is a contradictory notion because desire is necessary for action. Based on examination of the Gītā's theory of action, it is shown that the Gītā does not hold desire necessary for action and that in fact the text articulates four distinct types of niṣkaāma karman. Chapter 4 explores the concepts of transcendence of the guṇa-s and surrender of action to Krishna and develops a definition of karma yoga involving these concepts. The chapter concludes with an argument that karma yoga requires creativity. The dissertation closes with the suggestion that through karma yoga a practitioner might come to enjoy an extraordinary sort of freedom that surpasses the ability to exercise will. / text

A review of the philosophical and psychological literature on free will is presented. Three major positions are identified: libertarianism, hard determinism and compatibilism (or soft determinism). The latter enjoys widespread and largely unchallenged support in psychology. Substantive conceptual and empirical grounds are presented which suggest that psychologists may be dismissing free will at their peril. It is argued, first of all, that belief in the reality of free will has profound implications for conceptions of human action, of moral responsibility, of the form and veracity of scientific accounts and of the validity of scientific reduction. Moreover, the results of a multi-disciplinary survey of academics reveal that 80% of those surveyed believe free will is real. Contrary to popular assumptions in psychology, determinism is not endorsed by many scientists outside of psychology, nor does belief in free will reflect naive belief in mind-body dualism. Modern libertarians reject both dualism and reductionism, distinguishing instead between different levels of scientific explanation. The findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical implications for cognitive, social and clinical psychology, and directions for further research are suggested.

In Jacques Maritain's text The Education of Man (1962) a Christian perspective affirming the individual's free will is presented. This study examines the validity of Maritain's argument and speculates upon some consequences for public schooling. The conclusions of the study are as follows: First. Maritain's exposition of the existence of absolute free will is unconvincing as it is not successfully reconciled with his religious world view. Second. if Maritain's views may be assumed to complement the religous educational and institutional objectives of Alberta's Catholic schools, the potential for conflict between these views and the 'secular' (i.e. the common goals, contents and processes of all public and separte schools) objectives of Catholic schools exists. / vi, 81 leaves ; 28 cm.

Traditionally, the central threat to the defensibility of the range of practices and attitudes constitutive of moral criticism has been seen to be posed by the Causal Thesis, the view that all actions have antecedent causes to which they are linked by causal laws of the kind that govern other events in the universe. In such a world, agents lack the sort of underived origination and agency required for the appropriateness of moral criticism. However, Peter Strawson’s “Freedom and Resentment” marks a move away from a metaphysical conception of agency and conditions of the appropriateness of moral criticism. On Strawson’s account, the problem of moral responsibility is centrally a normative problem, a problem about the moral norms that govern interpersonal relationships, and the conditions of appropriateness of the range of attitudes and sentiments occasioned by the agents’ fulfillment or non-fulfillment of these norms. In this dissertation I argue that the success of normative conceptions of conditions of appropriateness of moral criticism is contingent of the amelioration of the tension between two strategies in “Freedom and Resentment.” Naturalist interpretations hold that sentiments and practices constitutive of moral criticism are natural features of human psychological constitution, and therefore neither allow nor require justification. Rationalist interpretation, by contrast, are based on an analysis of conditions under which moral criticism can be justifiably modified or suspended. Both of these strategies, I argue, are false. The naturalistic interpretation is false not because of its inability to offer a plausible account of the conditions of justifiability of reactive attitudes, but rather because of its inability to offer a principled account of the way moral norms are grounded. The rationalistic interpretation, in turn, not only relies on an implausible psychological account of conditions of responsible agency, but puts an unacceptable emphasis on the agent’s intention. A plausible interpretation of the normative strategy requires emphasizing not only the significance of attitudes and feelings, but also the role reasons play in constituting moral norms and justifying moral criticism / Thesis (Ph.D, Philosophy) -- Queen's University, 2010-07-05 16:42:43.601