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This doctoral project is the first comprehensive study of plays about Christian martyrdom on the French stage from 1596 to 1675.1 have compiled a corpus of such tragedies (Appendix). In Chapter One, I argue that such plays should be treated as a characteristic tragic sub-genre, distinct from other forms of religious plays. I also examine the background to the appearance of the martyr-play, in particular the exaltation of martyrdom in both Protestant and Catholic communities in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as well as other artistic representations of the martyr-hero. Religious literature has often been studied in the light of theological controversy. Since a martyr-play deals with an individual resisting lawful authority, I have concentrated on looking at plays from a political aspect: the depiction of revolt. Accordingly, at the end of Chapter One, I consider how the French king was widely portrayed under the traits of a Roman emperor in popular iconography, demonstrating that this allegory was so widespread, that an audience viewing an emperor on stage would see a link with their own monarch. In Chapters Two, Three and Four, I examine the extant tragedies from the period, with a particular emphasis on how authors treat the question of obedience and the martyr's struggle. Writers with court connections mellow and neutralise the martyr's refusal to obey, notably Comeille and Rotrou. Other dramatists emphasise and highlight the element of individual conscience, particularly La Serre and Desfontaines. The martyr-play peaks during the 1640s and early 1650s, that is to say during a time of civil war, and I believe that the play was a vehicle through which authors could express their discontent with contemporary authority, or even use the example of the martyr as a deterrent to active revolt (Gaspard Olivier is the most striking case).In Chapter Five, I explore the inherent ambivalence of the martyr, and look at the tragedies from the perspective of suicide and the portrayal of gender. I conclude that the martyr is always an ambiguous model, and that this is reflected in the French stage portrayals.

This thesis uses the recently decided R v NS to assess the contours of the freedom to wear the niqab, as part of religious freedom, in Canada. By criticizing the majority and concurring opinions I argue that, properly understood, a witness’s religious freedom should protect her from an order to unveil when she is testifying in court. I show that the concurring opinion holds the witness to an illiberal, unfair standard of personal behaviour that fails to respect the witness’s religious freedom. I show that the majority’s decision, though following a justified liberal process of balancing rights, failed to protect NS’s meaningful choice to practice her religion, a standard set by the court in Hutterian Brethren. I then assess the broader implications of R v NS. I argue that in theoretical terms R v NS reaffirms Canada’s commitment to a liberal system of reciprocal rights and rejects a perfectionist approach according to which societal values can override rights. These theoretical lessons are then applied to other policies regulating the veil. I argue that despite its shortcomings, R v NS should generate optimism that perfectionist policies will be rejected and that the veil will only be limited minimally and only when the limit is necessary to uphold other legitimate aims. / Thesis (Master, Law) -- Queen's University, 2013-09-29 20:00:52.439

Proefskrif--PU vir CHO

The thought of Martin Heidegger is considered to make a drastic change from modern philosophical thought which begins with Descartes. The reason for the strong distinction that Heidegger makes between those philosophers and his own thought is a result of the way in which his understanding of the kind of being we have (Dasein) is different from conceptions of the human subject. Because traditional approaches to ethics incorporate this understanding of the human subject, an investigation of ethics from Heideggers presentation of Dasein is poised to lend new insights into what it means to be ethical. The point of this thesis, though, is not to find those ways in which Heideggers presentation of Dasein can add to our understanding of ethics. Instead, it is first to suggest that an understanding of Dasein can make sense of ethical language. In order to make the case that Dasein is ethical, it will first be required that we present those elements of Daseins being which are central to its distinction from the traditional human subject. The next task will be to examine this depiction of Dasein in relation to traditional ways ethics has been carried out. If we are able to find a connection between some key elements of Daseins being and what we traditionally think to be ethical, then we will have a strong base off of which to build a case for thinking that Dasein can be understood as an ethical kind of being. We will argue that there are such elements which give us strong reason to consider Dasein as ethical. Finally, it will be our task to show how these key elements interact with one another and are constitutive of Daseins being. We will argue that this can be done and that Dasein can be made the focus of a further ethical investigation.