My thesis is intended to analyse the interactions between Greek and Roman Comedy and Cynicism. My study, that considers all the complex issues related to the sources of Cynicism, is developed using a double perspective. On the one hand, I examine the formal debts that Cynical tradition has contracted towards Comedy and the different functions of the geloion in the communicative forms used by Cynics. In this perspective, I also analyse the passages where the ancient sources put into relation Cynics with Comedy or with a specific comedian and the passages in which the attribution fluctuates between comedians and Cynics. On the other hand, I study the representation of Cynics in Comedy. Therefore, the significant part of my research is committed to the collection and to the comments of the comic verses where there is a reference to Cynics or where scholars have suspected an allusion to them. In this analyse, I devote a special attention to the comparison between the representation of Cynics in Comedy and these in other sources. From this analysis we can infer that there are not many differences about elements used to the representation, but rather a risemantisation and a different connotation of same elements. / Mon travail de thèse se propose d’analyser les interactions entre Comédie grecque et latine et Cynisme. Mon étude, qui prend en compte toutes les problematiques complexes liées aux sources du Cynisme, se developpe selon deux directions. D’un côté, j’étudie les dettes formelles que la tradition cynique a envers la comédie et les différentes fonctions du geloion dans les formes communicatives adoptées par les Cyniques. Dans cette première perspective, j’analyse aussi les passages où les sources anciennes associent les Cyniques à la Comédie ou à un comique en particulier et les passages pour lesquels l’attribution oscille entre comiques et Cyniques. De l’autre, j’étudie la manière dont les Cyniques sont représentés par les comédiens. La partie la plus consistante de la thèse est donc dédiée au receuil et au commentaire ponctuel des vers comiques dans lesquels figure une référence explicite aux Cyniques ou dans lesquels les chercheurs ont soupçonné une allusion.

Alan Sokal has questioned the postmodern assertion that 'science is ... a "myth'', a "narration" ... a "social construction'" (1998: x). This dissertation examines his reasons for rejecting this allegedly postmodern declaration. Firstly, it suggests that the basis for Sol'1ll's contention that a 'true' world exists beyond one's awareness of it extends to an attack on modem philosophy, and is not limited to its postmodern component. Then, it describes defences of the 'linguistic construction' of science as thinly veiled attempts at emulating scientific discourses. In a more speculative vein, the dissertation goes on to evaluate claims made against science in terms of its connection to warfare; its insensitivity to mythology, and its generally misdirected values. It is in terms of value that the dissertation detects an analogous relationship between the discourses of mythology and science. Finally, a playful 'postmodern' reading is attempted of Sol'1ll's use of fiction in establishing the truth of his assertions. / English Studies / M.A.(English)

This dissertation is generally concerned with Plato's conception of philosophy, as the conception is ascertainable from the Republic and certain ‘post-Republic' dialogues. It argues that philosophy, according to Plato, is multi-disciplinary; that ‘philosophy' does not mark off just one art or science; that there are various philosophers corresponding to various philosophical sciences, all of which come together under a common aim: betterment of self through intellectual activity. A major part of this dissertation is concerned with Plato's science par excellence, ‘the science of dialectic' (he epistêmê dialektikê). The science of dialectic is distinguished in Plato by being concerned with Forms or Kinds as such; the science of dialectic, alone amongst the philosophical sciences, fully understands what it means for Form X to be a Form. I track the science of dialectic, from its showcase in Republic VI and VII, and analyze its place in relation to the other philosophical sciences in certain post-Republic dialogues. Ultimately, I show that, whilst it is not the only science constituting philosophy, Plato's science of dialectic represents the intellectual zenith obtainable by man; the expert of this science is the topmost philosopher. In this dissertation I also argue that Socrates, as variously depicted in these dialogues, always falls short of being identified as the philosopher par excellence, as that expert with positive knowledge of Forms as such. Yet I also show that, far from being in conflict, the elenctic Socrates and the philosopher par excellence form a complementary relationship: the elenctic philosopher gets pupils to think about certain things in the right way prior to sending them off to work with the philosopher par excellence.

The Philosophers such as ibn-Sina had maintained that time and space were co-eternal with Allah, emanating by necessity from His Attributes, and not being the results of a deliberate act of creation. This must be the case, for otherwise nothing would have been present to induce Him to create the world after a period of non-existence. Al-Ghazali's refutation of this is that Allah had decreed in pre-eternity that the world would materialize at a future, predetermined date, selecting an instance for its birth from a myriad like-instances by exercising His Free Will and manifesting therewith a cause with a delayed effect. The Philosophers' explanation of local phenomena as resulting from the perpetual motion of the spheres is flawed, since perpetual celestial motions would result in perpetual, not transient phenomena. Time, the measure of motion, does not extend beyond the physical realm. Time, and hence motion, is finite. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M.A. (Ancient Languages & Cultures)

Les philosophes français des Lumières se sont évertués, notamment dans la deuxième moitié du XVIIIe siècle, à préciser les cas où l’inégalité et les limites de la liberté seraient conformes aux lois naturelles afin de proposer les préceptes permettant une vie sociale épanouie. Ce faisant, ils ouvrirent la voie à la formation des absolutismes éclairés qui trouvent leurs racines juridiques dans la théorie du droit naturel. Elaborée pour une large part par Voltaire qui la mettait directement en relation avec l’idéologie des absolutismes « classiques », l’idéologie des absolutismes éclairés avait pour but principal la création d’un Etat fort. Ayant accepté les propositions des philosophes les « rois philosophes » ou « monarques éclairés » fondèrent les justificatifs d’une telle politique sur la langue, la mode, et surtout sur la confiance dans un progrès que la France avait su promouvoir. / The French philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment, especially in the second part of the eighteenth century, endeavoured to specify the cases in which inequality and the limitations of freedom would be in accordance with natural laws in order to propose precepts for a blossoming life. By doing so, they opened the way to the formation of enlightened absolutism, a model of government that finds its legal foundations in the Natural Law Theory Developed largely part by Voltaire, who put it in the direct relation with the ideology of “classical” absolutism, the ideology of enlightened absolutism had as its principal goal the creation of a strong state. Having embraced the philosophers’ precepts, the “enlightened monarchs” or “philosopher kings” founded the evidence of such a policy on language, fashion, and especially on the confidence in a progress that France had been able to promote.

Matěj Novotný - Impiety in Classical Athens Abstract The thesis discusses the definition and prosecution of impiety in democratic Athens during the Classical period, i.e. in 5th-4th centuries BCE. The question of "impiety" in the narrower sense, i.e. of what was denoted by the Greek word ἀσέβεια (literally, "the absence/negation of respect"), is set into larger context of other crimes of religious character, covered by special laws: "sacrilege" (ἱεροσυλία), digging out sacred olive-trees, offences against festivals and other delicts which were not subsumed under any more general term in the laws, pragmatically formulated as they were. The dissertation builds on the work of the researchers who show considerable scepticism towards the reliability of later sources, for example Plutarch or Diogenes Laertius - this is connected with doubts concerning processes against philosophers before Socrates. At the same time, the thesis follows the scholars who doubt the authenticity of the documents inserted in the speeches of the Attic Orators. For these reasons, a considerable part of the thesis is devoted to the rebuttal of late reports and inserted documents. A particular attention is given to the Decree of Diopeithes, which is mentioned in Plutarch's Life of Pericles and is usually interpreted as criminalising...

The Philosophers such as ibn-Sina had maintained that time and space were co-eternal with Allah, emanating by necessity from His Attributes, and not being the results of a deliberate act of creation. This must be the case, for otherwise nothing would have been present to induce Him to create the world after a period of non-existence. Al-Ghazali's refutation of this is that Allah had decreed in pre-eternity that the world would materialize at a future, predetermined date, selecting an instance for its birth from a myriad like-instances by exercising His Free Will and manifesting therewith a cause with a delayed effect. The Philosophers' explanation of local phenomena as resulting from the perpetual motion of the spheres is flawed, since perpetual celestial motions would result in perpetual, not transient phenomena. Time, the measure of motion, does not extend beyond the physical realm. Time, and hence motion, is finite. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M.A. (Ancient Languages & Cultures)

Alan Sokal has questioned the postmodern assertion that 'science is ... a "myth'', a "narration" ... a "social construction'" (1998: x). This dissertation examines his reasons for rejecting this allegedly postmodern declaration. Firstly, it suggests that the basis for Sol'1ll's contention that a 'true' world exists beyond one's awareness of it extends to an attack on modem philosophy, and is not limited to its postmodern component. Then, it describes defences of the 'linguistic construction' of science as thinly veiled attempts at emulating scientific discourses. In a more speculative vein, the dissertation goes on to evaluate claims made against science in terms of its connection to warfare; its insensitivity to mythology, and its generally misdirected values. It is in terms of value that the dissertation detects an analogous relationship between the discourses of mythology and science. Finally, a playful 'postmodern' reading is attempted of Sol'1ll's use of fiction in establishing the truth of his assertions. / English Studies / M.A.(English)

Marmontel, écrivain bien connu de son temps et aujourd’hui presque oublié, a produit une œuvre diverse et abondante dont l’unité est analysée dans ce travail. L’œuvre de ce polygraphe est prise en compte, dans une perspective littéraire et historique. Son parcours intellectuel est d’abord mis en rapport avec le portrait de l’honnête homme, écrivain mondain et agent d’influence que façonnèrent ses Mémoires. En deuxième lieu, sa position au sein de la République des Lettres est réévaluée, depuis ses postulats théoriques (poétique et esthétique) jusqu’à leur application pratique (réécritures, traductions, relations avec Voltaire, avec « le mouvement encyclopédique » et avec ses adversaires). Enfin, les relations de Marmontel et de son public sont explorées. L’étude de sa poésie et de ses Contes moraux permet de déterminer dans quelle mesure l’œuvre de cet écrivain fut modelée par son dessein de faire carrière et adaptée au public qu’il visait. Ce travail a pour but de changer la perspective généralement adoptée dans les études consacrées à Marmontel, en montrant qu’il n’est pas seulement un reflet de son époque mais qu’il a pu l’influencer, à sa manière, en retour. / Marmontel, a well-known writer in his time – but almost unremembered nowadays – created a diverse and profuse work which unity is being recovered here. This versatile writer’s work is taken into account through a literary and historical angle. His intellectual journey is being connected to the portrait of the honest man, worldly author, and leverage agent, which were built up in his Memoirs. Furthermore, his place within the Republic of Letters is being reappraised, from his theoretical (poetic, and aesthetic) postulates to their practical implementation (rewriting, translating, interactions with Voltaire and with the “encyclopedia school”, as well as with his opponents). Finally, Marmontel’s relationships with his audience are being examined. The study of his poetry and his Moral Tales allows us to establish to what extent his writings were shaped by his design to succeed and adapted to the audience he targeted. This work aims to change the perspective generally adopted in the studies devoted to Marmontel, by showing that not only was he a reflection of his times, but he also managed, in return, to influence his age, in his own way.

Doctorat en philosophie et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished