Systematic Theology & Theological Ethics / (D.Th(Systematic Theology))

The purpose of the study was to examine categories of self-actualization and specific biographical and developmental factors from the data on 225 individuals selected from top and middle management by psychologists with Rohrer, Hibler and Replogle, international firm of management consultants. The investigation was designed to determine if differences existed for the two groups.

The aim of this study is to analyse the patterns of ancient myths that can be found in the novel Le Petit Prince by Antoine Saint-Exupery. In order to understand the culture and human behavior we will draw parallels to ancient myths and through the discovered myths in the novel, we will use the help of Carl Gustav Jung’s theory about the human psyche. The main questions are the following :  What are the patterns of ancient myths in the novel Le Petit Prince ? Do these myths carry any messages that we, as readers, can learn from ? In the introduction, a theorical backround is given which defines the concept of myth and explains briefly Jung’s theory. Our analysis shows that although myths differ from one another they all have the same roots. By this means, all characters in myths are archetypes that, according to Jung, are the same through history and in every culture. By studying the archetypes in this novel, like the divine child, Anima/Animus, the Sages etc., we are able to understand the plot more clearly. We are also aware of patterns that seem to repeat themselves through the generations. Our conclusion is that humans adapt easily to their surroundings and eventually lose their self-awareness. Therefore Saint-Exupery sends readers the message that we have to wake ourselves up to truly live our lives. Also we discovered that numerous archetypes that are present in all of myths, give us clues to self-realization, thus myths are necessary for people of all ages.

The term ‘snap’ can be defined as breaking under tension as well as a sudden sharp noise. Both definitions lend themselves to the content of this short story collection and its theme of self-realization (the awakening from an illusionary self-identity or ego). Snap is a progression of stories that revolves around waking up. Novels such as Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing, and Paul Auster’s The New York Trilogy have all examined the issue of finding identity through a breaking of the protagonist. In each case, the protagonists come to a point where they completely separate themselves from their identity, and thus are able to see themselves from a new perspective. Snap further explores the issue of finding identity. However, unlike many postmodern predecessors it tries to give answers. The collection reveals that while we are individuals engaged in an internal struggle we are also connected to one another.

Modernising discourses of intellectual disability have brought innovative social technologies that promote participation and freedom for people so labelled. This thesis argues there is a key experiential contradiction between these discourses as operationalised in neo-liberalism and the ways that people with intellectual disability embrace self-advocacy and become political actors in their own right. Through its inherently moral claims, self-advocacy supports the experiential voice of the 'other' and reveals itself as a sustaining and enduring pillar in the struggle against human injustice and inequity. These other discourses, in contrast, intensify individualisation, ignore power relations and depoliticise self-advocacy as a politics of resistance. The first part of the thesis critically examines the emergence of intellectual disability as a dimension of human difference and examines how forms of knowledge shape social and policy responses to such people. The second part presents a collaborative action research methodology and a reflective study which challenges the bio-medical, positivist and psycho-reductionist styles of research that have objectified people with intellectual disability. Using this methodology, the voices and experiences of two groups of self-advocates, one in England and the other in Australia are interpreted. Contemporary professional and other governmental interventions demand individual competencies in the pursuit of self-determination. These discourses of empowerment and citizenship are in constant tension with historically conditioned structures which shape the material and social lives of people with intellectual disability. The thesis finds similarities in the ways that self-advocates and their allies interpret these political realities and work within, across and beyond their contradictory trajectories of constraint and freedom. The study suggests that self-advocacy is a complex and sophisticated practice aimed at recognition of the unique lived experience of intellectual disability and the legitimacy of claims to self-representation. It also operates at a deeper level as an emotional process of transformation. Its powerful recuperative character sustains liberated identities for people with intellectual disability, many of whom have experienced lives of abuse, neglect and mis-recognition. Such practices have the potential to contribute to transforming both the centres of policy-making and power and subaltern selves.

The purpose of this essay is to examine whether and how labor consultants, job coaches, guidance counselors promote the possibility of self-realization of the clients they encounter in their work. By analyzing, based on the theoretical framework, six semi-structured interviews of people having the chosen professions answer the questions "Do counselors promote client's opportunities for self-realization in their work?" and "If so: how is this practiced?". In the theoretical framework three important concepts are addressed: "identity", "recognition" and "self-realization". These are explained with the help of works by including Emma Engdahl, Anthony Giddens, Axel Honneth and Allison Weir. Other influential theorists appearing are George H. Mead, Erving Goffman, Michel Foucault and Charles Taylor. The results show that respondents' practices are different but there is a similarity in the goals they are trying to achieve. The goal is that clients should have received tools to be free to set long-term goals and achieve them. Guidance and counseling is, according to the results of the essay, to create awareness for the clients of their own roles (mostly as job seekers) and enable the development of these.

In order to achieve entire impact on personal culture, artistic education has to be based on anthropocentric orientation process self–realization. The process, stimulating a person’s activity and determining its aspect, is closely related to motivation. Musical performance may become a factor that generates the necessary motivation, if everyone who learns to play a musical instrument would interrelate the playing in concerts with self–realization. That is the problem from the educational point of view. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of musical performance on learning to play a musical instrument. The object of the study was the motivation of the students of 4–6 grades from music schools. They play different instruments and participate in concerts. Methods. The research for this study was conducted with the help of a questionnaire specially prepared for this research. 178 students of 4-6 grades from the music schools from Marijampole, Kaisiadorys and Raseinai participated in the study. They all learn to play different musical instruments. The questionnaire tested how the musical performance influences motivation, the students’ attitude towards participation in concerts, the factors determining their attitudes. Results. The results of the study showed that theoretically valid and empirically tested stimulus of playing in concerts with the chosen musical instrument influences the motivation of learning. The author of this study has produced a set of... [to full text]

Sufism is a living mystical tradition with tools and a theoretical framework geared to facilitate the realization of one’s full potential. This thesis examines the nature of such a realization, which culminates in an experience of nondual Self-realization. Transpersonal psychology provided the conceptual framework for this study, as it attempts to document the role that altered states of consciousness play in facilitating health and wellbeing. This research also drew heavily from the methodology of phenomenological hermeneutics and transpersonal phenomenology, which supported the investigation into the lived experience of five Sufi practitioners. The guiding research question of this exploratory inquiry asks, What has been the lived experience of Sufi practitioners on their journey towards nondual Self-realization? The research findings consist of eight themes that emerged during the analysis of the textual data. The implications of these findings impact the health and counseling fields, as well as the environmental crisis. / viii, 253 leaves ; 29 cm

Modernising discourses of intellectual disability have brought innovative social technologies that promote participation and freedom for people so labelled. This thesis argues there is a key experiential contradiction between these discourses as operationalised in neo-liberalism and the ways that people with intellectual disability embrace self-advocacy and become political actors in their own right. Through its inherently moral claims, self-advocacy supports the experiential voice of the 'other' and reveals itself as a sustaining and enduring pillar in the struggle against human injustice and inequity. These other discourses, in contrast, intensify individualisation, ignore power relations and depoliticise self-advocacy as a politics of resistance. The first part of the thesis critically examines the emergence of intellectual disability as a dimension of human difference and examines how forms of knowledge shape social and policy responses to such people. The second part presents a collaborative action research methodology and a reflective study which challenges the bio-medical, positivist and psycho-reductionist styles of research that have objectified people with intellectual disability. Using this methodology, the voices and experiences of two groups of self-advocates, one in England and the other in Australia are interpreted. Contemporary professional and other governmental interventions demand individual competencies in the pursuit of self-determination. These discourses of empowerment and citizenship are in constant tension with historically conditioned structures which shape the material and social lives of people with intellectual disability. The thesis finds similarities in the ways that self-advocates and their allies interpret these political realities and work within, across and beyond their contradictory trajectories of constraint and freedom. The study suggests that self-advocacy is a complex and sophisticated practice aimed at recognition of the unique lived experience of intellectual disability and the legitimacy of claims to self-representation. It also operates at a deeper level as an emotional process of transformation. Its powerful recuperative character sustains liberated identities for people with intellectual disability, many of whom have experienced lives of abuse, neglect and mis-recognition. Such practices have the potential to contribute to transforming both the centres of policy-making and power and subaltern selves.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2004. / Adviser: Niva Piran.