Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This thesis turns to Martin Heidegger to develop an interpretive framework to answer the question that has increasingly been thrust to the fore of 21st century society: what is the nature of the relationship between technology and society? And related to this central question is the matter of how society and social being is altered by technology and its modalities of vision? The basic argument that has been advanced to address this question revolves around the fact that in as much as we use technology as a means to serve practical ends, it displaces certain tasks and functions, which would otherwise be necessary, and thus truncates or reduces the scope of social practices in our everyday social routines. However, it does not simply end there as we illustrate that social practices encompass, to varying degrees, a different range and scope of social relationships which are instantiated in their wake. Considered together we found that these relations constitute a nexus of social connections, which we take up as the quality of sociality. The implications for our argument that sociabilities and sociality converge to produce an understanding of social being means that any technological encroachments which displace our social practices and social connectives alters our understanding of social being and thus how we understand ourselves, the world and others. We take up this theme of the displacement of our social being, sociality and sociabilities by considering two outcomes that modern technology seems to open up: equipmentality and curiosity.Firstly, as regards equipmentality we have noted that it connect us to our sociality and sociabilities and thus inures our understanding of social being, however, by contrast Heidegger finds in (idle) curiosity a second outcome that dooms us to the dystopian fate of nihilism. There is thus no fait accompli as regards modern technology’s nihilistic tendencies. This does not mean that we can be complacent about our future. But it does mean, on a positive note, that we human beings do have a responsibility to recognize technology’s efficacious ontological dimension for disclosing our being and the world.By contrast, on the negative task, our responsibility does extend to resisting modern technology’s nihilistic ontological wasteland, which does not admit objects, things or for that matter human beings, but only the flattened insubstantial being of resources as standing reserve for the technological system, bereft of sociality, humanity and an understanding of social be-ing.

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No / Nineteenth-century Britain was one of the birthplaces of modern vegetarianism in the West. In 'Of Victorians and Vegetarians' James Gregory explores the relationship between this newly organized movement and wider culture and society. It evolved with a myriad of meanings and voices: partly for propagandist reasons, but also because of the varied motivations and characteristcs of vegetarians. Teetotallers, animal lovers, mystics, spiritualists and theosophists, as well as those who saw the diet as an effective and democratic medical treatment, all provided the constituents for a movement whose critics associated it with radicalism and faddism. Frequently counter-cultural, in its association with socialism and communitarianism throughout the period, vegetarianism also expressed in heightened form the already well-established values of self-help, philanthropy, thrift, Puritanism, domesticity and a belief in progress.

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This thesis explores whether and to what extent civil society within the framework of post-communist transition, provides a bulwark against the resurgence of exclusivist nationalism, in four countries: Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. In that respect minorities' and especially Roma's rights are extensively examined. Related to these issues is to what extent the third sector has been able to develop a democratic political culture among the populations of the respective countries. During the course of the research, the concept of political culture was perceived relatively strong, considering the short period of post-communist transition. However, it is worth looking into whether civil society has managed to develop attitudes consistent with what a democratic political culture demands. Non-governmental organisations have been selected as agents of civil society, capable of articulating the demands in the new post-communist era. Particular consideration is given to the theoretical relation between civil society, nationalism and democracy both before and after the fall of communism. The same topics are briefly presentedfo r eachc ountry individually. The empirical section examines three different methods of appraising NGOs: firstly NGOs are assessed according to basic criteria namely, founding members, financial resources, co-operation with local authorities etc. Secondly, their direct impact on legislation and institutional development is analysed. Thirdly, their impact on the development of a democratic political culture is examined. Finally, all factors are evaluated and concluding comparative remarks are made

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