The question of the nature and meaning of history has become increasingly important in contemporary thought. In theological circles, it has become the central theme of discussion. Thereare a number of reasons why this is so. The events of the times in which we live have brought about a definite rejection of any knowledge-equals-progress idea of history as well as a call for interpretation of the profound social crises which we confront. The widespread influence of existentialism, with its emphasis on relativism and subjectivism, has brought into question not only the nature of history, in terms of present reality, but also the validit of the historians' pursuits. Beginning from the point of Christian ethics and giving considerable attention to the nature of man, [Reinhold] Niebuhr develops his concept of history quite differently from [Rudolf] Bultmann. It will be the task of this paper to examine the idea of history in the thought of each of these men and then, through a critique and comparison, evaluate each in terms of their strengths and weaknesses as well as their similarities and differences.

The foundation of the Chinese Communist Party was originated from the Bolshevik revolution in 1917 and the May Forth movement in 1919. Of the two events, the former inherited the ideological characteristics of ¡§globalization¡¨ on Marxism, while the latter embodied the ideological features of ¡§localization¡¨ on nationalism. Up to now, the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party has still been involving the dialectics of ¡§globalization¡¨ and ¡§localization¡¨. This doctoral dissertation first elaborates on the research motivation, purpose, method, documents, framework and so forth. It then continues to expound on the definitions of ideology, dialectics, globalization and localization. The third chapter discusses Marxism and Leninism which are the origins of the Chinese Communist Party¡¦s ideology. Chapter four analyzes how Mao Zedong conducted the dialectics of ideology and helped the Chinese Communist Party to seize power. Chapter five explores why Mao Zedong led the dialectics of the Chinese Communist Party¡¦s ideology to advance the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. The sixth chapter studies how Deng Xiaoping guided the dialectics of ideology and promoted the Chinese Communist Party to transform a political movement into an economic reform. Chapter seven investigates why and how Jiang Zemin, and later, Hu Jintao carry on the dialectics of the Chinese Communist Party¡¦s ideology and construct the important thought of Three Represents, harmonious society of socialism, etc. Chapter eight concludes the achievements and discoveries of this research. Be it Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, or, as a matter of fact, regardless of whoever was or is in charge, the leader of the Chinese Communist Party invariably conducts the dialectics of ideology on the ¡§globalization¡¨ of Marxism-Leninism and the ¡§localization¡¨ of the Chinese Communist Party in power. Based on the successful experience of ¡§localization¡¨ of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the Chinese Communist Party expects to achieve the goal of ¡§globalization¡¨ of the Marxism-Leninism.

This dissertation examines what constituted 19th century American military science, why it was framed within government policy and taught within the United States Military Academy, and how it became the early American way of war. The work uses as evidence a wide array of documents including biographical records of 2046 West Point graduates. It commences by explaining how military science has been reduced to near oblivion by two revisionist schools, the first regarding the lack of military professionalism in the antebellum army, and the second regarding how Swiss military theorist Antoine Jomini held a stranglehold over antebellum military thought. This dissertation challenges these interpretations. It tracks the evolution of military science from Enlightenment Europe to the United States during American Revolution and its relative obscurity until after the War of 1812. It then explains why a deliberate decision was made to transplant a French Napoleonic version of military science to serve as the curriculum of the military academy and to support the formulation of a national defence policy that called for militarized coastal frontiers and an “expansible army.” The work then follows how and why military science was modified during the period 1820-1860 in response to changes to the threats to the United States, changes related to state and federal plans for “internal improvements,” Indian wars, westward expansion, war with Mexico, and advances in military technology. Specifically it tracks how the doctrine of military science expanded from the teaching of specific Napoleonic applications to embrace subjects needed for war in North America. Inculcation in this American military science eventually came to provide the army with an officer corps that shared a common all-arms doctrine and common skill in using mathematics for military problem-solving. The majority of long-service graduates went on to spend years of their career fulfilling general staff, engineering, or academy instructor duties. The proliferation of military science through their work, and through published texts available to state volunteers, ensured that on the eve of the Civil War there existed a distinctly American, and scientific, way of war. / Thesis (Ph.D, History) -- Queen's University, 2011-07-28 18:19:10.639

James Madison wrote four accounts of faction, the most public and famous of which was Federalist 10. By examining all four accounts, I undertake to develop a more capacious understanding of the design and purpose of Madison’s vision for American constitutional politics than can be extracted from an examination of Federalist 10 alone. I attempt to collate the unique insights of each account of faction into a coherent unity, with special attention to Madison’s rhetoric. I conclude that the three least famous accounts of faction, correctly read, perfect and extend the account in Federalist 10 by offering a more candid window into Madison’s thought on human beings and the political life for which he thought them fit. / text

This thesis deals with the double truth concept in Maimonides and Averroes, particularly in The Guide for the Perplexed and in The Decisive Treatise. At first the thesis will try to determine the terminological and methodological frame of this topic and to deal with the commentary tradition regarding this topic. While doing this, it will deal with the use of the term "truth" in Aristotle and in The Scripture and it will also ask what sentences can or cannot be deemed true or false according to Aristotelian logic. The thesis will further try to sketch the outlines of different aspects and types of double truth concept, which we can find in the authors of the primary literature. In its second part, the thesis deals with the nature of the primary literature and then with the relevant text passages, which serve to demonstrate the previously outlined double truth concept

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<p>This thesis examines the concept of God as Father in the thinking of two Patristic authors: Athanasius (c. 293-373) and Gregory of Nazianzus (c. 329-390). Since God is called Father frequently in the New Testament both Athanasius and Gregory see the name as fundamental to understanding the nature of the intradivine life, as well as God’s relationship to humankind. The reliance of Patristic authors on the language of Father and Son brings relational language to the fore of Christological and trinitarian discussions of the 4th and 5th centuries. In this thesis, I endeavour to demonstrate the centrality of the fatherhood of God in the thinking of Athanasius and Gregory of Nazianzus, and to connect their thinking on this topic to larger theological questions of the period.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>A large part of modern Western philosophy defines selfhood as the self’s ability to master itself and psychological wellbeing as the actualization of self-integration. However, as this thesis argues, Kierkegaard’s understanding of longing for God challenges this understanding human identity, especially as it is articulated by Kant and the German Idealists. Through an examination of Kierkegaard’s <em>Concluding Unscientific Postscript</em> and his religious discourses, the thesis argues that Kierkegaard’s theology of longing both undermines the modern psychology understanding of autonomous selfhood and preserves a qualified understanding of autonomy. The thesis argues that Kierkegaard’s theology has much in common with Augustine’s understanding of longing in <em>The Confessions.</em> For Kierkegaard, the longing for God is not just a heteronomous desire for self-annihilation in God. The longing in question is relational and intellectual; it is a response to God’s illuminative self-revelation and self-communicative love. But as relational, the life lived in longing for God is not wholly autonomous either. In prayer the soul experiences its own neediness and imperfections as it begins to experience God’s perfection. Broadly conceived, the thesis explores Kierkegaard’s understanding of this <em>neither . . . nor . . . </em>, that is, his understanding of a religious life lived neither fully autonomously nor fully heteronomously. The thesis argues further that much contemporary scholarship cannot take Kierkegaard’s relational understanding of the God-relationship seriously and therefore misinterprets his understanding of human identity.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)