Studies suggest the need for landscapes of contemplation is as real as ever, despite the seeming lack of spaces designed to provide the possibility of transcendent connection. Reintroducing commonly held physical attributes and characteristics of contemplative spaces, repeated through space and time, is a fundamental and necessary way to reflect renewed interest in and need for integrated ways of knowing in the landscape. This study ultimately shows that the contemplative powers of a site exist on a spectrum and reinforces the belief that every landscape architecture project can successfully incorporate some degree of contemplative design, the individual benefits of which can be great, and as a community continue to be explored. Case studies of three sites reveal that certain combinations of criteria seem to have the potential of being more effective than others. This study contributes to the overarching goal of restorative design by addressing the user need of experiencing cosmologically aligned space, the presence of which contributes to a greater sense of place and, by extension, personal identity, orientation, perspective, and purpose. This study also adds to a postmodern understanding of contemplative space, that is, the notion of an ancient framework and its contemporary application and possible contributions to the current and future betterment of individuals and communities.

This thesis shows how the appeal to the transcendent characterizes aspects of the debate amongst leading contemporary philosophers of science regarding the value-free ideal and the attendant aim of attaining objective knowledge. It compares the positions of leading feminist philosophers of science (Longino and Harding) with influential figures in the historically rooted Western belief who appeal to the transcendent in the pursuit of knowledge of the necessary and of the contingent. Chapter 2 relates the historically rooted Western belief in appeal to the transcendent in the pursuit of knowledge and includes two components: the pursuit of knowledge of the necessary and knowledge of the contingent. Chapter 3 assesses how contemporary leading feminist philosophers of science have contended with beliefs of influential 20th century thinkers (Weber, Kuhn and Quine) regarding this problem. Through this comparison, I provide commentary on how current leading philosophers of science have addressed the value-free ideal issue through the prism of appeal to transcendent reason as justification, as opposed to the historically rooted appeal to the transcendent itself via reason as justification and how this apparent disparity has bearing on the debate concerning the value-free ideal and the attendant goal of achieving objective knowledge. / Graduate / 0727 / jahn712002@yahoo.ca

The purpose of this study is to see how adolescent students in high school formulate their thoughts of death and if a belief in transcendent existence affects their thoughts. The study was done on two separate schools, one municipal school and one private religious school, in minor cities in Sweden. The method used was qualitative inquiries and the amount of participants was four from each school, eight in total. The result of the study showed that six out of eight participants had a belief of a transcendent existence, three from the municipal school and three from the religious private school. The result also showed that the participants from the municipal school that had a belief in an transcendent existence also had a belief in a form of “afterlife”, this was however not reflected on the students in the religious private school where result showed that one out of four had a belief in a form of “afterlife” and three view death as the final stage of existence.

N/A / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

Tema for denne oppgaven er refleksjon i veiledning i barnehagen, og studiens problemstilling er som følger: Hva kjennetegner refleksjon man har over seg selv som voksen i barnehagen gjennom veiledning med tilbakevisning, og hvordan kan veiledning med tilbakevisning bidra til veisøkers subjektskaping? Teori som anvendes er blant annet Schibbyes teori om dialektisk relasjonsforståelse og Arendts teoretiske begrep oikos og polis. Ved hjelp av teorien drøftes veisøkers subjektskaping gjennom refleksjon over seg selv som voksen i barnehagen. Observasjoner av veiledning i barnehagen er analysert med tanke på refleksjon man har over seg selv. Her skilles det mellom transcendent refleksjon, som er overskridende og åpner opp for nye forståelser, og immanent refleksjon, som bekrefter tidligere antagelser og oppfatninger. Den overskridende refleksjonens polis trekkes fram som et demokratisk, likeverdig møtested hvor nye forståelser kan fødes. Dette beskrives som en motsetning til den immanente refleksjonens oikos som begrenser seg til å bekrefte tidligere forståelser. Det er valgt en kvalitativ forskningsmetode med en hermeneutisk tilnærming. Metoden for studien har vært å observere personalveiledning i barnehagen hos ett informantpar. Dette ble gjort ved hjelp av film og tilbakevisninger av utvalgte filmklipp. Til slutt ble det foretatt et intervju av informantene med fokus på hvordan de hadde opplevd å være med på denne studien. Pauser og stillhet i veiledningen har trådd fram som kjennetegn på veisøkers refleksjon over seg selv, og funn fra observasjonene kan tolkes som at både veisøker og veileder ved hjelp av tilbakevisningene kan få hjelp til å utvide sin bevissthet på hvordan pausene kan påvirke deres refleksjon. Tilbakevending som ikke må forveksles med tilbakevisning som metode, ble et annet kjennetegn på veisøkers refleksjon over seg selv. Her har veisøker og veileders opplevelse av å få mulighet til å vende tilbake flere ganger til samme tema blitt utforsket. Det kan se ut som at flere tilbakevendinger ga mulighet for at både veisøker og veileder utvidet sine forståelser og dermed kunne ha mulighet til å skape nye tanker og blikk på seg selv. Når det gjelder hvordan veiledning med tilbakevisning kan bidra til veisøkers subjektskaping, får veisøkers syn på seg selv som voksen i barnehagen stor plass i denne studien. Veisøkers refleksjon over seg selv er analysert og delt inn i tre ulike roller: Den Ikoniske Voksne, Den Immanente Voksne og Den Gode Voksne. Ved hjelp av drøfting av disse ulike voksenrollene er det prøvd å se hvordan man gjennom transcendent refleksjon over seg selv kan skape forbindelser mellom den voksne som ikon og den voksne som subjekt. Ved å skape bevissthet på denne forbindelsen kan subjektet få mulighet til å utvikle seg videre.

The following study investigates the impact of the secular processes present in Early Modern Japan on Matsuo Bashō's prose. The theoretical basis for exploring this development is found in Durkheim’s distinction between the transcendent and the immanent, as well as the theoretical framework for secularism. The exploration of Bashō's writings is conducted through several key themes: self-presentation, people, religious concepts, nature and aestheticisms. From these categories a complex pattern emerges. It illustrates the enduring nature of the contemporary world-views through numerous references to and descriptions of existing systems of thought. Bashō's response to the dynamic societal changes of his time is an outright rejection of the new developments; instead he turns to nature and romanticism steeped in existing tradition.

No description available.

In the quarter century since his death, Polanyi's political thought has received little attention. The few studies that are available tend to mis-represent the character of his political thought either by developing only one of its aspects, or worse by presenting his ideas in inappropriately ideological terms. In this thesis I attempt to remedy this situation and present a more accurate account ofPolanyi's political philosophy. Through the careful analysis offundamental aspects ofhis epistemology and ontology, and through a treatment oftheir relation to his political ideas, I present a comprehensive interpretation ofPolanyi's political thought, taking into account the full complexity ofhis philosophical understanding. I present Polanyi as a keen interpreter ofmodernity, whose political thought is characterized not only by its 'conservative' elements, as is argued by all previous interpreters, but also, and more importantly by its anti-and non-ideological quality. I maintain that crucial to the interpretation of Polanyi's political thought is the recognition of the important and hierarchical relationship between man's commitment to the discovery and upholding of the truth ofa transcendent source oforder experienced in reality, and the role of traditions and standards in scientific, intellectual and political life. I maintain that the mis-representative accounts ofPolanyi's political philosophy offered by previous interpreters are due in large part to a failure to recognize the importance of this relationship. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

This thesis examines party-based Euroscepticism across four different national contexts in the period 2011-3 by bringing into focus right-wing populist parties. Understanding Europeanization as a label for the impact of engagement with the EU and its practical and normative influences on statecraft, policy-making, and the wider society, the thesis looks into the Europeanization of narratives of national identity, minority rights issues, immigration and citizenship. It discusses the way in which the impact of engagement with the EU is perceived as well as the nature of the arguments made against the EU’s involvement in associated policy processes. There has been a recent upsurge in Euroscepticism due to a combination of economic and political factors, on both the popular and party level in EU countries, as well as the increased blurring of the boundaries between mainstream and fringe Eurosceptics. Hence, it is important to analyze the precise reasons behind this phenomenon. The discussion focuses on “soft Euroscepticism” – the thesis is generally not interested in pondering the generic arguments against a country’s membership in supranational entities or shedding light on those parties who oppose the underlying values on which the EU project rests. The thesis therefore probes the attitudes of parties that – with the recent and partial exception of the PVV in the Netherlands – tend to emphasize relatively specific issue-areas as sources of concerns. This work is primarily based on qualitative methods - 32 elite interviews with nationalist-populist politicians including key figures such as party leaders (Rolf Schlierer, Gheorghe Funar), European Parliament representatives (Barry Madlener) and members of the National Parliament as well as of the general party councils (Ventsislav Lakov) in addition to detailed analysis of policy documentation and books authored by party representatives – and highlights and deconstructs these parties’ grievances attributable to nationalistically-oriented concerns. It includes a detailed literature review that clarifies the EU’s impacts and country-specific historical and contemporary differences in the four domains affected by “Europeanization” (Chapters 1-3) and then in Chapters 4-6 uses original empirical data to compare the attitudes of the four parties – Ataka, PRM, REP, and PVV – with regard to the issues already introduced. The thesis utilizes theoretical approaches drawn from several disciplines ranging from political science to sociology, though it mostly confines itself to those pertaining to core group or minority/ethno-regionalist nationalist mobilization, ethnic vs. civic nationalisms in Eastern vs. Western Europe, as well as the different role played by EU conditionality in relation to the political landscape on the two sides of the continent. Extrapolating from this body of research, it develops hypotheses and projections regarding the expected disconnect in viewpoints between Eastern and Western parties. The study finds that attitudes towards “Europeanized” issues areas diverge greatly and do not necessarily correlate with the extent to which EU membership as a whole is opposed by the party. In line with previous research findings, the EU’s capacity to create a super-order nationalism that could challenge conventional readings of patriotism is generally not conceptualized as a significant threat. However, the interviews did reveal that pre-existing transcendent identities – like Latin identity in the case of Romania or the Slavic one in Bulgaria - – are perceived as threatened or as being tacitly degraded due to assumed cultural biases within the EU. At the same time, the reduced salience of such identities among the members of the Western populist parties does not make them more sympathetic to Pan-Europeanism. EU effects on immigration are predictably rated as manifestly detrimental by the West European parties, because they distrust the professionalism of EU agencies and networks, dislike the Eastern Europeans’ increasing involvement in making higher-level decisions and perceive the EU as more liberally inclined than the national government in this realm (with the latter two points especially applicable to the PVV). However, it was interesting that the East Europeans also expressed some disquiet due to the EU’s supposed culpability in encouraging emigration of their own citizens and the presumed unwillingness of the EU organs to offer them the necessary financial means for combating immigration into Bulgaria across the Turkish border. However, contrary to theoretical expectations, the study suggests that there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to the populist party’s proclivity to regard the EU as an ally of “minority lobbies”, with the PVV (the most Eurosceptic party) assessing the relevancy of this aspect as minor, while it is gauged to be of fundamental importance by Ataka (less Eurosceptic than the PVV). Among CEE populists, the thesis shows how “privileged minorities” like Hungarians and Turks are viewed with alarm due to supposedly making use of the EU level in order to advance their secessionist ambitions (Hungarians in Romania) or improve their socio-economic prospects at the expense of the majority (Turks in ethnically mixed regions of Bulgaria). In short, the thesis establishes that there is still a strong dividing line between Eastern and Western populist parties in relation to the assessments made with regard to the impact of the EU on European identity, migration issues and majority-minority dynamics.

A basic interpretative research design (Merriam, 2002) was used to investigate the research question, What is the experience of being involved with music while also employed in a professional occupation? This study contributes to the research on meaning and purpose in life and in work. Three professionals, one man and two women, were interviewed using in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Participants were invited to provide a brief personal history and describe areas of life and work that they found challenging as well as rewarding and / or meaningful. Narratives were developed from the participants interviews. <p>Themes that emerged from the data included the participants experiences of meaning and purpose. All three participants identified their salaried employment as providing meaning in their lives. Their experience of music included a transcendent dimension, a sense of connection to others, a higher self, or to God. Factors that may have encouraged or prohibited the participants achievement in work or music included early learning experiences, exposure to role models and mentoring opportunities, financial concerns, socioeconomic status, social support, psychological traits, and self-efficacy beliefs. <p>This study has relevance for individuals seeking meaning and purpose in their own lives. The narratives exemplified the lives of three individuals with the coping skills, resiliencies, and strengths required to thrive personally and professionally and attain a high level of achievement in more than one area. The narratives may also interest individuals interested in pursuing a career in the arts, music in particular. <p> This study is also relevant for parents, teachers, and career counsellors who want to facilitate the development of potential and encourage high achievement in their children, students, and clients. Career counsellors might benefit from a greater understanding of the aspects of life and work that affect the individuals experiences and ability to pursue a high level of achievement. Early recognition of talent, followed by parental support and discipline as well as professional recognition would be a good start. Encouragement in the form of acknowledgement and financial assistance would continue to develop the individuals ability. However, external resources would not be sufficient without the internal resources, such as responsibility, courage, optimism, hope, perseverance, autonomy, and self-acceptance. Further study could research the application of positive psychology to enhance the development of talent and/or achievement.