The work of Nelson Goodman has significantly impacted the philosophical landscape of the latter half of the twentieth century. In this thesis I critically assess Goodman’s later metaphysics, particularly his ontological relativism and multiple worlds hypothesis. I argue that, while Goodman’s view is interesting and important to philosophic thought, it critically fails as a tenable metaphysical position. This failure is twofold: first, Goodman’s argument for ontological relativism rests on the representational fallacy and is therefore unsound; and second his position, when considered as a self-standing metaphysical doctrine, is incoherent. My conclusion is that Goodman must admit some mind-independent structure of reality, otherwise his view should be rejected. However, while I do not argue for any specific form of realism, once some mind-independent structure is admitted, a general realist position becomes preferable to Goodman’s anti-realist, relativist, and constructivist view. / Thesis (Master, Philosophy) -- Queen's University, 2013-09-11 13:59:52.292

My research provides an inquiry of Black southern queerness situated through the artistic performance of j-setting. I explore j-setting as a dance style created by Black gay men by mapping out its beginnings, and how it has (not) traveled through mainstream culture. With this in mind I interrogate how j-setting exists as a cultural scene for Black queer men in the South to celebrate who we are, while also representing a strategy for our survival against racism, heteronormativity, and other dominant forces that pathologize our realities. This project suggests that an exploration of j-setting exemplifies the resilience and vulnerabilities of Black gay men when engaging dominant/mainstream culture. I contend that j-setting represents a form of worldmaking that allows Black gay men to create new racial and gendered possibilities while grappling with the everyday experiences of anti-Black racism and homo/queerphobia.

This study explores the intentions of the character Humbert Humbert in Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, as well as the outcome of his words. It also examines the intended as well as the unintended effects on the reader. Humbert’s attempt to lure in the reader by twisting the truth and deflecting blame is analyzed by using worldmaking and victim-blaming. Through worldmaking it is shown that the perception of the world differs almost as much between different readers as it does between Humbert and the reader. Despite the difference in reader experience, Humbert’s failure to convince any reader of his innocence is inevitable. He even, in part, fails to convince himself. His inability to accept blame slowly diminishes as he reexperiences his vile relationship with the innocent Dolores Haze.

This work explores the opportunities of working with multiplicity in fashion. This provides the freedom ofcombining inspiration from different times, places and cultures. At the same time, it is important that the viewerunderstands the fusion and that the work shows relevance to the current time in fashion. The selected parts inthis fusion are costumes from 19th century America and garments from the Russian designer GoshaRubchinskiy. The focus of this work is a fusion of these two worlds with the aim to find a new way of dressing.By finding methods that explore the complexity of Worldmaking, it led to a better understanding of theimportance of finding the balance between multiplicity and reduction. The materials from these two worlds arebased on items from websites relating to the origin worlds. These items are then developed with inspirationfrom both pleasure and insight. This collection started with two worlds that resulted in a lineup of seven looks. These looks have come torepresent another world, but still contain fragments that can be derived from its origins. This ”another world” isa young concept and eager to continue the creation of a new culture of fashion.

Ce travail se penche sur les enjeux de représentation de genre au Brésil, en prenant pour objet d’étude les performances d’artistes queer et trans de couleur sur la scène musicale populaire brésilienne. Je me penche d’abord sur la conjoncture sociopolitique du Brésil, marquée par un contexte paradoxal de popularité croissante d’artistes de la communauté LGBTQ+, associée à une vague de violences symboliques et physiques envers ces groupes minorisés. En m’inscrivant dans les études culturelles et visuelles, je mobilise ensuite des théories et concepts sur la performance (Taylor, 2003) et la performativité du genre (Butler, 2006), notamment au sein des études queer (Muñoz, 1999), selon une approche intersectionnelle. Je m’attache également à replacer les discours d'identité et de résistance ainsi que les réflexions épistémologiques dans le contexte brésilien. Sur cette base, j’étudie les performances des artistes Linn da Quebrada, Liniker, Gloria Groove, Quebrada Queer, Jup do Bairro et Majur, à travers une analyse textuelle de quatre vidéoclips qui est ensuite étendue aux performances dans les réseaux médiatiques et sociaux, avec Instagram. En réfléchissant aux différentes significations et aux affects produits par ces performances, ce travail met en exergue le rôle subversif des intimités queer et trans et la manière dont elles participent à la création d’un monde queer (Muñoz, 2009). Ces performances transgressent ainsi les normes basées sur le genre, la sexualité, la race et la classe, participant à un mouvement de lutte intersectionnelle et culturelle au Brésil. Enfin, ce travail ouvre la voie à une réflexion sur les manières dont les médias numériques permettent et relaient les performances subversives. / This study investigates issues of gender representation in Brazil through a study of performances by queer and trans artists of colour associated with the Brazilian popular music scene. I first examine the socio-political context of Brazil, marked by a paradoxical context where the increasing popularity of artists from the LGBTQ+ community corresponds with a wave of symbolic and physical violence towards these marginalized groups. In this study grounded in cultural and visual studies, I engage with theories and concepts of performance (Taylor, 2003) and gender performativity (Butler, 2006), particularly within queer studies (Muñoz, 1999), using an intersectional approach. I also insist on situating discourses of identity and resistance and epistemological reflections in the Brazilian context. On this basis, I study the performances of artists Linn da Quebrada, Liniker, Gloria Groove, Quebrada Queer, Jup do Bairro and Majur, through a textual analysis of four video clips that is then articulated with performances in media and social networks, notably Instagram. Reflecting on the different meanings and affects produced by these performances, this study highlights the subversive role of queer and trans intimacies and how they participate in queer worldmaking (Muñoz, 2009). I argue that these performances transgress norms of gender, sexuality, race and class, participating in a movement of intersectional and cultural struggle in Brazil. Finally, this work concludes with a reflection on how digital media enable and relay subversive performances.

Some form of absolutism has generally been the majority view within philosophy and in other traditions, and it is common to take absolutism for granted without providing rational arguments or empirical evidence in support of it. However, such attitudes are not viable if we want to avoid dogmatism. In this paper, I question absolutism and the closely associated correspondence theory of truth through the writings of Goodman and Nāgārjuna. I first describe Goodman‟s philosophy with a focus on his works dealing with „worldmaking‟ and multiple true versions. Subsequently follows an outline of Nāgārjuna‟s philosophy, in which he intended to show that the notion of an essence, an inherently existent entity or relation, is incoherent and that essences would be incompatible with experience. I then reflect on the relation between absolutism and relativism, and propose that the philosophies of Goodman and Nāgārjuna make it possible to transcend both. The paper ends with a discussion on the notion of knowledge in the absence of absolute entities and essences. From the works of Goodman, Nāgārjuna, and Bohm, I put forward the idea that an aspiration for a greater good and fitting is more general than a desire for knowledge of entities, and that it is therefore important to be aware of the larger context in which any given entity appears so that it can be seen to what extent further inquiry and use of it can lead to a greater good and fitting.

This thesis examines the ways in which Beyoncé Knowles-Carter’s 2016 album Lemonade works as a culturally significant text in the realm of popular media. Situated within Black feminist theoretical concepts of freedom practices and Black Feminist Love Politics, the thesis argues that Lemonade mobilizes stylistic and strategic intertextual references to develop a transmedia storyworld within a paradigm of resistance to, and healing from, white supremacist histories. Such intertextual information exists within the musical, lyrical, visual, poetic, and transmedia domains of Lemonade. The transmedia extensions include interviews, live performances, speeches, social media posts, and photoshoots. Combined with theories from Black feminist thought of freedom practices—which include talking back (bell hooks 1989), dark sousveillance (Simone Browne 2015), and interruptions to whiteness (DiAngelo 2011)— and Black Feminist Love Politics (Jennifer Nash 2013), the intertextual data present in Lemonade can be analyzed using methodologies from the field of popular musicology (intertextuality and mediality).

Abstract Cognitive narratology constitutes the study of mind-related aspects of storytelling embracing the nexus of narrative and mind. Theorists in the sphere of cognitive narratology believe that the mental capacities of the reader provide basis for narrative experience involving him or her in the process of co-creation of narrative worlds. This paper examines how The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams engages the reader in the process of co-creation of the narrative world of these novels. The theory of narrative worldmaking is the theoretical framework of this thesis. The analysis of Adams’s novels is structured around three key parameters for the narrative worldmaking: characters, space, and time. As this thesis demonstrates, characters, space, and time as the key elements of Adams’s storytelling strategy prompt readers to use their imagination to a high degree to co-create the narrative world of the novels. / Kognitiv narratologi innebär studie av sinnesrelaterade aspekter av berättande som omfattar kopplingen mellan berättelse och sinne. Teoretiker inom sfären av kognitiv narratologi tror att läsarens mentala kapacitet utgör grunden för narrativa erfarenheter som involverar henom i processen för medskapande av narrativa världar. Den här uppsatsen undersöker hur Liftarens Guide till Galaxen av Douglas Adams engagerar läsaren i ett samskapande av den narrativa världen i dessa romaner. Teorin om narrativt världsskapande är det teoretiska ramverket för denna uppsats. Analysen av Adams romaner är uppbyggd kring tre nyckelparametrar för det narrativa världsskapandet: karaktärer, rum och tid. Som denna uppsats visar, får karaktärer, rum och tid som nyckelelement i Adams berättarstrategi läsarna att använda sin fantasi i hög grad för att samskapa romanernas berättande värld.

In order for the societal paradigm to shift in favor of climate-conscious practices and behaviors, it is clear that new and radically different perspectives need to be introduced to the public’s perception of climate change and sustainability. Humanity is currently suffering from a crisis of the imagination; the illustrious yet hegemonic worldview that we have exhausted all options available to us in the face of climate change. This locks our future in to a set trajectory, as other options that may be unlikely yet possible and (un)desirable are ignored. Through the use of interactive media, specifically commercial video games, such radically different perspectives on the future can be presented to large audiences on a global scale and with instantaneous distribution. Commercial games are able to, through the interplay between interactivity, narrative intrigue and symbolic/ empathetic resonance, create worldmaking interactions which may in turn lead to escape velocity; a possible way to break free of the crisis of the imagination. The empirical foundation for the thesis was gathered through interviews with gamers from all over the world, in which participants shared their stories about gaming, sustainability and climate change. The thesis found that commercial video games are able to aid in the visualization of potential futures by offering worldmaking interactions. The strongest argument for using commercial video games as a conduit for worldmaking interactions seem to be their ability to appeal to our sense of empathy. Further, the thesis found that in this, commercial games are in some ways superior to serious games, though a joining of aspects from both types of games seem to hold greater potential still. Arguments can be made that commercial games lack transferability of experience, though the empirical results of this thesis seem to at least partially discredit this. Further research is needed to assert this fact more firmly. Keeping the empirical results in mind, the thesis offers a simple framework for developers to use in the development of commercially viable games aimed at worldmaking interactions for sustainability.

In over three decades since their 1993 debut, the hip-hop artists known as RZA and Wu-Tang Clan created a world whose significance (for them) transcends the local contingencies of time, place, race, and religion. Whether it is by their creating a world based on filmic myths, by their conquering the world via hip-hop and finding their destiny in a Chinese sacred landscape, by their making themselves symbolic of a perennial worldview, or by their reimagining of their possibilities against the historical terrors of racism, in each case we find an ongoing quest for transcendence that at least for their leader, RZA, demonstrates the meaning of the Wu-Tang Clan. This study sets out to demonstrate this latter point. Framing its discussion in terms of world and worldmaking, I argue that the fundamental thread of significance that ties together the mythical world of the Wu, especially from the perspective of RZA, is a quest for transcendence, a project that is replete with stylistic, spiritual, existential, cross-cultural, and racial implications. While this is no biography of the Wu-Tang Clan, each chapter, starting with Chapter 2, asks how and why this quest takes shape in a sequentially ordered discussion of Wu’s worldmaking career. In arguing my point, I mainly take a phenomenological approach to RZA and the Wu-Tang Clan’s cultural productions, describing and interpreting various forms of Wu-associated media (songs, compact discs, album concepts and graphic designs, films, books, and more) from 1993 to the early 2020s. Between the practices of cultural criticism and interpretation, the study also draws from and contributes to Afro-Asian studies and Religious Studies. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This is a study of the Wu-Tang Clan, a hip-hop group from Staten Island, New York. It argues that for over two decades since their 1993 debut, the Wu-Tang Clan has come to produce not only a long resume of music and other media but a mythic world. Furthermore, for the purpose of maintaining this world across time, Wu’s leader, RZA (pronounced “Rizah’), has aimed to make the Wu-Tang Clan symbolic of a universal worldview that transcends their local culture, history, place of origin, religion, and race.