Recent academic and popular discourse has understood the personal and social costs from increasingly powerful and persuasive technologies in terms of abuse, colonisation and oppression. Albert Borgmann also argues there is a concealed form of captivity and deprivation among technological citizens which he calls advanced poverty. Despite a wide recognition of suffering and exploitation amidst increasing human/technological imbrication, liberation theology has given no serious attention to oppression/emancipation within a culture of technology. Technology, however, is not simply privileged means for pursuing (...) the promises of modernity, it carries the mark of capitalism and a distinct way of taking up the world. Today, emerging asymmetries of knowledge and power prompt a consideration of predatory persuasive technologies, the complicity of all techno-citizens and the opportunities for freedom in this context. This project is interested to understand whether captivity and deprivation within a culture of technology is credible and recognisable today. Could persons in anything like ‘advanced poverty’ be a locus theologicus in the liberationist tradition? I broadly conclude that attention colonisation amidst techno-capitalistic escalation is a real form of injury, an ongoing suffering or oppression, deserving of theology’s consideration. These intensifying conditions require resistance/reform within the designs and uses of devices, as well as practices of voluntary poverty or re-burdenment which have the effect of retarding escalation, opening spaces for rewilding in the technosystem and lowering us back down to earth, where the significance of vulnerable persons and things is rediscovered and celebrated. A liberation theology of technology is necessary for persons enduring emerging forms of oppression and colonisation in an increasingly technified world. (shrink)

The present study is an enquiry into the metaphysics of tonal harmony. Specifically, it is aimed at accounting for the ontology and the aesthetics of chords. Part I concerns the ontology of chords. Since chords are sounds, I begin by considering the nature of sound. In Chapter One, I characterise the problem of sound in terms of the current philosophical debate, which is marked by two main dichotomies: on the one hand, the Wave and the Event View are taken to (...) be irreconcilable; on the other hand, the Event and the Object View are also seen as incompatible. Conversely, in Chapter Two I propose a thesis of sonic reconciliation, which is aimed at integrating the fundamentals of those views. In light of my conciliatory approach, I proceed to examine the nature of chords qua sound events in Chapter Three, where I establish the necessary conditions for chord events to exist. This is followed by an analysis of the psychoacoustics and phenomenology of chord perception in Chapter Four, under which I give an account of the nature of chords qua Gestalt-based auditory objects. Yet, given that chords are distinctive musical entities within the domain of tonal harmony, in Chapter Five I provide an account of their nature qua musical individuals, which further substantiates my treatment of the ontology of chords. In turn, Part II is focused on the aesthetics of chords. In Chapter Six, I introduce the problem of consonance as concerning what kind of property consonance is: on the one hand, consonance is treated primarily as a psychoacoustic property; on the other hand, it is taken to be a musical property. The problem thus consists in the conflict between psychoacoustic and musical views on consonance and dissonance. In response, I propose the thesis of the dual phenomenology of consonance/dissonance as pertaining to two different components of musical consonance: the sensory component and harmony (i.e. the distinctively musical experience of chords). After examining the psychoacoustic basis of consonance/dissonance perception in Chapter Seven, in Chapter Eight I account for the aesthetics of chords qua isolated auditory objects and qua musical individuals within a distinctively musical context, whilst also indicating how the psychoacoustics of harmony and the musical experience of it may be reconciled. In Chapter Nine, I substantiate the thesis of the dual phenomenology of consonance/dissonance further by arguing that the sensory component is best accounted for under the notion of response-dependence, whereas harmony is best understood under aesthetic supervenience. In Chapter Ten, I examine the instability of chord tokens vis-a-vis tuning and temperament differences, which have historically proven to be more intractable than the problem of consonance itself. (shrink)

We make character trait attributions to predict and explain others’ behaviour. How should we understand character trait attribution in context across the domains of philosophy, folk psychology, developmental psychology, and evolutionary psychology? For example, how does trait attribution relate to our ability to attribute mental states to others, to ‘mindread’? This thesis uses philosophical methods and empirical data to argue for character trait attribution as a practice dependent upon our ability to mindread, which develops as a product of natural selection (...) acting on culture instead of genes. This analysis carves out trait attribution’s distinct place within an emerging complex and mature scholarship on pluralistic social cognition. (shrink)

Matthias (2004) argues that the use of autonomous systems leads to 'moral responsibility gaps': cases involving the outputs of learning autonomous systems where seemingly no human agent is responsible. In this thesis, I investigate the notion of morally responsible autonomous system in order to propose a solution to moral responsibility gap problems. I argue that contemporary and near-future autonomous systems can be considered manipulated reasons-responsive entities, and further I conclude that one can trace the moral responsibility for autonomous systems' outputs (...) and their immediate consequences back to their users. The thesis centres on three pivotal ideas. The first is to treat non-malfunctioning autonomous systems as potential moral agents, as opposed to mere tools. This change in perspective allows one to raise questions about the potential status of autonomous systems, both current and future, as morally responsible entities. By adopting this perspective, one can investigate what conditions for moral responsibility autonomous systems might be able to fulfil - and which conditions they do not. The second is the concept of Machine Compatibilism. This thesis shows that current literature rejects the very idea of morally responsible autonomous systems by assuming that moral responsibility is incompatible with the systems' determined nature. Machine Compatibilism is introduced in response to this. The thesis further develops a machine-focused version of Fischer and Ravizza's (1998) reasons-responsive compatibilism as an example of a promising machine compatibilist account. The third is the identification of current and near-future autonomous systems as manipulated reasons-responsive entities. Together with the machine compatibilist account developed earlier on, this provides a framework for analysing moral responsibility gap problems, and for bridging the moral responsibility gap. (shrink)

Self-knowledge is the knowledge we have of our inner lives. In this thesis I develop and defend an account of a particular kind of self-knowledge: our first-person knowledge of our current conscious mental states. Such states include (but are not limited to) our own current perceptual experiences, pains, sensations, and imagery. I argue that self-knowledge of these states is possible because we have a special kind of access to them. This access takes the form of a relation of awareness, between (...) a subject and the phenomenal properties of their current conscious states, which has certain epistemic and metaphysical features. This relation of awareness I call 'acquaintance'. It is because we are aware of our current conscious states in this way that we are able to form judgements about them. These judgements, when properly justified, amount to self-knowledge. My account is made in three stages. Firstly, I give an argument for the features of the acquaintance relation. I argue that these features constitute an awareness of the phenomenal properties of our conscious states which is epistemically secure enough to form the basis of self-knowledge. Secondly, I argue that our current conscious mental states are individuated by their phenomenal properties. Hence, by being acquainted with a state's phenomenal properties, we can be aware of both what kind of mental state it is (its state type), and what the state represents (its content). This gives us all the information we need to be able to form judgements in which we accurately self-ascribe these states. Finally, I explain how it is that these self-ascriptions are justified. I argue that the resulting account - the Acquaintance Account - explains our first-person knowledge of current conscious states. (shrink)

This dissertation aims to restore the pivotal role of the subject within emotional experiences by stressing the importance that both narrative identity and self-concept have in determining those very emotional experiences. In order to achieve so, I will appeal to a specific family of accounts of emotions, borrowed from the psychological literature: Psychological Constructionism. The first half of this thesis will be devoted to presenting and discussing both the strengths and the weaknesses of Psychological Constructionism. Since Psychological Constructionism stems from (...) the psychological literature, many philosophical issues remain open and need to be addressed. Among them are how to cash out the intentionality of core affect, what the best account of concepts is, whether Psychological Constructionism qualifies as a perceptual or a cognitive account, and so forth. The second half of this thesis will be devoted to factoring narrative identity and self-concept into Psychological Constructionism; by borrowing examples from the literature and from popular tv series, I will argue that most of our emotional experiences would not be intelligible in a deeper sense without considering one's own narrative and self-concept. In turn, emotional experiences shape and influence the kind of self-concept and narrative we possess. To conclude, my dissertation will enrich Psychological Constructionism by including narrative and self-concept as sources of variability and by making it a competitor on the market of philosophical accounts of emotions. (shrink)

For the last seventy years, metaphysics within the analytic tradition has been dominated by Quinean metaontology. This metaontology’s main claim is that what the existential quantifier ranges over in first-order predicate logic translations of true sentences exists. So, everything exists. In this thesis, however, I provide a defence of Noneism, which is a species of Meinongianism. Whereas Meinongianism claims that some things do not exist, Noneism claims that such nonexistent objects have no being whatsoever. It is clear, then, that Noneism (...) contradicts Quinean metaontology. In order to defend Noneism, I first undermine the natural language motivation of Quinean metaphysics by showing that natural language suggests existence is not captured by existential quantification, but that natural language appears to make a distinction between neutral and loaded quantification. For the rest of the thesis, the debate focusses on fictional objects. Against fictionalism, which claims that there are no fictional characters, I argue that it does not provide enough reason to claim that apparent truths about fictional characters are not really about fictional characters. To defend the claim that these apparent truths are literally true, I provide an account of aboutness and intentional identity in order to make sense of the claim that we can speak about the same object. By means of this account, I solve two paradoxes concerning intentional identity. Against Fictional Realism, which claims that fictional characters exist, I argue that it cannot providea straightforward account of literal truths about fictional characters. Since Fictional Realism is motivated by its ability to provide straightforward interpretations of truths about fictional characters, my observa-tion undermines the motivation for Fictional Realism. By contrast, I claim that fictional characters aretruths about nonexistent objects. Lastly, I argue that Modal Meinongianism is best able to provide an account of the data presented throughout this thesis. I argue that other forms of Meinongianism are not able to provide an identity criterion for nonexistent objects that is consistent with the account of intentional identity that I provideearlier. Modal Meinongianism, however, is able provide such an account. To conclude, I discuss the consequences of this defence and propose avenues for metaphysical research in the context of Noneism. (shrink)

The thesis is an inquiry into the meaning and significance of faith healing at the 500 year old Mira Datar Dargah in the village of Unava in Gujarat, India. The Mira Datar Dargah was selected as the site of this study not only for its historical and cultural relevance, but also due to the government-supported mental health programme attached to it. This study asks questions related to the site of faith healing, the subject, and the ghost. Based on a qualitative (...) paradigm and a postcolonial perspective, this study uses a modular approach to the research by looking at different aspects of the research as modules that benefit from different methodological input. This thesis is organized in two sections. Section I on Sitation looks at how the site becomes an object of study. Through a historical treatment of the Muslim shrine as a syncretic space, a reflexive analysis of how the researcher comes to a cultural site that has become interpellated by the Global Mental Health movement, and a geographical exploration of the social space around the dargah within the larger ambit of the village through the analysis of sixteen maps generated in this study. Based on the organization of space around the shrine, this section theorizes caste as the master signifier in Indian society, and builds toward an analysis of boundaries of inclusion and exclusion. Section II on Subjectivation takes a narrative approach to the subject of faith healing situated between discourses of faith and science. With the generation of six narratives by sawwalis, this section locates the shuffling symptom demonstrated by families at the shrine as having clinical significance for studies on faith healing. The narratives also depict the challenges research participants faced in speaking about their affliction, the nature and even the name of it, which is illustrative of the way ghosts escape from narratives by research subjects, which leads this section to propose the Ghost as method for critical research. This exploratory study brings to critical psychology a new site in faith healing shrines, a subject theorized through caste identity, and the ghost deployed both as an internal critique of the subject, and as a method to investigate lacunae in the social sciences. (shrink)

This thesis is situated in the core idea of policy evaluation that evidence should be used to identify the impact of an intervention and inform future social policies. The aim of this thesis has been to re-purpose evaluation through a deliberate engagement with normative foundations. This thesis is based on a critique of what scholars such as Carol Weiss have identified as establishment forms of evaluation. Establishment evaluation can privilege technocratic forms of knowledge and uncritically follows the original framings of (...) policy. Establishment evaluation is problematised as it tends to produce knowledge with a limited scope for policy-learning about social transformation. The thesis uses an abductive approach to re-purpose evaluation through empirical investigation into more open and contextualised forms of research. The empirical investigation involved four action research projects: a photovoice project about everyday life; an evaluation of a project designed to tackle food poverty; an evaluation of a project focused on supporting low income families; and a collaboration to adapt the evaluation approach of the charity Save the Children. The research questions for this thesis are: in what ways can more open forms of research inform an evaluation? What types of contextualised research are most relevant for an evaluation? How can narratives of impact produce causal explanations through an evaluation? The findings suggest that a more open and contextualised approach to research can develop a broader investigative scope for evaluation, beyond the original framing of a policy. Three foundations for a new form of counter-establishment evaluation have been developed: firstly, a cooperative approach is proposed to co-construct situated causal explanations through an evaluation with participants; secondly, a new regulative ideal of participatory parity has been constructed to enable a normative assessment of how an intervention has delivered social justice; and finally, an original concept of everyday radicalism has been created to produce knowledge that can disrupt dominant discourses of political economy and existing frames of social policy. The thesis develops an approach for a more publicly engaged normative political sociology that can contribute knowledge to support social change. (shrink)

The Indo-American ethnic identity remains an avenue of exploration for marketing scholars. Indo-Americans have been largely considered to be a homogenous group of model immigrants of high socioeconomic status, which oversimplifies and overlooks the diverse nature of beliefs, cultures, sexual identities and values held by Indo-Americans. In this research, the nature of the ethnic identity, and how Indo-Americans construct, maintain and transmit their ethnic identity, was studied through the of life story narratives of a diverse group of Indo-American research participants. (...) This research also studied the role that consumption played in how Indo-American ethnic identity was constructed and transmitted. Furthermore, this research investigates and studies the nature of individualism in Indo-Americans, and the American identities of Indo-Americans as well. Finally, this research also explored the nature of the various boundaries that exist between Indo-Americans and how these boundaries construct various Indo-American sub-groups. This research employed a qualitative anti-realist and anti-essentialist methodology and included 66 Indo-Americans with a diverse range of religious beliefs, sexual identities, ages, sexes, marital statuses, immigrant generations, and origins across India, living in different parts of America. It also included minority and marginalised Indo-American groups that have been neglected in Indo-American ethnic identity research such as LGBTQ Indo-Americans. The theories of ethnicity have evolved over time, and in this research, the Indo-American ethnic identity of research participants was studied through multiple theoretical paradigms and was conducted through an interdisciplinary academic perspective that is atypical in how Indo-American ethnic identity has previously been studied. The theoretical paradigms used in this research analyse the Indo-American ethnic identity of research participants included the primordialist, instrumentalist, constructionist, materialist, post-modern and political systems perspective of ethnicity. The role of Indian philosophical systems in the construction, maintenance and transmission of the ethnic identity of my participants was also studied. This research suggests that the Indo-American ethnic identity of my research participants was a type of amalgamated racial-religious identity, and discusses and questions from a marketing perspective if at all any meaningful “essences” constitute or define the Indo-American ethnic identity, and suggests that the Indo-American ethnic identity may not be useful for marketing scholars to gain deeper knowledge about Indo-Americans as “consumers”. (shrink)

The first step that I took in preparing myself to undertake what is in essence a piece of epistemological research was to divide the psychological therapies into two: the potentiality paradigm and the pathology paradigm. The former is based upon the potentiality model articulated by person-centred theorists like Dave Mearns and Brian Thorne, which is essentially a growth model, whilst the latter reflects a form of therapy that recognises people according to what may be considered ‘wrong with’ or ‘deficient about’ (...) them, such as operates in the disciplines of medicine and clinical psychology. The main focus of this piece of research was to determine the epistemology that is at work with what actually goes on in the practice of potentiality paradigm therapy. In order to achieve this, I set about identifying, reading, analysing and eventually coding the most epistemologically rich writings that I could find from mainstream authors on potentiality paradigm therapy from the professional and the academic literature. It became clear from this analysis that the heart of what was actually going on in the practice of potentiality paradigm therapy as articulated in these theoretical writings could be coded into three main discourses: an experiential discourse, a relational discourse and a hermeneutic discourse, each of which I have considered to represent an epistemological discourse for the purposes of this piece of research. My next question was to ask myself how these discourses set about articulating the potentiality paradigm with respect to the practice of the psychological therapies, and the answer came back that they articulated the potentiality paradigm best when they worked concertedly rather than discretely. Indeed, it soon became apparent that the human brain integrates and synthesises the data that it receives by way of these three central discourses, and so it seemed only appropriate that I should work towards expressing these findings by creating a qualitative meta-synthesis of these three discourses: the experiential, the relational and the hermeneutic, which is exactly what I did. The epistemological mechanism by which these three discourses are integrated and synthesised needs to reflect the way in which the human brain integrates and synthesises the data that it receives, and the name given to this epistemological mechanism is dialectical constructivism. This is included along with the three epistemological discourses – the experiential, the relational and the hermeneutic – in the creative and interpretive synthesis in which this piece of research culminates, and is followed by an illustrative worked example showing how these discourses articulate the potentiality paradigm – concertedly – with respect to the practice of the psychological therapies. One of the advantages of applying this meta-model to the way in which we look at potentiality paradigm therapy is that it may be used to free us up to practice in the more dialogical ways which have been becoming increasingly favoured by practitioners in recent times. With our view of potentiality paradigm therapy mediated by this meta-model, we may find it easier to traverse across what many practitioners have tended to view as theoretical boundaries. It could also be viewed as a move towards a more functional and less structural form of governance or regulation, as expressed by Mearns and Thorne. (shrink)

ABSTRACTUniversity of ManchesterNanci HoganMasters of PhilosophyTitle: The implications of a politics of natality for the praxis of peacebuilding inthe Middle EastJune 9, 2013This thesis sketches out the contours of a politics of natality suggested by thework of feminist philosopher of religion, Grace Jantzen, based on her reading ofHannah Arendt’s work on natality. It takes up Jantzen’s suggestion that a moralimaginary that privileges birth makes human flourishing the central goal ofpolitics. Based on ethical implications of making flourishing central to politics, Idevelop (...) a framework, the matrices of flourishing, for investigating peacebuildingin the Israel/Palestine conflict in order to uncover the fluid moral and ethicalactions and identities of those engaged in peacebuilding, something the thesisargues is not sufficiently addressed by approaches which do not privilegenatality. It then tests this feminist research methodology by investigating thestories of Israelis and Palestinians engaged in a wide range of peacebuildingapproaches in order to locate aspects of flourishing. I travelled to Israel andPalestine in 2008 and using a semi-structured narrative inquiry approach Iinterviewed 32 secular and religious men and women engaged in conflicttransformation and peacebuilding activities. The data revealed that fragile raysof hope, solidarities, were emerging that transcended national, religious andgendered boundaries, which opened up possible fluid futures. Consequently,this thesis makes recommendations for peacebuilding systems approaches andoutlines a research agenda using this approach to assist with strategic planningfor future peacebuilding initiatives in this and other conflicts.A central premise of the thesis is that because current conflict resolutionapproaches do not sufficiently account for the public political implications ofreligion, they overlook some of the ways in which people act ethically andmorally to promote peace instead of conflict. Furthermore these approaches donot sufficiently account for the ways in which religion informs people’s moralcontext and their fluid moral identities. By exploring how religion informs andshapes the moral imaginaries and the moral context in which individuals arelocated, this thesis argues that it is possible to locate the ways in which bothreligious and nonreligious individuals are motivated to act ethically out of loverather than from need to promote the flourishing of others. It uncovers waysthat individuals, religious or not, deploy their moral imagination and how theyare changed by their encounters with their enemy. Additionally, this thesisconsiders the intersections of religion and gender in the constructions of fluididentities and seeks to uncover the moral agency of religious women,something that the thesis argues has not been sufficiently considered in thefeminist conflict resolution literature in the Israel/Palestine conflict. (shrink)

This thesis examines the desire and efforts to ‘do something’ about what is variously called ‘modern slavery’ or ‘human trafficking’. Neoabolitionist efforts to fight such phenomena are typically wedded to a simplistic and essentialist ontology, unaware of or rejecting their own performativity. The thesis is not about slavery: it is about the ethico-political problem of responsibility and hospitality toward the other in the context of contemporary anti-slavery. What constitutes an ethical response to modern slavery? I explore the often violent effects (...) of particular answers to this question but ultimately argue that the focus on doing something threatens the very possibility of hospitality – of an ethical response. Through a conceptual vocabulary of ‘scenes’ I explore the performative interrelation of ontology and ethics. It is intended to help resist the metaphysical seductions of ontology and moral urgency. Scenes bundle specific ontologies, frames, conjured histories and futures, roles and narrative structures, distributions of concern, desire and enjoyment. Response begins with the discursive and affective co-constitution of the self, the one to whom we respond, and the scene in which it takes place. Scene-specific forms of responsibility can operate as a defence against the full force of responsibility to the other. Chapters 1 and 2 develop the notion of scenes and explore how neoabolitionism sets its scenes and locates favoured solutions. The remaining chapters explore those solution areas. Chapter 3 looks at how a US movement against ‘sex trafficking’ in internet advertising reproduces a Manichean world of simplicity by a game of Whac-A-Mole™ with websites, ritualistic repetition of baseless ‘facts’, silencing of sex workers, and aggressive demonization of those who disagree or argue for greater complexity; Chapters 4 and 5 draw on time I spent in San Francisco with two very different organisations. One, Not For Sale, makes a product of experiencing neoabolitionism, joining together charity, capitalism, consumer enjoyment, technology and the excitement of a movement of ‘true believers’, producing innovative approaches but in the process reinforcing problematic gendered and colonial stereotypes. The other, Anti-trafficking Collaborative of the Bay Area, works quietly and tactically in a messy immigration system, aware of the political and performative nature of their work. They actively take responsibility for their own preconceptions and desires to ground a profoundly hospitable client-centred approach avoiding many pitfalls identified in earlier chapters. The thesis has a performative element woven through it – the ethos of the work is one of unsettling both existing practices and literatures, and the writer and reader. The concluding chapter explores the impossibility of hospitality, its interrelation with juridical subjectivity and the ethics demanding and giving accounts in light of the preceding chapters, suggesting a performative approach toward the other is possible. (shrink)

The University of ManchesterIsaac HopperDegree of Doctor of Philosophy‘Christ Alone for Salvation’: The Role of Christ and His Work in John Wesley’s Theology2017This thesis is a study of the relationship between John Wesley’s Christology and his broader theology. No specific effort has yet been made to assess whether or not a meaningful change to Wesley’s Christology ever occurred, or to what extent Wesley’s Christology shaped his broader theology. The purpose of this study is to fill this gap by first demonstrating (...) that a change to Wesley’s Christology did occur and describing the implications of this shift for his broader theology and, second, by evaluating to what degree Wesley’s broader theology arose out of, or was shaped by, his Christology. Chapter one describes Wesley’s inherited theology, which he received from his family and faith tradition, in order to provide a foundation from which to examine changes to his Christology. Chapter two then demonstrates that a change to Wesley’s Christology did occur around his 1738 ‘evangelical conversion’, and describes the implications of this shift for Wesley’s evangelical theology.John Wesley identified the core doctrines of the early Methodists as repentance, faith, and holiness. Following Wesley’s lead, this study examines three correlating areas of focus as representative of these core Methodist doctrines, in order to describe the relationship between these doctrines and Wesley’s Christology. Chapter three, ‘Christ and Humanity’ examines Wesley’s doctrine of humanity, including his understanding of the image of God, original sin, and the nature of salvation as restoration of the divine image. This chapter lays out Wesley’s understanding of the need for human repentance. Chapter four, ‘Christ Working for Us’ examines those doctrines most closely tied to justification as an orienting concern. This includes Wesley’s understanding of grace, the stages of faith, repentance itself, works meet for repentance, Christ’s imputed righteousness, and adoption. Finally, chapter five, ‘Christ Working in Us’ examines those doctrines most closely linked to sanctification as an orienting concern. This includes the doctrine of the new birth, freedom from sin, assurance, and Christian perfection.By identifying the changes that occurred to Wesley’s Christology and evaluating the relationship between his Christology and other core doctrines, this thesis will contribute to the growing body of research into the theological foundations of Methodism and the life and thought of the Rev. John Wesley. (shrink)

Objects are characterised by their properties. If an object is a red postbox, then it has the property of being red, and the property of being a postbox. This thesis is an attack on a particular view of the metaphysics of properties, according to which some properties are privileged over others. The most well-known theories of privileged properties are Armstrong’s theory of sparse immanent universals and Lewis’ natural properties. According to their supporters, only privileged properties perform certain jobs, such as (...) featuring in laws of nature, or grounding similarity between objects.Metaphysical posits are theoretically virtuous if they can account for a range of different phenomena in a relatively parsimonious manner. The ability of privileged properties to perform a range of worthwhile ‘work’, therefore, is what justifies a belief in them. The conclusion I reach is that a single group of properties is not capable of satisfying the key roles commonly attributed to the privileged properties. Without satisfying these roles in concert, a belief in mainstream versions of privileged properties is not justified.The first part of this thesis is devoted to an explication of privilege and the roles which privileged properties are taken to perform. I conclude that three roles in particular, Supervenience, Similarity and Magnetism are key roles for mainstream theories of privilege. In part two, I show that the properties which satisfy the Supervenience role are not the same as those which satisfy the Similarity and Magnetism roles. In the final chapter of this thesis I discuss the implications of my findings for support for theories of privilege. (shrink)

This thesis investigates the conceptual use of discernment in First Corinthians. As a motif, discernment spans many issues in the epistle while forming a key element in Paul’s understanding of the eschatological people of God in Christ and his expectations for them to emerge through the renewing process of the Gospel into their new identity. This identity has its type in the Wilderness Tradition of Israel, with the literary influences of 2TJ Wisdom and the OT scriptures undergirding Paul’s conceptualization in (...) an intertextual matrix. Paul develops the motif through an open, subtle intertextuality that does not rely primarily on overt citation, but reflects a conceptual/theological movement from text/history/type to existential situation/antitype in the new covenant community being formed in the first century context of Pauline communities. Discernment does not recur in random, discrete units, but builds throughout the epistle in consistent applications that contribute in significant ways to the development of the Corinthian community. Part I analyses the Pauline groundwork for wisdom exercised through discernment as a foundational necessity for the ἐκκλησία of Corinth. Part II demonstrates the importance of discernment for the community as it functions within society, with respect to internal and external relationships. Part III studies aspects of discernment in the community gathered for worship, with discernment forming a basis for interactions of the worshipping community. Part IV concludes the study. These aspects are tracked in order through the epistle to follow Paul’s coherent use of the motif even as he addresses the occasional nature of varied issues in the Corinthian community. This study moves the discussion away from a strong focus on the dysfunctional aspect of Corinthian schism toward a more positive theology for and about the community. It also expands on limited or fragmented approaches to issues of judgement/discernment to argue for an additional coherent thread in Paul’s thought. Paul maintains a highly hopeful view for this community as an emerging people of realized eschatological fulfilment, empowered to function at a high level of spiritual wisdom as a manifestation of the body of Christ. (shrink)

Content & Focus: As globalisation trends bring increased client diversity into Western nations, the meeting of culturally diverse clients and therapists has not always been particularly favourable or culturally responsive in Western contexts. This paper explores the pluralistic framework put forth by Cooper and McLeod from a critical evaluation of its effectiveness with culturally diverse clients. I first examine the role of pluralism in comparison to evidence-based therapies and the ongoing debate around treatment efficacy in Western institutions of mental health, (...) while highlighting the shortcomings of biased participant sampling in empirically supported therapy research studies. I then explore the theoretical underpinnings of pluralism in relation to other integrative approaches and its’ strong ties to humanistic values in counselling psychology as well as the challenges to its multicultural theory. I finally explore how pluralism can potentially overcome these challenges by focusing on the core foundation of pluralistic practice and theory – the therapeutic relationship. Conclusion: The paper concludes by suggesting how pluralism can build on its strengths in order to meet the challenges of working with diverse client epistemologies which include therapists’ need to examine their own cultural biases, provision of intercultural training within pluralistic education programmes, and development of an empirical evidence base linking pluralistic practice with diverse client therapy outcomes. (shrink)

This study examines the crisis of the Arab critic at the present time; it focuses on the works of the Saudi critic ʽAbdulla al-Ghadhāmi as a case study. The function of criticism has always been affected by political and cultural developments; critics have constantly adapted their role in order to maintain their credibility as intellectual leaders of society. However, this role has been recently called into question by global changes. This research examines the critic’s anxiety about these transformations; cultural criticism (...) provides a lifeline that helps critics to address daily-life issues and engage with reality.However, the situation in the Arab world is complicated; the cultural dilemmas of the Arabs have long affected their development. In this context, Arab intellectuals have lost their role being no longer able to influence and lead change; political reaction and social rejection have made them exiles in their own homeland. This study investigates the mechanism that rendered the discourse of modern Arabic criticism socially ineffective.Al-Ghadhāmi’s intellectual career, the study argues, illustrates the crisis of the Arab critic; his critique, in line with changes in social and political circumstances, can be divided into three distinct periods: the early works of the 1980s show his great enthusiasm for modernising the critical discourse by embracing modern structuralist and post-structuralist theories. But the efforts made by al-Ghadhāmi and his fellow modernists were crushed by the Islamic movement al-Ṣaḥwa al-Islāmiyya, which was given a virtually free hand to dominate Saudi society. The effect of this defeat is evident in al-Ghadhāmi’s works of the second period; he adopts a moderate position, from which he tries to revive the heritage and question it at the same time. But this attempt does not last long; the third period begins with al-Ghadhāmi’s dramatic announcement of the death of literary criticism, urging his fellow critics to replace it with cultural criticism. This radical proposal is the most extreme of al-Ghadhāmi’s reactions to the crisis of the Arab critic. (shrink)

We rehearse the processes of innovation and discovery in general terms, using as our main metaphor the biological concept of an evolutionary fitness landscape. Incremental and disruptive innovations are seen, respectively, as successful searches carried out locally or more widely. They may also be understood as reflecting evolution by mutation versus recombination. We also bring a platonic view, focusing on virtue and memory. We use 'virtue' as a measure of efforts, including the knowledge required to come up with disruptive and (...) incremental innovations, and 'memory' as a measure of their lifespan, i.e. how long they are remembered. Fostering innovation, in the evolutionary metaphor, means providing the wherewithal to promote novelty, good objective functions that one is trying to optimize, and means to improve one's knowledge of, and ability to navigate, the landscape one is searching. Recombination necessarily implies multi- or inter-disciplinarity. These principles are generic to all kinds of creativity, novel ideas formation and the development of new products and technologies. (shrink)

Contemporary emotion research typically takes the phenomenon of emotion to be exhausted by a class of mental events that are intentional, conscious, and related to certain sorts of behaviour. Moreover, other affective phenomena, such as moods, are also considered to be relatively short-term, episodic, or occurrent states of the subject undergoing them. Emotions, and other putative emotional phenomena that common-sense takes as long-lasting, non-episodic, or dispositional are things that both philosophers and scientists sometimes recognise, but that are relatively neglected in (...) comparison to emotional episodes. This thesis aims at showing that this neglect is unjustified. I will argue that there is a class of entities, 'sentiments'—broadly characterised as dispositions to undergo emotional episodes—that are irreducible to emotional episodes or collections thereof and have properties that make them a suitable target of study by the emotion researcher.In the first chapter, I argue that an analysis of caring as a pattern of emotional episodes, while more plausible than alternative, non-emotional accounts, faces a number of counterexamples that motivate the search for an account of caring as related in a certain way to emotions but as irreducible to them. I argue that a dispositional account, according to which dispositions are conceived as distinct from their manifestations, is an account for which a strong case can be made.The second chapter is dedicated to defending a modest form of realism about dispositions in general and psychological dispositions in particular. According to realism, dispositions are genuine properties that, although perhaps reducible to non-dispositional properties, cannot be re-described in terms of events only. In the third chapter, I show in what ways emotional dispositions can positively contribute to the explanation of the occurrence of emotional episodes. In the fourth chapter, I argue that caring, understood as a species of sentiment, is not to be construed as a mere disposition to produce certain events; rather, we should allow that certain dispositions are genuinely mental or psychological. Assuming realism about the mental, I argue that some dispositions are mental in a way that others are not. I suggest that being intentional is the property that makes psychological dispositions genuinely mental. I end the chapter by drawing a connection between caring and the notion of character. On my view, caring is at least a necessary ingredient of certain character traits, in particular the virtues. In chapter five, I tackle a recent form of empirically informed scepticism about character and argue, on the basis of general considerations about psychological dispositions, that the sceptic’s case is not as strong as she makes out. Finally, in chapter six, I argue that at least certain forms of sentiment, for example romantic love, can be genuinely supported by reasons, thereby suggesting a way they can contribute to the value of our lives. Overall, the aim of this thesis is to establish the respectability of sentiments in a sophisticated account of the mind. (shrink)

In this thesis, I aim to motivate a particular philosophy of mathematics characterised by the following three claims. First, mathematical sentences are generally speaking false because mathematical objects do not exist. Second, people typically use mathematical sentences to communicate content that does not imply the existence of mathematical objects. Finally, in using mathematical language in this way, speakers are not doing anything out of the ordinary: they are performing straightforward assertions. In Part I, I argue that the role played by (...) mathematics in our scientific explanations is a purely expressive one, merely allowing us to say more about the physical world than we would otherwise be able to. Mathematical objects do not need to exist for mathematics to play this role. This proposal puts a normative constraint on our use of mathematical language: we ought to use mathematically presented theories to express belief only in the consequences they have for non-mathematical things. In Part II, I will argue that what the normative proposal recommends is in fact what people generally do in both pure and applied mathematical contexts. I motivate this claim by showing that it is predicted by our best general means of analysing natural language. I provide a semantic theory of applied arithmetical sentences that reveals they do not purport to refer to numbers, as well as a pragmatic theory for pure mathematical language use which reveals that pure mathematical utterances do not typically communicate content that implies the existence of mathematical objects. In conclusion, I show that the emerging hermeneutic fictionalist position is preferable to any alternative interpretation of mathematical discourse as aimed at describing a domain of independently existing abstract mathematical objects. (shrink)

The ‘indispensability argument’ for the existence of mathematical objects appeals to the role mathematics plays in science. In a series of publications, Joseph Melia has offered a distinctive reply to the indispensability argument. The purpose of this paper is to clarify Melia’s response to the indispensability argument and to advise Melia and his critics on how best to carry forward the debate. We will begin by presenting Melia’s response and diagnosing some recent misunderstandings of it. Then we will discuss four (...) avenues for replying to Melia. We will argue that the three replies pursued in the literature so far are unpromising. We will then propose one new reply that is much more powerful, and—in the light of this—advise participants in the debate where to focus their energies. (shrink)

Despite long-standing recognition that the constellation of ethical and political ideas developed by the seventeenth-century Natural Law School played an important part in the development of Enlightenment thought, the relationship between the two remains a fertile area of research in intellectual history. Filling a lacuna in existing scholarship, this thesis contends that central tenets of the ethical and political philosophies developed by the Natural Law School were appropriated by the more liberal and progressive contributors to the Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné (...) des Sciences, des Arts et des Métiers ; which is frequently considered to be the summa of Enlightenment thought, and emblematic of the conflict between the new ‘philosophical spirit’ and the traditional hierarchies, institutions, and values of the ancien régime.It argues that by establishing the loi naturelle and natural rights of the individual as the foundation of both ethics and politics in many of its articles, the Encyclopédie questions the certainty and validity of Catholicism as the basis for both, and that it therefore played an important role in undermining the moral authority of the Church as well as the political authority of the State. In particular, it asserts that the more liberal and humanitarian contributors to the project put the central tenets of Natural Law thinking into practice, in order to tackle and propose reform of what they perceive to be some of the worst injustices in contemporary society, namely with regard to the related questions of slavery and luxury. For those encyclopédistes who believe in universal rights and the loi naturelle, both the slave trade and the attitude of their contemporaries to luxury seem to embody values very different to those they wanted to promote; in their eyes both are representative of a society in which self-interest and the satisfaction of individual passions are valued over and above any consideration for the needs, welfare, and rights of others. (shrink)

Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) opens up two new forms of knowledge: (1) knowing about alternative pathways to one outcome (equifinality) and (2) perceiving nuances of necessary cause and sufficient cause. Several misunderstandings of QCA occur in the article by Lucas and Szatrowski (this volume, p. 1). First, there are minor problems with expressions. Second, there are differences between their philosophy of science (arguments 1, 2, and 3 below) and a realist approach. Third, they misinterpret what was meant by sufficient and (...) necessary cause (arguments 4 and 5 below). The minor problems with expressions arise in sections 2.2 and 3. In section 2.2, the authors define consistency, but here they miss out on two key points. First, they neglect to say that this particular measure of consistency is a measure of sufficiency of cause, not of necessary cause. Second, they ignore the way that the consistency level exists for each possible configuration of characteristics. A configuration can be shown in one row of a truth table, with n1 = 28, n2 = 17 within a larger sample of 155, and so on (see Byrne 2009:262). Using QCA’s definition of “consistency,” we can discern more about the pattern of causality than one might initially expect. This learning is possible whether N overall is 155, or just 39, or thousands of cases. The essential task is to simplify and rank the list of configurations (Ragin 2001, 2006). (shrink)

The field of psychopathology needs a paradigm shift to revitalise its research methodology and translational practice. We describe Darwin’s transformation of biology and its implications for science and culture, and we infer the implications of an analogous approach to psychopathology. Darwin challenged the assumptions of the biological classification system with compelling evidence to support a quantifiable, mechanistic theory of change across all life. Specifically, he showed that species were changeable, that individuals showed substantial variation in their features, and that these (...) features were functional adaptations to the environment. Similarly, there is substantial evidence of continuous change, shared symptoms and functionality across the categories of psychiatric classification. Our novel research methodology, inspired by perceptual control theory, include both qualitative and quantitative methods, and entail the study of universal processes within heterogeneous samples and studying dynamic processes prospectively within individual cases, drawing direct analogies with evolutionary dynamic systems. (shrink)

This thesis articulates a novel interpretation of Heidegger’s explication of the being (Seins) of gear (Zeugs) in §15 of his masterwork Being and Time (1927/2006) and develops and applies the position attributed to Heidegger to explain three phenomena of unreflective action discussed in recent literature and articulate a partial Heideggerian ecological metaphysics. Since §15 of BT explicates the being of gear, Part 1 expounds Heidegger’s concept of the ‘being’ (Seins) of beings (Seienden) and two issues raised in the ‘preliminary methodological (...) remark’ in §15 of BT regarding explicating being. §1.1 interprets the being (Sein) or synonymously constitution of being (Seinsverfassung) of a being (Seienden) as a regional essence: a property unifying a region (Region), district (Bezirk), or subject-area (Sachgebiet) – a highly general (‘regional’) class of entities. Although Heidegger posits two components of the being of a being, viz. material-content (Sachhaltigkeit, Sachgehalt) and mode-of-being (Seinsart) or way-of-being (Seinsweise, Weise des Seins, Weise zu sein) (1927/1975, 321), the unclarity of this distinction means that it does not figure prominently herein. §1.2 addresses Heidegger’s distinction between ontological and ontic investigations and his notion of ‘modes of access’ (Zugangsarten, Zugangsweisen). Part 2 expounds §15 of BT’s explication of the being of gear. §2.1 analyses Heidegger’s two necessary and sufficient conditions for being gear and three core basic concepts (Grundbegriffe) enabling comprehension of these conditions and therewith a foundational comprehension of gear. Heidegger explicates the being of gear through content of unreflectively purposeful, non-intersubjective intentional states. I term such states ‘mundane concern’, which is almost synonymous with Hubert Dreyfus’s term ‘absorbed coping’ (1991, 69). Heidegger’s explication highlights around-for references (Um-zu-Verweisungen) as the peculiar species of property figuring in mundanely concernful intentional content. §2.2 clarifies Heidegger’s position on the relationship between to-hand-ness (Zuhandenheit) and extantness (Vorhandenheit) in the narrow sense: two of Heidegger’s most widely discussed concepts. I reject Kris McDaniel’s recent reading of Heidegger as affirming that nothing could be both to-hand and extant simultaneously (McDaniel 2012). Part 3 develops and applies Heidegger’s phenomenology of mundane concern. §3.1 explains the phenomena of situational holism, situated normativity, and mundanely concernful prospective control. §3.2 undertakes the metaphysical accommodation of around-for references, which §3.1 posited as featuring prominently within mundanely concernful intentional content. This thesis thus contributes not only to Heidegger scholarship, but also to contemporary debates within the philosophy of action and cognitive science. (shrink)

The aim of this thesis is to increase our ontological understanding of musical works in two ways. We’ll increase our understanding of their categorial nature and we’ll increase our understanding of what the identity of each musical work consists in. In chapter 1, I introduce the basic question of the thesis: what are musical works? This question is broken down into four separate questions which guide the structure and argument of the thesis. One question asks if musical works exist, the (...) other asks about the ontological category to which musical works belong. In the first half of the thesis, I argue that musical works exist and that the best explanation of their features is given by assigning them to the category of universals. I argue for this conclusion by elaborating and defending a view according to which musical works are properties. I then show that this conception is superior to the strongest rivals. One rival takes musical works to be historical individuals (Rohrbaugh 2003). The other takes them to be actions of composition (Davies 2004). In chapter 6, I turn to two questions about identity. One question asks about the identity criteria for musical works, the other question asks for an explanation of musical work identity. In the remainder of chapter 6, I argue by reference to contextualist intuitions that a superficially appealing view, sonicism is problematic. The critique of sonicism is used to draw out certain contextualist assumptions that our ontology of music ought to explain. In chapter 7, I examine a family of Levinsonian contextualist proposals. I argue that the original formulations (Levinson 1980) give incorrect results, and that attempts to modify them (Davies, S: 2001) slip into obscurity, or undermine the aims of the project (Levinson 1992). I end chapter 7 by presenting the performance theory in a more flattering light. I argue that as a theory of musical work identity, the performance theory is the best on the market because it overcomes the problems associated with the Levinsonian views and deepens our understanding of contextualist intuitions. In chapter 8, I present an account of the ontology of music which integrates the property theory of category with the performance theory of identity by construing musical works as impure relational properties. I then defend the integrated account against various objections. In this defence, I elaborate a view of compositional actions as belonging to the ontological category of processes. (shrink)

Critical realists offer a set of philosophical underpinnings for social research. Critical realists also engage constructively with social theory, but they are more than just theorists. In this chapter I list and describe various innovative methodological contributions made in recent years by realists. I point out ways in which research methods (i.e. techniques) fit with particular methodological assertions. There is a historical legacy of empiricism which critical realists often use as a foil to make their own position more clear. However, (...) among realists, a wide variety of methods are used, and the range of realist methodological assumptions is wider than one might expect because of their efforts to work with social theory.The introduction to the chapter covers ontology as it relates to research methods. The second section of the review introduces retroduction, a major methodological starting-point common to most realists. The third section reviews concretely the realist debate over statistics and some realist contributions to qualitative methodology, qualitative methods, and action research as used by realists. The fourth section takes up the challenge of realist claims about knowledge (debates usually known as epistemology). An important aim in this chapter is to argue that 'factual' statements usually embody layers of meaning, and thus are contestable; that enquiry using quantitative methods can coherently be done from a realist perspective; and that among realists qualitative enquiry is a broad and useful set of methods which have made genuine innovations in methodological knowledge. Meta-critique and pluralism are widely-used realist contributions to the methods tool-basket in social science, and the realist approach to social statistics is a much better guide to how statistics is, in practice, done than any currently available empiricist quantitative textbook (Ron, 2002). However 'quantitative' research always rests upon conceptual, theoretical and qualitatively derived frameworks and therefore is derived from qualitative work, whereas the converse is not true; qualitative research does not require any quantitative research. In the current scene, mixed methods also play a key role as a growing area of research methods. In this way, within sections one and two, the reader is given an overview of Volume 1 of this collection. Sections two and three of this chapter review Volumes 2 and 3 (realist methods, and empirical examples, respectively). Section four reviews the epistemological theme that is at the core of Volume 4. This introduction thus roughly parallels the contents of the rest of the volumes. (shrink)

The book can be purchased as a hardback or online. This chapter is available as a sample on the Ashgate website.

The book can be purchased either as a hardback or online.

In contemporary philosophy about justice, a contrast between empirical and transcendental approaches can be identified. Hillel Steiner represents an empirical approach: he argues for building an account of justice-as-rights out of the minimal inductive material of psychological linguistic and moral intuitions. From this opening, he ultimately concludes that persons have original rights to self-ownership and to an initially equal share of natural resources. Emmanuel Levinas represents a transcendental approach: he argues that justice arises from a transcendent ethical relation of responsibility-for-the-Other. (...) This relation underpins all subjective cognition, and makes rationality, reasoning, and rights possible.Analysis of each of these positions reveals certain problems. On the one hand, Steiner’s argument contains a number of latent methodological, conceptual, and structural presuppositions. These include the pretheoretical concepts of “person”, “equality”, and “consistency”. These presuppositions prefigure and condition the conclusions which Steiner reaches. On the other hand, Levinas fails to provide a convincing account of how the self comes to be an object of my own deliberations about morality and justice. This amounts to an annihilation of the subject which undermines his argument for the subject as a site of responsible action. As Steiner identifies, justice encompasses equal moral agents. Levinas’s hyperbolic description of the ethical relation’s asymmetry must therefore be revised.Nevertheless, what remains is the strength of Levinas’s argument for the priority of the ethical relation over thematization, rationality, and consciousness. The hidden presuppositions supporting Steiner’s work are evidence of Levinas’s plausibility in this respect. Steiner’s account of justice-as-rights requires a prior ethical relation in which we recognise one another as separate persons, each possessing an ethical status of their own; an attitude of justice motivates Steiner’s description of justice. This attitude is evident in language, which is communication before it is thought. In that individual rights can be conceived only on the basis of a relation of responsibility, rights are primordially the rights of the Other. (shrink)

Objective. To define the concept of "organizational philosophy" through identification of elements within undergraduate pharmacy curricula in the United Kingdom that contribute to students' learning of professionalism. Methods. A qualitative study using curriculum mapping was conducted to identify "intended," "taught," and "received" curriculum in 3 schools of pharmacy. The study involved review of course materials, interviews with teaching staff members, focus groups with final year students, and observation of classes. Results. "Organizational philosophy" (totality of all contributors) played a vital part (...) in students' professionalism learning. Key contributions were not restricted to the "taught" curriculum but extended to the wider academic environment. Setting of high standards appeared important; role models had particular significance. Importance of professionalism learning being grounded and longitudinal throughout the curriculum was highlighted. An "integrated" organizational philosophy appeared to be achieved where maximum overlap occurred between "intended," "taught," and "received" curricula. Conclusions. Professionalism learning goes beyond the "taught" curriculum in pharmacy schools. The concept of "organizational philosophy" acknowledges the importance of integration between "intended," "taught," and "received" curriculum in the context of overall organization. (shrink)

The central argument of this thesis is that Vasubandhu’s discussions of self, perception and objects are fundamentally pedagogical in character. Contemporary studies of Vasubandhu (fourth century CE) appear either to view his work as a philosophical system or as a practical guide for the attainment of liberation. In this study, I seek to challenge this divide, arguing instead that we need to recognise the pedagogical process underpinning Vasubandhu’s writings. In order to demonstrate this, I develop an approach to the study (...) of classical Indian philosophical traditions, which I term the dialogical approach. This approach, I argue, helps us to comprehend not only how Vasubandhu employs dialogue in his works, but also how later thinkers engaged with these works. I look in particular at the ways in which Kumārila (seventh century CE) and Śaṃkara (eighth century CE) interpreted Vasubandhu’s thought. In Chapter One I develop the dialogical approach which I go on to apply throughout the thesis. I situate this within the broader context of existing approaches, which I term the thematic approach, the comparative approach and the navigational approach. I then explore some of the methodological challenges involved in the study of classical Indian philosophy in the twenty-first century, demonstrating how the dialogical approach might deal with these challenges.Chapter Two consists of an exploration of the primary texts used in the thesis. I address some important methodological difficulties relating to these texts, including questions of authorship, authenticity and availability. In addition, I explore why the texts upon which I have chosen to focus are particularly significant in terms of my overall argument. Chapter Three examines the idea of pedagogy and explains how I will employ the term in the rest of the thesis. Chapters Four, Five and Six focus upon the issues of self, perception and objects respectively, demonstrating how Vasubandhu’s attitude towards these issues serves to support my idea of philosophy as pedagogy. In each of these chapters, I also explore how Kumārila and Śaṃkara respond to the Yogācāra position on these issues.In the concluding chapter, Chapter Seven, I draw out some of the ways in which the preceding chapters have shown Vasubandhu’s discussions of self, perception and objects to be pedagogical. I demonstrate how the dialogical approach which we developed in the thesis has helped to show this. Finally, I look the question of truthfulness, explaining how it serves to emphasise the significance of pedagogy in Vasubandhu’s thought. (shrink)

This study is a contribution to Chinese-Western dialogue of bioethics but perhaps the first one of its kind. From a Chinese-Western comparative ethical perspective, this work brings Chinese ethical theories, especially Confucian ethics, into a contemporary context of the epidemic of HIV/AIDS, and to see how the deeply-rooted thoughts of Confucius interact, compete, or integrate with concepts from Western ethical traditions. An underlying belief is that some ideas in Confucian ethics are important and insightful beyond their cultural and historical origins (...) in China and other Confucianism influenced societies.Methodologically, this thesis employs two approaches, conceptual normative analysis combined with critical interpretation. The ‘interpretive’ approach I employ, as an important methodology supplementing my normative analysis, not only deals with Chinese ancient texts, but also explains specific beliefs and practices in China.With a critical eye, this thesis carefully examines a number of key topics in the ethics of AIDS in China from a cross-cultural perspective. Topics including: views on personhood and the vulnerability of People Living with HIV/AIDS; prioritising and balancing the role of ‘harm reduction’ and the role of ‘eradication of deviant behaviour’ in AIDS policy in China; rights-based opt-out approach and duty-based family-centred approach in HIV testing and Biobanking; blood donation; moral responsibility and personal responsibility for health; and the popular rhetoric of ‘innocent infection’ versus ‘guilty infection’ in AIDS. My overall aim in this work is to present a cross-cultural bioethics study through the investigation of some ethical issues in AIDS in China from a Chinese-Western comparative perspective and also attempt to suggest a humane and effective policy for HIV/AIDS which I believe is appropriate to both traditions. I believe this work has contributed to our knowledge in three related but independent areas: the control of the epidemic of HIV/AIDS in China; medical ethics in China; and to both the methods and the utility of cross-cultural study of bioethics between China and the West. (shrink)

This article outlines the rationale behind an approach developed at the National Primary Care Research and Development Centre (NPCRDC) to improve patients' abilities to self-manage their conditions with the support of services provided by the NHS. The approach is systematic and requires involvement of patients in the development of information, changing access arrangements to health services and promoting a patient-centred approach to care. A programme of research and development is currently being undertaken at The University of Manchester by researchers based (...) at NPCRDC to investigate the effectiveness of this approach. The evidence base for the strategy under investigation is discussed and proposals are made for the role of nurses as facilitators for the self-management agenda in the NHS. (shrink)

Our aim is to investigate differences between European health care systems in the importance attached by patients to different aspects of doctor-patient communication and the GPs' performance of these aspects, both being from the patients' perspective. 3658 patients of 190 GPs in six European countries (Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland) completed pre- and post-visit questionnaires about relevance and performance of doctor-patient communication. Data were analyzed by variance analysis and by multilevel analysis. In the non-gatekeeping countries, patients considered both (...) biomedical and psychosocial communication aspects to be more important than the patients in the gatekeeping countries. Similarly, in the patients' perception, the non-gatekeeping GPs dealt with these aspects more often. Patient characteristics (gender, age, education, psychosocial problems, bad health, depressive feelings, GPs' assessment of psychosocial background) showed many relationships. Of the GP characteristics, only the GPs' psychosocial diagnosis was associated with patient-reported psychosocial relevance and performance. Talking about biomedical issues was more important for the patients than talking about psychosocial issues, unless the patients presented psychosocial problems to the GP. Discrepancies between relevance and performance were apparent, especially with respect to biomedical aspects. The implications for health policy and for general practitioners are discussed. (shrink)

This research was submitted to the University of Manchester by Lord Abraham Elorm-Donkor for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Its title, “Christian Morality in Ghanaian Pentecostalism: A Theological Analysis of Virtue Theory as a Framework for Integrating Christian and Akan Moral Schemes” indicates the scope of the research within African Pentecostal Studies. Although scholars and Christian leaders have indicated that there is marked separation between morality and spirituality in the Christian praxis of many Africans and that the African worldview, (...) which African Christians still hold is responsible for this separation, there has not been a detailed study of the issue. The aim of the research is to offer an explanation, of a paradox in Ghanaian society where there is enthusiastic Christian spirituality that is separated from social morality, so that a deeper integration of the Christian and Akan traditional moral schemes can be proposed.My research focuses on Pentecostals in Ghana whose appropriation of the African worldview into Christian praxis has generally been considered as a positive response to African religiosity. By the use of a practical theological method of correlation whereby the Christian truth is represented by the moral theology of John Wesley and brought in dialogue with the Akan traditional moral scheme, this research offers reasons for and proposes a solution to the lack of social morality in Ghanaian Pentecostalism. It uses the virtue theory as a heuristic tool for the analysis of morality in a way that provides explanation for the situation and guides an integration of the two moral schemes at a deeper level. The examination of the two moral schemes has been guided by the elements of character, a central theme of the virtue theory. It has been shown that the ‘Deliverance Theology’ of Ghanaian Pentecostals involves significant misrepresentation of the Akan traditional scheme, and that this situation causes many Christians to focus on religion as a means for the supply of existential needs rather than the transformation of inner dispositions for moral character formation. This research shows that reinterpreting the Akan view of humanity and integrating it with the Wesleyan account of the Christian truth, transforms the ‘Deliverance Theology’ by portraying the Christian life as a pneumatological characterology. The moral responsibility that this entails will ensure that African Pentecostals understand social morality as an essential outcome of their Christian spirituality. (shrink)

for a thesis submitted to The University of Manchester for the degree of Ph.D. by Geoff M. J. Stevenson, and titled The Ontology of Repeatable Artefacts. August, 2010Many of those artefacts with which we are so familiar – including, for example, works of music, photographs, novels, essays, films, television adverts, and graphic designs – share a common ontological nature. I argue in this thesis that they are all repeatable, and set out to provide an ontological account of these entities that (...) explains the phenomenon of repeatability. In a fruitful meeting of aesthetics and metaphysics, a great deal has been written recently on the ontological nature of musical works. More encompassing enquiries have sought to understand the ontology of artworks in general. I will be responding to and engaging with this body of literature insofar as it also offers accounts of the entities I describe as repeatable. However, my approach gives metaphysical concerns and the phenomenon of repeatability primacy over aesthetic concerns.Here I argue that repeatable artefacts fall into the ontological category of kinds. I develop an account of repeatable artefacts as kinds that has two key components. Firstly, on my view kinds are physical rather than abstract. Secondly, I argue that repeatable artefacts, as kinds, have essences that are purely relational and historical. The thesis begins with a discussion of method. The methodological issue has grown in prominence in recent years, as theorists have sought some higher level arbitration on the expanding number of theories and approaches being offered in response to ontological puzzles. Drawing on the work of Amie Thomasson, I defend a methodology according to which we should develop an ontological account using careful conceptual analysis that assesses our intuitions about the application of referring terms. This commitment to conceptual analysis is then defended from misunderstandings and objections. I apply this method in giving an ontological explanation for the phenomenon of repeatability. I argue that repeatable artefacts are kinds. Kinds are strongly individuated by their essences, which are the conditions that must be satisfied for the kind to be instanced. I then develop an account of kinds as physical multiply located entities, that exist when and where they have instances. This stands in contrast to the prevailing view according to which kinds are abstract. I then set out to give an account of the essences of paradigmatic repeatable artefacts. I argue that this can be done if we are willing to reject the default view according to which essences are at least partly structural, and replace it with an account of purely relational and historical essences. The essences of many paradigmatic repeatable artefacts, I claim, involve causal historical processes of copying. (shrink)

The thesis adapts Bourdieu’s theory of hexis as a method for approaching the Baillie (Hegel/Baillie, 1910/1931) and Pinkard (Hegel/Pinkard, 2008) translations of Hegel’s Die Phänomenologie des Geistes (Hegel, 1807/1970) as embodiments of a translatorial practice informed by social and philosophical contextual factors. The theoretical concept of a translatorial hexis is analogous to Bourdieu’s habitus but differs in that the translatorial hexis embodies a specifically dominant, honour-seeking stance of the translator with regard to the micro-dynamics of the surrounding sub-fields; the translatorial (...) hexis is also embodied primarily in the detail of the text and in the peritexts to the translations. Chapters 3 and 4, which focus on the Baillie and Pinkard translations, are each divided into three sections: an analysis of the historical background to the translation in terms of interrelated Bourdieusian fields defined by rival positions vying for academic reputation; an analysis of lexical patterning identified in TT corpora with reference to the translations of two ‘dialectically ambiguous’ terms Geist [mind/spirit] and aufheben [cancel/preserve/sublate]; an analysis of peritexts to the two translations. Starting with a discussion of Hegel’s ‘dialectical ambiguity’ in chapter 1 and an elaboration of the Bourdieusian theoretical framework in chapter 2, the thesis attempts to explain the lexical findings with reference to the concept of translatorial hexis in a manner which takes philosophical and sociological factors into consideration as determinants of the translators’ strategies. The analysis focuses on the positioning of Sir James Black Baillie with regard to Absolutist and Personalist versions of British Idealism and Terry Pinkard with regard to the non-metaphysical readings of Hegel and the development of communitarian ideologies.The publication of new translations of Hegel’s works and new critical works on German Idealism suggest that a Hegel revival is in full progress. Given the centrality of translation to this phenomenon, it is appropriate that translation studies should contribute to the discussion, especially to demonstrate the value of a self-reflexive, multi-disciplinary approach which brings linguistic analysis and sociological contextualisation to bear on some of the philosophical issues at stake. (shrink)

The phrase ‘in virtue of’ is a mainstay of metaphysical discourse. In recent years, many philosophers have argued that we should understand this phrase, as metaphysicians use it, in terms of a concept of metaphysical dependence called ‘grounding’.This dissertation explores a range of central issues in the theory of grounding. Chapter 1 introduces the intuitive concept of grounding and discusses some compulsory questions in the theory of grounding. Chapter 2 focusses on scepticism on grounding, according to which the recent philosophical (...) interest in the topic is misguided. In chapter 3 I discuss grounding’s explanatory roles. Chapter 4 focusses on the claim that if an entity is grounded then it is an ontological free lunch. Chapter 5 discusses and rejects the claim that groundingis a relation between facts. This conclusion raises a problem: if grounding is not a relation between facts it becomes difficult to specify the connections between grounding and explanation and grounding and necessity. But not only is it desirable to specify these relations, it is essential for establishing that grounding is able to play the explanatory roles that are discussed in chapter 3. Chapter 6 responds to this problem by outlining an approach to grounding based on David Lewis’s (2003) theory of truthmaking. Against this backdrop I discuss, in chapter 7, some issues in the logic of grounding. (shrink)

Four matched pairs of geographically and socially contrasting areas of Britain were randomly allocated within pairs to either a capitation or fee-for-service payment system for the dental care of children in a 3-year clinical trial. Measurements were made on the dental health of randomly selected 5-6 and 14-15-year-old patients and the views of their parents elicited. Patterns of treatment were also gained from the clinical records of randomly selected patients. In addition, the views of the dentists taking part, of the (...) profession's representatives, and of the administrators of the systems were obtained. No evidence of systematic neglect could be found among the children treated under capitation, but they had fewer fillings, more untreated diseased teeth and similar disease levels to their counterparts treated under fee-for-service. Dentists in capitation carried out fewer fillings, fewer extractions, took fewer radiographs and saw their patients less frequently than their fee-for-service colleagues. (shrink)

OBJECTIVE: to explore, in-depth, the views of midwives working in maternity services about birth setting, models of care and philosophy of care. DESIGN: an Appreciative Inquiry approach was adopted utilising focus group interviews as the method of data collection. SETTING: 15 focus group interviews were conducted at 14 sites in England. PARTICIPANTS: a purposive sample of 120 midwives and six student midwives who were serving women in different birth settings (home, free-standing maternity units, midwife-led units, and traditional obstetric units) participated, (...) in 2001/2002. FINDINGS: the main themes generated by the midwives were: cultural changes; midwifery leadership; appropriate role models; training in normality; appropriate responsibility of care divisions; choice for women; equity of care provision between women considered to be at high or low risk; and staff morale. KEY CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: this study highlighted the consistency of views amongst midwives working in different settings. Midwives wanted support to practice autonomously in an environment that facilitated equity of care for women and job satisfaction for midwives. Suggestions were put forward by midwives on how to improve maternity services. A unified approach is required to develop these suggestions into strategies, that will remove the identified barriers and promote normality. (shrink)

This seminar will provide a brief overview of virtue epistemology and it will consider some possible ramifications of the discipline, for education. Some of the differences between epistemology and virtue epistemology as well as the main features of five different manifestations of virtue epistemology will be explained. The educational implications of the developments in virtue epistemology will be explored with a particular focus on two: It will first be argued that Aristotle’s scheme of intellectual virtues may provide valuable insight into (...) how worthwhile theoretical, moral and technical qualities may be fostered in the young. It will secondly be claimed that it might also be valuable to characterize the professional knowledge of teachers in virtue epistemological terms. (shrink)

This dissertation addresses the question: what should Discipline be for in Schools? It does so from a primarily philosophical and specifically neo-Aristotelian perspective. Indeed, the thesis would seem to be the first to try to derive an account of the possible purposes of modern day school discipline from Aristotle’s works. The discussion also provides an original evaluation of the educational place and significance of Aristotle’s intellectual virtues. The thesis proceeds from a conviction that: 1) recent policy and research concerning pupil (...) behaviour in Scottish schools has not clearly enough articulated what discipline should be for; and 2) previous theoretical attempts to explain the purposes of school discipline have not been grounded upon sufficiently robust moral and/or epistemological foundations. The most relevant extant treatises of Aristotle are therefore explored in depth, in search of a more justifiable theory of school discipline. In this respect, particularly detailed scrutiny is given to the various traits of character (virtues) that Aristotle believed to comprise human flourishing. During this analysis and discussion, it is argued that educators should try to foster such virtuous habits of thinking, acting and feeling in pupils, in the course of seeking to instil discipline in their schools and classrooms. It is concluded that school discipline should promote pupil virtue and wisdom. (shrink)