Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Weathering The Storm: Navigating Urban Ecologies Of Communication In Times Of Crisis, Austin Hestdalen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project explores cities as urban ecologies of communication in which crises emerge and are given significance within the dialogic relations cultivated among public actors attempting to make a living, together, within the shared historical-cultural contexts of everyday life. To describe cities as urban ecologies of communication is to describe them in terms of urban communication and its interdisciplinary foundations in the study of rhetoric, philosophy, planning, policy, architecture, sociology, geography, and media. The first chapter introduces the challenges of urban risk and crisis management within the complex ecologies of communication constituted by cities and reviews how ‘risk’ and ‘crisis’ …

Justice, Human Dignity And The Capabilities Approach: A Moral Assessment On Ghana’S Health Care Delivery System, Paul Eliud Esibu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Life and quality healthcare delivery are central parts of the well-being of the human person. However, despite the political and socio-economic the successes that Ghana has chalked in pre-colonial, colonial and contemporary times, the quality of healthcare delivery in Ghana could be described as sub-standard. In this a context, the Capabilities Approach, “The Theology of the Body” and the Akan indigenous understanding of the human person emerge as an integrated formidable tool to enhancing life and quality healthcare as central part of the human person. This is because “The capabilities approach – in both its comparative and it’s normative version …

Natural Law And Latinx Social Ethics: A Narrative Approach, Mathew D. Scruggs

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation will argue concepts rooted in Latinx social ethics provides a corrective to acontextual and ahistorical, Euroamerican natural law frameworks by positing natural law as a type of moral reasoning rooted in the contexts, histories, and narratives of particular communities. Rooting natural law in the narrative practices of Latinx communities not only reveals the need for justice for oppression against Latinx bodies from the wider community, but also offers a corrective to ahistorical and acontextual Euroamerican natural law frameworks. A Latinx natural law functions as a radical and prophetic critique against systems of oppression that destroy the lives of …

The Influence Of Thomas Aquinas’ Concept Of Createdness On Josef Pieper’S Moral Philosophy, Sarah Slater

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Josef Pieper’s practical moral philosophy can be best understood by reference to the theology of Thomas Aquinas, and specifically Aquinas’ concept of the created human person. Pieper uses Aquinas’ theological anthropology to argue for three actions which respond to the reality of being created: giving assent to having been brought into existence by God, perceiving God and created reality, and pursuing of the end of human life through the practice of the virtues in order to receive beatitude. Pieper’s well-known works on the seven virtues, on leisure, and on festivity rely on the same concepts from Aquinas which Pieper examines …

Afrosofia: Knowledge And Methode Chez Cheikh Anta Diop, Francois Kodena

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Thinkers generally treat the concept of “philosophy” as a transparent term, defining it as the love of wisdom. However, a quick look at etymological dictionaries and Greek philosophers like Plato or Aristotle leads us nowhere. In other words, we are faced with a semantic conundrum. The verdict is discomforting: “philosophy” is not a Greek concept, and its etymology remains unknown.

This dissertation attempts to decipher that mystery. It leads us to the Afrikan terrain under the guidance of Cheikh Anta Diop and the Beti Mvett through a direct trans-disciplinarian (cultural, monogenetic, historical, linguistic, etc.) Afrosofian methodology.

Ultimately, the Beti So …

The Dialectic Of Naturgeist In Hegel’S Anthropology: Soul, World, And Bodiliness, Jiho Oh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The primary concern of the “Anthropology” section in Hegel’s Encyclopedia of 1830 is the relationship between soul and body: how the soul gains an immediate, bodily existence through embodiment, why and how this immediate mode of the soul’s bodily existence is precarious, and how the soul becomes second nature by overcoming the immediate, bodily existence through habit, more precisely. Importantly, the “Anthropology” is the place in Hegel’s Encyclopedia system where the Philosophy of Nature ends, and the Philosophy of Spirit begins. The thematization of the soul-body relationship in the “Anthropology” is thus essentially framed by a broader, systematic problem concerning …

A Rhetoric And Philosophy Of Gifts, Mary Eberhardinger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project synthesizes a selected scope of rhetorical and philosophical perspectives of the gift. The research question is what the relationship between gifts and rhetoric might be. In order to approach this question, this project offers a review of related literature on the topic of gifts. It then provides analysis and discussion that contextualize the question. The project finally concludes by offering implications. The implications address why the question concerning the relationship between gifts and rhetoric matters for the larger landscape of international relations.

An Exploration Of Communication Ethics Scholarship And Economic Spheres, Andrew Tinker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project examines communication ethics scholarship to understand how economics is understood within the field and to establish coordinates for scholars to discuss economic spheres as phenomena that affect communication ethics. Scholars draw from the tradition of virtue ethics to mark communication ethics inquiry as that which explores the practices that protect and promote the “good.” Philosophers of communication and communication ethicists have developed paradigmatic metaphors for the field that allow us to understand the formation of ethical guidelines within communities both familial, corporate, and national, that promote and protect various goods. These metaphors include “hierarchy” and “sameness” from Charles …

To The Effort Itself: A Phenomenological Study Of Wang Yangming's 王陽明 Theory Of Moral Effort, Minglai Dong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I phenomenologically clarify the theory on moral effort (gongfu 功夫) of the sixteenth-century Chinese philosopher Wang Yangming (or Wang Shouren 王陽明/王守仁 1472-1529). For Wang, the final purpose of moral effort is to cultivate one’s heart (xin 心) as the subject of consciousness, with the goal of sagehood. The heart is also the foundation on which all methods of moral effort can rely. I argue that Husserl’s phenomenology can shed a light on Wang’s doctrine, for it describes the transcendental structure of all aspects related to consciousness, which are also topics and phenomena studied by Wang’s …

H. Odera Oruka And The Right To A Human Minimum: A Sagacious Quest For Global Justice, Michael Kamau Mburu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation primarily aims at making contribution to the advancement of philosophy from the practical point of view. It does so by analytically and critically studying H. Odera Oruka (1944-1995), arguably one of the finest 20^th century African philosophers. Thus, it identifies, expounds, and critiques Oruka’s philosophical cum ethical commitment by situating him within various philosophical discourses touching such important global issues as justice, human rights, ethical duty, ecology, humanism and politics. It specifically advances Oruka’s argument for the right to a human minimum, establishing how that ethical principle can be applicable in addressing some distressing human conditions …

Toward A New Reading Of Cicero's De Finibus, Kelsey Ward

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I argue that Cicero has two primary, interdependent aims in De finibus: the critical assessment of the dominant ethical positions, and the education of his readers. These aims are accomplished through four key devices. First, Cicero develops flat, useful readings of the dominant ethical positions without rejecting eudaimonism itself. This allows Cicero to demonstrate Academic practices while also insisting upon the importance of virtue, which suggests the best ethical view for Cicero is a skeptically grounded eudaimonism. Second, the arrangement of the text in reverse chronological order dramatically enacts Cicero’s own alternative to the cradle argument on …

On Hypothetical Contracts, Karim Barakat

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation develops a critique of Rawlsian social contract theory by arguing that the normative component of democratic practices must be grounded in nonpolitical reasons. With John Rawls’s rights-based approach, social contract theory has strongly resurfaced by focusing on consent as the basic condition for the formation of a just state. The emphasis on agreement leads Rawls to exclude historical, religious, or philosophical reasons from justifying the ideal conception of justice. Consequently, Rawls completely separates politics from any nonpolitical grounding. I argue, however that Rawls’s project cannot account for its normative commitments unless it makes use of a nonpolitical ground. …

The Core Relation Between Hospitality (Philoxenia), Dignity And Vulnerability In Orthodox Christian Bioethics: A Contribution To Global Bioethics, Rabee Toumi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In a pluralistic world, reaching consensus in matters of bioethics has proved to be difficult, especially with the political polarization that nurtures inimical differences. This dissertation argues that a middle ground can be identified between the plurality of value systems in contemporary bioethics based on an anthropological approach. This middle ground that reflects commonalities of the human condition can be explored in relation to the foundational principles of Orthodox Christian anthropology. To identify this middle ground the analysis discusses the core relation between hospitality, dignity, and vulnerability as a contribution to global bioethics.

In general, based on Orthodox Christian theology …