Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Cognitive Architectures: Structures Of Passion In Joanna Baillie's Dramas, Daniel James Bergen

Dissertations (1934 -)

The burgeoning Industrial Revolution, coupled with the scent of a far different revolution briskly blowing across the English Channel, nourished a significant amount of aristocratic anxiety throughout late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Britain. The stratifying effects of inherited wealth were dissolving and an ascending middle class was making its way into traditionally upper class social circles, political discussions, and capitalistic ventures. In a letter, written to Sir Walter Scott in the late spring of 1812, Joanna Baillie, the Scottish playwright best known for her Plays on the Passions, 1798 and her theoretical notion of sympathetic curiosity, references the Luddite …

Chosen Nation: Biblical Theopolitics And The Problem Of American Christian Nationalism, Braden P. Anderson

Dissertations (1934 -)

Christian theopolitics presupposes that every salvation narrative entails a politics, and that every politics presumes a story of salvation. This means that the church faces a host of theopolitical structures contending with the Christian story for the allegiance, formation, and identity of Christians. However, theopolitical scholarship has largely overlooked or misunderstood one of the church's major challenges today: nationalism. Moreover, this scholarship is unable to properly address the challenge of nationalism due to an inadequate engagement with biblical theopolitics--particularly that of Old Testament Israel--which, in distorted form, is central to nationalism emanating from within the church.

In order to supplement …

The Paradox Of Nature: Merleau-Ponty's Semi-Naturalistic Critique Of Husserlian Phenomenology, Shazad Akhtar

Dissertations (1934 -)

This dissertation deals with Merleau-Ponty's critical transformation of Husserl's phenomenology through a rethinking of the concept of "nature," which Husserl, Merleau-Ponty argues, fails to integrate or explain successfully in his philosophical system. The first chapter reconstructs Husserl's "transcendental-phenomenological" project in Ideas I, while the second widens the investigation to cover the ontologically-centered Ideas II and III. In my third chapter, I chart what I call Merleau-Ponty's "organic appropriation" of Husserl and the unique hermeneutical challenges it poses. Here the ambiguity of Ideas II, which both grounds subjectivity in the lived body and separates nature from "spirit" (Geist), plays …

Love's Lack: The Relationship Between Poverty And Eros In Plato's Symposium, Lorelle D. Lamascus

Dissertations (1934 -)

This dissertation responds to a long-standing debate among scholars regarding the nature of Platonic Eros and its relation to lack. The more prominent account of Platonic Eros presents the lack of Eros as a deficiency or need experienced by the lover with respect to the object needed, lacked, or desired, so that the nature of Eros is construed as self-interested or acquisitive, subsisting only so long as the lover lacks the beloved object. This dissertation argues that such an interpretation neglects the different senses of lack present in the Symposium and presents an alternative interpretation of Eros based on the …

On Trial: Restorative Justice In The Godwin-Wollstonecraft-Shelley Family Fictions, Colleen M. Fenno

Dissertations (1934 -)

William Godwin, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Mary and Percy Shelley wrote during an era of democratic possibility and intense legal and penal reforms, when changes to criminal justice procedures were adopted that would have far reaching consequences, even for contemporary practices. Their fictions - Caleb Williams (1794), Maria: Or the Wrongs of Woman (1798), Frankenstein (1818), Falkner (1837), and The Cenci (1818) - raise questions and seek answers to questions at the heart of these reforms: What happens to individuals falsely accused of a crime without the resources to defend themselves? What happens to victims of crimes associated with guilt or …

Visionary Ascents Of Moses In Pseudo-Philo's Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum: Apocalyptic Motifs And The Growth Of Visionary Moses Tradition, Kristine Johnson Ruffatto

Dissertations (1934 -)

This dissertation explores the development of visionary Moses tradition from its origins in the Hebrew Bible through pro-Mosaic Second Temple literature and rabbinic texts. It demonstrates that throughout this variegated literature, there is a developing tendency to portray Moses as an apocalyptic seer. In the non-biblical Mosaic texts that were analyzed, Moses' revelation on Sinai and Nebo is increasingly invested with esoteric content, and Moses' ascents are often depicted as heavenly journeys. These revelatory developments have conceptual roots in alternative visionary traditions, notably Enochic lore. The texts investigated contain a discernible thread of dialogue with Enochic revelatory claims; Moses' ascents …

Gender And Crime, 1815-1834, Julie C. Tatlock

Dissertations (1934 -)

The years between 1815 and 1834 marked a transition from the Age of Napoleon to the Age of Victoria. England experienced a period of civil strife and economic fluctuations. London was in the midst of industrialization and urban growth. These changes affected all classes of society and their effects impacted views of crime and justice. This study focuses on the Old Bailey, London's central court. Its intent is to look at this age of transition through the microcosm of criminal trials with a view toward gauging contemporary opinions on the nature of crime and assessing the impact of economic fluctuations …

Isaac Of Stella, The Cistercians And The Thomas Becket Controversy: A Bibliographical And Contextual Study, Travis D. Stolz

Dissertations (1934 -)

Isaac of Stella (ca. 1100-ca. 1169), an English-born Cistercian and abbot, has been dwarfed by Bernard of Clairvaux and other of his twelfth-century Cistercian contemporaries in terms of literary output and influence, giving him a reputation as an elusive and marginal figure. Isaac's 55 sermons and two treatises are modest compared to the productivity of other monastic writers and his position as the abbot of an obscure monastery in western France has not helped to raise his visibility among the luminaries of the twelfth century. He is remembered as a mysterious and often tragic figure in the annals of history. …

Hume's Conception Of Time And Its Implications For His Theories Of Causation And Induction, Daniel Esposito

Dissertations (1934 -)

I begin the dissertation by elucidating Hume's conception of time as a compound abstract idea and explain why Hume believes time must be discrete and atomistic. I then explore the ways in which Hume's theory of causation rests upon this atomistic conception of time, and place special emphasis on Hume's argument that all causes qua causes must precede their effects in time. I claim that this argument is inconsistent with Hume's critique of the causal maxim, a principle which states that whatever begins to exist must have a cause. After exposing and examining this inconsistency, I investigate the degree to …

The Church's Unity And Authority: Augustine's Effort To Convert The Donatists, Gavril Andreicut

Dissertations (1934 -)

This dissertation is about Augustine's views on Church unity and authority and is primarily based on the letters that he wrote against the Donatists. Although Augustine is one of the Fathers most enthusiastically and thoroughly researched, his letters are less studied than his other works. As a significant number of Augustine's letters were written as part of his effort to unite the Donatists with the Church, they are especially relevant sources for his views on the unity and authority of the Church.

While no single work of Augustine covers the entire period of his dealing with the Donatists, the letters …

Natural Law Theory And The "Is"--"Ought" Problem: A Critique Of Four Solutions, Shalina Stilley

Dissertations (1934 -)

This dissertation explores the "Is"--"Ought" problem (IOP) as it relates to natural law theory (NLT). It begins with a brief analysis of the type of "ought"--precepts upheld by traditional natural law theorists as well as a consideration of the precise nature of the IOP. Chapter two considers the attempts of Searle and Gewirth at establishing that it is possible validly to derive an "ought"--conclusion from "is"--premises and asks whether their attempts can be imitated successfully by those who wish to uphold the basic claims of NLT. Chapter three considers whether it is possible to bypass the IOP by beginning with …

Friendship And Fidelity: An Historical And Critical Examination, Joshua Walter Schulz

Dissertations (1934 -)

Aristotle considers friendship the greatest external good, one integral to the attainment of happiness. However, while Aristotle limits distrust to what he calls imperfect forms of friendship, subsequent philosophers have stressed our uncertainty regarding the benevolence, beneficence and loyalty we may expect of friends. They do so in part because overcoming this uncertainty requires the exercise of the virtues of trust and loyalty if our friendships are to survive intact.

For example, insofar as Aquinas holds that we cannot scrutinize the wills of others - thus inviting uncertainty regarding their present and future conduct - he argues that friendship requires …

The Attestation Of The Self As A Bridge Between Hermeneutics And Ontology In The Philosophy Of Paul Ricoeur, Sebastian Kaufmann

Dissertations (1934 -)

Ricoeur defines attestation as the "assurance of being oneself acting and suffering" or as the "assurance - the credence and the trust - of existing in the mode of selfhood." In this dissertation I discuss the concept of attestation in Ricoeur's philosophy in relation to the main dimensions of the self: Capacities, personal identity, memory and otherness. I state that attestation is the key to the three dialectics of Ricoeur's hermeneutics of the self: The dialectic between reflection and analysis, the dialectic between idem-identity and ipse-identity and the dialectic between oneself and other. In these three dialectics, attestation, as the …

Joseph Smith's Doctrine Of The Holy Spirit Contrasted With Cartwright, Campbell, Hodge, And Finney, Lynne Wilson

Dissertations (1934 -)

The dissertation is an historical–critical examination of Joseph Smith’s (1805–1844) sermons and writings from 1830 to 1844 to determine the scope of his doctrine on the Holy Ghost. Many biographers dismiss Joseph Smith as a product of his environment. Superficially, his thoughts on the Holy Ghost appear to fall within the mainstream of the enthusiastic outbursts of the Second Great Awakening, but a closer look shows that they are an abrupt and radical departure from the pneumatology of his day. To clarify the unique parameters of Smith’s pneumatology, it is necessary to place Smith’s views in a historical context by …

"Irish Blood, English Heart": Gender, Modernity, And "Third Way" Republicanism In The Formation Of The Irish Republic, Kenneth Lee Shonk, Jr.

Dissertations (1934 -)

Led by noted Irish statesman Eamon de Valera, a cadre of former members of the militaristic republican organization Sinn Féin split to form Fianna Fáil with the intent to reconstitute Irish republicanism so as to fit within the democratic frameworks of the Irish Free State. Beginning with its formation in 1926, up through the passage of a republican constitution in 1937 that was recognized by Great Britain the following year, Fianna Fáil had successfully rescued the seemingly moribund republican movement from complete marginalization. Using gendered language to forge a nexus between primordial cultural nationalism and modernity, Fianna Fáil's nationalist project …

The Noetic Paschal Anthropos: Genesis 1:27 And The Theology Of The Divine Image In Early Paschal Literature, Dragos Andrei Giulea

Dissertations (1934 -)

This study examines the theme of the heavenly Anthropos in the earliest extant paschal writings: Melito's Peri Pascha, Origen's Peri Pascha, and Pseudo-Hippolytus's In sanctum Pascha. Instead of analyzing these materials through the prism of such classical images as sacrifice and divine Lamb, the study investigates them through the perspective of the categories of heavenly Man and divine Image. The particular method of the study will be tradition criticism and will envision the paschal tradition of the heavenly luminous Anthropos as a development of the theophanic traditions of the Jewish Second Temple. Echoing such ancient passages as Genesis 1:27, Ezekiel …

"Justice Without Partiality": Women And The Law In Colonial Maryland, 1648-1715, Monica C. Witkowski

Dissertations (1934 -)

What was the legal status of women in early colonial Maryland? This is the central question answered by this dissertation. Women, as exemplified through a series of case studies, understood the law and interacted with the nascent Maryland legal system. Each of the cases in the following chapters is slightly different. Each case examined in this dissertation illustrates how much independent legal agency women in the colony demonstrated.

Throughout the seventeenth century, Maryland women appeared before the colony's Provincial and county courts as witnesses, plaintiffs, defendants, and attorneys in criminal and civil trials. Women further entered their personal cattle marks, …

Attending To Presence: A Study Of John Duns Scotus' Account Of Sense Cognition, Amy F. Whitworth

Dissertations (1934 -)

This project is guided and motivated by the question concerning the nature of the phantasm as that which mediates between sensation and intellection in John Duns Scotus' account of cognition. Scotus embraces Aristotle's claim that the intellect cannot think without the phantasm. The phantasm is in a corporeal organ, yet the immaterial intellect must act with it to produce an intelligible species. In this project I examine the critical elements of Scotus' cognitive theory in order to understand the nature of the phantasm.

In the first chapter I discuss key elements of Aristotle's metaphysics and give a close, textual reading …

The Body As Symbol: Bringing Together Theories Of Sex/Gender And Race For Theological Discourse, Patricia Lewis

Dissertations (1934 -)

This dissertation focuses on race and sex/gender as critical theological topics that are not being adequately addressed in most theological discourse. This project presents a tool to establish better theological discourse about the body that takes the specifities of race and sex/gender into consideration and brings them together in theological anthropology.

The Septuagintal Isaian Use Of Nomos In The Lukan Presentation Narrative, Mark Walter Koehne

Dissertations (1934 -)

Scholars have examined several motifs in Luke 2:22-35, the "Presentation" of the Gospel of Luke. However, scholarship scarcely has treated the theme of nomos, the Septuagintal word Luke uses as a translation of the Hebrew word Torah. Nomos is mentioned four times in the Presentation narrative; it also is a word in Septuagintal Isaiah to which the metaphor of light in Luke 2:32 alludes. In 2:22-32--a pivotal piece within Luke-Acts--nomos relates to several themes, including ones David Pao discusses in his study on Isaiah's portrayal of Israel's restoration, appropriated by Luke. My dissertation investigates, for the first time, the Septuagintal …

Word And Faith In The Formation Of Christian Existence: A Study In Gerhard Ebeling's Rejection Of The Joint Declaration, Scott A. Celsor

Dissertations (1934 -)

In 1998, the theologian Gerhard Ebeling helped to initiate a rancorous, public debate among theologians in Germany over whether the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification presents "a consensus in the basic truths of the doctrine of justification" by co-editing the famous letter of protest. Why would he want to do this? The fact that some argue he held a distinguished position in ecumenical circles during the 1950s and 1960s makes this question somewhat intriguing. Moreover, how will this opposition impact the continuation of ecumenical discussions between Lutherans and Catholics?

Through a comparison of the Joint Declaration and the …

Arabic Influences In Aquinas's Doctrine Of Intelligible Species, Max Herrera

Dissertations (1934 -)

In contemporary literature, one can find much information concerning Thomas Aquinas's doctrine of intelligible species. However, none of the literature takes into account how and why Aquinas developed his doctrine of intelligible species. Often, it is purported that Aquinas is just following Aristotle. However, this is not the case. There are aporiae in the Aristotelian corpus, and those who followed Aristotle tried to resolve the intellection and hylomorphism aporia, an aporia that arose as a result of denying Platonic forms and affirming hylomorphism. Among those who attempted to resolve this aporia were Avicenna and Averroes from whom Aquinas drew and …

The Enochic Watchers' Template And The Gospel Of Matthew, Amy Elizabeth Richter

Dissertations (1934 -)

The writer of the Gospel according to Matthew was familiar with themes and traditions about the antediluvian patriarch Enoch, including the story of the fall of the watchers, and shows that Jesus brings about the eschatological repair of the consequences of the watchers' fall. In Matthew's Gospel, the foreshadowing of repair and then the repair itself are seen in the evangelist's genealogy and infancy narrative, the focus of this dissertation.

According to the Enochic watchers' template, evil came into the world when the watchers transgressed their heavenly boundary to engage in illicit sexual contact with women and teach them illicit …

"The People Believe That He Has Risen From The Dead": The Gospel Of Peter And Early Christian Apologetics, Timothy Henderson

Dissertations (1934 -)

No scholarly consensus has been reached on the question of the relationship between the Gospel of Peter and the New Testament gospels. The same can be said about determining the particular factors that influenced the author of the noncanonical text when composing his own work. This dissertation contends that the author of the Gospel of Peter used all four canonical gospels as sources and that the category of Second Temple Jewish literature known today as "Rewritten Bible" provides the best analogue for understanding the manner in which the New Testament accounts have been reworked in the noncanonical gospel. Apologetic and …

Strategic Air Warfare And Nuclear Strategy: The Formulation Of Military Policy In The Truman Administration, 1945-1950, Patrick William Steele

Dissertations (1934 -)

This work analyzes the military decision making within the Truman administration that culminated in the purchases of aircraft and the establishment of a virtual nuclear only strategy. When Harry S. Truman became President in April 1945, the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) was in the formative stage of a firebombing campaign that attempted to burn the Japanese out of the war by targeting the civilian population. Four months later, the use of nuclear bombs ushered in the atomic age and completely altered the military and political decision-making processes within the administration. Despite evidence to the contrary about the efficacy …