Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Identity (Philosophical concept) – Religious aspects'

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2001.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis investigates the ways in which identity is established and represented on the Internet. Through detailed case studies of different Internet sites, I examine the changing parameters of these concepts, and indeed of our concept of 'reality' itself. I then undertake a detailed reading of a number of films that represent the Internet as an integral part of their narrative. I make use, but also critique, postmodern understandings of identity and representation. Existing postmodern theories of identity and representation cannot fully account for the way Internet identity functions and the Internet interacts with other media and offline life. New analyses are required to explain the interactions between these concepts. This thesis uses the constructs of presence, performance, the body, and narrative to describe the way in which identity and representation function online, are represented in film and influence offline life.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis beskou die maniere waarop identiteit op die internet gevestig en oorgedra word. Ek ondersoek die veranderende parameters van hierdie konsepte deur uitgebreide gevallestudies van verskillende internetruimtes te doen, en bekyk ook ons opvatting van die werklikheid self. Voorts doen ek 'n deurtastende ondersoek na 'n aantal films wat die internet as 'n integrale rolspeler in die narratief voorstel. Ek maak gebruik van, maar beoordelook, postmodernistiese beskouings van identiteit en oordrag. Die bestaande postmodernistiese teorieë oor identiteit en oordrag kan nie volledig rekenskap gee van die wyse waarop die internet-identiteit funksioneer of hoe die internet op ander media en aftydse middele reageer nie. Nuwe ondersoeke is nodig om die wisselwerking tussen hierdie konsepte te verduidelik. Hierdie tesis gebruik die begrippe van aanwesigheid, optrede, hoofinhoud en narratief om die wyse waarop indentiteit en oordrag intyds funksioneer, in film oorgedra word en aftydse middele beïnvloed, te beskryf.

This project focuses on graffiti art as not an unconstructive form of artwork as society might assume, but a way of coping and establishing an identity for youth mostly males who are searching for who they are.

The majority of people on Earth now live in cities, and estimates hold that 60 percent of the world’s cities have yet to be built. Now is the time for philosophers to develop a philosophy of the city to address the forthcoming issues that urbanization will bring. In this dissertation, I respond to this need for a philosophy of the city by developing a theory of city identity, developing some of the theory’s normative implications, illustrating the theory with a case study, and outlining the nature and future of philosophy of the city more generally. Indeed, this dissertation is only a part of my larger project of founding and institutionalizing this new field of both academic and socially-engaged philosophical activity. Throughout the history of the discipline, other areas such a personal identity have received numerous considerations, along with the concept of identity as an abstraction. For example, there is a bounty of research addressing problems pertaining to how objects and people retain an identity over time and claims about identity in general. While one could argue that cities are not any different than any other object, such an account fails to consider that a city’s dynamic nature makes it dissimilar to other things. To illustrate this point, I develop a position called dynamic composition as identity theory that provides a framework for understanding the identity of a city, exhibiting that views within analytic metaphysics are too narrow to apply to all cases. After establishing a concept of city identity, I use an applied mereology to develop a model of city identity that shows how the parts of a city fit together to form a complete city. This model introduces the normative dimension of my project by providing a way to identify how incongruence between a city’s parts can cause problems for residents’ wellbeing. To understand the moral dimensions of infrastructure, I argue that moral theory alone is ill prepared to adequately demonstrate its full range of effects. Yet, instead of developing another moral theory, we can supplement existing moral theories with the concepts of sustainability and resilience thinking to account for the elements that traditional moral systems neglect. I support this view with a detailed account of transportation infrastructure. Namely, I show that current frameworks for assessing transportation infrastructure are inadequate, and employ the method of complex moral assessment developed earlier to make such assessments. Lastly, I show how the research in this dissertation counts as intra-disciplinary research, a new kind of method for philosophical research.

With this dissertation I propose to investigate critical theories dealing with memory and its role in photography. The function of memory is a well discussed and analysed topic within the ambit of historical research. Drawing from theoretical texts by critical theorists, namely, Roland Barthes, Annette Kuhn and Marianne Hirsch, I will critically address the function of memory in the understanding of photography; particularly how photographs have the ability to construct our identity in terms of history and narrative. I will study the content of memory in relation to visual images, focusing on what is remembered, what is suppressed, and finally, what is transformed when viewing an image. By doing so, I will consider whether or not still photographs have the ability to construct the past in a narrative form that is intrinsic to its medium. This consideration will be undertaken with specific reference to the works of contemporary South African artist Lien Botha. Special attention will be directed to her series of work entitled Amendment (2006), a series which permits me in turn, to deal with issues pertaining to memory and “visual narrative” which I have explored in my own professional art practice namely, Memory Boxes, Back Stories, Faces of You and Me, Memories Re-layered and Ghostly Remnants.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Violence in South Africa is a serious problem and young men have been and still are the driving force behind the high levels of violence in South Africa. Although young men commit the most violence researchers have largely neglected the critical examination of young men and their association with violence. This study set out to examine this phenomenon by conducting focus group and group interviews with 23 adolescent boys between the ages of 14-16. The boys were selected from two schools in the Cape region. Two focus groups and one group interview was conducted in order to gain insight from the participants on what they thought were the motivations for young mens‟ tendencies to enact violence. As a result, various themes emerged from the participants responses. The participants provided rich descriptions about what they thought motivated men to enact violence. Overwhelmingly all the themes highlighted that men and boys who endorse traditional dominant ideals of masculinity that encourage toughness, dominance and willingness to resort to violence were more likely to enact violence. However, what was apparent was that for most boys violence played an integral part in the construction of their masculinity. It was defining characteristic of what it meant to be a man.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geweld in Suid-Afrika is 'n ernstige probleem en jong mans was en is nog steeds die dryfkrag agter die hoë vlakke van geweld in Suid-Afrika. Ten spyte van jong mans se beeld as oortreders van geweld is jong mans se geweld deur navorsers geïgnoreer. Hierdie studie het 'n ondersoek gedoen om uit te vind wat die motivering is wat sommige jong mans na geweld toe dryf. As gevolg, het hierdie studie 23 adolessente jong mans tussen die ouderdom van 14 tot 16 'n onderhoud met hulle waargeneem. Die seuns is gekies uit twee skole in die Kaapse streek. Twee fokusgroepe en een groep onderhoud is uitgevoer met die adolessente seuns om 'n begrip te kry van hierdie fenoneem. Verskeie temas is uit die deelnemers antwoorde geneem. In al die temas kon ek aflei dat mans en seuns wat die tradisionele dominerende ideale van manlikheid omhels is meer geneig om geweld uitgevoer. Wat egter duidelik is vir die meeste seuns is dat geweld 'n integrale deel is in die konstruksie van hul manlikheid. Dit is 'n kenmerk van wat dit beteken om 'n man te wees.

Voices are used as a vehicle for language, and variation in the acoustic properties of voices also contains information about the speaker. Listeners use measurable qualities, such as pitch and formant traits, as cues to a speaker’s physical stature and attractiveness. Emotional states and personality characteristics are also judged from vocal stimuli. The research contained in this thesis examines vocal masculinity, aesthetics and personality, with an emphasis on the perception of prosocial traits including trustworthiness and cooperativeness. I will also explore themes which are more cognitive in nature, testing aspects of vocal stimuli which may affect trait attribution, memory and the ascription of identity. Chapters 2 and 3 explore systematic differences across vocal utterances, both in types of utterance using different classes of stimuli and across the time course of perception of the auditory signal. These chapters examine variation in acoustic measurements in addition to variation in listener attributions of commonly-judged speaker traits. The most important result from this work was that evaluations of attractiveness made using spontaneous speech correlated with those made using scripted speech recordings, but did not correlate with those made of the same persons using vowel stimuli. This calls into question the use of sustained vowel sounds for the attainment of ratings of subjective characteristics. Vowel and single-word stimuli are also quite short – while I found that attributions of masculinity were reliable at very short exposure times, more subjective traits like attractiveness and trustworthiness require a longer exposure time to elicit reliable attributions. I conclude with recommending an exposure time of at least 5 seconds in duration for such traits to be reliably assessed. Chapter 4 examines what vocal traits affect perceptions of pro-social qualities using both natural and manipulated variation in voices. While feminine pitch traits (F0 and F0-SD) were linked to cooperativeness ratings, masculine formant traits (Df and Pf) were also associated with cooperativeness. The relative importance of these traits as social signals is discussed. Chapter 5 questions what makes a voice memorable, and helps to differentiate between memory for individual voice identities and for the content which was spoken by administering recognition tests both within and across sensory modalities. While the data suggest that experimental manipulation of voice pitch did not influence memory for vocalised stimuli, attractive male voices were better remembered than unattractive voices, independent of pitch manipulation. Memory for cross-modal (textual) content was enhanced by raising the voice pitch of both male and female speakers. I link this pattern of results to the perceived dominance of voices which have been raised and lowered in pitch, and how this might impact how memories are formed and retained. Chapter 6 examines masculinity across visual and auditory sensory modalities using a cross-modal matching task. While participants were able to match voices to muted videos of both male and female speakers at rates above chance, and to static face images of men (but not women), differences in masculinity did not influence observers in their judgements, and voice and face masculinity were not correlated. These results are discussed in terms of the generally-accepted theory that masculinity and femininity in faces and voices communicate the same underlying genetic quality. The biological mechanisms by which vocal and facial masculinity could develop independently are speculated.

Orthodox Jewish adolescents develop and mature within a very structured environment. The aim of this study was to explore adolescent psychosocial identity development within Orthodox Jewish education. The secondary focus was the nature of the religious identity acquired through religious education, specifically Jewish Orthodox education. The literature study explored adolescent identity and development (within Erikson's framework), religious orientation and Orthodox Jewish education. The qualitative research was conducted empirically, in the form of a case study of seven adolescents from a single-sex Orthodox school based in Johannesburg. The themes that emerged from the empirical study are as follows: the community; Orthodox Judaism; education; parents, family and peers; adolescent and religious identity. The study indicated that the participants' identity development is dominated by their religious psychosocial world that paradoxically provides the structure that supports and complicates their identity development.
Educational Studies
M.Ed. (Guidance and Counseling)

Female identity in Sylvia Plath’s Ariel collection (first published in 1965) is a complex site of being and becoming within a 1950s culture of performance. From a twenty-first century perspective, this dissertation bridges traditional and contemporary readings of Plath and the Plath archive through a referencing of motifs such as celebrity, ‘the gaze’, ventriloquism and clothing. The inter-discursive approach used – literary, psychoanalytic, cultural – attempts to underline the ongoing significance of Plath’s place as a woman poet in literary studies.
Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.

ABSTRACT C. S. LEWIS’ CONCEPT OF SEHNSUCHT: PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS, AESTHETIC ANALYSIS, AND IMPLICATIONS FOR EVANGELISM AND APOLOGETICS Matthew David Crawford, Ph.D. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2015 Chair: Dr. Mark T. Coppenger C. S. Lewis’ concept of Sehnsucht as inconsolable longing for beauty holds much promise for Christian aesthetics, evangelism, and apologetics. In his autobiography, Surprised by Joy, and many of his other works, Lewis shows how desire for beauty can draw individuals toward God. This dissertation fully develops Lewis’ concept of Sehnsucht within the framework of his life story as well as his writings. The dissertation then explores the corroboration of Lewis’ concept within both Christian and secular philosophical contexts. Once this foundation has been laid, the potential of Sehnsucht for opening hearts to the gospel of Christ and overcoming objections to faith in Him is outlined. Finally, the dissertation aesthetically analyzes specific films and pieces of music in search of common elements that may evoke Sehnsucht, as well as elements that may prevent it from being experienced.

Submitted in partial fulfillment in compliance with the requirements for the Masters Degree in Technology: Fine Art, Department of Fine Art and Jewelery Design, Durban University of Technology. Durban. South Africa, 2014.
This dissertation introduces and explores the link between the phenomenon of the celebrity artist and autobiographical narratives. It investigates the possibility that artists plan, strategize and embellish or create stories that could gain enough attention from the general public to achieve celebrity status. This enquiry will establish various contexts, that of different artists, the audience, the celebrity artist and my own, locating the research and findings within a historical and contemporary discourse. The research presents several concepts and factors that will contribute to the understanding and contextualization of the hypothesis, as well as possibly substantiate it. Concepts such as celebrity, fame, narcissism, the ego and exhibitionism form the basis of the enquiry while theories based on narrative, autobiography and memory rehearsal provide credible support and background. The nature of this dissertation requires a broad investigation including contemporary social sciences, philosophy and psychology, media studies and history of art. In order to determine whether the aforementioned concepts and theories are employed by certain individuals to gain celebrity status, three celebrity artists are introduced through their biographies, rises to fame and their popularity and relationships with the general public. The artists, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Tracey Emin are introduced chronologically. All three artists have established public identities and in the attempt to substantiate whether these identities are constructed and pre-mediated the final analysis (in form of a causal analysis) presents fluctuating results with several possible causes. As part of this enquiry I introduce my creative output through discussing my autobiography, themes (of my work), mediums (I choose to use), exhibition and the resonance found with the selected artists. In light of the discussions based on the backgrounds, public identities and resonance I have found with each artist I determine whether I embellish my stories to gain fame. The research is conducted through qualitative research methodologies and presented in a consequential order. The methodological approach and process is best described through the term Bricolage, which refers to the use of multiple methodologies in its approach to research, in other words, a hybrid of praxis (Barrett & Bolt ed., 2010). The process of this enquiry includes theoretical research, historical research; studio based and –led research, as well as a causal analysis. As part of the research, many factors have been considered and discussed, as an investigation into autobiography; the research will aid me in progressing as an artist as well as contribute to the greater knowledge of the autobiographical field. Furthermore, introducing and exploring the link between autobiographical narratives and the artist, as celebrity is a discourse that can be developed and further expanded on. Through this research I have attempted to establish a link between high art and popular culture, and the artist and the audience. The findings represent a process of attempting to understand a complex set of possible causes with one ultimate effect and the influence it has on an individual and the general population. Many artists want to be famous and would go through the motions to become a celebrity. It does, however, fully depend on the individual and no ultimate formula can be presented.
M

This study set out to investigate how students construct their identities. Throughout their socialisation into academia, students are confronted with the paradox of learning as they negotiate the opposing discourses of enslavement and mastery that construct higher education. Utilising a critical discursive psychology approach this research aimed to examine the implications this paradox holds for the development of students’ identities. In-depth interviews with five master’s degree students allowed for an examination of the linguistic resources available for students to draw on in constructing their accounts of student-hood. Analysis of the interpretive repertoires and ideological dilemmas in the text revealed the uptake of contradictory subject positions in participants’ navigation of academic discourse. In order to address the inconsistencies associated with these conflicting ways of being a student, participants ‘worked’ a face in their interactions with academic discourse. Their face-work served to address the paradox by integrating the contradictory positions evident in their accounts. It is in the agency displayed in the integration of these disparate positions that the emancipating student is revealed.
Psychology
M.A. (Research Consultation)

Informed consent procedures are an essential part of the ethical conduct of research, including clinical trials. The principle of autonomy justifies this process. However, it is clear that conventional assumptions about autonomy offer limited guidance in many countries where clinical research on non-Western populations is conducted by Western researchers. Beginning with a brief review of conventional approaches to autonomy, the present research explored feminist alternatives to this principle, drawn from self-in-relation and care theories.
Thesis (M.A.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

The study assessed the Emotional Intelligence/Ubuntu understanding in sixteen learners aged 11-14 from both the Low SES and High SES levels, which includes the peri- urban/disadvantaged/informal settlements and the urban/privileged areas. The research motivated towards the conception that an inclusive Eurocentric and African approach towards education could benefit South African adolescent learners emotionally, socially and academically. Notwithstanding, providing an Emotional Intelligence framework that includes tenets of the African Philosophical paradigm of Ubuntu could enable adolescent learners to feel more empowered when confronting their socio- economic challenges. Hence, the purpose of this study was to ascertain whether the lack of formal EI/Ubuntu skills training in schools leaves learners without the competences to surmount the many challenges adolescents face during the turbulent phase of early adolescence. The aim of this study was to assess the levels of EI in a sample of adolescents from both SES levels. Qualitative methods were used in order to ascertain the impact of Western and Ubuntu epistemologies/worldviews on the adolescent learners’ Emotional Intelligence. This study also sought to determine the impact of education and role models on this sample of adolescent learners' EI/Ubuntu levels. This research also investigated how the merged EI/Ubuntu concepts can be incorporated into a life skills programme aimed at enhancing EI/Ubuntu in South African adolescent learners. In this study both quantitative and qualitative data were collected using the convergent parallel mixed method study and the paradigms that informed the study includes pragmatism, interpretivism, positivism and post-positivism. The objectives of this study includes identifying the emotional needs and EI status of adolescent learners and to investigate to what extent these are being met in the current educational system in South Africa. The research noted the contextual factors that influence EI in adolescent learners. The research explored how adolescents align their behaviour with the values and virtues of EI and Ubuntu. The following tools were used to accomplish the aforementioned objectives; a short introduction to Ubuntu, the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire - Adolescent Short Form (TEIQue-ASF) questionnaire was utilised to obtain a measure of the individual learner’s EI. A biographical questionnaire was given to all learners in order to establish what contextual factors impact on EI/Ubuntu consciousness. An Ubuntu style 10-item questionnaire to obtain insight into individual learners’ conceptualisation of EI. A short paragraph of approximately 300 words allowed for the narrative of each learner to be explored and a 22-item semi-structured parent/teacher interview from both SES groups. Role-playing scenarios were enacted to assess the depth of EI through the identification and understanding that took place between the players and draw a person diagrams (DAP) were utilised and assessed for EI aspects such as self-esteem, levels of confidence and awareness of self. The most pertinent aspects that were revealed by this study was that Low SES learners, especially those that lived in corrugated housing felt a sense of helplessness, fear and social alienation when challenged by their extreme living conditions. The study also revealed that the High SES group struggled at forming meaningful relationships and felt panicked and stressed regarding their academic responsibilities and outcomes. Hence as both groups struggled socially, they relied on technology and Western materialism to fill the void.
Psychology
M.A. (Psychology)

The current vast sociocultural shift from Modernism to PostModernism forms the backdrop to this study. Whenever paradigm shifts occur, the metaphors which depict human experience and identity also change. The mechanistic metaphors of Modernism are giving way to metaphors derived from art and literature, in particular narrative theory. Self, as one of the most pivotal notions in philosophy, literature, and psychology, should not be excluded from this process of reconceptualisation. As the point of intersection between the personal and the cultural, the notion of Self now needs to bereformulated to become more coherent with Post-Modernist ideas. Within this framework the Modernist notion of a Self which is unified, substantial, and stable across all contexts, is deconstructed in this study to reveal the linguistic and ideological codes and conventions which are used in its construction. It is proposed that the Self can be viewed as embedded in relationship with others and as inscribed by the prevailing cultural ideologies regarding personhood. As such the Self can be regarded as held together reflexively by narrative codes and conventions. These ideas are demonstrated in an analysis of two written self-narratives and applied to the conventions and practices in psychotherapy.
Psychology
D.Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)