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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Theory (Philosophy)'
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1
Adams, Ian S. "Philosophy, ideology and educational theory." Thesis, Durham University, 1987. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/6681/.
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This work is concerned with the nature and scope of ideology. It begins with an examination of the relationship between theory and practice in the relatively uncontentious area of education. An analysis of different kinds of educational theory reveals the nature of the most comprehensive form of such theorising to be problematic. It is argued that a solution to this problem depends upon the solution to the wider problem of the nature of political ideology, to which the discussion therefore shifts. Existing theories of political ideology being deemed inadequate, a fresh start is made by showing how this form of theory combines the descriptive and the evaluative in a particular way and with particular logical consequences. These consequences characterise ideology as a peculiar form of ethical understanding, involving a distinctive way of thinking and having a logical structure of its own. However, these characteristics which make ideology distinctive are not inherently political, and the possibility of there being several different forms of ideology is discussed. With these conclusions it becomes possible to return to the problem of comprehensive educational theory and show that it is composed of a number of forms of ideology, some related to political ideology and some not. The work concludes with some reflections upon the extent to which ideology is an inevitable component of all thinking about human affairs.
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Turner, Jonathan. "Political theory as moral philosophy." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2018. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:9b47b083-30aa-411d-a100-29aee7c34a3b.
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I argue against the claim that normative political theory is 'autonomous' with respect to moral philosophy. I take the simple view that political theory is a form of moral philosophy, and is differentiated by pragmatic rather than theoretically significant criteria. I defend this view by criticizing arguments for the autonomy thesis. In the first three chapters I introduce and analyse the autonomy thesis and provide a framework for understanding the various claims that are made in the literature. In Chapters 4 to 8 I proceed to criticize a series of arguments for the autonomy thesis. In Chapter 4 I explain why Kant's division of morality into ethics and right is not as useful as it may seem to those who wish to defend the autonomy thesis, and argues that Arthur Ripstein gives no reason to think that political philosophy is autonomous that can be endorsed independently of commitment to a Kantian normative theory. In Chapter 5 I examine the political liberal argument for the autonomy thesis, concluding that even if a freestanding political conception of justice can be regarded as autonomous, it does not follow that political philosophy can also. Chapters 6 to 8 tackle various political realist arguments for the autonomy thesis. In Chapter 6 I argue that political theory is not required to deal with empirical facts in any way that distinguishes it from moral philosophy, and any argument for its autonomy that is based on a prior claim about the purpose of political theorizing would be question-begging. In Chapters 7 and 8 I provide various arguments against the idea that there is a distinctively political form of normativity, and diagnose some of the mistaken assumptions about morality that I take to lie at the heart of the realist case. In Chapter 9 I conclude.
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Pérez, i. Brufau Roger. "Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Sartre's Philosophy." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/4854.
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Aquesta tesi se centra en la Teoria de la Metàfora Conceptual i la filosofia experiencialista de George Lakoff and Mark Johnson i en la filosofia existencialista de Jean-Paul Sartre.En el primer capítol estudiem les obres de Lakoff i Johnson sobre la Metàfora (1980, 1999) i també fem una revisió crítica de les més importants reformulacions, ampliacions i crítiques que ha rebut la teoria.
En el segon capítol fem una comparació entre experiencialisme i existencialisme a través del concepte d'imaginació un element clau en ambdues teories.
En el tercer i darrer capítol examinem les metàfores centrals que podem descobrir en el llibre més important de l'existencialisme: L'être et le Néant de Jean-Paul Sartre (1943a). Com si es tractés d'un nou capítol de Lakoff & Johnson (1999) centrarem la nostra atenció en aquest importantíssim llibre de Sartre per tal de descobrir quines metàfores sostenen el seu sistema. L'anàlisi es basarà en la teoria de la Metàfora Conceptual (tal com es presenta a Lakoff & Johnson 1999) i en la idea clau en aquest mateix llibre que la metàfora és una habilitat essencial que ens permet construir sistemes filosòfics.
Finalment, un apartat de conclusions tancarà la tesi per tal de recollir les principals propostes que han estat defensades al llarg del treball.
This dissertation deals with Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Experientialist philosophy by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson and Existentialist philosophy by Jean-Paul Sartre.
In the first chapter we study Lakoff and Johnson's works on Metaphor (1980, 1999) and we also do a critical review of the most important revisions, extensions and criticisms related to the theory.
In the second chapter we do a comparison between experientialism and existentialism by means of the concept of imagination a key component of both theories.
In the third and last chapter we examine the central metaphors that we can discover in the most important book of existentialism: Jean-Paul Sartre's (1943a) L'être et el Néant. As though it were another chapter in Lakoff & Johnson (1999) we will pay attention to this very important book of Sartre's in order to discover which metaphors sustain his system. The analysis will be based on Lakoff & Johnson's Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Lakoff & Johnson's (1999) key idea that metaphor is an essential skill that allows us to build philosophical systems.
Finally, a part of Conclusions will close the dissertation in order to summarize the key proposals defended throughout the work.
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Seiler, Nils A. "Retranslating philosophy: Dharmottara’s theory of perception." Thesis, University of Iowa, 2019. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/6852.
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Charlebois, Lise. "Scientism and philosophy." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1996. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp04/mq26309.pdf.
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Hättich, Frank. "Whitehead's process philosophy and quantum field theory." [S.l. : s.n.], 2003. http://deposit.ddb.de/cgi-bin/dokserv?idn=969348061.
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Aksoy, Isil. "The Theory Of Passions In Cartesian Philosophy." Master's thesis, METU, 2006. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/2/12607145/index.pdf.
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The aim of this thesis is to investigate the passions in Cartesian philosophy. It analyses the nature, characteristics and the causes of passions as discussed by Descartes in his correspondence with Princess Elizabeth and his last book The Passions of the Soul (Les passions de l&rsquoâ
me). This thesis purports to explain Descartes&rsquo
ethical view by examining the physical mechanism of the passions and their relation to the soul. The reason, will and their essential roles in Cartesian ethics are discussed.
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Hall, Lesley R. "The philosophy and theory of ecological restoration." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1998. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/tape17/PQDD_0022/MQ30477.pdf.
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Maibom, Heidi Lene. "Philosophical foundations of the Theory Theory of folk psychology." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.343900.
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Vallaeys, Francois. "Kant' s Polítical Theory." Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú - Departamento de Humanidades, 2013. http://repositorio.pucp.edu.pe/index/handle/123456789/113027.
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Kant' s jurídical and polítical meditations fit inside the critical system as a proyect that faces the challenge of building a bridge between liberty and nature. In this sense, law, conceived by Kant as categorical imperative, must accomplish the task of conciliating the need to reform the State in order to achieve justice with the preservation of an irresistible civil authority. The polítical problem is, then, to resolve the conflict between liberty and order. The polítical antinomy (empiricism vs. fanaticism) is resolved with the definition of a practical rationality based on the publicity of polítical rules. Without abolishing the difficulties of Kant's jurídical philosophy, this solution allows to define an intersubjective space of polítical rationality, both free of jurídical positivism and decisionism as well as of historicism or of the dictatorship of a fanatical reason.La reflexión jurídica y política de Kant se inscribe al interior del sistema crítico como proyecto de asumir el reto de edificar un puente entre la libertad y la naturaleza. En este sentido, el derecho, concebido por Kant como imperativo categórico, debe cumplir con la tarea de conciliar la exigencia de la reforma del Estado para la realización de la justicia con la conservación de una autoridad estatal irresistible. El problema político es, pues, de resolver el conflicto entre la libertad y el orden. La antinomia política (empirismo vs fanatismo) se resuelve con la definición de una racionalidad práctica basada en la publicidad de las máximas políticas. Sin abolir las dificultades de la filosofía jurídica kantiana, esa solución permite definir un espacio intersubjetiva de racionalidad política liberado tanto del positivismo jurídico y del decisionismo que del historicismo o de la dictadura de una razón fanática.
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Warr, Nicholas Alexander. "Peculiar theory : the problem of philosophy in Siegfried Kracauer's 'Theory of Film'." Thesis, University of East Anglia, 2013. https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/47906/.
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The republication of Theory of Film: The Redemption of Physical Reality by Siegfried Kracauer (1889-1966) in 1997 marked not just the highpoint of a period of renewed interest in his work, a period initiated by a series of events organized to mark the centenary of his birth, but also the limit of his scholarly influence. Though enthusiasm for his early sociological and cultural criticism written in Frankfurt and Berlin during the 1920s and 1930s continues to permeate research in numerous other disciplines within the humanities, his film theory continues to have little or no impact on the debates that currently define film studies. The reason for this, I argue, relates to the problematic role of philosophy in his film theory. Focusing primarily on Theory of Film, I examine in detail what makes Kracauer’s theory peculiar; peculiar in the sense that it belongs specifically to the film medium and peculiar in regard to the ambiguous philosophical claims that distinguish it from subsequent methods of film analysis. The contemporary image of Kracauer as a cultural philosopher, I argue, restricts how we read the relationship between film and philosophy in his work. I propose that from the perspective of the contemporary film-philosophy debate a critical notion of the cinematic can be restored to all facets of his work enabling a clearer understanding of how Kracauer comprehends the relationship between the filmmaker, spectator and film theorist. In turn, I conclude, this review of Kracauer’s cinematic approach as a democratised form of critical agency will benefit the understanding of philosophy and film theory as related forms of social practice.
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Menezes, Natalie. "Towards a post-sacrificial theory of identity formation." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007626.
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In this thesis I shall outline various modernist authors' arguments that collectivities (such as ethnic groups, nations, states and cultures) and subjectivities employ sacrificial violence to establish and assert their identity where identity is inescapably (?) understood in terms of the sovereignty of the collective or the post-Oedipal autonomy of the individual. To this end, violence has been posited as a historical and conceptual inevitability and is set as the default-state of human nature and politics. In recent times, protesting voices (from post-feminist, post-colonial, post-modern and the emerging human rights discourses) have begun to rigorously contest the notion of violence as the default-state. As a result, the legitimacy of sacrifice as the primary modus to an autonomous selfhood has been radically problematised. I believe that a comprehensive understanding of the nature of this crisis of identity formation , and the possibility of transcending it, is to be found in the paradigmatic shift away from Newtonian thought toward a post-Newtonian worldview. In seeking to challenge the assumption of violence-as-default, I shall translate the comprehensive sacrificial nature of collective identity and subjectivity into a complexity-based model that allowed me to make three crucial conceptual moves toward a comprehensive understanding of post-sacrificial identities that occupy an important place in a post-Newtonian world. First, it will allow me to challenge the assumptions that supported the Hobbesian myth of autonomy/sovereignty sacrificially achieved by charting the ontological shift that compels us to understand "entities" (be it a cell, an individual or a state) not in terms of autonomy but interdependence. Secondly, it provides the conceptual tools needed to understand the systemic nature of sacrificial violence by reading subjectivity violence and collectivity violence in terms of their organic self-similarity. This will equip me to comprehensively explore a postsacrificial epistemology valid for both collective identities and subjectivity. Thirdly, I propose a model of post-sacrificial identities that are created and sustained at the edge of chaos through the dynamic interplay of order and disorder that reconciles creative and destructive forces in a generative unity. I believe that this post-Newtonian reading will clear the conceptual space needed to suggest there might yet be hope for a future that does not embrace violence as default-state.
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Al-Haji, Ghazwan. "Road Safety Development Index : Theory, Philosophy and Practice." Doctoral thesis, Linköpings universitet, Institutionen för teknik och naturvetenskap, 2007. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-8812.
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This dissertation develops, presents and tests a new international tool, the so-called Road Safety Development Index (RSDI), which indicates in a comprehensive and easy way the severity of the road safety situation in a specific country and/or in comparison with other countries. There are three pillars of outcomes involved in the framework of RSDI. One pillar is the People focus (road user behaviour). The second is the System focus (safer vehicles, safer roads, enforcement, management, etc). The third is the Product focus in terms of accident death rates. This thesis analyses each of these pillars. In addition, RSDI links the key national practices of road safety to each other and to the end-results (accident death rates). The study suggests a master-list of performance indicators to be implemented for assessing road safety level in a country and for RSDI building. Based on the “master-list”, a short key list of performance indicators is chosen and classified into two primary categories that correspond to two groups of countries: LMCs “Less Motorised Countries” and HMCs “Highly Motorised Countries”. RSDI aggregates the key performance indicators into one single quantitative value (composite index). Four main objective and subjective approaches are used to calculate RSDI and determine which one is the best. One approach uses equal weights for all indicators and countries, whereas the other approaches give different weights depending on the importance of indicators. Two empirical studies were carried out, in different parts of the world, to determine the applicability of this tool in real world applications. The first empirical study comes from eight European countries (HMCs). The second empirical study comes from five Southeast Asian countries (LMCs). The RSDI results from this study indicate a remarkable difference between the selected countries even at the same level of motorisation and/or with close accident death rates. The unavailability of comparable and useful data are problems for deeper analysis of RSDI, especially the index should be as relevant as possible for different parts of the world. The empirical and theoretical assessments prove that RSDI can give a broader picture of the whole road safety situation in a country compared to the traditional models and can offer a simple and easily understandable tool to national policy makers and public.Denna avhandling utvecklar, presenterar och testar ett nytt internationellt verktyg, det så kallade Road Safety Development Index (RSDI), vilket på ett begripligt och lättillgängligt sätt beskriver trafiksäkerhetsläget i ett visst land jämfört med andra länder. Resultatet av RSDI utgörs av tre grundpelare. Den första pelaren är Fokus på människor (vägtrafikbeteende). Den andra är Fokus på systemet (säkrare fordon, säkrare vägar, beivrande, management, osv). Den tredje pelaren är Fokus på produkten med avseende på antal döda per fordon och per invånare. Arbetet analyserar var och en av dessa tre pelare. RSDI kopplar dessutom samman de viktigaste nationella praxisarna och erfarenheterna med varandra och till slutresultaten (antal dödsfall). Studien föreslår en lista med de viktigaste indikatorerna på hur olika länder vidtar åtgärder för trafiksäkerheten. Grundat på denna “master-lista” kan en kort lista med de viktigaste indikatorerna skapas och klassificeras i två huvudkategorier för två typer av länder: LMC “länder med låg andel fordon” och HMC “länder med hög andel fordon”. RSDI aggregerar de viktigaste performance-indikatorerna till ett enda kvantitativt mått (ett sammansatt index). Fyra olika objektiva och subjektiva huvudangreppssätt används för att beräkna RSDI och bestämma vilket av dem som är det bästa. En metod använder sig av lika stora vikter för alla indikatorer och länder, medan en annan metod ger olika vikter beroende på indikatorernas betydelse. Två empiriska studier genomfördes i olika delar av världen för att bestämma tillämpligheten av detta verktyg i verkliga situationer. Den första empiriska studien kommer från åtta länder i Europa (HMC-länder). Den andra empiriska studien har gjorts i fem länder i Sydostasien (LMC-länder). Resultaten från detta RSDI tyder på en anmärkningsvärd skillnad mellan de valda länderna, också om andelen bilägare och/eller andra variabler för trafiksäkerhet hålls konstanta. Bristen på jämförbara och användbara data medför problem vid en djupare analys av RSDI för olika delar av världen. De empiriska och teoretiska skattningarna visar att RSDI kan ge en bredare bild av hela trafiksäkerhetssituationen i ett land jämfört med traditionella modeller och kan erbjuda ett enkelt och lättförståeligt verktyg för de nationella beslutsfattarna liksom för allmänheten.
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Parrillo, Susan M. "Adjudicating the Simulation Theory/Theory Theory Debate (With Especial Attention to the Case of Autism Spectrum Disorders)." Thesis, State University of New York at Albany, 2016. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10102273.
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Philosophers, cognitive scientists and developmental psychologists largely agree that we understand mental states and use them to explain and predict the behaviors of ourselves and of others (i.e. we ‘mindread’) by using a cognitive capacity known as the theory of mind (henceforth, ‘ToM’). However, a question remains as to what, exactly, underpins the ToM ability thereby allowing us such great accuracy in our first-person and third-person reports. My dissertation is an adjudication of the ongoing debate between two competing theories, each of which claims to have the best explanation of ToM. These two theories of ToM are known as the theory-theory (henceforth, the ‘TT’) and the simulation theory (henceforth, the ‘ST’). Because it is thought by cognitive developmental psychologists that autism spectrum disorders (henceforth, ‘ASD’) result from a ToM impairment or deficit, I pay especial attention to the case of ASD, using the features of the disorder, to adjudicate the debate. I suggest that the particular deficits and talents associated with ASD provide reasons to favor the ST over the TT in general and to favor an account of the ST that includes introspection over an account of the ST that excludes it.
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Keefer, Lucas Allen. "Defending Noe's Enactive Theory of Perception." Digital Archive @ GSU, 2009. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/philosophy_theses/52.
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Theories of perception can broadly be divided into two groups: orthodox and heterodox theories (Noë & Thompson, 2002). Orthodox theories of perception consider perception as a neurological process, i.e. as a phenomenon which can be explained solely in terms of intracranial facts. Heterodox views expand this scope, maintaining that an understanding of perception must include extracranial facts, or facts about the environment in which a perceiver is situated (ibid.). This thesis will attempt to defend a particular exemplar of this heterodox approach, namely the enactive theory of perception proposed by Alva Noë. The thesis has two primary goals. First, I will attempt to offer an exegesis of Noë's theory, attempting to clarify the scope and strength of Noë's view. Secondly, I will consider the particular objections leveled against Noë, and heterodox theories more generally, by Ken Aizawa. I conclude that Noë's theory can better account for the nature of perception.
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Naik, A. D. "Absolute-theory." Thesis, University of Aberdeen, 1987. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.379788.
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This thesis is concerned with the project which J.N. Findlay has called absolute-theory (see his book Ascent to the Absolute London: George Allen and Unwin 1970, and his article 'Bradley's contribution to Absolute-theory' in The Philosophy of F.H.Bradley edited by Guy Stock and Anthony Manser, Oxford: Clarendon 1984). In absolute-theory one is concerned with (1) determining the abstract or formal characteristics, the form as it were, of the fundamental existent or existents on which all things depend, and (ii) evaluating the candidates that might be said to fit the abstract form. If there are a plurality of fundamental existents then the form is a universal with many instances. If there is only one fundamental existent, one primordial object, then the form itself is particular in the sense that it is not instantiable by more than one thing. The background issue is monism versus pluralism. In chapter 1 first some of the characteristics that go to make up the form are delineated. Then some candidates are briefly evaluated and rejected. Finally the kind of candidate absolute idealists offer in general is elucidated to some degree giving the authors preferred formulation. The self-differentiated Substance-Person. The rest of the thesis is concerned with elucidating this conception as a candidate and arguing for it. Through this the formal characteristics of the Absolute are also considered. The author has tried to formulate an independent and original position within the general tradition of absolute idealism. In chapter 2 the concept of substance and of ultimate substance is elucidated and argued for. In chapter 3 the substance-attribute distinction is utilized to construct an original dilemma and it is argued that the solution lies in the conception of the ultimate substance. The dilemma is this: All attributes are either essential or accidental to their substances. If interaction between substances is at the level of essential attributes loss of identity occurs. If it is at the level of accidental attributes knowledge of the real nature of other substances remains ever elusive. In chapter 4 it is argued that the ultimate substance is the source of all meaning and truth. In chapter 5 it is argued that the ultimate substance is also a self-differentiated Person. This is basically the idea that there is One Person embodied in all brain-bodies.
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Bosley, Aneurin. "Immanuel Kant's theory of experience." Thesis, University of Ottawa (Canada), 1996. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/9545.
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The goal of this thesis are, firstly, to critically explicate the role of the understanding in making experience possible (where experience is defined as 'empirical knowledge of objects'), and, secondly, to argue that Kant's conclusion regarding the possibility of experience is not tenable. My argument is essentially that the schematism of the pure concepts does not succeed in bridging the gap between sensibility and understanding. I suggest that not only does the schematism not succeed in providing the pure concepts with sensible content, but that nothing could provide them with such content.
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Bennett, Fred. "A liberal theory of borders." Thesis, University of Ottawa (Canada), 1996. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/10429.
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The thesis investigates normative justifications for any particular division of the world into political units; it investigates the moral considerations which arise when changes to political frontiers are proposed. It is argued that the right of individuals to associate with whom they please is the moral factor which determines the moral legitimacy of political boundaries. Groups of individuals occupying a contiguous territory have a moral right to secede from any existing political unit for any or no reason other than the fact that the majority wishes it, unless it can be demonstrated that such an action would violate someone's rights. Such factors as culture, language, historical accident, etc., are morally irrelevant; they may account for psychological motivations but carry no moral weight. The argument would countenance the secession of Quebec from Canada, the partition of Quebec, or the expulsion of Quebec from the federation by other Canadians.
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McCloughan, Meade Jonathan Bruce. "Kant's theory of progress." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2004. http://sas-space.sas.ac.uk/1140/.
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My topic is Kant’s theory of historical progress. My approach is primarily textual and contextual. I analyse in some detail Kant’s three most important essays on the topic: ‘Idea for a Universal History’, the third part of ‘Theory and Practice’ and the second part of The Conflict of the Faculties. I devote particular attention to the Kant-Herder debate about progress, but also discuss Rousseau, Mendelssohn, Hegel and others. In presenting, on Kant’s behalf, a strong case for his theory of progress, I address the main objections which have been put to it. These are: (i) historical teleology is incoherent (history can’t have a goal because there is no intentional actor functioning at the historical level); (ii) historical teleology undermines morality (if things are getting better anyway, why do I have to try to make them better?); (iii) progress involves ‘chronological unfairness’ (if things are getting better, doesn’t this mean that earlier generations get a raw deal?); (iv) progress consigns the species to ‘spurious infinity’ (isn’t endless improvement endlessly unsatisfactory?); (v) progress amounts to pernicious homogenization (doesn’t the elimination of traditional practices and values impoverish our world?); (vi) the idea of progress is just ‘secularized’ religion (and should be rejected accordingly). In relation to (vi), I consider the Löwith-Blumenberg debate, and draw some general conclusions about the issue of ‘secularization’. In relating these to Kant, I argue for the following position: (a) his theory of progress is more than merely secularized religion; (b) to the extent that it can be described in terms of the secularization thesis, this reflects his ‘critical’ endeavour to rationalize Christianity; (c) in any case, the idea of progress by no means exhausts the rational potential of religion, and so should not be seen as intended to replace the latter.
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Parris, David. "Reception theory : philosophical hermeneutics, literary theory, and biblical interpretation." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 1999. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/12110/.
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The goal of this thesis is to explore the possibility of applying Hans Robert Jauss' hermeneutic of reception theory to biblical interpretation. The traditional methods employed in biblical interpretation involve a two-way dialogue between the text and the reader. Reception theory expands this into a three-way dialogue, with the third partner being the history of the text's interpretation and application. This third partner has been ignored by biblical interpreters but recently the need to include this has gained some attention. In the first part of the thesis, the work of Hans-Georg Gadamer will be examined in order to provide the philosophical hermeneutical framework for reception theory and its significance for biblical studies. In the second part, this framework will be fleshed out by Hans Robert Jauss' conception of reception theory. Jauss not only builds upon Gadamer's work but his literary hermeneutic provides a model which is applicable to the biblical text and its tradition of interpretation. In the final part, the parable of the Wedding Feast in Matthew 22:1-14 and its Wirkungsgeschichte will be considered as a case study.
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Anderson, Julie B. "William James's theory of personal identity." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1998. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/tape15/PQDD_0002/MQ32524.pdf.
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Clark, Maxwell Haus. "Discovering Orientation between Theory and Narrative." The University of Montana, 2010. http://etd.lib.umt.edu/theses/available/etd-01152010-125350/.
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Through the concept of orientation, this essay attempts to establish a philosophical account of the structure of our daily lives. By examining Kants notion of orientation and Heideggers response to Kant, I highlight the importance of the fact that orientation comes from the world, not simply from our ability to determine our position in the world by means of a coordinate system. Consequently, I argue, the concrete instantiation of a life given in a narrative can supplement the structure that the theoretical framework of justice, which establishes the principles guiding the institutions of our society, claims to leave undetermined. This texture fills the space of justice and culture with tangible things and practices that make up our daily life. The novel America America is used as a diagnostic tool to illuminate the forces and opportunities found in our culture that need to be either recognized and avoided, or discovered, revealed, and spoken for. I suggest that instrumental reason and the attainment of mere pleasure, as a cultural forces guiding our practices, fail to provide a tenable answer to the question of the good life and that they should be avoided when we are considering the ultimate how and what of the practices that make up the structure of our lives. In response to the failure of instrumental reason, I propose a deepening of our practices by way of familiarity (through closeness) and accomplishment (through engagement) with the things that are integral to practices such as making maple syrup and preparing a meal.
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Swift, Andrew Michael. "Hobbes's secular command theory of obligation /." The Ohio State University, 1990. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1487681788253203.
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Silver, David Brian 1969. "A virtue theory of practical reason." Diss., The University of Arizona, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/288726.
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When, if ever, is it rational for an agent to act morally? To fully answer such a question we must appeal to a theory of practical reason. My project is to defend one such theory by determining which features we most strongly associate with practical reason and then providing a theory which best accounts for those features. One of the chief features we associate with practical reason is that it has to do somehow with correct deliberation. Recognizing this feature leads theorists as diverse as Hobbes and Kant to accept what might be called the standard view: it is correct deliberation, and correct deliberation alone, which reveals an agent's reasons. I argue that the most prominent and plausible examples of the standard view fail to show that there is any moral requirement that is rationally required for every given agent. I then argue that the inability to connect rationality and morality in this way is a severe defect of the standard view. This is because another of the chief features we associate with practical reason is that the phrase 'what is rational' is nearly synonymous with endorsing phrases such as 'what makes sense' or 'what ought to be done'. I argue that in order to preserve this synonymy we must have a theory of rationality which is capable of saying it is always irrational to violate certain moral requirements; but, this is something the standard view cannot accommodate. I argue that the theory which best captures the various features we associate with practical reason is the virtue theory of practical reason. It says that an agent has reason to perform an action just in case there is a suitable deliberative connection between that action and some motive she would have were she to have a correct or virtuous set of motivations. I include in the dissertation a discussion of how we gain knowledge about this set of motivations. I also address various naturalistic worries that the virtue theory raises.
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Pelman, Alik. "Reference and modality : a theory of intensions." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2007. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1445779/.
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The study of reference often leads to addressing fundamental issues in semantics, metaphysics and epistemology this suggests that reference is closely linked to the three realms. The overall purpose of this study is to elucidate the structure of some of these links, through a close exarriination of the "mechanism" of reference. As in many other enquiries, considering the possible (i.e., the modal,) in addition to the actual proves very helpful in clarifying and explicating insights. The reference of a term with respect to possible worlds is commonly called "intension" so this is a study of intensions. The main contribution of the study is an outline for a "calculator" of intensions. It is argued that the intension of a term is a function of three variables: (a) the way in which the term "picks out" its referent in different possible worlds (semantics) (b) criteria of identity (metaphysics) and (c) the actual state of affairs (actuality). While considering different possible values for these variables, it is demonstrated how the variables combine to generate the term's intension. In other words, the result is a calculator that when provided with the required values, yields the reference of the term in different possible worlds. By taking into account the possible gap between what we take the values of these variables to be and what they may in fact be, we also gain important insights into the epistemic aspect of reference. In addition, since a "rigid designator" is a term with constant intension, the proposed thesis provides an elaborate account of rigidity. The first chapter is devoted to the development of the calculator of intensions. Each of the following three chapters elaborates on one aspect of intensions, namely, the semantic, metaphysical and epistemic aspects. In the course of these chapters, various familiar puzzles pertaining to the respective philosophical realms are addressed (many of these puzzles are discussed in Kripke's Naming and Necessity a. work that considerably inspired this study). In the fifth and last chapter the analysis of intensions is applied to two case-studies from relatively recent philosophical literature: the Kripke-Lewis debate over the identity theory of mind, and the debate over the significance of Donnellan's referential/attributive distinction. The novel accounts that these applications generate purport to illustrate the importance and originality of the proposed thesis.
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Lenman, James. "Realism and idealism in the theory of value." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 1995. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/14766.
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This thesis defends an account of value which emphasizes the central place occupied by experiences among the objects of evaluation, a point that is particularly stark in the case of aesthetic value, to which a chapter is devoted that adumbrates the wider understanding of value subsequently defended. More generally it is argued that values do not transcend the attitudes and institutions in which they are embodied. They nonetheless enjoy in virtue of their structuring by norms of consistency, stability and deference enough in the way of objectivity to do justice to various phenomenological considerations often thought to favour realism. It is argued however that this level of objectivity is compatible with the rejection of any form of reductive naturalism and, more generally, of cognitivism- views which should indeed, it is argued, be rejected in favour of an expressivistic understanding of value.
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Chen, Xiang. "Conceptual problems in theory appraisal." Thesis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/80063.
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The objective of this thesis is to examine the role of conceptual problems in scientific change, especially in the processes of theory appraisal.
In the thesis I begin with a review of Buchdahl's, Toulmin's, and Laudan's works on conceptual problems. In the review I show that, although all these writers emphasize the importance of conceptual problems as a criterion of theory appraisal, their works on conceptual problems are not complete.
The basis of this thesis is a case study of the nineteenth-century optical revolution. Traditionally, the victory of the wave theory in the revolution was supposed to be due to its empirical successes. However, historical research, presented here, does not support this opinion. I present a different view of the optical revolution, comparing the conceptual problems of wave and particle optics, and identifying the appraisal criteria that historical figures actually employed. I argue that the inferior status of the particle theory in dealing with conceptual problems was the primary cause of the optical revolution.
Based on a generalization of a variety of historical cases of conceptual problems, I offer a new account of conceptual problems. First, conceptual problems are the characteristics of conceptual structures rather than theories. Second, the sources of conceptual problems are the processes of concept application, especially in identifying the existence of a concept's referent, in specifying the properties of its referent, and in explicating the procedure of its application. Third, the primary symptom of conceptual problems is that a conceptual structure becomes meaningless. In conclusion, I present a comprehensive set of categories for classifying conceptual problems.Master of Science
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Dee, Matthew. "William of Ockham's Divine Command Theory." Scholar Commons, 2019. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/7776.
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There was a long-standing consensus that Ockham was a Divine Command Theorist - one who holds that all of morality is ultimately grounded in God's commands. But contrary to this long-standing consensus, three arguments have recently surfaced that Ockham is not a divine command theorist. The thesis of this dissertation is that, contrary to these three arguments, Ockham is a divine command theorist. The first half of the dissertation is an analysis of the three necessary and jointly sufficient conditions for virtuous action, whereas the second half is a response to the three contemporary arguments that Ockham isn't a divine command theorist. In a way, the first half of the dissertation gives a prima facie case that Ockham is a divine command theorist; the second half concludes so ultima facie.
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Moore, Andrew. "A theory of well-being." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1991. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.315859.
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Crisp, Roger. "Ideal utilitarianism : theory and practice." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1988. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.253770.
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Kinch, James. "Millikan's theory of mental representation." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.339189.
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Whittle, Ann Katherine. "The causal theory of properties." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2004. http://sas-space.sas.ac.uk/1144/.
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This thesis investigates the causal theory of properties (CTP). CTP states that properties must be understood via the complicated network of causal relations to which a property can contribute. If an object instantiates the property of being 900C, for instance, it will burn human skin on contact, feel warm to us if near, etc. In order to best understand CTP, I argue that we need to distinguish between properties and particular instances of them. Properties should be analysed via the causal relations their instances stand in, it is this oven’s being 900C which causes my skin to burn, etc. The resulting CTP offers an illuminating analysis of properties. First, it provides a criterion of identity for properties, their identity being analysed via the causal roles property instances realise. It also offers an account of how property instances are sorted into genuine kinds, in cases of determinables and determinates. I show how we can distinguish between genuine and non-genuine similarity via the property instances of objects. The implications of CTP for an analysis of causation are then investigated. I argue that the proposed CTP offers a plausible causal ontology. The fine-grainedness of property instances enables us to capture the subtleties involved in questions concerning what causes what. But, even more importantly, CTP enables us to reconcile two highly attractive theses concerning the causal relation. The first of these is the generalist’s thesis. This states that causal relations are part of more general patterns. The second of these is the singularist’s thesis. This states that the causal connection between two entities, doesn’t depend upon anything extraneous to that relation. I argue that by combining CTP with an ontology of tropes, we can thereby respect what is driving both singularism and generalism.
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Webb, Rocky Kris. "A theory of intellectual expertise." Thesis, University of Hull, 2015. http://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:11675.
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Experts pervade public life. We live in an expertise saturated society. Experts are turned to in order to solve problems, justify positions, and are thought to progress our thinking and technology. But what makes an expert an expert? In answering this question, we may want a theory that characterises expertise across the ages, from ancient Greece through to modernity. I argue for a controversial position: namely that knowledge, by which I mean justified true belief, is not a sensible prerequisite for qualification as an intellectual expert. Intellectual experts from as far back as Aristotle through to Newton have held many false positions. If the past is anything to go by, it may be sensible to question how much knowledge intellectual expertise presupposes. As an alternative to knowledge, I argue that intellectual expertise can be understood as a matter of possessing a sufficient quantity of epistemically rational beliefs. We can understand intellectual expertise forgoing truth altogether. In part 1 of my thesis, I focus on building a robust theory of intellectual expertise. It is designed to deal with both epistemically impoverished and epistemically prosperous situations alike. In part 2 of my thesis, I highlight some implications of my theory of intellectual expertise. These include implications for our understanding of moral expertise, intellectual trust, and the relationship between intellectual experts and democracy. As such, my theory of intellectual expertise is a thesis in the domain of social epistemology.
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Harbour, Daniel 1975. "Elements of number theory." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/17581.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 2003.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 202-205).
The dissertation argues for the necessity of a morphosemantic theory of number, that is, a theory of number serviceable both to semantics and morphology. The basis for this position, and the empirical core of the dissertation, is the relationship between semantically based noun classification and agreement in Kiowa, an indigenous, endangered language of Oklahoma. The central claim is that Universal Grammar provides three number features, concerned with unithood, existence of homogeneous subsets, and properties of those subsets. The features are used to analyze a wide variety of data. Semantic topics include the difference between granular and non-granular mass nouns, collective, non-collective and distributive plurals, and cardinality. Syntactic topics include the structure of DP, noun marking, agreement and suppletion. Morphological topics include the inventory of morphological operations, the featural basis of complex syncretisms, the difference between agreement and suppletion, whether features are privative or binary, and the nature of the Kiowa/Tanoan inverse. Keywords: Kiowa-Tanoan, number, morphology, semantics, agreement, suppletion, inverse, noun class, singular, dual, plural, features, binary, privative.
by Daniel Harbour.
Ph.D.
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Larses, Ola. "Dependable architectures for automotive electronis - philosophy, theory and practice." Licentiate thesis, KTH, Machine Design, 2003. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-1724.
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Dealing properly with electronics will be a strongcompetitive advantage in the automotive sector in the nearfuture. Electronics are driving current innovations but are atthe same time becoming a larger part of the cost of thevehicle. In order to be successful, innovations must beintroduced in the vehicle without compromising the final pricetag. Also, the electronics have to compete with, and win over,the dependability of well known and proven mechanicalsolutions.
A problem with automotive electronics is that the approachwithin industry is to manage electronics in the same way asmechanical components with well defined boundaries andproperties. With the freedom introduced by software new ways tomanage the design process are necessary, components mayinteract differently depending on the context and have hiddenbehavior exposed only at rare occasions. The system design mustbe performed more explicitly; it is not enough to rely on welldefined boundaries and interfaces. The content and behavior ofinteracting components must be designed, analyzed and verifiedin the design process.
For future success, by-wire systems must handle theintegration of internal systems with a high degree ofcomplexity and increased dependencies between parts. This mustbe performed in line with a stronger agenda of cost anddependability, where the dependability of internal integrationshould focus on safety, reliability and maintainability. Thisthesis provides a comprehensive background on this topicthrough the first two appended reports.
As a support for new ways to deal with system design theMonty model for system engineering is proposed in the thirdappended report. The Monty model structures the need formodeling efforts in a general systems framework and alsoindicates related activities in the design process.
Modeling is a supporting technique that should improvecost-efficient dependability, but the modeling must beaccompanied by an extended reuse of designs. Modeling can beapplied formally or tacitly. In order to support modeling anddesign of either type the Monty model can be used. The Montymodel underlines the types of models necessary at differentdesign stages and suggests a way to separate design stages inthe design process. At every stage, it is necessary to havelinked models of the function, the implementation and theenvironment of the system. Related activities to manage thiswork are also necessary.
In future work, building on the ideas of the Monty model,the goal is to find a structured approach to master the art ofsystem design and improve the engineering of dependable andcost efficient drive-bywire architectures.
Keywords:Automotive, Embedded systems, Architecture,Dependability, Cost, X-by-wire
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Al, Haji Ghazwan. "Road safety development index (RSDI) : theory, philosophy and practice /." Norrköping : Department of Science and technology, Linköping University, 2007. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-8812.
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Sullivan, Lawrence Gerard. "Towards a philosophy of instant rhythm and generative theory." Thesis, University of the Arts London, 2011. http://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/5458/.
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Lee, Jin-soo. "Brandom's normative deontic theory of language." Thesis, Click to view the E-thesis via HKUTO, 2010. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record/B44046996.
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Brinkmann, Matthias. "A rationalist theory of legitimacy." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2016. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:6efb1b18-d901-40d3-9131-b83a4a10a642.
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In this thesis, I argue for rationalism, the claim that political legitimacy should be distributed such that justice is promoted best. In chapter 1, I define legitimacy as the permission to rule. I deny that political institutions generally enjoy authority, which is the moral power to directly impose duties on others. I then describe how legitimate political institutions without authority are possible in principle. In the second chapter, I outline a major problem for rationalism. If individuals have strong, moral rights, then it seems that political institutions cannot legitimately operate without their subjects' consent. I describe the key assumptions in this argument, and discuss a series of unconvincing proposals in the literature to escape it. In chapter 3, I argue that we can solve the problem if we look at theories of the moral justification of rights. There are two major such theories, the interest theory and the status theory. I outline the interest theory, and argue that it allows for non-consensual but legitimate political institutions. In chapter 4, I describe a Kantian claim about the nature of rights, according to which our rights are fully realised only if there are political institutions. If we accept this thought, then non-consensual political institutions can be legitimate on the status theory as well. In chapter 5, I outline what it means to promote-rather than respect-justice, and argue that the promotion of justice enjoys primacy over other values. At first sight, rationalism appears to have very radical implications, given that it asks us to base legitimacy on justice. In chapter 6, I argue that this impression is mistaken. We should often pursue justice indirectly, for example, through methods which focus on legal validity or democratic procedure rather than justice.
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Puente, Carlos de la. "Affectivity in the Young Sartre's Intersubjective Theory." Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú - Departamento de Humanidades, 2012. http://repositorio.pucp.edu.pe/index/handle/123456789/113079.
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The intersubjective theory that Sartre proposed in Being and Nothingness contends that human encounters are necessarily reifying. The author proposes that one of the constitutive theoretical elements of this pessimistic view of human encounters is Sartre’s conception of affectivity as a degradation of consciousness. The author explores this vision of affection that Sartre initially developed in his essay Outline of a Theory of Emotions, and concludes that it was this mode of understanding affectivity that later decisively influenced his contention in Being and Nothingness that the essence of human relations is conflict.La teoría de la intersubjetividad que Sartre postuló en El ser y la nada afi rma que los encuentros entre seres humanos son necesariamente reifi cantes. El autor de este artículo propone que uno de los determinantes teóricos de esta visión tan pesimista de los encuentros entre seres humanos es la concepción de Sartre de la afectividad como una degradación de la conciencia. El autor explora esta visión de lo afectivo, que Sartre desarrolló inicialmente en su ensayo Bosquejo de una teoría de las emociones, y concluye que fue esta manera de entender la afectividad la que infl uyó posteriormente, y de manera decisiva, para que Sartre afi rmara en El ser y la nada que la esencia de las relaciones humanas es el confl icto.
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Sinclaire, Jennifer. "The theory of forms and Plato's ethics." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/11951.
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Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.
The aims of this dissertation are to uncover and analyse potential links between ethics and metaphysics - specifically, the theory of Forms - in the dialogues of Plato. Drawing on material from a wide range of Plato 's works, I investigate possible ways in which his theory of Forms might, at a very general level, converge with his moral theory.
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Farnham, Daniel Elliott. "Eudaimonism: A rationalist theory of the good." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/289858.
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In this dissertation, I argue that the structure of eudaimonist ethics is similar to the structure of Kant's ethics and its relatives. In Chapter One, I discuss some different ways of thinking about the good life of a person and its relation to morality, as a way of situating eudaimonism and clarifying what is distinctive about it. In Chapter Two I argue that eudaimonism does not violate strong intuitions about the subjective aspect of the good life. In Chapter Three I discuss and defend the view of our nature to which Aristotle and other eudaimonists are committed. I argue reflection on our practical thinking reveals incompatibilities between the presuppositions we make in the practical sphere and a reductive naturalism. The Interlude explicates eudaimonia's conceptual role in the structure of human willing and the formal constraints of completeness and self-sufficiency . In Chapter Four, I argue that a dominant end interpretation of eudaimonism is motivated by an untenable consequentialist interpretation of our reasons for acting. In Chapter Five I develop a formal conception of eudaimonism, based on central features of our practical thought, or willing. The two key steps here are recognizing the essential intersubjective appeal at work in our willing, and recognizing the nature of this appeal. In Chapter Six I show how this formal conception can respond to a common objection to eudaimonist theory, that it presents an unacceptably egoistic account of our reasons for being moral.
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Van, Wagner Tracy P. "An Integrated Account of Social Cognition in ASD: Bringing Together Situated Cognition and Theory Theory." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1505203102196309.
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Fernandez, Sarah Elizabeth. "A Theory of Cultural Glocality." UNF Digital Commons, 2009. http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/etd/249.
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A Theory of Cultural Glocality shows how globalization can be salvaged from the negativity that often surrounds it. Globalization has been the target of criticism that claims globalization is pushed on cultures and in the process is destroying local cultures. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the limitations of globalization critics and show that it is not a negative force, that there is a healthy form of globalization. Therefore, globalization does not have to be considered disastrous for local cultures. Glocalizing provides cultures with a way to balance the local and the global in a healthy way where one does not overrun the other. Glocalizing leads to a horizontal globalization system that is based on interculturalism because it includes both the local and the global. Through glocalizing and interculturalism, horizontal globalization results in a truly global culture that is formed by the integration and merging of the local and the global.
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Parisi, Anthony. "A theory of constitutive tropes." Diss., University of Iowa, 2019. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/7009.
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The purpose of this work is to provide a metaphysical theory of properties and scientific laws. This sentence will require some unpacking. By a ‘metaphysical’ theory here, I mean a theory of what exists in the world. In this investigation I am primarily concerned with a theory of what properties there are in the world and the role they play in scientific laws. This may be contrasted with a linguistic or epistemic project, as it is not primarily about our language, ideas, or theorizing but rather about what is in the world itself. Properties are what we may pre-philosophically think of as the characteristics of an object: such as its height, weight, color, etc. Investigation may cause us to doubt whether some of these pre-philosophical properties are genuine in a metaphysical sense: whether or not the property is actually present as a feature of the world. By scientific laws, I mean the statements we make in the form of exceptionless generalities about the world within the sciences. Here I do not mean to evaluate how science comes about these generalizations, only that they do and how these generalizations may be grounded in a metaphysical theory of properties. The link between these two things: properties and scientific laws, comes about because our scientific laws prominently feature properties: velocity, temperature, charge, viscosity, etc.
After a review of some of the theories currently proposed in the philosophical literature along with a treatment of some of the problems that arise out of these theories, I will propose a new theory. This theory, entitled ‘Constitutive Trope Theory’ is a form of a ‘bundle trope theory’ as it proposes that objects in the world are composed entirely out of particularized properties. However, rather than proposing a primitive relation that does the bundling, this theory will propose that, at least for the objects we are familiar with, properties arise out of relations between lower-level properties that instantiate them. For example, a mammal may exist because of the relationship between the organs that lead to its unique properties as a mammal. Those organs in turn exist because of relationships between their cells that lead to their unique properties as a particular kind of organ. And so on down the chain until we hit ‘foundational properties’: properties which are not dependent on any other properties for their existence. I will say very little about these properties as I do not believe that any such properties have currently been found and will argue that such theorizing is premature before such properties have been empirically identified. Following this account, I will consider some of the problems that must be overcome and some final considerations in favor of this theory over other competing theories of properties and scientific laws.
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Crawley, Karen. "Limited ink : interpreting and misinterpreting GÜdel's incompleteness theorem in legal theory." Thesis, McGill University, 2006. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=101814.
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This thesis explores the significance of Godel's Theorem for an understanding of law as rules, and of legal adjudication as rule-following. It argues that Godel's Theorem, read through Wittgenstein's understanding of rules and language as a contextual activity, and through Derrida's account of 'undecidability,' offers an alternative account of the relationship of judging to justice. Instead of providing support for the 'indeterminacy' claim, Godel's Theorem illuminates the predicament of undecidability that structures any interpretation and every legal decision, and which constitutes the opening to justice. The first argument in this thesis examines Godel's proof, Wittgenstein's views on rules, and Derrida's undecidability, as manifestations of a common concern with the limits of what can be formalized. The meta-argument examines their misinterpretation and misappropriation within legal theory as a case study of just what they mean about meaning, context, and justice as necessarily co-implicated.
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Lune, David E., and University of Lethbridge Faculty of Arts and Science. "A theory of strategy." Thesis, Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Faculty of Arts and Science, 2003, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/10133/188.
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The notion of 'strategy' plays a central role in game theory, business, and war. This thesis offers an understanding of the term can be rendered canonical for all three contexts. I argue first that rational behaviour is either complacent or non-complacent. Second, what makes non-complacent rationally distinct is reconnaissance and predictive deliberation. And so third, what we can count as 'strategic' behaviour is the employment of reconnaissance and deliberation in pursuit of alternative practices of higher utility.vi, 91 leaves ; 28 cm.
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McKay, David Andrew. "Metrical theory and English verse." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/10777.
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Lind, Marcia Susan. "Emotions and Hume's moral theory." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/14740.
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Vaysman, Olga. "Segmental alternations and metrical theory." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/47830.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 2009.Includes bibliographical references (p. 263-268).
This dissertation focuses on phonological alternations that are influenced or constrained by word-internal prosody, i.e. prominence and foot structure, and what these alternations can tell us about metrical theory. Detailed case studies of several cases of prosody sensitive segmental alternations, as well as a survey of such phenomena mentioned in the literature were the empirical basis for this study. I have offered an empirically motivated proposal that constituency and prominence have to be separate entities in the grammar, since some segmental alternations cannot be accounted for without reference to foot boundaries, while others require reference to prominence. The data also shows that there are languages with mismatches between stress assignment pattern and foot structure. Based on the empirical data that prosody-sensitive alternations provide, I develop the formal proposal of representation of prominence and foot structure and their interaction. Prominence is represented by gridmarks on an autosegmental tier, while foot structure is not built on the gridmarks, but is a function of syllables grouped into higher-level constituents. I propose that the relationship between foot structure and prominence should be mediated by violable constraints relating the two entities. I call them Prominence Alignment constraints. Mismatches between foot structure and prominence assignment in a given language are caused, under the present theory, when one of the constraints that refer to prominence but not to foot structure outranks a Prominence Alignment constraint. The factorial typology generated by such ranking is substantiated by the case studies throughout this dissertation. I argue that the model developed in this dissertation generates all types of interaction between foot structure and prominence attested and does not generate unattested patterns.
by Olga Vaysman.
Ph.D.