School of Historical and Philosophical Studies - Theses
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ItemNo Preview AvailableGovernor Hotham : aspects of his government of Victoria, 1854-55, with particular reference to the Ballarat gold-fields disturbances(University of Melbourne, 1954?)
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ItemThe Melbourne Mechanics Institute 1839-1872(University of Melbourne, 1955)
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ItemNew South Wales under Governor King(University of Melbourne, 1955)The three parts of this thesis are entitled 'The Economy', 'The People', 'The Governor'. Although those three subjects are certainly the fundamental matters of my concern, the rigidity of the division may be misleading. I an inclined to believe that "Economic History" is rarely of intrinsic importance and definitely not so in reference to a snail settlement over a mere six-year period. The purpose of Part One is rather to introduce 'The People'. This is aimed at in two ways. On the one hand the first two chapters suggest the background and, to some degree, the manner of the ordinary man's life; on the other, the whole section describes the channels into which the colonists of superior ability directed their energies. In all young societies the first moves towards distinction are not related to philosophy or culture, but to economic profit. Thus the chapters on the several industries teach not only statistics and geography, but also of the aspirations and determination of the men in the colony possessed of minds large enough to aspire determinedly. Every chapter, not merely the last, refers to the personality and attitudes of the Governor. Men such as King who possess no highly remarkable or intriguing qualities cannot be characterised and estimated so succinctly as the genius, hero, or villain. So there is a greater necessity that he be judged by the record in round of his term. Virtually every sub-section paints in something more of the hard-discerned portrait. This is particularly true of the first two chapters. King, comrade of .Arthur Phillip at the foundation of N. S.W. , reached Sydney in April 1800 after the lapse of many weary months since his appointment. He knew that the colony was in a material and moral bog. Being, like all of us, an instinctive "economic determinist" King at once set himself to the regulation of economic life. We have now to examine his plans and his performance.
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ItemA study in the language of perception( 1955)In the following pages I have discussed some of the problems connected with perception. I have not discussed them all -, nor have the ones which I have touched upon always received the amount of attention they deserve. In the selection of problems for inclusion and in deciding about priority of treatment I have allowed myself to be guided by the actuality of the problem, that is, by the importance which is assigned to it by leading figures in the present period of British Philosophy. I have not, however, tried to effect a close agreement between what I say and the views of any one prominent philosopher or any one school; nor have I tried to oppose anybody - except where I thought that direct opposition would conduce to greater clarity. I have tried to learn from as many sources as possible, and then to say what seemed to me to be possibly true or at least not quite implausible - irrespective of whether it agrees with anybody else's views or not. The attached bibliography shows the books and articles from which I have learned most. Any views in this thesis, which can be found also in the sources listed, can be regarded as derived from these sources irrespective of whether this has been clearly indicated in the text or not. But for what I have had to say I am more indebted to my teachers in this University than to any published works. I want to mention especially the help I have received from my two supervisors: Dr. C.D. Rollins and Prof. D.A.T. Gasking, with both of whom I have discussed many of the topics which are treated in the following pages, benefiting greatly by their suggestions and criticisms. I also want to thank Mr. D.G. Londey for correcting my English, and for the valuable suggestions he has made as to further possible improvements.
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ItemExistence and the ontological proof( 1951, 1955)In the lines, 'This was the Noblest Roman of them all All the Conspirators save onely hee, Did that they did, in envy of great Caesar:' occur expressions the functions of which, though distinct, are often confounded. In the first line, the word 'this' is used to point something out; in the third, the word 'that' refers to an action. These words may be used to point out or refer to any thing, event, quality, state or relation you choose. Other words and expressions have similar functions: 'there' may be used to point out a place, and 'thither' a direction; 'here' to refer to where the speaker is, 'hither' to the direction in which he is. 'How' and 'then' are used in analogous ways. Such uses have been felt to pose various problems. How can an expression point out now one thing, now another, without changing in meaning? This question reveals a confusion between the meaning of an expression and what it is employed to do on a particular occasion.
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ItemRealist epistemology in Christian philosophy( 1953)I propose in this thesis to show that the Idealist Epistemology does not allow for the essentials of Christianity and that, on the contrary, a Realist epistemology does make it possible to accept Christianity without any contradiction being involved. To achieve this, I shall first state the philosophy of John Caird who attempted to start with Idealism and end with a philosophy of religion; then I shall examine the conclusions and implications of Caird, comparing them with the writings of other Idealist thinkers, and show wherein they fail to meet the needs of Christian thinkers. This, of course, is no proof of the falsity of their thinking but I shall, after a short section on the historical change from Idealism to Realism, follow with a statement of the Realist epistemology which I hold to be necessary to describe and clarify our experience. The position which I will advocate will be that generally described as. Critical Realism but it will include a section on our knowledge of persons which is relevant in any religious thought which takes account of a personal God, as well as some account of error and the occurrence of error which is relevant to the question of the place of evil in our experience. Finally I shall make a statement of the points of Christian doctrine which I consider to be vitally affected by epistemology and I shall endeavour to show that, under Realism, both Christian needs and our experience can be adequately stated. This is not to say. that Christianity is a necessary conclusion but only that Christianity does not preclude one from being a realist and that realism does not preclude one from being a Christian.
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ItemState and local government relations Prahran 1850-1863( 1955)Dealing as it does with only one suburban municipality, and with the first two enactments on municipal government and the period of less than a decade between them, this somewhat specialized study only scratches the surface of the work waiting to be done an municipal history in the middle 19th century. Mr. Weston Bate, in his more detailed study of Brighton, has also stressed this need for balanced historical research on local history. The first section of the following thesis is, to sane extent, a companion piece to his history of another suburban locality. Similar studies remain to be tackled on the other 13 suburban municipalities incorporated before 1863, especially those where, unlike Brighton or Prahran, the Corporation of Melbourne was vitally interested. The Melbourne Corporation itself would provide material for a similar thesis. Only when such work has been done could a rounded interpretation of the metropolitan district be attempted. Similarly, the rural districts, whether gold-raining, squatting, agricultural or mixed areas, have much to yield the research worker.
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