School of Historical and Philosophical Studies - Theses

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    The logic of Darwinism
    Pargetter, Robert John ( 1970)
    Whether or not we accept all the details of Thomas Kuhn's thesis concerning the nature of scientific revolutions, it would seem that Kuhn has at least shown that the development of a science in periods of normal science differs from the development of a science in periods of crisis science. Usually a crisis in a particular science is settled by the introduction and general acceptance of a new theory, or initially by the acceptance of some dramatic modification of the existing theory.
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    Realist epistemology in Christian philosophy
    Ellis, William ( 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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    The eternal thou : an examination of some religious statements
    Franklin, R. L (1925-) ( 1956)
    This thesis was planned to be an examination of certain work in the philosophy of religion. It was to consider the writings on this subject since 1945 of that group of philosophers usually known as Linguistic Analysts or Logical Analysts; that is, those who philosophise more or less in the manner of Wittgenstein, Wisdom and Ryle. I need a name for this group, and so I shall henceforth call them "analysts" , in spite of their understandable objections to being grouped together or labelled at all.
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    Philosophical problems of political utopianism
    Ray, Amitava ( 1978)
    What are the philosophical problems of political utopianism? Primarily, what is the nature of a philosophical problem as distinguished from a practical problem? A philosophical problem is basically a conceptual problem. The major part of this thesis is concerned with clearing up certain conceptual contradictions and anomalies which are associated with the notion of utopia. Of course, one may say that a political utopia his no philosophical problems. One may simply describe a certain state of affairs as a political utopia and/or one may state the nature of the practical problems which stand in the way. In Sir Thomas More's work, for example, we have the description of a utopia. On the other hand, Proudhon and Hari argue respectively that the institutions of private property and capital stand in the way of attaining utopia. The philosopher, however, is net satisfied with this approach. He is concerned with the general notion of utopia and the conceptual problems which are involved in this notion. After distinguishing utopianism from other such notions as may appear to have certain resemblances with it, the philosopher is still left with a number of basic problems. In the first chapter of this thesis, I deal with the definition of utopia as an ideal imaginary state. The types of conceptual problems which arise ore ones which concern the nature of imagination and the relation between the imaginary and the real, the notion of the ideal state, and the relation between value-judgements and actions. In chapter 2, I try to distinguish utopian thought from millennial oschatology and ideology. In this chapter I also suggest that Marx was a type. of utopian thinker in spite of his well known claim to the contrary. The, evidence for this conclusion is based on Marx's vision of a future classless society in which the worker is no longer alienated. I also examine the flaws in the Marxist methodology of scientifically arriving at a future society. I suggest that Marx's expectations are as much based on faith as that of a utopian thinker. I also consider in this chapter the utopianism of Sir Thomas More, and certain anarchist thinkers. Marx's claim that his critique is based on a scientific explanation of society is examined in detail in chapter 3 which also discusses the larger issue of explaining men and society in terms of laws as conceived in the natural sciences. To what extent is a science of society modelled on the natural sciences feasible or philosophically meaningful? Would such a science help us to understand the motives and actions of human individuals in society? Is the method of historical determinism or dialectics as proposed by Marx and Engels essential, or oven relevant, to utopia? I also briefly consider in this chapter the relevance of structuralist anthropology to our understanding of utopia. In chapter 4 I consider the view of earlier utopians that the institutions of property and the centralised state are the main obstacles to the establishment of a just society or utopia. The arguments of Proudhon against private property are discussed in some detail, especially his contention that abolition of this institution is essential to any utopia. According to him, utopians should focus on this institution rather than on the state. I also discuss the bearing of alienation, human rights, property and the state on a theory of utopia. I have not attempted to of for in this thesis a utopia of my own, or any historical survey of. various utopias. Instead, I have raised and discussed what I consider to be some of the philosophical issues that have bearing on utopia as a concept. Y hope my treatment is lucid, and makes some useful contribution to our understanding,of an important theme. In my conclusion I have tried to show how the various ideas, issues and arguments which are raised in successive chapters are related to the central notion of utopia.
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    An analysis of Quine's philosophy of science
    Jarasius, Vida Virginija ( 1977)
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    The evolution of Wittgenstein's views of meaning
    Tran, Tuan Phong ( 1999)
    The problems of meaning and language play a crucial role in Wittgenstein's philosophy. Wittgenstein believes that philosophical problems are rooted in language, and that they can be understood and resolved when questions about linguistic meaning and the way language relates to reality are properly addressed. During his philosophical development Wittgenstein held different approaches to the problem of meaning and language. A clear view about his view about meaning is necessary in order for us to be in position to understand assess his philosophy. The aim of my thesis is to explore different accounts of meaning in different periods of the development of Wittgenstein's thought. In his first account of meaning, known as the Picture Theory of Meaning in the Tractatus, Wittgenstein developed a highly sophisticated and complex picture-theory which is the basis of his contention that language is a mirror of reality. At this early stage Wittgenstein had been influenced by the thoughts of Frege and Russell. In the Picture Theory of Meaning the notion of logical form plays a crucial role. Just as each proposition must share its logical form with the state of affairs it depicts, so language, the totality of propositions, must share logical form with what it depicts the. The harmony between language and reality which makes representation is - possible is logical-pictorial isomorphism, the structural identity between what represents and what is represented. Just as the elements in a picture correspond to a possible arrangement of objects in reality, so sentences contain names, which correspond to objects in the world; and the arrangement of names in the sentence corresponds to a possible arrangement of objects in the world. Meaning is possible because language mirrors reality in this way: from the structure of language we can read off the structure of reality. In other words we can learn about the structure of reality from sentences of language. In his early view, Wittgenstein believed that fact-stating discourse is really all the meaningful discourse there is. But in the later works it turns out that fact-stating discourse is just one type of discourse among many other types, just one type of language game along with a countless number of other types of language-game. So in his later works, Wittgenstein abandoned the picture theory of meaning in favour of a use account of meaning. He urges us to think of words as tools, think of sentences as instruments. To get a correct account of language and meaning we need simply to look at how it functions in real life; we need to look at what people do with words. Whereas the Tractatus envisioned a logical structure as the essential form and link of language and world, in the later works there are flexible constraints connected with human activities, with language-games and forms of life as the basis and structure of language. A shift has occurred from a pictorial structural approach to use-activity approach. Language is not just words and rules but words and rules in the practice of use. Meaning is understood as a social phenomenon. The meaning of words should be found in the practical context of everyday life, in the stream of thought and activity, in which a given use of words is embedded.
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    Ricour, Freud and interpretation
    Grigg, Russell ( 1978)
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    Aesthetics, subjectivity and the sublime
    Capriolo, Nicky ( 1999)
    Three main issues will be addressed in this thesis. The first is the status of aesthetics; what is the relevance and scope of a contemporary philosophical aesthetics?; Can philosophy be distinguished from philosophy of art?; Is philosophy of art different from aesthetics?; Can philosophy be distinguished from art or aesthetics?; If so can any of these be distinguished from other philosophy such as epistemology or metaphysics. The second issue is the question whether any particular aesthetic concept such as beauty or the sublime can have any contemporary philosophical relevance. Thirdly, the sublime will be considered as a possible aesthetic concept that might preserve Kant's original concern to provide a transcendental aesthetic theory which demonstrates the obdurately essential element of aesthetic judgement in any experience. Notwithstanding Kant's prioritising of the aesthetic, and "feeling" in the Critique of Judgement, it is argued that Kant's theory remains pertinent because it maintains a critical, qua transcendental, position, and its insights should not be ignored by metaphysical, analytic, phenomenological or hermeneutic philosophy. Kant's sublime is explored, as are other aesthetic issues, by examining Kant 's theory of judgement. The Critique of Judgement will be presented as a theory of judgement which prefigures much contemporary philosophy and provides both support and interesting edification of the advanced views of Quine, Derrida and Wittgenstein. The concept of the sublime is presented as particularly prophetic of the contemporary complexities regarding self-consciousness, subjectivity and meaning.
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    Laws of nature
    Torley, Vincent ( 1994)