School of Historical and Philosophical Studies - Theses

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    The Victorian charity network in the 1890's
    Swain, Shurlee. (University of Melbourne, 1976)
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    Intentional behaviour : an essay in the philosophy of action
    Krantzler, R. G ( 1971)
    This is a philosophical study which concerns itself with a very important part of a man's existence, namely with what he does. It will be limited primarily to a study of intentional behaviour. That is, what I will be concerned with will not be cases where the person was not aware of what he is doing nor with cases where what a person is doing is thinking, imagining, remembering and the like which do not involve a person behaving in some way which involves his making movements with his body intentionally, not unintentionally or accidentally or non-intentionally. I will be concerned with what men do from the point of view of their intentionally bringing about a human act, as D'Arcy has it, and I will be asking why intentional acts are brought about in the first place, why are they intentional, and why some philosophers have misconstrued and continue to misconstrue why an intentional act differs from actions and events that are not intentional actions and events.
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    Knowledge and intentionality : an essay in philosophical anthropology
    Van Hooft, Stan (1945-) ( 1976)
    Although the central concern of the work which follows is the nature of knowledge, I became during my research increasingly fascinated by the processes of perception. This fascination has led me into areas and methods of research not typical in philosophy. Most notably, it has led me into pursuing the implications of discoveries and creating the web of their conceptual interdependence where others might have sought to establish them more thoroughly. Rather than seek to establish points in great detail in an already well mapped conceptual terrain, I have pushed into what I believe to be uncharted territory. I have outlined a program for research rather than completing a defined topic within such a program. The test of my success will be the interest generated rather than the problems solved. I owe much thanks to Dr. Mary McCloskey who, as supervisor of my work, gave me much encouragement while curbing the unacceptably bold leaps of speculation that I was prone to. Dr. Charles Langley of the Psychology Department at Melbourne University read an earlier draft of chapter six and offered many constructive comments which have been of help to me.
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    The identity theory of mind
    Patterson, Wayne A (1944-) ( 1977)
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    Logical principles of scientific inference
    Clendinnen, Frederick John ( 1972)
    In this essay my aim is to explicate and vindicate the method of ampliative inference which constitutes the basis of scientific and, indeed, of all critical and disciplined reasoning.
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    A characterization of justice
    Akie, Melvyn George ( 1977)
    There is no shortage of features that can be put forward as the core of, or at least a major part of, an ideal society. Such elusive communities might be described as "just", "fair", "free", "egalitarian", "democratic", "humane", "efficient", "prosperous", "benevolent", or perhaps simply as "good". What people actually mean by such descriptions is by no means clear. At the level of ordinary everyday speech, what one man might call "democracy" another will label "freedom" or "equality". At the height of the cold war each side claimed that its doctrine was the truly democratic one. Each side also proclaimed its support for freedom, but what was meant by "freedom" in each case was vastly different. Moreover the protagonists of the cold war did not have this field of battle all to themselves; with the emergence of former colonial states and societies toward independent nations, "democracy" and "freedom" took on new meanings.
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    John Ridley's contributions to Australian technology and to the early progress of South Australia
    Jones, Leslie James ( 1979)
    This study is primarily concerned with the working career of John Ridley (1806-1887), and with his contributions to the flour-milling industry of South Australia, to wheat harvesting technology, and to the progress of the colony generally. Ridley emigrated to South Australia from the north of England in 1840, and remained there until early 1853. Although still a relatively young man, he then returned to England to live in semi-retirement. The following text will show that Ridley contributed substantially to the technical and economic progress of the young- colony in at least two separate ways :- (i) He built the first flour-mill in South Australia in the year 1840, and subsequently operated it as a very successful business until he left the colony in 1853. The mill was steam-driven, of substantial capacity for the time, and of considerable economic significance to the colony. The local flour-milling industry which grew up soon afterwards freed the colony from crippling expenditures for imported flour and other breadstuffs, thus permitting a sound local economy to be developed. During 1842 Ridley leased a second (inoperative) flourmill near Adelaide, completely refitted it, and brought it too into successful operation. As well as helping to alleviate the financial difficulties of the colony at the time, these two mills provided a timely stimulus to local wheat growing. Ridley exerted a considerable influence upon the early development of South Australia's flour-milling industry, by virtue of the high standards for efficiency, operating reliability, and sound profitability he established in his own businesses. The competitors he attracted were forced to achieve similarly high standards in order to survive. His work was thus of importance in helping to secure a sound base for the future growth of the industry. (ii) In late-1843 Ridley invented, constructed, and demonstrated a unique mechanical harvester for gathering grain crops. This machine, later known as the "Ridley Reaper" or the "South Australian Stripper", was subsequently manufactured and used in thousands within the colony. For more than half a century the machine played a major part in stimulating wheat production in the region by providing the simplest and cheapest harvesting method in the world at that time. Ridley's invention embodied a principle of operation which was entirely novel at the time it was introduced. In the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries this same principle was incorporated into the designs of many other widely used grain harvesters. Ridley's machine therefore occupies an important place in the evolution of modern grain-harvesting machinery. The first two machines (both built by Ridley) were directly responsible for averting a serious harvesting crisis in South Australia at the 1843-44 season. Afterwards, when ever-increasing numbers of the machines went into service, a dramatic expansion of the colony's wheat-growing industry became possible. This in turn led to the development of a large export trade in wheat, and thus to an enviable economic prosperity for the colony. Whilst there is unanimous agreement that Ridley constructed and demonstrated the first successful machine of the "Stripper" type, his claim to have also invented the principle of its operation has been disputed. John Wrathall Full, another. pioneer South Australian settler, insisted that he and not Ridley originated the fundamental principle. In fact, he directly accused Ridley of stealing his idea and putting it into practice. The resulting controversy is examined in detail, and Bull's claim shown to be falsely based. Two further points of historical interest are also made and substantiated. Firstly, the "Stripper" was the first ever harvesting machine to successfully combine the operations of gathering and threshing the grain. And secondly, Ridley's "Stripper" was the first machine in the world to substantially displace hand-methods of cereal harvesting in its region. In the light of all the above considerations, it is suggested that Ridley's machine has not received either fair or sufficient notice in the histories of agricultural technology published to date. John Ridley's importance in the story of the development of mechanical harvesting has thus been unjustly neglected.