Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'American political philosophy'
To see the other types of publications on this topic, follow the link: American political philosophy.
Create a spot-on reference in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and other styles
Consult the top 50 dissertations / theses for your research on the topic 'American political philosophy.'
Next to every source in the list of references, there is an 'Add to bibliography' button. Press on it, and we will generate automatically the bibliographic reference to the chosen work in the citation style you need: APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, Vancouver, etc.
You can also download the full text of the academic publication as pdf and read online its abstract whenever available in the metadata.
Browse dissertations / theses on a wide variety of disciplines and organise your bibliography correctly.
1
Minter, Lauryn T. "We Wear the Mask: Exploring the Talented Tenth and African American Political Philosophy in 21st Century Politics." ScholarWorks@UNO, 2014. http://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1954.
Full textAbstract:
Researchers have suggested that Blacks who express linked racial fate are ideologically liberal. Given the prominence of Black philosophical thought and salience of race, I suggest that linked racial fate results in conservative ideology, which exists on a separate ideological dimension than the traditional conservative ideological dimension. This new ideological dimension, referred to as conservatism among Blacks, is vital to understanding Black political thought in the 21st century. Using data from the 1996 National Black Election Study, 2008 National Annenberg Election Study, and focus group data I argue that the conservative ideas espoused by Blacks, specifically members of the Talented Tenth, actually support Black advancement in the same way that Blacks express support for Democratic candidates or ideals as a result of linked racial fate. Moreover, conservatism among Blacks does not result in a specific partisan identification or support for certain candidates; instead, conservatism results in explicit support for policies and ideas that align with the ideas and philosophies of Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Marcus M. Garvey. This dissertation fills the gap in the literature that does not utilize Black philosophers, Black political leaders, or college educated Blacks to explain Black political thought and behavior. The study of members of the Talented Tenth provides a framework for understanding how Blacks negotiate various political philosophies, challenging traditional Black American political thought while remaining racially linked to the Black community
2
Jayne, Allen. "The new theism of John Locke, Thomas Jefferson and the American Declaration of Independence." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 1994. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.319570.
Full text
3
Patrone, John D. "An American Philosophy of Punishment: Moral Permissibility, the Inferiorities of Punishment, and a Case for Pure Restitution." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2017. https://dc.etsu.edu/honors/424.
Full textAbstract:
“An American Philosophy of Punishment: Moral Permissibility, the Inferiorities of Punishment, and a Case for Pure Restitution” is an examination of the paradigm of criminal punishment currently implemented in the United States and the inherent flaws of ‘punishment’ as a system of justice. The characteristics of punishment are evaluated from a perspective, “punishment by necessity,” which attempts to justify criminal punishment for a lack of viable alternatives. David Boonin, in his book, The Problem of Punishment, offers a robust alternative paradigm of criminal justice- ‘pure restitution’. Boonin advances two arguments: (1) ‘pure restitution’ is capable of replacing punishment as a paradigm of criminal justice and (2) restitution should replace punishment because punishment is morally impermissible. This paper considers two of the most notorious objections to Barnett’s pure restitution, the “irreparable harms” and “third party victims” objections, as well as the moral status of punishment. The “irreparable harms” objection claims that the inability of restitution to entirely repair victims in crimes against the person indicates that restitution cannot offer any remedy, and that this inability is unacceptable. This objection fails to recognize the possibility for partial reparations, nor that punishment is equally incapable of wholly repairing the victims of these crimes. The “third party victims” objection claims that by compelling the offender to make restitution to the victim, the state is harming individuals in proximity to the offender, but the state is prohibited from harming individuals. This objection fails to consider the critical distinction of intent and culpability; the state does not intend to harm third parties by exacting restitution, but does so as a foreseeable consequence, whereas the offender caused an intentional harm, and thus carries a higher degree of blameworthiness. Additionally, the present implementation of restitution is considered by considering the relevant legal precedent, the Constitutional situation of restitution, and a hypothetical implementation scenario, which highlights the potential for “crime insurance/ tax”, and the other practical implications of implementing restitution.
4
Isaac, Rochell J. "AFRICAN HUMANISM: A PRAGMATIC PRESCRIPTION FOR FOSTERING SOCIAL JUSTICE AND POLITICAL AGENCY." Diss., Temple University Libraries, 2012. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/186541.
Full textAbstract:
African American StudiesPh.D.
This study explores an African conception of Humanism as distinct from the European model and challenges the notion that Humanism is an entirely European construct. I argue that the ideological core of Humanism originated in ancient Kemet, the basis of which frames the African worldview. Furthermore, the theoretical framework provided by the African Humanistic paradigm serves as a model for structuring inter and intra group relations, for tackling notions of difference and issues of fundamentalism, for addressing socio-economic political concerns, and finally, to shift the currents of political rhetoric from one of jouissance to a more progressive and pragmatic stance.
Temple University--Theses
5
Falk, Thomas Michael. "Political Economy of American Education: Democratic Citizenship in the Heart of Empire." The Ohio State University, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1343135393.
Full text
6
Faber, Michael J. "Founding expectations American politics and the debate over the Constitution /." [Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2008. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3337245.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Political Science, 2008.Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Jul 28, 2009). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-12, Section: A, page: 4855. Adviser: Russell L. Hanson.
7
Reznick, Scott M. ""TheVision of Principles": Liberal Democracy and the Roots of Moral Experience in Antebellum American Literature." Thesis, Boston College, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/2345/bc-ir:107958.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis advisor: James WallaceThesis advisor: Christopher P. Wilson
This dissertation analyzes the way in which antebellum writers participated in and helped shape the tradition of political liberalism. Emphasizing the dynamics of moral deliberation that are central to democratic life, "The Vision of Principles" puts US literature into conversation with moral and political philosophers not routinely encountered in Americanist literary scholarship to reveal how antebellum US writers routinely responded to moments of profound political conflict by interrogating the nature of moral belief itself. By ranging not only between literature, history, and philosophy, but also across literary forms, from gothic, picaresque, and sentimental novels to slave narratives, essays, and political oratory, this dissertation argues that amidst such textual diversity, we nevertheless find a consistent preoccupation with the individual endeavor for perspective-for vision-into the realm of moral value and moral ideas. It traces that concern as writers responded to three important moments of political conflict in the antebellum era: the debates over the ratification of the Constitution, the "nullification" controversy of the 1830s, and the fallout over the "compromise" of 1850. In doing so, it reconsiders the emergence of American Romanticism and argues that the "inward" turn of U.S. literature towards the self during this era was not an evasion of political life, but an imaginative examination of how individuals come to understand the moral ideas and principles at the heart of political existence
Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018
Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: English
8
Carastathis, Anna. "Feminism and the political economy of representation : intersectionality, invisibility and embodiment." Thesis, McGill University, 2008. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=105369.
Full textAbstract:
It has become commonplace within feminist theory to claim that women's lives are constructed by multiple, intersecting systems of oppression. In this thesis, l challenge the consensus that oppression is aptly captured by the theoretical model of "intersectionality." While intersectionality originates in Black feminist thought as a purposive intervention into US antidiscrimination law, it has been detached from that context and harnessed to different representational aims. For instance, it is often asserted that intersectionality enables a representational politics that overcomes legacies of exclusion within hegemonic Anglo-American feminism. largue that intersectionality reinscribes the political exclusion of racialized women as a feature of their embodied identities. That is, it locates the failure of political representation in the "complex" identities of "intersectional" subjects, who are constructed as unrepresentable in terms of "race" or "gender" alone. Further, largue that intersectionality fails to supplant race- and class-privileged women as the normative subjects of feminist theory and politics. [...]Dans la théorie féministe, l'énoncé selon lequel la vie des femmes est structurée par de multiples systèmes d'oppression qui se croisent est devenu un lieu commun. La présente thèse conteste l'accord général que le modèle théorique connu comme « l'intersectionalité » explique adéquatement l'oppression. Alors que l'intersectionalité a ses origines dans le féminisme noir comme intervention spécifique dans la loi antidiscriminatoire des États-Unis, elle a depuis été arrachée à ce contexte et consacrée à d'autres buts. Par exemple, on affirme souvent que l'intersectionalité permettrait une politique de représentation qui surmonte l'héritage d'exclusion du féminisme hégémonique anglo-américain. Je soutiens que l'intersectionalité réinscrit l'exclusion politique des femmes racialisées, cette fois comme caractéristique de leurs identités incarnés.[...]
9
Buchanan, Angela S. "The Sophists and The federalist : re-examining the classical roots of American political theory." Virtual Press, 1995. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/941733.
Full textAbstract:
The field of rhetoric has recently begun to position the Sophists as an integral part of the history of the discipline. Sophistic influence has been acknowledged in other fields as well, particularly philosophy and literary theory; however, Sophistic influence on political theory has been virtually ignored. This thesis examines the epistemology of the Sophists within the context of the debates of ancient Greece, and illustrates the connections between Sophistic thought and the ideology behind the structuring of the American federal government. Specific connections are made between the epistemology of the Sophists and that expressed in The Federalist, as well as that of earlier political theorists Thomas Hobbes and John Locke.Department of English
10
Kinsel, Jason Anthony. "The Misunderstood Philosophy of Thomas Paine." University of Akron / OhioLINK, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1447685875.
Full text
11
Luttrull, Daniel. "Solidarity Through Vacancy: Didactic Strategies in Nineteenth-Century American Literature." Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1586451075218142.
Full text
12
Staude, Ryan. ""The centre of our union"| George Washington's political philosophy and the creation of American national identity in the 1790s." Thesis, State University of New York at Albany, 2013. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3559433.
Full textAbstract:
For most of his presidency (1789-1797), George Washington worked to establish the federal government's legitimacy in the eyes of America's citizens while trying to gain international respect for the new nation. Although there was a broad elite consensus at the start of the decade it quickly dissipated in the face of basic questions about the federal government's power and scope of authority. Domestic political issues became entangled with foreign policy problems to create an intractable divide between opposing groups of Americans termed the Federalists and the Republicans. The two parties contended to see not only who would administer the government, but also to determine which group would define the new nation's identity.
This study places George Washington at the center of the contest over the formation of America's national identity during the 1790s. Washington envisioned America as the embodiment of Enlightenment ideals of freedom and liberty. He believed it had the potential to stand in stark contrast to the monarchies and despotism of the Old World. The United States could inspire other nations to follow its lead on the path to freedom.
America could only achieve this position if it were secure, united and independent. These three characteristics would give the nation legitimacy on the international stage. In his efforts to establish America's claim to nationhood, Washington incurred the displeasure of the Republican Party who viewed the president as a tool in the hands of Alexander Hamilton and other Federalists. In his quest to establish security, unity, and independence, they argued, the President betrayed the ideals of the Revolution. Ultimately, it was the public who cast aside Washington's vision for American national identity, not because they disagreed with it, but because they had already mythologized Washington to the point where he was more myth than man. He was a living deity who served a symbolic importance for unity, but had little impact on the nation's identity.
Historiographically, no scholar has undertaken an in-depth examination of Washington's political philosophy (as president), and specifically how this philosophy affected the nascent nation-state's identity. Works like Paul Longmore's The Invention of George Washington, Glenn Phelps's George Washington and American Constitutionalism and the recently published, The Political Philosophy of George Washington (Jeffry Morison) examine one aspect of Washington's political beliefs, or focus on a specific chronological period. My exploration of Washington's beliefs (the heart of the studies mentioned above) is only one part of the dissertation. No attempt has been made to investigate Washington's substantive impact on nationalism and identity. David Waldstreicher, Len Travers, and Joanne B. Freeman have all looked at the formation of nationalism and identity in the 1790s, but Washington's political philosophy and presidency earns little of their attention. Washington was the most well regarded American, nationally and internationally, of his era. The lack of a proper study on his political beliefs and their reception among his fellow Americans is a lacuna which the dissertation seeks to remedy.
13
Seylar, John. "Across Empires: A Comparative Analysis of Roman Emperors and American Presidents." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2017. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/1714.
Full textAbstract:
The influence of the Roman Republic and Empire is visible everywhere in the contemporary United States government. Some even propose a “democratic legacy” that the United States has inherited from the Roman Republic, a legacy that dooms modern America to a similar “decline and fall.” These arguments reached their apex in journalism surrounding the 2016 presidential election. A comparison between American Presidents and Roman Emperors proves that these assertions are false, employing case studies in each society’s democracy, interactions with deliberative bodies, public image management, and demagoguery. The distinctness of Roman and American social and political culture in each of these areas suggests a fundamental incongruity between the political figures of the two cultures. Even apparent commonalities can be misleading, as there are significant structural or cultural discrepancies that prevent scholars from drawing conclusions about Presidents using the Roman Imperial example. The argument of this thesis is therefore historiographical in nature: The findings this thesis contains suggest that modern scholars should not read history, specifically Roman history, to predict or justify present political circumstances. The comparisons made between Emperors and Presidents instead serve to prove the distinctness of contemporary American political culture as well as ancient Roman political culture. Acknowledgement of the uniqueness of both of these societies allows scholars to better understand both Presidents and Emperors within their own context. This separation will also lead to more directed, better informed study in the field of Roman history and in the field of modern American governmental policy.
14
Scott-Coe, Justin M. "Covenant Nation: The Politics of Grace in Early American Literature." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2012. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/45.
Full textAbstract:
The argument of this dissertation is that a critical reading of the concept of "covenant" in early American writings is instrumental to understanding the paradoxes in the American political concepts of freedom and equality. Following Slavoj Zizek's theoretical approach to theology, I trace the covenant concept in early American literature from the theological expressions and disputes in Puritan Massachusetts through Jonathan Edwards's Freedom of Will and the essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson, showing how the covenant theology of colonial New England dispersed into more "secular" forms of what may be called an American political theology. The first chapter provides an overview of recent attempts to integrate theology and theory, specifically comparing Jacques Derrida and Zizek to better understand the latter's theology of materialism which relies on as well as informs the Reformed Protestant covenantal dichotomy of grace and works. The second chapter establishes the complicated architecture of the covenant concept within seventeenth-century New England Reformed Protestantism, and uses church membership transcripts along with Ann Hutchinson court trial documents to demonstrate how this inherently unstable theology created unintended slippage between God's grace and mankind's works, resulting in a theological formulation remarkably open to Zizek's analysis of political ideology. The third chapter demonstrates how Jonathan Edwards, through his ingenious counter-argument in Freedom of Will, provides a theoretical foundation for an uneasy but necessary alignment of the covenants of works and grace, releasing the subjunctive potential of grace to operate through history as a predeterminer of meaning and, potentially, freedom. In the last chapter, I argue that Emerson finally converts the covenant from a politically conceptualized theological framework for radical grace into a personal institutionalization of grace itself. Stanley Cavell's exploration of Emerson's "constitution" in light of the covenant motif demonstrates the political (im)possibilities inherent in America's self-conceptions of personal liberty and civic equality. In the end, complexities inherent in the concept of the covenant, especially its creative failure to control the radical nature of "grace," are determinative factors in our contradictory American egalitarian ideals.
15
Doughty, James. "Pragmatism and Christian Realism in the Political Thought of Reinhold Niebuhr : An Analysis and Evolution of American Liberalism." Thesis, Bordeaux 3, 2017. http://www.theses.fr/2017BOR30026/document.
Full textAbstract:
Ce travail visera à analyser la pensée politique du théologien et politologue américain Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971), et plus particulièrement la façon dont le Pragmatisme a pu influencer son oeuvre. Critique à l’égard de l’idéalisme libéral de John Dewey (1859-1952), et plus spécifiquement à l’encontre de l’optimisme dont faisait preuve le pragmatisme politique vis-à-vis de la nature de l’homme, Niebuhr n’arriva pourtant pas à échapper à l’influence du pragmatisme, d’où le sujet de ce travail de recherche : les influences du Pragmatisme politique, celui de John Dewey plus particulièrement, sur l’oeuvre de Reinhold Niebuhr et sur son réalisme chrétien. Cette thèse rassemblera les grandes oeuvres des deux penseurs pour comparer la pensée politique de chacun. Selon Niebuhr, la pensée de Dewey n’était qu’une continuation de l’idéalisme des Lumières ; Dewey restait figé dans un optimisme injustifié à propos de la vision globalement bonne de la nature humaine. Néanmoins, malgré cette critique, Niebuhr fut influencé par ce dernier. L’objectif de cette thèse est de souligner ces influences sur le travail de Niebuhr afin de montrer que la pensée niebuhrienne est un prolongement de la pensée pragmatiste de Dewey, démontré par le Pragmatisme chrétien, et que Niebuhr fait partie du courant de pensée libérale malgré lui. Au mépris des différences fondamentales entre les deux hommes, nous allons donc tenter de démontrer que Niebuhr s’inscrit dans une tradition intellectuelle typiquement américaine, le Pragmatisme étant considéré comme le seul mouvement philosophique authentiquement américain, afin de parvenir à une plus grande connaissance de ces deux penseurs majeurs, mais, aussi, du paysage politique américainThis work aims to analyze the political thought of the American theologian and political scientist Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971). More specifically, it will analyze the way in which Pragmatism was able to influence Niebuhr’s writings. Critical towards the liberal idealism of John Dewey (1859-1952), Niebuhr’s Christian realism was a counter against the optimism that political Pragmatism demonstrated in regards to the nature of man. Despite these criticisms, Niebuhr was unable to escape Pragmatism’s influence. This influence is the reason for this research: how political Pragmatism, specifically that of John Dewey was able to have an impact on Reinhold Niebuhr’s works and his Christian realism. This thesis will study the major works of these two thinkers in order to compare the political thought of each thinker. Younger than Dewey, Niebuhr had for a long time considered Dewey’s thought as nothing more than an idealized and outdated continuation of Enlightenment optimism which was incapable of accurately analyzing the contemporary world. Nevertheless, Niebuhr was influenced by Dewey. This thesis’s goal is to highlight the influences of Pragmatism in Niebuhr’s works in order to show that Niebuhrian thought is a continuation of Dewey’s pragmatic thought, specifically through the notions of Christian Pragmatism and therefore, fits within an overall framework of American Liberalism. In spite of the fundamental differences in thought, we are going to attempt to show that Niebuhr was a part of the typically American intellectual tradition, that is to say, Pragmatism; considered to be a uniquely American philosophical movement. It will be analyzed in order to achieve a greater understanding of these important thinkers, but also, of America’s political landscape
16
Manners, Bucolo Catherine. "Food for Thought and Thought for Food: Applying Care Ethics to the American Eater." UNF Digital Commons, 2014. https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/etd/513.
Full textAbstract:
This piece provides an application of care ethics to the typical American diet. In the first chapter, the problems surrounding the Standard American Diet are discussed at both the individual, familial, global, animal, and environmental levels. The second chapter provides an overview of the theoretical components of care ethics, and lays a framework for analysis. The third and final chapter demonstrates how in applying many of the core principles of care, great strides can be made in remedying the numerous problems that are a direct result of typical consumption habits in the United States.
17
Pokross, Amy Elizabeth. "The American Community College's Obligation to Democracy." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2007. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc5129/.
Full textAbstract:
In this thesis, I address the dichotomy between liberal arts education and terminal vocational training in the American community college. The need is for reform in the community college in relation to philosophical instruction in order to empower citizens, support justice and create more sustainable communities. My call for reform involves a multicultural integration of philosophy into terminal/vocational programs as well as evolving the traditional liberal arts course to exist in a multicultural setting. Special attention is focused on liberating the oppressed, social and economic justice and philosophy of education.
18
Dillender, Amber Nichole. "The Integration of African Muslim Minority: A Critique of French Philosophy and Policy." Scholar Commons, 2011. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/3073.
Full textAbstract:
ABSTRACT
The numerous images of violence perpetrated by radicalized followers of Islam, has highlighted the complexities surrounding assimilation and integration of Muslims in Western society. Since the guest worker recruitment from French African colonies initiated after World War II, France has been witness to the unanticipated development of permanent communities of African laborers, many of whom are Muslim. Despite consistent promotion of French monoculture and specifically the use of the assimilation model for integration, segregation of African Muslims has occurred. Through the construction of a single country case study, I explore integration issues surrounding the French Muslim minority communities. I seek to assess the occurrences of segregation among African Muslims, and theorize that process established by the French government for the assimilation and integration of African Muslims into French society has culminated in the formation of segregated African Muslim diaspora communities. This topic was chosen because I possess a general interest in the integration of Muslims into Western society. Due to the broadness of the Muslim population, and given their high visibility I narrowed my focus on African Muslims. Furthermore, this topic was chosen to determine the viability of the French case as an alternative to the failed policies of multiculturalism. Therefore, I examine the assimilation strategy of French Republicanism established in France by the French Revolution of 1789. This thesis is relevant given the rising visibility of Muslims throughout Western society. Furthermore, the increased visibility highlights the position of African Muslim communities in France. The evidence presented in my thesis demonstrates that the presence of segregated African Muslim communities is an unintended consequence of the historical development of French monoculture and colonialism. French assimilation of African Muslims is not a complete failure due to marginal successes of African Muslims in political and economic arenas. Furthermore, the segregation of African Muslims in France does not diminish the viability of assimilation strategy in the overall integration of Muslims into Western society, especially as politicians across the European continent denounce the failed policies of multiculturalism.
19
Bryant, Cheney Matt. "Modern Charity: Morality, Politics, and Mid-Twentieth Century US Writing." UKnowledge, 2019. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/english_etds/101.
Full textAbstract:
Scholars over the past two decades (Denning, Szalay, Edmunds, Robbins) have theorized the different ways literature of the Mid-Twentieth Century reflects the dawn of the liberal US welfare state. While these studies elaborate on the effect rapidly expanding public aid had on literary production of the period, many have tended to undervalue the lingering influence on midcentury storytelling of private charity and philanthropy, those traditional aid institutions fundamentally challenged by the Great Depression and historically championed by conservatives. If the welfare state had an indelible impact on US literatures, so did the moral complexity of the systems of charity and philanthropy it purportedly replaced. In my dissertation, I theorize modern charity as a cultural narrative that found expression in a number of different writers from the start of the Great Depression and into the early 1960s, including Harold Gray, Ralph Ellison, W.E.B. Du Bois, Flannery O'Connor, and Dorothy Day.
20
Bennett, Frederick Joseph. "The Virtuoso Human: A Virtue Ethics Model Based on Care." Scholar Commons, 2011. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/3007.
Full textAbstract:
The goal of this thesis is to develop the foundation and structure for a virtue ethics theory grounded in a specific notion of care. While there has been a recent revival of interest in virtue ethics theory, the theory has its roots in Aristotle's work as well in the medieval writings of Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas worked out many of Aristotle's ideas in much more detail. However, while Aquinas offers a very rich and compelling ethical theory, it is problematic because it is very tightly wrapped in his theology. A key component in Aquinas's theory is charity. Charity is one of Aquinas's theological virtues, which express the relationship between humans and God. Charity is the love of God and of neighbor and he construes it as the foundation for all the other virtues. My thesis explores the idea of replacing charity with the virtue of care. The virtue of care to be used in this essential role is primarily based on recent work on the ethics of care by Nel Nodding. The virtue of care, as I develop it, combines three interrelated parts: instinctive, maternal and relational care. By comparing and contrasting care and charity, I demonstrate that the virtue of care can fill the role of charity. In this capacity care can serve as a naturalistic foundation for a virtue ethics theory. Since the ethics of care is relatively new, it has yet to take shape. I propose building a care-based virtue ethics theory on the structure of Aquinas's theory. This new care-based virtue ethics theory also benefits from utilizing many of the components of Aristotle's theory which are found in Aquinas's work. My argument is that care can fulfill the role of charity in Aquinas's theory. Care-based virtue ethics theory is a completely naturalistic version of Aquinas's virtue ethics theory. My thesis contains both the foundation for this different kind of care-based virtue ethics theory and some direction for future work on revising Aquinas's theory using the virtue of care. The essence of this care-based virtue ethics theory is captured in the notion I outline of a virtuoso human.
21
Welker, Michael J. "A Thesis Entitled “The Fight for Civic Rights in America in The Progressive Era”." University of Toledo / OhioLINK, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1290178364.
Full text
22
Young, Benjamin Scott. "Moral Friction, Moral Phenomenology, and the Improviser." Scholar Commons, 2012. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/4264.
Full textAbstract:
This dissertation offers a phenomenology of that mode of self-interpretation in which it becomes possible for an interpreter to intentionally participate in the production of moral norms to which the interpreter himself or herself feels bound. Part One draws on Richard Rorty's notion of the "ironist" in order to thematize the phenomenon I call "moral friction"; a condition in which an interpreter becomes explicitly aware of the historical and cultural contingencies of their own moral vocabularies, practices, and concerns and as a result find themselves incapable of feeling the normative weight implicit in these. Part Two draws on Heidegger's existential analytic of human being, Gadamer's development of Hermeneutic Phenomenology, and Hegel's notion of "sublation" in order to map how novel interpretations can irreversibly displace the coherence of older interpretations. I call this form of interpretation "moral phenomenology." Finally, in Part Three, I utilize a selective phenomenology of musical improvisation to plot the unique temporal orientation of self-interpretation that results from intentionally deploying this irreversible displacement of older interpretations that involve normative moral implications. I call the form of life that is marked by this hermeneutic mode the "improviser." The result is a description of a form of life in which it becomes possible to explicitly participate in the production of moral norms within a historical and culturally contingent context that nevertheless preserves standards of rational justification for normative moral judgment without the need for atemporal first principles. The availability of this mode of self-interpretation displaces the sharp distinction between non-normative descriptive phenomenology and normative moral reasoning by placing the latter within a non-teleological historical practice that engages in the production of interpretations which irreversibly displace older interpretations--a practice that is governed by the critical cultivation of contingent moral norms within the open investigation into the good life for human being.
23
Bishop, Philip Schuyler. "Dewey's Pragmatism and the Great Community." Scholar Commons, 2010. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/3530.
Full textAbstract:
In investigating Dewey’s theory of the Great community, it is important to first examine closely Dewey’s theory of scientific inquiry and show how it evades the spectator theory of knowledge common to all modern epistemologies as closed systems. Dewey maintained that through controlled experimentalism we engage, and can solve, existential issues facing us for the purpose of expanding human freedom, promoting the democratic way of life and cultivating the institutions which foster these activities. The usage of inquiry to overcome problematic situations therefore stands as one of the first conditions needed to attain the great community.
Since Dewey did not view human beings as isolated and passive spectators he engaged in formulating what it means to become an individual with experimental habits. Dewey envisioned humans as organisms operating in a common cultural environment rather than private entities cut off from one another. We are communal by way of communication. The next condition required to bring about the great community is open communication.
Dewey held that human beings need to operate through the development of such habits that assist them in overcoming obstacles by means of an education that secures the process of cultural growth. This aspect of his theory became the backbone of Dewey’s conception of ethical value and his political theory. Members of the Great community must trust and freely associate to accomplish the social growth that Dewey advocates therefore free association is another condition for the achievability of the great community.
As I argue, for Dewey, any way of life which is oriented toward individual growth can be democratic. A democratic way of life is shown to be superior to any other currently pursued. Thus, any community which cultivates democratic practices throughout its culture can become a participant in the great community. By so doing it allows the individuals of that community to flourish as ethical and cognitive agents. Therefore democracy as a way of life requires that individuals participate within the cultivation of themselves and their community and this is the next condition for achieving the great community.
The final condition for achieving the great community is the full integration and usage of individual’s potentialities. If these six conditions are met, Dewey held the conditions would be ripe to bring about a great community. He never completed the social task of what the great community would be once attained, but this dissertation will gather together the materials he did provide on it and trace the steps that would be needed to achieve it.
24
Mercadante, Richard Arthur. "The Persistence of Casuistry: a Neo-premodernist Approach to Moral Reasoning." Scholar Commons, 2011. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/3245.
Full textAbstract:
The general purpose of this dissertation is to explore casuistry--case-based reasoning--as a discredited, rehabilitated, and, most importantly, persistent form of moral reasoning. Casuistry offers a much needed corrective to principle-based approaches. I offer a defense of a "principle-modest" casuistry and explore the epistemology of casuistry, describing the prerequisite knowledge required for casuistry. I conclude by arguing that casuistry is best understood as a neo-premodernist approach to moral reasoning.
25
McCann, Lluana. "American Public Administration: A Foundation for Praxis and Praxiology." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/26031.
Full textAbstract:
American Public Administration (PA) theory and practices have lacked adequately articulated or formalized normative foundations since the formal founding of the American State. Discussions regarding how PA theory derives from individual and collective critical reflection on practices (praxiology) and how that knowledge can inform future actions (praxis) virtually have been absent in all organizations. The recognition of the political legitimacy of PA has been lacking. The placing of a viable and critical social theory that posits conscious, responsible, and committed human practices within the context of the administration of the American Constitutional State, a politically narrow context, has been lacking as well. This dissertation establishes the works of social theorists Orion White, Jr., Michael Harmon, Robert Denhardt and Bayard Catron as the foundation for understanding how individuals do and can contribute to the collective administration of the complex state, including how they operate daily in organizations they join, critique and are capable of changing. These scholars understand the dynamics of human being and present discussions of human actions and practices that are capable of tackling the challenges associated with administering the American State. The work of John Rohr has established the other missing linksâ the constitutional legitimacy of PA and the clarification of constitutional values to which American administrative actions and knowledge must adhere. This dissertation asserts that it is the placing of human theory and action within the distinctly American theory and practices of the State that constitutes the solid normative foundations for American PA Praxis and Praxiology that constitutes a viable and formal founding of American Public Administration in word and deed.Ph. D.
26
Cosby, Bruce. "Technological politics and the political history of African-Americans." DigitalCommons@Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center, 1995. http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/dissertations/AAI9543185.
Full textAbstract:
This dissertation is a critical study of technopolitical issues in the history of African American people. Langdon Winner's theory of technopolitics was used to facilitate the analysis of large scale technologies and their compatibility with various political ends. I contextualized the central technopolitical issues within the major epochs of African American political history: the Atlantic slave trade, the African artisans of antebellum America, and the American Industrial Age.
Throughout this study I have sought to correct negative stereotypes and to show how "technological gauges" were employed to belittle people of African descent. This research also has shown that the mainstream notion that Africans had no part in the history of technology is false.
This study identifies and analyses specific technologies that played a major role in the political affairs of Africans and African Americans. Those technologies included nautical devices, fort construction, and automatic guns in Africa, and hoes, plows, tractors, cotton gins, and the mechanical cotton pickers in America. The findings of this study suggested that African Americans have been disengaged and victimized by western technologies. This dissertation proposes how to overcome the oppressive uses of technology.
27
Babík, Milan. "In pursuit of salvation : Woodrow Wilson and American liberal internationalism as secularized eschatology." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2009. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:0ba3fcd9-ecbc-4789-83c9-3fdb1c290aea.
Full textAbstract:
This work reinterprets the idea of progress at the heart of Woodrow Wilson’s liberal internationalism through the lens of secularization theory, which holds that modern philosophies of progress stand on religious foundations and represent secularized vestiges of biblical eschatology. Previous applications of this insight reveal a selective pattern: Whereas totalitarian and illiberal narratives of progress such as Nazism and Marxism-Leninism have received lavish attention and spawned extensive political religions literature, liberal progressivism has been ignored. This dissertation rectifies this neglect. Initial chapters present the biblical conception of history as the myth of salvation, introduce secularization through the writings of Karl Löwith and Hans Blumenberg, respectively its principal proponent and main critic, and test the limits of the concept to confirm its applicability to liberal progressivism. The main part aims secularization theory at Wilson’s idea of progress in the broader context of American liberal thought. From the 17th-century Puritan vision of a “city upon a hill” to the 19th-century doctrine of “manifest destiny”, biblical eschatology defined the way Americans envisioned history and their role in it, giving rise to a sort of liberal-republican millennialism. Wilson was no exception: Considering faith essential to authentic knowledge, he regarded history as a providential process, the United States as a divinely appointed redeemer nation, and himself as a Christian statesman performing God’s work in a fallen world. His foreign policy was fundamentally a religious mission to transform international relations according to the Bible, thereby fulfilling the prophecy of salvation. The dissertation demonstrates the eschatological foundations of his statecraft through specific examples and draws attention to their illiberal and totalizing implications. Final passages note the enduring relevance of Wilson’s principles and, based on their reinterpretation in this work, reflect critically on their suitability as a guide for future American foreign policy.
28
Almeida, Giancarlo Michel de. "Em busca da tradição ocidental no século xx : a filosofia política crítica de Gerhart Niemeyer e o conservadorismo norte-americano." reponame:Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações da UFRGS, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10183/87742.
Full textAbstract:
Após a primeira metade do séc. XX, tem ocorrido uma revolução na Filosofia Política, Jurídica e Moral. A partir da rejeição do projeto racionalista da modernidade, Filósofos pós Segunda Guerra tentam recuperar o que se havia perdido na modernidade, que são os preceitos da Filosofia Política clássica, da tradição Ocidental, da transcendência judaicocristã. Destacamos Gerhart Niemeyer para a compreensão do papel do conservadorismo nesse debate. Consideramos que sua Filosofia amadurece até um conservadorismo moderado em três fases: funcionalismo imanentista e crítica à modernidade, anticomunismo e, então, a definição de Filosofia Política conservadora. Sua crítica se desenvolve identificando a raiz moderna das ideologias do séc. XX: na rejeição do divino e da ordem existente, materialismo, a ideia (dialética) de luta de classes, positivismo e jus naturalismo moderno, ativismo revolucionário daí resultante, bem como no historicismo moderno. Seu principal conceito, “total critique”, denuncia que as ideologias modernas possuem caráter político apenas destrutivo, pois requer a destruição do mundo existente (construído na realidade da experiência humana e baseado no Direito Natural transcendente) para a realização de uma natureza humana idealizada e utópica, ou seja, irrealizável. Assim, após a fragmentação da Tradição Ocidental, para reconstruir uma ordem legítima e fundamentada é necessário atentar para ideias como: a tradição Ocidental e o Direito Natural, a identidade e passado público, mito fundador, “realm” como unidade política, moral e limites em função do mito, virtudes existenciais da comunidade, consenso de valores (homonoia), bem como a capacidade crítica necessária para manter a continuidade da unidade cultural em uma democracia. Então, destacamos a importância do conservadorismo americano nesse movimento. Observamos que sua experiência acadêmica e política, ao longo da Guerra Fria, estão no contexto do conservadorismo norte-americano. Contudo, seu conservadorismo é diferente, devido a sua crítica ao liberalismo e a Direita, delineando um conservadorismo moderado.After the first half of the 20th century there is a revolution in Political, Legal and Moral Philosophy. From the rejection of the rationalist project of modernity, post Second War philosophers try to recover what was lost in modernity, which are the precepts of classical Political Philosophy, on Western tradition, on the Judeo-Christian transcendence. Featuring Gerhart Niemeyer on the understanding the role of conservatism on this debate. We consider that his philosophy matures to a moderate conservatism in three phases: immanentist functionalism and critique of modernity, anticommunism, and then the definition of conservative political philosophy. His critique analysis is developed on identifying the modern root of 20th century ideologies: the rejection of the divine and the existing order, the materialism, the (dialectic) idea of class struggle, positivism and modern jusnaturalism, the resulting revolutionary activism, as well as the modern historicism. Its main concept, "total critique" shows off that modern ideologies have only destructive political character, because it requires the destruction of the existing world (founded in the reality of human experience and based on the sound transcendent Natural Law) to conduct an idealized and utopian human nature, which is unrealizable. So, after the fragmentation of Western Tradition, to rebuild a lawful and reasoned order it is necessary to look after ideas such: the public identity and public past, the founding myth, "realm" as political unit, moral and limits concerning the myth, existential virtues of community, common sense values (homonoia), as well as the necessary critic skill to keep the abidance of the cultural unity in a democracy. Then, we point the importance of American conservatism over this postmodern movement. We found that his academic and politics experience, throughout the Cold War, are within the context of American conservatism. However, his conservatism is different for his critique of liberalism, which means a moderate conservativism.
29
Panton, James. "Politics, subjectivity and the public/private distinction : the problematisation of the public/private relationship in political thought after World War II." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2010. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:cb636385-aa16-44d1-abf5-2e835e62665c.
Full textAbstract:
A critical investigation of the public/private distinction as it has been conceived in Anglo-American political thinking in the second half of the 20th century. A broadly held consensus has developed amongst many theorists that public/private does not refer to any single determinate distinction or relationship but rather to an often ambiguous range of related but analytically distinct conceptual oppositions. The argument of this thesis is that if we approach public/private in the search for analytic or conceptual clarity then this consensus is correct. Against this I propose that a number of the most dominant invocations of the distinction can be understood to express public/private as an irreducibly political dialectic that mediates the relationship between the subjective and objective side of social and political life. By locating these conceptually diverse invocations within a broader and more determinate framework of the historical development and contestation of the boundaries which establish the conditions for subjectivity, as the assertion of political agency, on the one hand, and which demarcate, police and defend these particular boundaries, as part of the objectively given character of social life and institutional organisation, on the other hand, then a more determinate character to public/private can be recognized. I then seek to explore the capacity of this model to capture and explain the peculiar post-war problematisation of public/private amongst a number of new left thinkers in Britain and America.
30
Burnett, Aron J. "Multi-Cultural Model of Relational Personhood and Implementing Philosophy for Children (P4C): A Refusal of the Illusion of Individualism in America." UNF Digital Commons, 2015. https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/etd/573.
Full textAbstract:
The goal of this thesis is to influence a re-evaluation of self conceptions in America in order to influence an alternative relational understanding of one’s self and others. This thesis begins based on the premise that individualism is a prominent aspect of American societies meaning its member’s understandings of their selves are self-centered, often non-empathetic, and in general more concerned with their own lives than that of others. The first half of this thesis is dedicated analyzing the American situation through an analysis of the sources of individualism and proving that individualism is actually an illusion that individuals falsely believe in. American Pragmatists John Dewey and George Herbert Mead are primarily discussed to offer a more socially oriented understanding of the self that begins the process of this thesis in defending a relational model of selfhood. The second half of this thesis introduces Ancient Chinese philosophy where the relationally constituted model of self is thoroughly fleshed out. An analysis of Confucian and Daoist philosophy is given to explain those traditions unique vocabulary and drastic differences from traditional Western theories of morality and self-understanding. The third half of this thesis uses an hybrid self conception derived from a combination of Pragmatist and Chinese thought to argue the Philosophy For Children (P4C) pedagogical model is the medium in which Americans can learn to re-evaluate their selves starting with educating their children. P4C is shown to be itself a model of relationality where children begin from younger ages to be more other-focused, empathetic, and communally involved.
31
Ellery, Margaret. "Making the frontier manifest : the representation of American politics in new age literature." University of Western Australia. School of Social and Cultural Studies, 2008. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2008.0043.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis explores the history of the New Age movement through a political analysis of influential New Age books. By drawing upon cultural, religious and American studies, and concepts from literary criticism and political science, a new understanding of the movement becomes possible. This thesis analyses the ideological representations and rhetorical strategies employed in both New Age literature and American presidential discourse. It is argued that their shared imagery and discursive features indicate that New Age writings derive their ideological underpinnings and textual devices from dominant beliefs of American nationalism. This historical examination begins with the Cold War in the late 1940s and ends with the 1990s. Each chapter traces parallels between a particular presidential discourse and New Age texts published in the same decade commencing with Dwight D. Eisenhower and The Doors of Perception and finishing with William J. Clinton and The Celestine Prophecy: An Adventure. It argues that the appropriation of particular spiritualities in New Age texts is closely related to contemporary American geo-political interests and understandings. Major New Age spiritual trends are derived from regions, most often in the third world, which are considered to be under threat from forces such as Communism. New Age writings construct an imaginary possession of these worlds, reconfiguring these sites into frontiers of American influence. In particular, this study examines the influence of the jeremiads and the ensuing Monroe Doctrine and Manifest Destiny ideologies upon post-war national beliefs and the extent to which these understandings of nationalism inform New Age discourse. Representations of time and space, destiny and landscape, and self and other in these literary and political contexts are analysed. From this perspective, the eclecticism that marks the New Age can be historically understood as a shifting cultural expression of Cold War and post-Cold War political responses. Consequently, New Age literature is one of the means by which dominant American identity is reproduced and disseminated in what seems to be an alternative spiritual context.
32
Silva, Grant Joseph 1982. "Thinking about Justice from “the Outside” of Nationality: Re-Thinking the Legal and National Dimensions of Citizenship." Thesis, University of Oregon, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/12101.
Full textAbstract:
xi, 202 p.This dissertation examines the legal and national dimensions of citizenship, focusing on the nature of social justice, multiculturalism and state formation in light of an increasing "migrant" population in the United States. For many individuals, Hispanic people and undocumented immigrants are outside of stereotypic understandings of "American" and the legal structure of the United States. Seeking to question this belief and the subsequent political atmosphere it engenders, this work presents the challenges that Hispanic people and undocumented persons pose to the central tenants of liberal political theory and the politics of recognition. Liberal theories of justice that assume the nation-state as their starting point and ignore the international elements of 21st century societies need reconsideration. Although John Rawls's work remains central to this tradition, by constricting his theory of justice to a closed, self-sustaining polity that assumes all persons behind the veil of ignorance to be citizens, the trajectory of liberal political thought after his work evades the question of citizenship and the possibility of social justice for undocumented people. Although conversations about "multicultural citizenship" are abundant in North American political contexts, these discussions focus on the national representation of minority peoples and ignore the legal aspects of citizenship and the reality of undocumented immigration. Philosophers that do think about undocumented persons argue for international theories of justice, human rights or cosmopolitanism. These are positive steps in thinking about social justice for immigrants, but they only matter insofar as they do not impinge upon state sovereignty and render social justice for immigrants a secondary issue. While Latin American political thinkers such as Enrique Dussel ground the origins of political power in the citizenry of states, they nonetheless assume the category of "citizen" to be uncontested. Thus, even in settings where radical political change is underway, the basis of state membership remains to be defined and freed of racial (or even "post-racial") expectations. I undertake this project in terms of Estadounidense or "Unitedstatesian" citizenship, a concept that combats ethnocentric beliefs about the meaning of "American" while also informing of more open understandings of legal citizenship and porous conceptions of the state.
Committee in charge: Naomi Zack, Chairperson; Cheyney Ryan, Member; Scott Pratt, Member; Michael Hames-Garcia, Outside Member
33
Monea, Alexander Paul. "Dissemination Rhizome: How to Do (Political) Things With Affect." Bowling Green State University / OhioLINK, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1354329062.
Full text
34
Li, Sha. "A Comparative Study of K-12 Foreign Language Education in American and Chinese Public Schools: A Case Study of Six Foreign Language Teachers." University of Akron / OhioLINK, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1384810365.
Full text
35
Victor, Elizabeth Kaye. "Structure and Agency: An Analysis of the Impact of Structure on Group Agents." Scholar Commons, 2012. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/4246.
Full textAbstract:
Different kinds of collectives help to coordinate between individuals and social groups to solve distribution problems, supply goods and services, and enable individuals to live fulfilling lives. Collectives, as part of the process of socialization, contribute to the normalization of behaviors, and consequently, structure our ability to be self-reflective autonomous agents. Contemporary philosophy of action models characterize collective action as the product of individuals who have the proper motivations to perform cooperative activities (bottom-up); or they begin with the social-level phenomena and explain this in terms of individual actions and the mental states that motivate them (top-down). One general goal of this project is to show how and why both of these approaches through focusing solely on the individuals involved fail to capture and account for important types of group actions: those of economic group agents.
Group agents, one kind of organized collective, are unique in that they have the potential to develop group-level decision-making processes that result in the capacity of the group to engage in practical reasoning. Because of this capacity, group agents can be stable and respond to reason--capacities we would not expect from other kinds of collectives. Inasmuch as we value the possibility of influencing the reflexive dynamics that perpetuate social institutions, understanding the range of organization structures and their agential capacities will open up the possibility of altering the course of those dynamics toward more just systems of organization. Understanding what kinds of group agents currently operate within the systems of organizations that make up social institutions is the first step in determining how to move toward developing group agents that are also moral agents. By analyzing how different systems of constraint--inside and outside the firm--inform one another to influence the possibility of design and the group's possibilities for action, I use Christian List and Philip Pettit's account of group agency as a springboard to develop a more adequate account of how structure influences and constrains the possibilities of economic group agents in non-idealized circumstances (i.e. this world, with our history).
My chapters include 1) a taxonomy of organization structures and an analysis of how a narrow conception of organization structure in jurisprudence can lead to systems of constraint that limit the rights and freedoms of individuals even as it seeks to extend them, 2) an evaluation of the popular accounts of collective action (cf. Raimo Tuomela, 1997; Michael Bratman, 1993, 1997, 2009; and Christian List and Philip Pettit, 2011) that could be made to accommodate the actions of certain kinds of economic associations, 3) an exploration of the standards of evaluation that influence these powerful group agents, and how these standards limit the economic group agent's capacity to engage in moral reasoning, and 4) an analysis of the group agent's reasoning capacity and the internal mode of interaction between group agent and group members that perpetuate group agency.
I argue that we can understand group agents that have the capacity to be moral agents as the products of a particular kind of decision-making process within an organization's structure. The decision-making process, together with the organization structure and group member support, produces and sustains judgments and actions at the level of the group that cannot be reduced to the beliefs and actions of particular members. In this way, the group displays a systematic unity of actions based on its own judgments. That is, the group exhibits agency. Moral group agents exhibit more than practical reasoning; they also demonstrate the capacity for critical reflection upon the ends they pursue. Member buy-in promotes a tight connection between group members and their role in bringing about and sustaining group agency, and is the foundation of the group agent. Without a holistic organization structure, a member's personal identities could undermine group aims, thereby undermining group agency. Group moral agency, I argue, begins with promoting an organizational way of life conducive to collective flourishing and respect for members.
36
Wright, Anthony Tannus. "Base filosófica da liberdade política anglo-saxônica e da liberdade política francesa e sua presença no constitucionalismo norte- americano." Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, 2013. https://tede2.pucsp.br/handle/handle/6205.
Full textAbstract:
Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:21:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1
Anthony Tannus Wright.pdf: 1521098 bytes, checksum: 15141fb211e98bab528e8dd7ecf8be5b (MD5)
Previous issue date: 2013-08-29This work aimed to discuss the philosophical basis of the Anglo-Saxon political liberty and the French Political liberty present in the North-American Constitutionalism. The first part of this research dealt with the historical, religious and political changes that culminated in a substantial mentality change of a theocentric medieval society to an anthropocentric society, founder of the modern state. Hence, the objective of this first part was to show the historical roots of the English and French liberal thought. Before discussing the central theme a political and philosophical comparison between the English, French and American Revolution was done. With this purpose the writings of Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Blackstone, and of other liberal theorists served as reference. Furthermore, to better comprehend the difference of English and French liberalism an investigation of what the terms government, political liberty, state and republic, etc., seemed necessary. A historical and political study of the common law tradition and of natural rights served to better elucidate the basis of the American Constitution. To end, a research on the Founding Fathers and on the Federalist Papers was key point to comprehend how one should read and interpret the Constitution in light with English classical liberalism
Este trabalho trata da base filosófica da liberdade política anglo-saxônica e da liberdade política francesa presentes na Constituição norte-americana. Para tanto, a primeira parte do trabalho abrange os aspectos históricos, religiosos e políticos que culminaram na mudança de mentalidade teocêntrica da sociedade medieval para antropocêntrica, criadora do Estado moderno. Assim, o objetivo desta primeira parte é mostrar as raízes históricas do pensamento liberal inglês e francês. Ainda antes de adentrar o tema central, procura fazer uma breve comparação filosófica e política entre a Revolução Inglesa, Francesa e Americana. Com esse intuito, as obras de Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau e Blackstone, entre os escritos de outros pais do pensamento liberal, serviram como referência. Aborda-se também, ao longo do trabalho, a compreensão da liberdade política pelo liberalismo francês e inglês, governo, estado, república etc. Ainda, no que diz respeito à Constituição norteamericana, é estudada a base histórica e política, a importância do common law e do natural rights. Por fim, ao tratar dos Founding Fathers e dos Federalist Papers pode-se descobrir a presença do pensamento político inglês, e como deve ser interpretada a constituição à luz destes princípios
37
Gardner, Kai. "Into the Fray : Norman Jacobson, the Free Speech Movement and the Clash of Commitments." Oberlin College Honors Theses / OhioLINK, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=oberlin1432128501.
Full text
38
Owings, Thomas Henry. "God-Emperor Trump: Masculinity, Suffering, and Sovereignty." Ohio University / OhioLINK, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1591528636574634.
Full text
39
Sakaguchi, Sean Y. "The Modern Administrative State: Why We Have ‘Big Government’ and How to Run and Reform Bureaucratic Organizations." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2016. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/1325.
Full textAbstract:
This work asserts that bureaucratic organization is not only an inevitable part of the modern administrative state, but that a high quality bureaucracy within a strongly empowered executive branch is an ideal mechanism for running government in the modern era. Beginning with a philosophical inquiry into the purpose of American government as we understand it today, this paper responds to criticisms of the role of expanded government and develops a framework for evaluating the quality of differing government structures. Following an evaluation of the current debate surrounding bureaucracies (from both proponents and critics), this thesis outlines the lessons and principles for structuring and managing an efficient bureaucracy. Finally, this paper concludes with two case studies – Puerto Rican bureaucratic failures and Japanese/Chinese national development – to consider the effects of compliance and non-compliance to the lessons outlined in this work. The inquiry finds that principles such as specialization, political autonomy, effective information systems, higher accountability standards, and managerial emphasis on policy implementation are all critical to superior bureaucratic governance.
40
Kim, Ilnyun. "The Party of Hope: American Liberalism from the Fair Deal to the Great Society." The Ohio State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1566169939602897.
Full text
41
Glas, Cécile de. "La relation États-Unis – Europe, du délitement du lien transatlantique à la relégation du Vieux Continent. Fondements géopolitiques et culturels." Thesis, Paris Est, 2018. http://www.theses.fr/2018PESC0012/document.
Full textAbstract:
L’Europe est progressivement devenue, pour les Américains, un contre-modèle. Les divergences entre les États-Unis et l’Europe résultent d’une césure politique et culturelle, masquée depuis le début de la Guerre froide (et même depuis la Première Guerre mondiale) par les impératifs de la bipolarité.L’étude des fondements anthropologiques de l’Occident, met en évidence l’unité théologique, juridique et logique de l’Europe et l’Amérique de l’Antiquité aux Lumières. La civilisation occidentale se situe à l’intersection de l’orbite institutionnelle de la civilisation du droit civil romano-canonique et de celle du christianisme.Ces divergences entre l’Europe et les États-Unis se dessinèrent en fait dès les origines de la modernité politique. Sur tous les points essentiels de la philosophie politique – liens entre religion et pensée éclairée, laïcité et sécularisation, conceptions de la liberté et de l’égalité, rapport dialectique entre république et démocratie, fondements du prométhéisme politique et social, conception de l’universalisme –, tout oppose l’Amérique et l’Europe.Pour ce qui relève de la post-modernité, nous montrons comment la philosophie libérale a recyclé les idées faussement révolutionnaires pour conduire l’Europe à une crise multiforme, un nihilisme qui se dissimule sous le masque avenant de la marchandisation généralisée et de l’esprit libertaire. À la différence de l’Europe postmoderne, l’Amérique a partiellement réussi à se mettre à l’abri de ces dynamiques de désintégration. La « nation indispensable » a su entretenir le style national américain dont l’attachement sans faille à la nation et la religiosité sont les principales caractéristiquesEurope gradually became, in the eyes of the Americans, a counter-model. The discrepancies between the United States and Europe result from a political and cultural caesura which was hidden from the beginning of the Cold war by the imperatives of bipolarity.The study of the anthropological foundations of the West highlights the theological, legal and logical unity of Europe and America from the Antiquity to the Enlightenment. The birth of the Western civilisation takes place at the intersection of the orbit of the romano-canonical civil law and that of Christianity.These discrepancies between Europe and the United States actually took shape from the origins of the political modernity. All the essential points of political philosophy – the links between religion and enlightened thinking, secularism, the conceptions of freedom and equality, the relationship between republic and democracy, the foundations of the political and social Prometheism – are areas of divergence.Concerning the post-modernity, we will then show how the liberal philosophy recycled pseudo-revolutionary ideas which led Europe to a manifold crisis, a type of nihilism, hidden by the disguise of the generalized commodification and the libertarian ideology. Unlike postmodern Europe, America partially managed to escape from these dynamics of disintegration. The “indispensable nation” managed to preserve the American national style the main characteristics of which are patriotism and religiosity
42
Mantell, Cole. "Love and Refusal: Contrasting Dialectical Interpretations and its Implications in the Works of Erich Fromm and Herbert Marcuse, 1941-1969." Oberlin College Honors Theses / OhioLINK, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=oberlin156096672701227.
Full text
43
Semel, Laura K. "The Lost Philosopher: Algernon Sidney and the American Enlightenment." W&M ScholarWorks, 2001. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539626319.
Full text
44
Hallengren, Anders. "The code of Concord : Emerson's search for universal laws." Doctoral thesis, Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för litteraturvetenskap och idéhistoria, 1994. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-14223.
Full textAbstract:
The purpose of this work is to detect a pattern: the concordance of Ethics and Aesthetics, Poetics and Politics in the most influential American thinker of the nineteenth century. It is an attempt to trace a basic concept of the Emersonian transcendentalist doctrine, its development, its philosophical meaning and practical implications. Emerson’s thought is analyzed genetically in search of the generating paradigm, or the set of axioms from which his aesthetic ideas as well as his political reasoning are derived. Such a basic structure, or point of convergence, is sought in the emergence of Emerson’s idea of universal laws that repeat themselves on all levels of reality. A general introduction is given in Part One, where the crisis in Emerson’s life is seen as representing and foreshadowing the deeper existential crisis of modern man. In Part 2 we follow the increasingly skeptical theologian’s turn to science, where he tries to secure a safe secular foundation for ethical good and right and to solve the problem of evil. Part 3 shows how Emerson’s conception of the laws of nature and ethics is applied in his political philosophy. In Part 4, Emerson’s ideas of the arts are seen as corresponding to his views of nature, morality, and individuality. Finally, in Part 5, the ancient and classical nature of Concord philosophy is brought into focus. The book concludes with a short summary.
45
Mueller, Laura Joy. "The Logic of American Exceptionalism: Petrus Ramus, the Puritans, and Contemporary American Politics." OpenSIUC, 2010. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/theses/207.
Full textAbstract:
Petrus Ramus was one of the most influential philosophers of the 1500s. His attempted reform of pedagogy, which was exemplified in his dialectic and rhetoric, not only changed the way people generations after taught and thought, but also demonstrated the scholastic reforms occurring in his lifetime. Ramus' influence is evident through the amount of controversy it sparked, the amount of scholarship devoted to Ramus, and, most importantly, the spread of Ramism from Europe to New England, finding its home in the New England Puritans. Through the passing of time, Puritan notions have not entirely been subsumed and have recently reappeared in American political discourse. American Exceptionalism, traceable to the Puritans, has emerged in the words of conservative American politicians such as Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Sarah Palin. Has American identity, imbued with Puritan ideas, also been infected with a subtle Ramism? A study of political and theological reactions to 9/11--a reflection of the Puritan "provoking evils" --and political speeches appealing to the fabled "city upon a hill" not only show the continuance of American Exceptionalism but also demonstrate Ramist logic at work. The identification of America as "exceptional," and the support of this idea as provided by the aforementioned reactions and speeches, exhibit a belief in the ontological relationship between signs and exceptionalism. By investigating Ramism, Ramist influence upon the Puritans, and the theology and logic of Jonathan Edwards, along with recent American political discourse, one can still see not only the Puritan traces in recent American identity, but also the Ramist roots twining through it all.
46
Wells, Philip L. "Pragmatism as American Exceptionalism." ScholarWorks@UNO, 2012. http://scholarworks.uno.edu/honors_theses/23.
Full textAbstract:
The history of American philosophical thought is marked by a skepticism of epistemology and immutable truths, which is drawn under the term pragmatism. This skepticism is the genesis for the political and social attitudes that makes the United States exceptional. This thesis argues that this exceptionalism is important to the makeup of the American character and that it is being threatened by two front: ideologically driven politics, and the abuse of power by the majority. In the course of writing this essay I evaluated a large portion of the body of American philosophy as well as political and judicial writers in order to show that American exceptionalism is based upon a philosophical rejection of epistemology and immutable truth claims and that exceptionalism is integral to the progress of America as a nation.
47
Guirola, Valdés Yodenis. "Emancipación humana: Karl Marx y el marxismo fundacional latinoamericano." Doctoral thesis, Universitat de Barcelona, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/672116.
Full textAbstract:
La presente investigación doctoral plantea un estudio de la problemática de la emancipación humana, tanto en la obra de Karl Marx como en la obra de los primeros marxistas latinoamericanos que de manera significativa incorporaron y sistematizaron con sentido propio y desde una perspectiva latinoamericanista el materialismo dialéctico en América Latina. Se estudia el tratamiento de esta problemática a lo largo de toda la obra de Marx, y a lo largo de toda la obra de Aníbal Ponce, Julio Antonio Mella y José Carlos Mariátegui. Para ello se emplea un método analítico-crítico en base a la revisión y análisis de fuentes primarias, así como el contraste de múltiples estudios sobre las mismas, a modo de una cartografía filosófica o biografía de los conceptos. El estudio se compone de dos partes estrechamente interconectadas. Se ha tomado como punto de referencia epistémico el tratamiento de la problemática en Marx, a quien se le dedica la primera parte; y a partir de ello se delinea el tratamiento de esta misma problemática en el resto de los autores, a quienes se dedica la segunda parte a modo de tres monografías en paralelo. A partir del análisis particularizado de cada autor se realiza una valoración de contraste del conjunto de todos ellos, diagramando sintonías, puntos de inflexión y modulaciones propias. A lo largo de toda la tesis se definen y sistematizan particularidades del tratamiento de esta problemática a partir de conceptos claves y argumentos. Se analizan y contrastan elementos contextuales y fuentes referenciales, teniendo en cuenta su incidencia. Se determinan y valoran componentes epistémicos, filosófico-políticos, éticos y ontológicos, así como históricos y socio-económicos que inciden en o resultaron de la reconfiguración del tratamiento de la problemática de la emancipación humana tanto en Marx como en Ponce, Mella y Mariátegui.This doctoral research develops a study of the problematic of human emancipation, both in the work of Marx and in the work of the first Latin American Marxists who in a significant way incorporated and systematized dialectical materialism in their own sense and from a Latin Americanist perspective. The treatment of this problematic is studied throughout the entire work of Marx, and throughout the entire work of Anibal Ponce, Julio Antonio Mella and José Carlos Mariátegui. An analytical-critical method is used based on the review and the analysis of primary sources, as well as the contrast of multiple studies on them, as a philosophical cartography or a biography of the concepts. The study is made up of two closely interconnected parts. The treatment of the problematic in Marx, to whom the first part is dedicated, has been taken as an epistemic reference point; and from this the treatment of the same problematic is diagrammed in the rest of the authors, to whom the second part is dedicated as three parallel monographs. From the individualized analysis of each author, a contrast assessment of all of them is carried out, taking into account common or equivalent arguments, inflection points and own perspectives. Throughout the thesis, particularities of the treatment of this problematic are defined and systematized based on key concepts and arguments. Contextual elements and referential sources are analyzed and contrasted, taking into account their incidence. Epistemic, philosophical-political, ethical and ontological components, as well as historical and socio-economic components in relation with the problematic of human emancipation are analyzed and valued both in Marx, Ponce, Mella and Mariátegui.
48
Piser, Gabriel A. "Appalachian Anthropocene: Conflict and Subject Formation in a Sacrifice Zone." The Ohio State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1469120301.
Full text
49
Culp, Andrew Curtis. "Producing Pacification: The Disciplinary Technologies of Smart Bombs and National Anti-War Organizing." Columbus, Ohio : Ohio State University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=osu1243983139.
Full text
50
Rocha, Eva. "Antithetical Commentaries on X, Y and the Disruption of Being." VCU Scholars Compass, 2016. https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/4278.
Full textAbstract:
Through discursive essays and poetic narrative, Antithetical Commentaries on X, Y and the Disruption of Being explores the tenuous relationship between modes of measurement and the struggle for human relevance in the post-contemporary digital age. In the introductory essay, “Not the Feather, but the Bird”, I give an overview of the inherent problems of object-oriented ontology, and how it relates to aesthetics and social issues of our times. In the Developmental Overview, I detail how I developed my installation approach and techniques, particularly with regard to the three-way dynamic of the artist:work:viewer relationship and how it can encourage a ‘transgression’ that leads to the possibility of a transformative awareness of being. Subsequently, I present a series of ‘antithetical’ commentaries that neither explain nor expand the installation, rather, they create a non-binary duality that, through an entirely non-linear anti-narrative, work to erode the overlay of personal, civic and collective grids present in the memory space/time referenced in the video, TAG. Finally, in “Grid: Towards a Transgressive Humanism.” I propose a path by which installation art might serve to create transgressive opportunities for viewers, rather than the transcendence sought through religious rituals, which often reinforce stigmas, fears and authoritarian social dynamics, or worse, the reductive loop, of many contemporary approaches to art which proclaim
their detachment in wordy displays, essentially leading to a form of aesthetic nihilism. This Transgressive Humanism is not presented as a dogma, but rather a revitalization of the work as a vessel of possibilities, an agent of creative growth for the artist and the viewer.