Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Holism'

Evidential holism, which is closely associated with the works of W.V.O. Quine, maintains that evidence is only applicable to whole theories. It is endorsed in many disparate debates about analyticity, a priority, mathematical Platonism, and meaning. But in discussions about confirmation theory it receives less sympathetic attention: many philosophers of science regard evidential holism as implausible, poorly motivated and of dubious usefulness. Moreover, many of the philosophical applications of evidential holism lead to highly controversial conclusions. In order to determine how plausible holism is, I distinguish three evidentially holistic theses: holism about prediction,. holism about falsification, and holism about confirmation. I argue that Quine only subscribed to holism about prediction and falsification. I identify a strong source of motivation for following Quine: this is the idea that observation is theory-laden. If we accept that observation is theory-laden, then we have very good reasons for accepting holism about prediction and falsification. In addition, the theory-Iadenness of observation provides us with non-arbitrary grounds for restricting the scope of the holistic claims about prediction and falsification. I argue that holism about confirmation is not a consequence of the theory-ladenness of observation, and will only follow if we rely upon an untenable principle of hypothetico-deductivism. This hypothetico-deductive principle is pre-theoretically compelling, so identifying its role in a (flawed) argument for holism about confirmation provides an explanation of why so many commentators have casually assumed that evidential holism is committed to holism about confirmation. Having rejected holism about confirmation and motivated a narrower, less controversial version of evidential holism than that which is usually discussed by philosophers of science, I explore its role in three influential argumentative applications. I show that commitment to evidential holism carries no commitment to holism about meaning, or to the repudiation of a priori justification, or to mathematical Platonism.

The following thesis examines the need for a holistic learning vehicle. Rather than accept the claims made for left and right hemisphere thinking, an examination is made of holism as defined by respected writers. Culled from their works are ideas of undeniable logic and indisputable claim. These are exposed as the basic components of holism that are likely to receive unquestioned acceptance by the most scientific of educators. It is a holistic perception that the world has to be appreciated for the relationships that give it unity. Only then will life take on meaning beyond the superficial, transient, or short term. Decisions can then be made that consider broad ideas rather than any narrow focus detrimental to the large body, be it a small community or the world. If this is to occur, there must exist a learning system that is capable of conveying the unquestionable holistic principles and ideas to children. Possessed of this, every student will have an appreciation for the unity of his/her world. Once this is understood, the individual will be better able to make judgments and decisions that consider broad needs and views. By so doing s/he will enhance the quality of life for him/herself and others. Upon these tenets are hung the attributes of Dr. Charles Brauner's Concept Gathering System. In Chapter III the earlier selected holistic verities are given a one-to-one relationship with the System to show how it incorporates the credible effects of holism. Subsequent chapters provide an in depth look at the Concept Gathering System. It is first described in detail (chapter IV). Then its function in practice is considered (chapter V). In chapter VI the benefits accruing from such holistic learning are outlined. Here the reader is reminded how the original values of holism are successfully met by the Concept Gathering System. Finally the System's application in the school is reviewed with particular attention given to its suitability to the gifted child, and the advantages offered to it by modern technological equipment. Appendix I is an example of the completed System. Appendix II shows how ideas and summaries can be gathered from a book passsage.
Education, Faculty of
Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of
Graduate

In this project, I defend a holistic, internalist conceptual-role theory of mental content (‘Holism’, for short). The account of communicative success which must be adopted by the Holist is generally thought to be unattractive and perhaps even untenable. The primary aim of my thesis is to show that this account is actually far more plausible than the accounts available to competing theories of mental content. Holism is thought to suffer from a special problem of communication because it entails that no two subjects ever mean the same thing by an utterance of the same word-forms, or share the same thought content. Many think that it is necessary for communicative success (or, at least, sometimes required) that the content grasped by the hearer is the same content as that which is expressed by the speaker. As such, theories such as social externalism are thought to be well-equipped to explain communicative success because they can posit shared content. Holism claims that subjects think, and speak, in their own idiosyncratic idiolects. As such, Holists must deny that it is ever required for communicative success that subjects share content. Holists must maintain instead that successful communication requires only similarity of content between speaker and hearer. This is supposed to be a serious cost of the view. In this project, I argue that it is, in fact, a virtue. Views like Holism, which can posit only mere similarity of content, are better placed to explain communicative success than views which can posit shared content. In the first part of my thesis, I argue that externalist theories of content face a dilemma when it comes to explaining communicative success. They must choose between (a), endorsing an account of communication which renders the relationship between the content expressed by the speaker and grasped by the hearer irrelevant to communicative success and (b), endorsing an account which gives implausible diagnoses as to the success and failure of communicative attempts. I argue that the reason that externalist theories face this dilemma is because they allow that content and understanding can come apart. Interestingly, it is, in part, because they posit a communal language that they face the dilemma. In contrast, the Holist’s similar content account does not face the dilemma. It can naturally incorporate understanding into its explanation of how mental content facilitates communicative success because, on Holism, understanding perfectly tracks mental content. In the second part of my thesis, I develop an account of communicative success for the Holist and defend the account from objections. The account claims that communication succeeds to the degree that content is similar across communication partners. In defending the view, I propose a criterion for similarity of content for the Holist. I also argue that (pure) internalists can agree with externalists as to the extensions of concepts and the truth-conditions of contents without the need to appeal to any factors outside of the individual. Finally, I explain how my account of communication impacts upon a theory of testimony. Most work on testimony stipulates that the content of the testimony grasped by the hearer is the same as that expressed by the speaker. I present and defend an account of testimony which claims instead that testimonial exchanges can be successful even when the content grasped by the hearer is merely similar to the content expressed by the speaker.

Thesis (M.S. in Defense Analysis)--Naval Postgraduate School, December 2006.
Thesis Advisor(s): Peter J. Gustaitis. "December 2006." Includes bibliographical references (p. 55-57). Also available in print.

In this dissertation, I examine the prospects for moral particularism. Moral particularism, which, like most views, comes in a variety of flavors, is essentially the view that the role general principles have traditionally played in moral theorizing is overstated. In Chapter One, I lay out the groundwork for the theories which I will discuss in Chapters Two through Four – a framework which I will ultimately reject. The most prominent variety of particularism in the literature, and the subject of Chapter Two, is the one offered by Jonathan Dancy in his Ethics Without Principles. (Dancy 2004) Dancy argues for a holistic conception of practical reasons -- reasons that sometimes count in favor of Φing can, in other situations, count against Φing. He claims that the truth of holism leads rather immediately (though not directly) to moral particularism. The literature on particularism is flooded with arguments against Dancy. In Chapter Two, I discuss Dancy's particularism and rehearse what I take to be the strongest objections against his view. I take some of those arguments to be rather decisive. And so I suggest that for particularism to survive, we must move beyond Dancy's view.

In Chapter Three I examine another variety of moral particularism - that offered by David McNaughton and Piers Rawling. Given the objections leveled against Dancy, one maneuver for preserving particularism would be to have a variety that is less objectionable by being more like traditional generalist theories. McNaughton and Rawling's particularism is just such a view. However, for various reasons which I discuss in that chapter, I find McNaughton and Rawling's view also to be unsatisfactory.

Given that I take these two, the most prominent, strains of particularism to be the best developed, and given their problems, I suggest in Chapter Four that perhaps if particularism is untenable, particularists might best serve their aims by adopting quasi-generalist views. Essentially what particularists seem to be looking for is a view that privileges moral contexts over moral rules. The rules cannot adequately guide us, not exceptionlessly, at least, given the variety of moral situations in which we find ourselves. So, in this chapter I examine the moral contextualism offered by Margaret Olivia Little and Mark Norris Lance, as well as Pekka V\"{a}rynen's theory of hedged moral principles. If extant varieties of particularism face insurmountable problems, then perhaps there are varieties of generalism which privilege moral contexts enough to satisfy particularist intuitions. Ultimately, I find these views also to be inadequate.

The overarching theme of this work is that extant particularist views are inadequate in various ways all relating to their conception of a practical reason. And so, with that in mind, in Chapter Five, I argue that for particularists to maintain a foothold in the debate, they must rethink the conception of a practical reason they employ in their views. I suggest that there is room for a variety of particularism that rejects the traditional conception of practical reasons as holistic contributory considerations that we weigh together and against each other to determine what we ought to do. I call the view I am offering `Eliminativism', as it is an attempted elimination of contributory-reasons-talk from the discourse. I reject the contributory conception of reasons and offer a more coarse-grained conception of reasons for action that privileges context above all else, thereby giving particularism a coherent conception of reasons for action that enables them to eschew general principles.

Contemporary philosophy of the social sciences is dominated by methodological individualism. Intentional agency is assumed to be conceptually and explanatorily prior to social facts and social practices. In particular, it is generally thought that denials of methodological individualism are bound to include ontologically unnatural and, thereby, unacceptable views. This dissertation provides a comprehensive criticism of this orthodoxy. Part I argues that social facts do not have to be understood as aggregates of actions and attitudes of essentially asocial individuals. Rather, the construction of social facts requires that acting as a member of a group rather than as a disparate individual is a fundamental building block of social reality and social facts. This idea is explicated in the anti-individualistic terms of the theory of collective intentionality. Part II tackles the accusation that the theory of collective intentionality is indefensibly anti-naturalistic in the sense that its picture of humans is essentially incompatible with evolutionary biology. This accusation is answered in terms of detailed analyses of evolutionary models of human sociality and empirical studies of the nature of social action. Part II concludes that it is actually the methodologically individualistic picture of social action as strategic individual action that is unacceptable. The theory of collective intentionality is compatible with and supported by scientific naturalism. Part III, then, defends full-blown methodological holism. It is argued that intentional action and agency as we know them actually require that individual agents (qua agents and not qua physical objects) are essentially constituted by social practices. Intentional action must be explained and understood in terms of social practices. However, this view is argued to be perfectly naturalistic both in the sense of not assuming any ontologically suspect entities and in the sense of being supported by the natural sciences. Indeed, it is the individualistic orthodoxy that has to apply unnatural notions.

Le 19ème siècle connaît un renouveau des façons de penser proches du matérialisme. Celles-ci deviennent triomphantes avec Marx, Nietzsche .... Il s'agit d'analyser les causes de ce renouveau et ses conséquences sur les idéologies du 20ème siècle. Ces idéologies misent en œuvre sont prises dans une dualité matérialiste/idéaliste au sein de leurs différentes composantes. A la sortie du second conflit mondial et surtout après la chute des pays socialistes de l'Europe de l'est, cette dualité se recompose en s'adaptant à un champ politique unique et hégémonique. Le capitalisme entretient un rapport très paradoxal au matérialisme dans le même temps il l'appelle de ses vœux car il lui permet de détruire un obstacle : le christianisme social, mais il le dénature également en lui donnant une forme vulgaire d'un matérialisme de possession. Il ne peut pas lui redonner ses lettres de noblesse puisqu'il générerait un retour du politique (le marxisme,...). Or il se présente comme post politique et non idéologique. Dans le discours réemployant la rhétorique marxiste de fin de l'histoire prononcé par Francis Fukuyama, le capitalisme se présente de fait comme un Léviathan face à ce qui a réduit l'homme à l'état de nature : les idéologies « totalitaires ». Il permet également une remontée forte de l'idéalisme dans une dissonance perpétuelle entre morale et pratique. Le matérialisme étant vulgarisé et réduit, il ne porte plus en lui d'éthique et il devient limité à une pulsion d'achat. Le capitalisme, dans son appareil idéologique et sa culture de masse, apparaît comme double perpétuel au réel
A journey inside history, ideology and psychology with a key, the antagonism between materialism and idealism. A new point of view arise and create a new kind of analysis on our modern times. From Martin Luther to today, we explore differents systems : Nazism, Socialism and Capitalism. We will find, in each system and so in human mind, this heuristic antagonism

Proponents of moral particularism have often sought support for their negative claim about moral principles in a doctrine called holism in the theory of reasons. According to holism, a feature that is a reason in one case may be no reason at all, or even the opposite reason, in another. The aim of this thesis is to investigate and elucidate the supposed connection between holism and particularism. This is done by considering the particularistic position embraced by Jonathan Dancy in his book Ethics without Principles and the arguments against the argument from holism recently put forth by Sean McKeever and Michael Ridge in their book Principled Ethics: generalism as a regulative ideal. In conclusion it is argued that holism does provide at least some support for the form of particularism which Dancy defends.

The thesis pursued in this dissertation raises and examines a specific philosophical problem, essential to the study of the ontology of the social world. This problem has its origin in the question: 'how is is possible that the social world is constituted as a unified totality or complex whole?'. It is argued that the defining feature of a viable theory of social holism is that it is able to posit this metaphysical kind of problem. In this sense, the holist discourse that provides the terms for expressing the meaningfulness of this problem or the conditions of its legitimacy is, equivalently, an attempt to answer it, giving the form of the social world as an ontological domain. Thus this thesis discloses what is here proposed as the formal ontology of social reality and investigates the cluster of issues relevant to this. The study consists of three related stages (Parts). Part One spells out the formal mode of ontological inquiring and lays down the metatheoretical validity of holism. On the one hand, the principal idea is that the introduction of certain principles of relationality and of the "moment/whole" problematic establishes the basis of a non-extensional constitution of the social world; it is essential that individuals have the formal character of "entelechial Leibnizian monads" being in conceptual communication. On the other hand, the status of holist categories and commitments involves a transcendental mode of reasoning on the metaphysics of the social world. Part Two examines the three necessary moments of the conceptual communication in virtue of which individuals are constituted as essentially social persons. The first concerns the cluster of sociocultural concepts, the second the possibility of meaningful linguistic expression and the third the intentionality of thought. It is argued that by means of this notion of entelechial social personhood the categories of the 'individual' and the 'social' are integrated so that: a 'fact' about the individual's mind is not something enclosed within it, and the 'social' is not an empirically given environment 'containing' or causally influencing the mind. Part Three completes this holist non-extensional/non-atomic ontology by incorporating the semantics of the language of events characterizing the complex form of social states of affairs. Social events are shown to be complex wholes irreducible to their subjects. Furthermore, the temporal identity of the social world in the course of historical change depends on the reality of events; the interconnection of social events instantiates an intensional nexus of relations between ineliminable social properties.

Bibliography: pages 269-275.
Educational theory and practice stems from the generally accepted concept of Man, such as apartheid ideology which forms the basis of the South African educational system. Separatist thinking of some kind determines the perspective and actions of many people throughout the world. The pathology of this mode of consciousness has generated numerous crises, and is the root cause of the psychotic behaviour which is currently dominating the international scene. Inherent in any crisis is opportunity. New ways of being emerge through the struggles and mistakes of living. Counteracting the reductionist trend is the balancing notion of holism. This thesis examines the suitability and necessity of a holistic educational paradigm, particularly in this country. It explores the emerging holistic world view in two important areas of human endeavour - science and religion. Furthermore, it looks at the nature and psychology of change, Smuts's concept of holism, defines holism as modes of seeing, knowing and being, and describes the new world person with reference to South Africa's future. However, further work is needed to formulate a holistic concept of Man in order to derive a more comprehensive educational theory and practice.

Bakgrund: Livmoderhalscancer är en av världens vanligaste cancerform hos kvinnor. Det finns olika behandlingsmetoder beroende på kvinnans cancerstadium och hälsotillstånd. Vid samtliga behandlingar uppkommer vanligen biverkningar av olika  karaktär, som påverkar kvinnorna på olika sätt. Sjuksköterskan har som ansvar att informera och stötta kvinnor som drabbats av livmoderhalscancer och arbeta utifrån ett holistiskt förhållningssätt. Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva kvinnors upplevelse av behandling mot livmoderhalscancer. Metod: En litteraturöversikt gjord med kvalitativ och induktiv ansats baserad på tolv artiklar med kvalitativ data användes. Artikelsökningen gjordes i Medline, Cinahl, samt Psycinfo. Resultat: Resultatet redovisade två kategorier med tillhörande sex subkategorier. Kategorierna var: Upplevelse av behandlingens inverkan på kropp och själ, samt det psykosociala behovet. Biverkningar som uppkom efter behandling yttrades i både på fysisk, psykisk och social karaktär och ledde till omfattande utmaningar för kvinnor att hantera. Kvinnor upplevde behov av olika typer av stöd och att samtliga förändringar påverkade dem själva och sin relation med omgivningen både positivt och negativt. Slutsatser: Kvinnor som genomgått behandling mot livmoderhalscancer upplevde ett försämrat hälsotillstånd. Litteraturöversikten hoppas ge sjukvårdspersonal ökad kunskap i hur de ska bemöta och stötta kvinnor med livmoderhalscancer, samt främja vårdförloppet för kvinnorna och dess närstående.
Background: Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world for women. In all treatments side effects can occur, which affect women in different ways. The nurse is responsible for informing and supporting women affected by cervical cancer and work from a holistic perspective. Aim: The purpose was to describe women's experience of treatment for cervical cancer. Method: A literature review made with a qualitative and inductive approach based on twelve articles with qualitative data were used. The article search was done in Medline, Cinahl, and Psycinfo. Results: The result presented two categories with six subcategories. The categories were: The experience of the treatment's effect on body and soul, and the psychosocial needs. Side effects that arose affected both physical, mental and social levels. Conclusion: Women who have gone through treatment for cervical cancer experienced an deteriorated health condition as a result of treatments. The literature review hopes to give healthcare professionals an insight into how to respond to and support women with cervical cancer and promote the care process for the relatives and the woman.

Charles Taylor é um dos principais e mais influentes filósofos contemporâneos. No campo da política, o debate liberal-comunitário é o tema em que suas contribuições são mais conhecidas. Entretanto, o estudo da reflexão política de Taylor tem sido parcial. No registro teórico do debate liberal-comunitário, sua assim chamada crítica comunitarista é, muitas vezes, tomada como uma resposta normativa a possíveis equívocos ou limitações dos ideais morais do liberalismo. A conclusão mais comum é que o pensamento tayloriano se contrapõe à tradição liberal, sendo por vezes identificado ora com o comunitarismo, ora com o republicanismo, ora com o multiculturalismo. A reflexão de Taylor, contudo, se ocupa de um outro registro, mais amplo: o desenvolvimento de concepções de identidade e de bem baseadas em argumentos que não são normativos, mas sim ontológicos. Nesse registro, o objetivo de sua obra não é questionar os ideais morais do liberalismo, mas reconfigurá-los num contexto ontológico específico, bem como ampliar o leque de bens moral e politicamente relevantes para as sociedades contemporâneas. O objetivo dessa dissertação é o de justamente explorar a estrutura conceitual do que poderíamos chamar de individualismo holista, uma tipologia de pensamento político que, embora defensora normativamente da liberdade, pluralismo e autonomia, guarda uma profunda preocupação com a natureza irredutivelmente social da ação e dos bens humanos. Espera-se que a partir dessa chave de leitura sejamos capazes de uma abordagem mais sistemática da reflexão política de Charles Taylor, articulando suas diferentes e fragmentadas intervenções no debate político num quadro mais amplo, referenciado também às discussões sobre a natureza da agência, do self e da modernidade. Ao final, sugerimos que o autor canadense se move teoricamente muito mais próximo daquilo que se considera uma tradição liberal de pensamento do que sua classificação usual permitiria imaginar.
Charles Taylor is one of the most important and influential contemporary philosophers. In the political field, the liberal-communitarian debate is the theme where his contributions are most recognized. Nevertheless, the study of Taylors political thought has been limited. In the liberal-communitarian theorical debate arena, his so called 6 communitarian criticism has many times been taken as an advocacy answer to possible mistakes or limitations of liberalisms moral ideals. The most common conclusion is that the taylorian thought opposes itself to the liberal tradition and it has been identified with communitarianism theories, republicanism, or even with multiculturalism. Taylors reflection, however, is concerned with another more ample aim: the development of identity and good conceptions based in ontological arguments. The purpose of his work is not to question liberalistic moral ideals, but to reconfigure those in a specific ontological background, as well as to amplify the set of allowable moral and political relevant conceptions of goods to contemporary society. The intent of this paper is indeed to explore the conceptual structure of what we could call holistic individualism, a political thinking typology which although concerned with the advocacy of freedom, pluralism and autonomy also continues to take into account the inextricable social nature of agency and human goods conception. Hopefully, with this interpretation key we will be able to put in place a most systematic account of Charles Taylors political reflection, articulating its different and sparse contributions in the political debate in a more comprehensive landscape which will be referenced to his agency, self and modernity discussions. In the end, we suggest that the Canadian author is closer to what we could call a liberal tradition thinking than his usual classification would allow.

As tendências atuais na capacitação de recursos humanos apontam para o desenvolvimento de profissionais com uma postura crítica e reflexiva, com habilidades que vão além dos aspectos técnicos, constituindo-se um grande desafio para as instituições formadoras. Na formação do enfermeiro notamos também esse movimento e apesar do amplo discurso da integralidade do ser humano, acreditamos que a dimensão técnica é ainda mais enfatizada, desconsiderando a necessidade de instrumentalizar o processo de crescimento interno do profissional. Entendemos que não há como desvincular a dimensão profissional da pessoal, ou seja, a pessoa reside no ser profissional e o profissional integra a pessoa humana, de forma dialética. A partir de um referencial humanístico, desenvolvemos este estudo em uma abordagem qualitativa, com o objetivo de identificar e analisar as percepções e os sentimentos do aluno do curso de graduação em Enfermagem, com relação à sua formação como pessoa/profissional. Os dados foram coletados através de entrevistas individuais com acadêmicos da Faculdade de Enfermagem da Universidade Federal de Goiás, cujas falas foram submetidas a análise temática de conteúdo. Os resultados revelaram que os alunos percebem a formação acadêmica centrada em conhecimentos técnico-científicos, voltados especialmente ao atendimento das necessidades daqueles que vão ser assistidos, sem considerar a pessoa que os assiste, além de sinalizar que a trajetória acadêmica é permeada por vários sentimentos que aparecem em função das experiências ocorridas ao longo dela. Ficou evidenciado ainda que, em situações específicas, principalmente ligadas à área de saúde mental, o aluno tem tido a oportunidade de expressar e lidar com seus próprios sentimentos. Consideramos que esta pesquisa oferece elementos importantes a serem repensados pelas Escolas de Enfermagem, visando a formação do aluno como pessoa integral e integrada em suas ações.
The current tendencies in the training of human resources appear for the professionals' development with a critical and reflexive posture, with abilities that are beside technical aspects, being constituted a great challenge to preparing institutions. In nursing formation we also noticed this tendency and, in spite of the wide speech of the human being totality, we believed that technical dimension is still the essential concern in this process. We understand that are not any separations between personnel's professional dimension, where a person resides in a professional being and the professional integrates the human person, in a dialectical way. Starting from a humanistic referential, we developed this study in a qualitative approach, and sought to identify and to analyse the student's perceptions and feelings about Nursing course and its relationship with their own formation. The data were collected through individual interviews with the academics of the Nursing College at Federal University of Goiás, whose speeches were submitted to the content analysis. The results revealed that the students understand their teaching centred in technician-scientific knowledge, specifying the needs from those that they will attend, without considering the person that attends them, besides signalling that the academic way is permeated by several feelings that appear in function of experiences that happens. We considered that the lifted up aspects in this research offer important subjects to be rethought at Nursing Colleges, in the sense of contemplate student's formation as an integral person and integrated in their actions.

Sammanfattning Bakgrund: Orsakerna till att prostatacancer uppstår är i dagsläget inte fastställt, men ärftlighet har visat sig ha en betydelse. Prostatacancer är den vanligaste typen av cancer i världen bland män, där patienterna drabbas av såväl fysiska som psykiska besvär vilket har en påverkan på individernas sexuella hälsa. Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva patienters upplevelser av sexuell hälsa vid prostatacancer.  Metod: En litteraturöversikt baserad på artiklar med kvalitativa data användes. Resultat: Resultatet redovisade tre huvudkategorier som ger en insyn i individernas upplevelse av sexuell hälsa: Att förlora en del av sin identitet, Upplevd påverkan på relationer samt Att kunna anpassa sin livssituation. Det var främst den försämrade förmågan till erektion som påverkade individernas identitet, deras relationer och skapade ett behov av anpassning till den nya situationen. Slutsats: Patienter som lever med prostatacancer upplever en försämrad sexuell hälsa till följd av sin sjukdom. Det resulterar i konsekvenser där patienterna drabbas fysiskt, psykiskt, och socialt, vilket leder till svåra utmaningar för individerna. Litteraturöversikten kan bidra till att ge vårdpersonal en ökad insikt i hur patienterna upplever sin situation, vilket kan resultera i att patienterna får en bättre och mer individanpassad vård.
Summary Background: The causes why the prostate cancer occurring are currently not determined, but heredity has been shown to be of importance. Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer in the world among men, where the patients suffer from physical and mental illness which affect the sexual health of individuals. Purpose: The purpose was to describe patients' experiences of sexual health in prostate cancer. Method: A literature review based on qualitative data was used. Result: The result presented three main categories that provide an insight into the individual's perception of sexual health: Losing a part of one's identity, Experienced effect on relationships, and Being able to adjust one's life. It was primarily the impaired ability of erection that affected the individual’s identity, their relationships and created a need for adaption to the new situation. Conclusion: Patients living with prostate cancer experience impaired sexual health due to their illness. This results in consequences where patients suffer physically, mentally, and socially, leading to difficult challenges for the individuals. This literature review can provide healthcare professionals with an increased insight into how patients experience their situation, which can result in patients getting a better and more individualized care.

In this paper, I will defend two methodological theses, one negative and one positive, about how to develop a holistic theory of content for mental representations that avoids a problem peculiar to holistic theories, viz., the problem of content instability. The relevant debate between holists and anti-holists has focused on whether this problem provides an in principle barrier to developing a plausible holistic theory. On this front, the holists have won; defenders of holistic theories have convincingly argued that the anti-holists do not have a cogent argument from the problem of content instability to the impossibility of developing a plausible holistic theory. However, beyond this, little has been said about how to develop a holistic theory that avoids the problematic consequences of content instability; all that has been established is that it appears to be, in principle, possible to do so. This paper should contribute to making progress in this area. The two theses I will defend are about how to generate useful constraints on holistic theories so that they avoid content instability. The negative thesis of this paper is that the strategy of generating constraints suggested by the holists' response to anti-holist arguments, viz., appealing to properties of theories' determination functions, is a non-starter. The positive thesis of this paper is that the best way to develop useful stability constraints is to appeal to the explanatory role(s) that representations play in cognitive science theories.
Master of Arts

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This is a study on Duhem-Quine thesis. Its purpose was to investigate epistemological differences and affinities between the holistic positions of Willard Quine and Pierre Duhem. This analysis showed that two quite different interpretations of Duhem-Quine thesis are possible: a weak version, argued by Duhem, and a strong version, more radical, argued by Quine in his article Two dogmas of empiricism. The study of holism, in this perspective, highlighted the importance of this subject to the Philosophy of Science and Language and how this approach can shed light on important philosophical issues, such as the relationship between scientific observations and theories; the thesis of the empirical underdetermination of theories; the theory-ladenness of observation sentences; the theory choice process; the inscrutability of reference; the theory of linguistic learning; among others.
O presente trabalho tem por objeto a tese Duhem-Quine. O que procuramos, durante o desenvolvimento da nossa dissertação, foi investigar as diferenças e afinidades epistemológicas existentes entre as posições holistas de Willard Quine e Pierre Duhem. Ao longo desse estudo, por meio da análise da obra destes dois autores, buscamos mostrar que se pode ter duas interpretações bastante diferentes da tese Duhem-Quine: uma fraca, defendida por Duhem, e uma forte, mais radical, defendida por Quine em seu artigo Dois dogmas do empirismo. Ao investigar o holismo, nessa perspectiva, tentamos destacar a importância desse tema no âmbito da Filosofia da Ciência e da Linguagem e de que forma esta abordagem pode lançar luz sobre importantes problemas filosóficos, tais como a relação entre observações e teorias científicas, a tese da subdeterminação empírica de teorias, a impregnação teórica dos enunciados observacionais, o processo de escolha de teorias, a inescrutabilidade da referência, a teoria do aprendizado linguístico, entre outros.

In this thesis, I maintain that if humanity is to avoid an ecological catastrophe in the next half century, survival hinges upon the institutional development of a new pedagogy. I suggest an ecopedagogy, in which the human ability to reason might become balanced with aesthetic capacities to think holistically, to feel, and to express feeling intelligently in a complex and dynamic life-world. Specialisation in Western science and technology has provided Western polities with insight into universal processes, but I believe it now essential that holistic and aesthetic intelligence gain comparable status. In particular, Western humanity has only slowly given specific cultural status to its capacity to represent and experience the sensuous life-world in the contemporary curricula. Educational and other institutions do little to advance people's sense of interconnected meaning with the ecosphere. Unfortunately sense perception, the key phenomenon of a living universe, is reduced by ignorance of how felt images embody intelligence within our life-world. In Western Australia, there is a growing sense of nothingness produced by an internalisation of the global ecological crisis. This sensing of nothingness is an important part of the reform process, but our pedagogical culture needs to move from a separatist world-view to a lifesystems approach. I suggest that we need a social-ecological approach to pedagogy that includes a sensing of aesthetic solidarity, where our society promotes plurality of experience to complement reductionism. I describe a concept of aesthetic solidarity and ethical holism, that underscores the intrinsic worth of non-human entities as much as of humans, that links sensual intelligence with rational motives, and recognises intelligence of feeling in sentient life. This concept can provide a basis for a positive political and institutional approach to a creative ecopedagogy, one that can monitor sustainability, promote social harmony, and establish a partnership ethic between human innovation and the intrinsic interests of the ecosphere. I suggest solidarity in its most essential form is an appreciation of the fact that the human neurological-cultural realm has evolved from, and is dependent upon, diverse natural systems. Therefore, the anthropocentric realm is an outcome of other organic systems. I see the future of human existence and coevolution, as being dependent upon securing a more authentic and ethical engagement within the solidarity of a biologically diverse planet. Finally, in Western Australian, an inclusive and a potentially sustainability-centred public curriculum framework document does exist, but the challenge is to help teachers, schools and polity to understand how to use this public document to foster life style and institutional behaviours that accommodate sustainability. The future of a sustainable co-evolution on Earth depends upon the cultural transmission of appropriate core values, key principles and skills that positions ecology centrally in human pedagogy.

Bensår är ett ökande problem i samhället, detta som följd av att vi blir allt äldre. Bensår är svåra att läka och det är vanligt att de återkommer. Kroniska bensår definieras som sår som inte läker inom sex veckor. De vanligaste orsakerna till bensår är venös insufficiens, arteriell insufficiens eller en bladning av dessa. Syftet med litteraturstudien var att beskriva personers upplevelser av att leva med kroniska bensår. Det här arbetet har utförts som en litteraturstudie, där sökning av artiklar har gjorts i två databaser CINAHL och PubMed. Efter sökning i databaserna har 16 artiklar valts ut och granskats. Analysen av artiklar har gjorts genom att plocka ut förekommande fenomen i texten och kategorisera dessa i huvudteman med underteman. Analysen resulterade i tre huvudteman: smärta, aktivitetsbegränsningar och lukt och vätskande sår. Det finns många olika faktorer som påverkar personernas upplevelser av att leva med bensår, där smärta, rörelseförmågan och lukt och vätska från såret har en central roll. Studien visar på att många personer upplever att deras problem inte tas på allvar. Det holistiska synsättet inom vården måste förbättras och mer hänsyn bör tas till personernas existentiella, psykiska, sociala och kroppsliga upplevelser.

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Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)
O objetivo é refletir sobre novas propostas de interações disciplinares, objetivarem críticas ao modelo interdisciplinar e propor diretrizes que privilegiem a interação entre disciplinas e campos de conhecimentos diversos, em detrimento ao conceito rígido de práticas disciplinares compartimentalizadas. A interação profissional entre Engenheiros Mecânicos e Designers Industriais é cada vez mais preconizada, tanto no meio acadêmico quando no processo produtivo. Estes profissionais estão cada vez mais inseridos em um processo de complementação de conhecimentos e experiências no seu momento profissional. No que se refere ao processo acadêmico, os discentes de ambos os cursos estão vinculados a um conjunto de disciplinas, cujos conteúdos freqüentemente são apresentados de forma segmentada, o que torna o aprendizado focado e sistematizado, determinando constrangimentos no processo de obtenção do conhecimento. Esta Tese indica situações em que é perceptível o quanto um conjunto de disciplinas com conteúdos programáticos rígidos pode interferir em uma visão ampla do contexto em que está inserido o futuro profissional. Também verifica a percepção que Engenheiros Mecânicos e Designers Industriais têm entre si de suas carreiras. Ainda são inseridas pesquisas tabuladas e experimentos didáticos que revelam a importância da inserção de atitudes epistemológicas transdisciplinares, com a formatação e discussão do processo observado. A inserção da visão prática dos acontecimentos e a percepção do componente holístico também é fator de considerações.
The professional interaction between Mechanical Engineers and Designers is increasingly recommended both in academia in the production process. These professionals are embedded in a process of knowledge complementation and experience in their professional time. Regarding the academic process, the students of both courses are bound to a range of disciplines, whose contents are often presented in high sectioned, which makes the learning focused and systematized, determining constraints in the process of obtaining the knowledge. This thesis indicates situations where it is perceptible how a range of disciplines with focused programmatic content can interfere with a broad overview of the context in which it is inserted the professional future. It also notes the perception of Mechanical Engineers and Designers have of each other in their careers. Also included research and tabulated experiences revealing the importance of the inclusion of trans epistemological attitudes, with the format and discussion of the process observed. The integration of the practical vision of events and perception of the holistic component also is a factor of consideration. The goal is to suggest new proposals for disciplinary interactions, aiming criticism of the interdisciplinary model and propose disciplinary guidelines that promote the interaction between disciplines and different fields of knowledge rather than the concept of hard practices high sectioned.

Orientador: Carlos Alberto Vidal França
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação
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Resumo: Inúmeros trabalhos e pesquisas mostram que, a cada dia, as relações humanas estão sendo influenciadas pelos meios de comunicação, de forma nem sempre salutar. Tais fatos conduzem o indivíduo a um comportamento anti-social e individualista que irá refletir-se na saia de aula. Como educadores, entretanto, não poderemos mudar tal situação sem modificar nossas ações. A busca do autoconhecimento, da responsabilidade, da cooperação, da decisão e da iniciativa, assume importância especial no âmbito escolar, seja na formação de nossas crianças e jovens; seja na própria formação daqueles que se propõem a educá-los. A Psicologia Transpessoal, sem se opor às demais visões dos problemas que ocorrem em sala de aula, tem como proposta realizar um serviço unificador, algo como a reciclagem dos fragmentos para compor uma visão mais holística, mais abrangente do ser, através de exercícios e técnicas; visando amenizar os conflitos embutidos nas relações do ambiente de sala de aula. No trabalho de campo desenvolvemos essas técnicas e exercícios com um grupo de alunas universitárias do curso de pedagogia, de uma entidade de Santos, portanto, futuras professoras. Esclarecemos inicialmente a nossa proposta, distribuímos questionários para a coordenação e para os próprios educandos: para que pudéssemos fazer comparações posteriormente. Depois de escolhermos as técnicas mais adequadas ao grupo, iniciamos nosso trabalho, utilizando então, técnicas de yoga, técnicas respiratórias, de relaxamento, visualização criativa, textos de autoconhecimento e resgatadores da auto-estima - todos entrelaçados na busca de uma integração entre a mente, o corpo e o cosmo. Utilizamos também uma máquina de Kirlian, para fotografar a aura dos grupos antes e depois das sessões. Com tal procedimento, verificávamos o grau de equilíbrio ou conflito denotado em cada foto, bem como as possíveis modificações ocorridas na aura após os exercícios. No encerramento do processo, passamos o questionário final, juntando todos os dados, que subsidiaram as nossas conclusões. Verificamos mudanças significativas nos participantes, no que concerne a maior integração intergrupal, e amenização dos conflitos intrapsíquicos, e o desenvolvimento do amor altruísta. Concluímos nossa pesquisa com a apresentação dos dados coletados
Abstract: Countless works and researches show that, every day, the human relationships are being influenced by the communication means, in way not always salutary. Such facts drive the individual to an antisocial and individualistic behavior that will be reflected at the classroom. As educators, however, we cannot change such situation without modifying our actions. The search of the solemnity-knowledge, of the responsibility, of the cooperation, of the decision and of the initiative, they assume special importance in the school extent, be in our children¿s formation and young, be in the own formation of those that intend to educate them. The Transpersonal Psycology, without opposing to the other visions of the problems that happen at classroom, has as proposal to accomplish an unificator service, something that as the recycling of the fragments to compose a better holistic vision, including of the being, through exercises and techniques, seeking to soften the built-in conflicts in the relationships in the classroom atmosphere. In the work field we developed those techniques and exercises with a group of academical students of the pedagogy course, from an entity of Santos, therefore, future teachers. We explained our proposal initially, we distributed questionnaires for the coordination and for the own studentes, so that we could make comparisons later. After we choose the most appropriate techniques to the group, we began our work, using then, yoga techniques, applying breathing techniques, of relaxation, creative visualization, solemnity-knowledge texts and that rescue their self-esteem - all interlaced in the search of an integration among mind, body and cosmoses. We also used a Kirlian machine, to photograph the breeze of the groups before and after the sessions. With such procedure, we verified the balance degree or conflicts denoted of each picture, as well as the possible modifications happened in the breeze after the exercises. In the end of the process we gave them the final questionnaire that subsidized our conclusions. We verified significant changes in the participants in what concerns to the largest intercrop integration, soften of the intrapsyquic conflicts, a less fragmented vision of the knowledge and the development or the altruistic love. We concluded our research with the presentation of the collected data
Doutorado
Psicologia, Desenvolvimento Humano e Educação
Doutor em Educação

Um dos debates mais importantes na Filosofia da Ciência é aquele sobre as relações entre os níveis de explicação dos fenômenos e, portanto, os níveis da ciência. Esta controvérsia, intimamente relacionada ao problema metafísico dos níveis da realidade, tem sido marcada por uma polarização entre os reducionistas e seus críticos, geralmente caracterizados como holistas. O primeiro capítulo deste trabalho tem como objetivo a proposição de uma tipologia das posições metodológicas sobre a explicação na qual esta polarização entre holismo e reducionismo seja evitada. Argumenta-se que esta polarização resulta em uma série de mal-entendidos, que contribuem para que as explicações reducionistas sejam vistas, inclusive no ensino de ciências, como as únicas explicações científicas, sendo qualquer posição alternativa considerada contrária aos cânones da ciência. Uma tipologia proposta por Levine e colaboradores em 1987 é tomada como ponto de partida. Esta tipologia evita a polarização comentada acima, incluindo as seguintes posições: individualismo metodológico (reducionismo), holismo, antireducionismo e atomismo. Tendo-se em vista alguns problemas na proposta de Levine e colaboradores, sustenta-se a necessidade da construção de uma nova tipologia. São examinadas algumas tendências, como o fisicalismo de tipos na Filosofia da Mente, os programas da unidade da ciência de Carnap e de Oppenheim & Putnam, e o selecionismo gênico e o gene-centrismo na Biologia, que podem ser caracterizadas como formas de reducionismo, de acordo com a tipologia de Levine e colaboradores. O termo fisicalismo não-redutivo é preferido, em relação a antireducionismo, destacando-se que, apesar de qualificada como não-redutiva, esta variedade de fisicalismo atribui um papel à redução na explicação dos macrofenômenos. Embora os fisicalistas não-redutivos rejeitem a redução ontológica ou epistemológica completa, eles admitem a redução epistemológica parcial, que não resulta em um nivelamento dos fenômenos ao domínio de uma única ciência, mas apenas na explicação, em termos causais/mecânicos, de como e por que macrofenômenos ocorrem em sistemas ou objetos mereologicamente complexos. Variedades moderadas de reducionismo, como as de Bunge e Campbell, são consideradas, bem como algumas variedades de holismo, como o paradigma holístico de Capra, o holismo de Taylor e a abordagem holista de Mayr. A análise destas diferentes abordagens conduz a uma tipologia contendo seis posições metodológicas: atomismo, reducionismo radical, reducionismo moderado, fisicalismo não-redutivo, holismo moderado e holismo radical. O segundo capítulo trata da primeira formulação sistemática do fisicalismo nãoredutivo, o emergentismo. O objetivo principal é chegar a um conceito de emergência de propriedades capaz de contornar as dificuldades apontadas na literatura, propiciando a ontologia ao mesmo tempo materialista e não-reducionista necessária para uma formulação consistente do fisicalismo não-redutivo. Inicialmente, examinam-se as origens do emergentismo, suas relações com o vitalismo e as proposições que constituem seu núcleo duro (sensu Lakatos). As teorias de níveis propostas por Salthe, Bunge, Blitz e Emmeche e colaboradores são discutidas, tomando-se como marcos de referência para o tratamento do conceito de emergência a ontologia de Emmeche e colaboradores e o realismo moderado de Dennet. São examinados problemas acerca do 2 conceito de emergência apontados na literatura, destacando-se o problema da causação descendente: Como explicar a modificação a que um sistema ou uma totalidade submete seus componentes, resultando na emergência da novidade qualitativa, sem violar-se premissas fisicalistas como a crença na universalidade da Física ou o fechamento causal do domínio físico? Após argumentar-se que o fisicalismo de superveniência, apresentado como uma variedade de fisicalismo não-redutivo alternativa ao emergentismo, fracassa em suas intenções não-redutivas, propõe-se a investigação de uma posição filosófica combinando as noções de superveniência e emergência de propriedades. O problema da causação descendente é então discutido em detalhe, considerando-se, primeiro, a possibilidade de o tratamento da causalidade na filosofia aristotélica propiciar uma solução para este problema em um contexto fisicalista. Os quatro modos causais aristotélicos e a distinção entre forma e matéria são examinados, preparando-se o terreno para uma discussão das três versões de causação descendente (forte, fraca e média) distinguidas por Emmeche e colaboradores. A versão média da causação descendente propicia uma maneira de combinar as noções de superveniência e emergência em uma formulação do emergentismo compatível com a identificação das entidades de nível superior com casos especiais de sistemas físicos, sem apresentar as conseqüências reducionistas (radicais) que muitos cientistas e filósofos consideram indesejáveis. No contexto desta variedade de emergentismo, uma nova definição de propriedade emergente é proposta. Por fim, discute-se o problema da realidade dos emergentes com base no realismo moderado de Dennett. No terceiro capítulo, são discutidas algumas conseqüências dos aspectos ontológicos, epistemológicos e metodológicos abordados neste trabalho para o ensino de Biologia e outras ciências.
One of the most important debates in the philosophy of science concerns the relations between levels of explanation and, therefore, levels of science. This controversy, closely related to the metaphysical problem regarding the levels of reality, has been marked by a polarization between reductionists and their critics, generally described as holists. The first chapter of this work is intended to offer a typology of methodological stances on explanation avoiding this polarization between holism and reductionism. Such a marked disagreement results in a series of misunderstandings, contributing to the belief, also found in science teaching, that reductionism provides the only scientific explanations, being any alternative stance regarded as opposed to the canons of science. A typology proposed by Levine and colleagues in 1987 is taken as a starting-point for the discussion. This typology avoids the above-mentioned polarization, including the following positions: methodological individualism (reductionism), holism, antireductionism, and atomism. Due to some problems found in Levine and colleagues approach to the problem, the construction of a new typology is taken as a desirable objective. Some tendencies, like type physicalism in the philosophy of mind, the unity of science programmes of Carnap and Oppenheim & Putnam, and genic selectionism and gene-centrism in biology, are examined, being characterized as forms of reductionism, according to Levine and colleagues typology. The term nonreductive physicalism is preferred to antireductionism, being emphasized that, despite being qualified as nonreductive, this variety of physicalism assigns a role to reduction in the explanation of macrophenomena. Although nonreductive physicalists reject ontological and full epistemological reduction, they admit partial epistemological reduction, which does not result in a leveling of the phenomena to the domain of a single science, but only in the causal/mechanical explanation of why and how macrophenomena occur in mereologically-complex systems or objects. Moderate versions of reductionism, such as those of Bunge and Campbell, are examined, as well as some varieties of holism, such as Capras holistic paradigm, Taylors holism, and Mayrs holistic approach. An analysis of those diverse approaches leads to a typology including six methodological stances: atomism, radical reductionism, moderate reductionism, nonreductive physicalism, moderate holism, and radical holism. In the second chapter, the first systematic formulation of non-reductive physicalism, emergentism, is examined. The main goal is to propose a concept of property emergence that avoids the difficulties presented in the literature, providing the ontology simultaneously materialist and non-reductionist demanded by a cogent formulation of nonreductive physicalism. Initially, the origins of emergentism, its relations to vitalism, and the tenets that compose its hard core (sensu Lakatos) are examined. The theories of levels advanced by Salthe, Bunge, Blitz, and Emmeche and coworkers are discussed, being taken as the frames of reference for the treatment of the emergence concept Emmeche and coworkers ontology and Dennetts mild realism. A series of problems concerning the concept of emergence is examined, emphasis being given to the problem of downward causation: How to explain in what sense a system or 4 whole modifies its component parts, resulting in the emergence of qualitative novelty, without violating physicalist premises, such as the belief in the universality of Physics or the physical causal closure? After arguing that supervenience physicalism, presented as a version of non-reductive physicalism alternative to emergentism, fails in fulfilling its non-reductive purposes, the investigation of a philosophical alternative combining the notions of supervenience and property emergence is proposed. The problem of downward causation is then discussed in detail and the first issue to be dealt with is the possibility that the treatment of causality in Aristotelian philosophy offers a solution to this problem in a physicalist framework. The four Aristotelian causal modes and the distinction between form and matter are examined, as a basis for the discussion of the three versions of downward causation (strong, weak, and medium) distinguished by Emmeche and coworkers. Medium downward causation provides a way of combining the notions of supervenience and property emergence in a formulation of emergentism compatible with the identification of higher-level entities with special cases of physical systems, without the (radical) reductionist consequences that many scientists and philosophers regard as undesirable. In the frame of this variety of emergentism, a new definition of an emergent property is put forward. At last, The problem of the reality of emergents is discussed, from the standpoint of Dennetts mild realism. In the third chapter, some consequences of the ontological, epistemological and methodological features discussed in this work for the teaching of Biology and other sciences are discussed.

In our current education system learning is organized as a series of sequential steps and the curriculum is constituted by a set of independent objects. Here students are not encouraged to make connections between subjects or between the subjects and their own personal lives. In this positivistic view of reality teaching is reduced to technique. This thesis is a reflection on the nature and importance of a more holistic and interconnected education. Using the concept of "non-linear learning" as an organizing principle, it outlines the various components of an alternative paradigm.

Reflektioner kring hur den kreativa processen kan observeras på olika nivåer.

Ljudmaterial inlämat till ljudenheten. Finns bifogat på CD tillsammans med text på Kungliga Musikhögskolans Bibliotek.

Bilaga: 2 partitur

Quine and late Wittgenstein have often found themselves being compared for similarities and dissimilarities, we can attribute the allure of this subject to both philosophers being similar advocates of holism and epistemological relativity despite taking on different subject matters. Pieranna Garavaso attempted an inquiry of this type, where she compares Quine’s view on holism, relying mainly on “Two Dogmas of Empiricism”, with Wittgenstein’s On Certainty. Garavaso shows in her essay that there is a high level of correspondence between On Certainty and “Two Dogmas of Empiricism” but ultimately concludes that despite any actual agreement between Quine and Wittgenstein, their views end up ultimately incompatible. I will argue that this is wrong; Quine’s conception of holism, and Wittgenstein’s conception of holism found in On Certainty are compatible, and even complementary. I will begin my text by giving a short presentation of Quine’s “Two Dogmas of Empiricism”. I will then raise the similarities, and dissimilarities between the two texts before giving my final argument against the supposed conflict between them.

The central concern of this thesis is to discuss interpretations of learning in educational research. A point of departure is taken in core epistemological and ontological assumptions informing three major approaches to learning: behaviourism, cognitive constructivism and socioculturalism. It is argued that all three perspectives provide important insights into research on learning, but each alone runs the risk of reducing learning and interpretations of learning to single aspects. Specific attention is therefore given to Intentional Analysis, as it has been developed to account for sociocultural aspects that influence learning and individual cognition. It is argued that interpretations of learning processes face challenges, different kinds of holism, underdetermination and the complexity of intentionality, that need to be accounted for in order to make valid interpretations. Interpretation is therefore also discussed in light of philosopher Donald Davidson’s theories of knowledge and interpretation. It is suggested that his theories may provide aspects of an ontological and epistemological stance that can form the basis for interpretations of learning in educational research. A first brief sketch, referred to as ‘epistemic holism’, is thus drawn. The thesis also exemplifies how such a stance can inform empirical research. It provides a first formulation of research strategies – a so-called ‘interpretative holism’. The thesis discusses what such a stance may imply with regard to the nature and location of knowledge and the status of the learning situation. Ascribing meaning to observed behaviour, as it is described in this thesis, implies that an action is always an action under a specific description. Different descriptions may not be contradictory, but if we do not know the learner’s language use, we cannot know whether there is a difference in language or in beliefs. It is argued that the principle of charity and reference to saliency, that is, what appears as the figure for the learner, may help us decide. However, saliency does not only appear as a phenomenon in relation to physical objects and events, but also in the symbolic world, thus requires that the analysis extend beyond the mere transcription of an interview or the description of an observation. Hence, a conclusion to be drawn from this thesis is that the very question of what counts as data in the interpretation of complex learning processes is up for discussion.

At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 4: Manuscript.

The practice of science requires careful observation, experimentation and rational thinking accompanied by imaginative and intuitive insights to thrive in a mood of cutting edge exploration. South African Grade 9 Chemistry deals with established facts, usually devoid of artistic stimuli for capturing the imagination or awakening the intuitions of most learners. Many previous attempts to use the arts in the teaching of Chemistry are limited to the use of pictures, and less often, music and drama which are often superficial or even distracting from the real content. Most research into Science education has its focus on improving academic results with almost no research being conducted in the use of holistic, artistic devices to improve learner interest. Child-centred, holistic education indicates that the integration of rational logic with personal, intuitive knowing through story and the arts is a seed to sustained learner interest. This study used video-recorded experiments and a poem with holistic use of story, metaphor, rhythm and rhyme to characterise the behaviour of acids, bases and salts, to awaken greater learner interest. Class discussion centred on inquiry-based learning which challenged the validity of the characterisations used in the poem, completed the holistically integrated intervention. Changes in learner interest levels were determined by matched pairs in the pre-test and post-test. The research was undertaken with 222 learners from four schools in the greater Tshwane region. The results show that such holistically integrated devices, or stimuli, significantly increased learner interest through good engagement in the lesson as well as an improved perception of their grasp of the content, feelings towards Chemistry and relevance of Chemistry for their lives. As a first-of-its-kind research, further research in the use of appropriate holistic, artistic devices in Science education is recommended. Research into the longer-term use of such devices as well as the effects on learner academic results should be tested. This research indicates that teachers should consider providing a greater context and characterisation, with a broader range of stimuli, when presenting Chemistry to Grade 9 learners to allow them to relate to the experimental and academic content in a more imaginative, intuitive and personally meaningful way. The presentation of this dissertation will follow the courses of a dinner feast in the hope that the reader will be nourished holistically on multiple levels.
Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2017.
Humanities Education
MEd
Unrestricted

Visual perception theory distinguishes between two distinct levels of object processing: holistic, based on global shape, and configural, based on local features and/or component parts. Empirical evidence suggests that different cortical regions may support these levels; holistic processing correlates with activation in the lateral occipital-temporal cortex (LOC), whereas configural processes correspond to activation in the parietal lobe, particularly the intraparietal sulcus (IPS). This study combined theories of visual part structure with neuroimaging methods to investigate the relative contribution of holistic and configural processing in an ecologically valid object recognition task. Rather than rely on stimuli specifically designed to evoke holistic or configural processing, this study used photographs of objects selected without a priori assumptions concerning physical part structure. Twenty participants viewed objects at fixation while undergoing fMRI, followed by a behavioral object identification task involving the same objects presented in peripheral vision. Behavioral data were analyzed according to theories of visual crowding to yield an objective estimate of the number of parts perceived within each object. Neuroimaging results revealed increased activation for holistic objects containing fewer parts in the right parietal lobe and superior temporal gyrus and bilaterally in the fusiform gyrus, suggesting a relation between holistic processing areas and object perception. Configural objects with many parts elicited increased activation in the left angular gyrus. This study, to our knowledge, is the first to investigate the cortical visual regions involved when observers engage in holistic and configural processing as a natural part of visual recognition.
Master of Science

Orientador: Ângelo Caporalli Filho
Banca: Marcos Valério Ribeiro
Banca: Isabel Cristina de Castro Monteiro
Banca: Rosinei Batista Ribeiro
Banca: Luis Carlos Paschoarelli
Resumo: O objetivo é refletir sobre novas propostas de interações disciplinares, objetivarem críticas ao modelo interdisciplinar e propor diretrizes que privilegiem a interação entre disciplinas e campos de conhecimentos diversos, em detrimento ao conceito rígido de práticas disciplinares compartimentalizadas. A interação profissional entre Engenheiros Mecânicos e Designers Industriais é cada vez mais preconizada, tanto no meio acadêmico quando no processo produtivo. Estes profissionais estão cada vez mais inseridos em um processo de complementação de conhecimentos e experiências no seu momento profissional. No que se refere ao processo acadêmico, os discentes de ambos os cursos estão vinculados a um conjunto de disciplinas, cujos conteúdos freqüentemente são apresentados de forma segmentada, o que torna o aprendizado focado e sistematizado, determinando constrangimentos no processo de obtenção do conhecimento. Esta Tese indica situações em que é perceptível o quanto um conjunto de disciplinas com conteúdos programáticos rígidos pode interferir em uma visão ampla do contexto em que está inserido o futuro profissional. Também verifica a percepção que Engenheiros Mecânicos e Designers Industriais têm entre si de suas carreiras. Ainda são inseridas pesquisas tabuladas e experimentos didáticos que revelam a importância da inserção de atitudes epistemológicas transdisciplinares, com a formatação e discussão do processo observado. A inserção da visão prática dos acontecimentos e a percepção do componente holístico também é fator de considerações.
Abstract: The professional interaction between Mechanical Engineers and Designers is increasingly recommended both in academia in the production process. These professionals are embedded in a process of knowledge complementation and experience in their professional time. Regarding the academic process, the students of both courses are bound to a range of disciplines, whose contents are often presented in high sectioned, which makes the learning focused and systematized, determining constraints in the process of obtaining the knowledge. This thesis indicates situations where it is perceptible how a range of disciplines with focused programmatic content can interfere with a broad overview of the context in which it is inserted the professional future. It also notes the perception of Mechanical Engineers and Designers have of each other in their careers. Also included research and tabulated experiences revealing the importance of the inclusion of trans epistemological attitudes, with the format and discussion of the process observed. The integration of the practical vision of events and perception of the holistic component also is a factor of consideration. The goal is to suggest new proposals for disciplinary interactions, aiming criticism of the interdisciplinary model and propose disciplinary guidelines that promote the interaction between disciplines and different fields of knowledge rather than the concept of hard practices high sectioned.
Doutor

Bakgrund: Sexualitet och sexuell hälsa tas sällan upp på sjuksköterskeutbildningen, trots dessas betydelse för välbefinnande och livskvalitet. Sjuksköterskor ansvarar, genom sin kompetens i kommunikation och omvårdnad, för att främja välbefinnande hos patienter. Tidigare forskning har identifierat sexualitet som ett tabubelagt ämne i samtal. En sammanställning av kunskap om sjuksköterskors upplevelse av samtal om sexualitet kan gynna grundutbildade sjuksköterskors förståelse för hur sjuksköterskor internationellt ser på samtal om sexualitet. Syfte: Syftet var att belysa sjuksköterskors upplevelse av samtal om sexualitet med patienter. Metod: En integrativ litteraturöversikt kan, genom att syntetisera kvalitativ och kvantitativ forskning, erbjuda ett djupare och bredare perspektiv om sjuksköterskors upplevelse. Materialet analyserades med en kvalitativ analysmetod med induktiv ansats. Resultat: Två huvudteman identifierades: Elefanten i rummet och Trygghet i samtal om sexualitet. Sjuksköterskor upplevde ambivalenta känslor och tankar kring samtal om sexualitet. Vilka begrepp och språk som användes i samtalet om sexualitet hade inflytande på sjuksköterskors upplevelse. Vilka patienten och sjuksköterskan var samt dess samspel påverkade också sjuksköterskors upplevelse av samtalet. Dessutom var sjuksköterskor oeniga ifall samtal om sexualitet ens var en del av deras huvudområde, omvårdnad. Trygghet i samtal kunde uppnås genom kunskap och ansvarstagande, som även kunde medföra yrkesmässig tillfredsställelse. Slutsats: Genom att sammanställa kunskap om hur samtal om sexualitet upplevs med patienter, kan sjuksköterskors självreflektion och yrkesmässiga utveckling främjas, samt möjlighet ges till avdramatisering av ett tidigare tabu. Om sexualitet ses som en integrerad del av att vara en människa, kan holistisk omvårdnad erbjudas.

Denna studie har gjorts för att belysa vilken roll läraren har i skapandet av elevers hälsa i en grundsärskola. Studien lägger fokus på vilka förutsättningar som skapas av läraren och hur dessa kan påverka grundsärskoleelevernas hälsa. Det finns forskning som tyder på att funktionshindrade generellt har sämre mätbar hälsa. Författarnas studie tar utgångspunkt i upplevd hälsa men med stöd i tidigare forskning om mätbar hälsa kan studien ändå ge ett riktmärke för hur hälsan ligger till.  För att studera detta så användes observationer, delvis deltagande, samt kompletterande samtal med desom medverkade i studien. Observationsanteckningar jämfördes och huvudkategorier skapades med hjälp av dessa i resultatkapitlet. Resultatet presenterar hur läraren skapar förutsättningar samt vilka förutsättningar som skapas. Vidare så diskuteras och problematiseras resultatet i diskussionskapitlet.

Barnavårdscentralen har som uppdrag att främja barnfamiljens hälsa. Ett holistiskt synsätt på hälsa innefattar även sexuell hälsa men det är oklart hur föräldrarnas sexuella hälsa uppmärksammas av distriktssköterskan på barnavårdscentralen. Syftet med studien var att belysa distriktssköterskors tankar kring arbetet med föräldrars sexuella hälsa på barnavårdscentral. Sex distriktsköterskor och två barnsjuksköterskor som arbetar på barnavårdscentralen intervjuades enskilt med halvstrukturerad kvalitativ metod. En induktiv innehållsanalys användes för att utvinna meningsbärande enheter och därefter få fram koder som sammanställdes till kategorier. I resultatet framkom huvudkategorierna: bristande fokus på sexuell hälsa och möjligheter att göra mer samt sju underkategorier. Enligt distriktssköterskorna var en av orsakerna till att de inte fokuserade på arbetet med föräldrarnas sexuella hälsa att det var ett känsligt ämne. De uppgav att de kände sig osäkra inför ämnet och detta kunde signaleras till föräldrarna. Distriktssköterskorna uppgav att de kunde lyssna om föräldrarna önskade samtala men att de inte trodde de var förstahandsvalet för föräldrarna. Distriktssköterskorna hade gott samarbete med andra professioner och kunde lämna över ansvaret till någon annan. Vidare uppgav distriktssköterskorna att de hade möjlighet att arbeta ännu mer med föräldrarnas sexuella hälsa. De uppgav dock att det saknades tydliga rutiner för det riktade arbetet mot föräldrarnas sexuella hälsa i verksamheten. Distriktssköterskorna såg möjligheter i föräldragruppen som de ansåg var ett betydelsefullt forum och att det fanns möjligheter att tillgodose föräldrarnas behov gällande den sexuella hälsan mer än de gör idag. För att förbättra arbetet med föräldrarnas sexuella hälsa bör rutiner tydliggöras. Även ansvaret bör klargöras för att en holistisk vård, där föräldrarnas sexuella hälsa är inkluderad, ska kunna främjas på barnavårdscentral.

Lietuvoje vis daugiau atliekama kepenų transplantacijų. Šiuo metu pacientų išgyvenimas didėja, todėl atsiranda problema, kad slaugytojams, trūksta žinių ir informacijos apie fizinės ir emocinės sveikatos problemas kylančias pacientams, kuriems yra atlikta kepenų transplantacija. Gastroenterologijos skyriaus slaugytojų, kurios slaugo pacientus po atliktos kepenų transplantacijos, vienas iš slaugos tikslų yra skatinti pacientus dalyvauti slaugoje bei siekti sveikatą skatinančio elgesio. Atlikus tyrimą bus išsiaiškinta, kokios fizinės ir emocinės sveikatos problemos kyla pacientams, kuriems atlikta kepenų transplantacija. Suprasdami ir žinodami šiems pacientams kylančias problemas, slaugytojai galės geriau planuoti slaugą, pasitelkti į pagalbą kitus specialistus. Darbo tikslas – atskleisti, kokia yra pacientų, kuriems atlikta kepenų transplantacija, fizinė ir emocinė sveikata. Šiam tikslui pasiekti buvo pasirinktas atlikti kokybinis tyrimas. Kokybinio tyrimo klausimas: Kokia yra pacientų, kuriems atlikta kepenų transplantacija, fizinė ir emocinė sveikata? Tyrimo objektas – pacientų, kuriems atlikta kepenų transplantacija, fizinė ir emocinė sveikata. Tyrimo priemonė – pusiau struktūruotas interviu. Tyrimo dalyviai – pacientai, kuriems atlikta kepenų transplantacija ne mažiau kaip prieš du mėnesius. Tyrimo rezultatai atskleidė, kad: 1. Pacientams po atliktos kepenų transplantacijos iškilo naujų fizinės sveikatos problemų susijusių su atsiradusiu cukriniu diabetu, padidėjusiu... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]
Every year more and more liver transplantations are performed in Lithuania.these days more Patients trial these operations and this creates a problem that nursing staff lacks informatikon about physical and emotional healtcare problems that these Patients face. One of the tasks for nursing staff of Gastroenterology divisions is to encourage Patients to participate in the nursing process and to promote Health-improving behavior. The research aims to help explaining what physical and emotional healthcare problems Patients face after liver transplantation. By knowing and understanding these problems nursing staff will have more tools in nursing planning and also will be able to ask for a timely help by other specialists. Goal of this thesis is to examine physical and emotional Health of Patients after liver transplantation. Qualitative method was chosed to implement this research. Key question of the research is: what is the physical and emotional Health of Patients after liver transplantation? Object of the research is physical and emotional Health of Patients after liver transplantation. Tool of the research is semi-structured interview. Respondents of the research are Patients who experienced liver transplantation not more than two month ago. Results of the research are the following: 1. Patients after liver transplantation face new physical healthcare problems related to diabetes, increased arterial blood presure, special diet, physical activity, smoking and consunning... [to full text]