Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Marxist Ethics'

This work first exposits and analyzes Marx's implicit moral theory and then examines various objections to the thesis that Marxism and morality are genuinely compatible. Chapter 2 ("Marx's Moral Perspective") traces the development of Marx's moral views and argues that his implicit moral theory is based on the values of freedom (as self-determination), human community and self-realization. Chapter 3 ("Morality and Marx's Theory of Exploitation") argues that Marx's concept of exploitation is, in part, evaluative and involves the violation of the freedom of the exploited due to undemocratic social institutions. In Chapters 4 ("Utilitarian Interpretations of Marx") and 5 ("Freedom, Equality, and Human Dignity in Marx") I argue that Marx is not a utilitarian nor, strictly speaking, a consequentialist of any sort: he does not demand the maximization of a nonmoral good but, rather, a maximum system of equal freedoms, both positive and negative. Chapter 6 ("Marxism, Morality, and Self-Interest") argues (1) that Marx's form of practical reasoning is not purely prudential nor, for any other reason, non-moral in nature and (2) that, in reality, Marx sees moral concerns as well as self-interest as part of revolutionary motivation. Chapter 7 ("Marxism and Moral Historicism") argues against the view that Marx is a "moral historicist," as well as against the thesis that morality is irrelevant from a Marxist point of view because socialism is (purportedly) inevitable. Chapter 8 ("Morality and Ideology") analyzes the Marxist concept of ideology and argues that once we become clear about both this concept and that of morality, we see that morality is not, as a whole, ideological. Chapter 9 ("Marxism, Moral Relativism, and Moral Objectivity") argues that Marxism is not committed to any pernicious form of ethical relativism and then brings to bear hypothetical choice theories and the ideal of unanimous intersubjective agreement. Finally, Chapter 10 ("Marx's Critique of Justice and Rights") takes up Marx's objections to these concepts and argues (1) that they either apply only to certain 'bourgeois' theories or are based on misconceptions and (2) an adequate Marxist moral and social theory must be grounded on theories of justice and human rights.

Critical Realism, the Capabilities Approach, and Marxism, all have underdeveloped theoretical problems. For Critical Realism, the ceteris paribus clause, which is used to asses an ideological critique, does not properly specify what other things warrant the dismissal or acceptance of said critique. For the Capabilities Approach, a proper ontology or metaphysics is missing, and the claim that the Capabilities Approach can be metaphysically neutral is false. Finally, Marxism is good at describing the more onerous aspects of capitalism (e.g., alienation, exploitation, crisis), but it does not provide normative force for seeing these descriptions as bad. I argue that these three schools of thought, when connected through the ontology of Critical Realism, can be rendered mutually inclusive, and each theory can help address the lacuna in its respective counterpart. Critical Realism gives to Marxism and the Capabilities Approach ontological justification, and the Capabilities Approach gives to Critical Realism and Marxism normative force. And finally, Marxism gives to the Capabilities Approach a more radical, but consistent twist that furthers the goal of realizing our shared human powers.

This essay is a hermeneutic reading and analysis of the swedish translation of a selection of Kim il Sungs political writings (jucheidén och dess lysande segrar, 1975). The book consists primarily of impairments of speeches and interviews that Kim participated in or held between 1965-1972. By analyzing his political statements, I intend to show the potential that the concept of Juche is a constructed symbiosis consisted of Confucianism, Marxism-Leninism and nationalism, and to describe how they function together to legitimize Kim il Sung’s political agenda. Furthermore, I intend to present the internal and external complexities which can have contributed to the creation of Juche and the historical effects that can be expected from this symbiosis.          Primarily I will focus on the concept of family, androcentric view of history and the important of culture politics as a mean to unite and control the population of the Peoples Republic of Korea. The purpose of this essay is not simply to point out what is Confucianism respectively Communism, but simply to suggest the possibility to read in a Confucian context in some statements made by Kim il Sung.      The interpretation is theoretically based on Timothy Fitzgerald’s concept of critical religion, which points out religion as an irrelevant and disable concept, combined with Anna Suns argumentation of Confucianism as a non-essential teaching and western invented concept.

This is a study of the moral and ethical dimension of the political thought of Fidel Castro, with an ethic of violence at its vital centre. It is not a study of the totality and evolution of Fidel Castro’s political thought. It does not purport to be his intellectual biography. As such it focuses on two ideas, the one within the other. It explores the moral and ethical aspect of Fidel Castro’s political thought and strategy and examines as a constituent component of that aspect, Castro’s idea of the correct and incorrect use of violence. More generally, it hopes to shed light on the issue of the good and bad use of violence, using as prism and principal illustrative case, the political, strategic and diplomatic thought and practice of Fidel Castro, both as revolutionary insurgent and leader of a state, as rebel and ruler. It is suggested in this thesis that Fidel Castro, a revolutionary, Marxist and Third World political figure, has made a contribution to the understanding of one of the larger questions of politics, one that properly belongs in the sphere of political theory and philosophy: the question of violence, political power and morality. The study undertaken here argues that Fidel Castro’s main contribution to revolutionary Marxism was the introduction of an explicitly moral and ethical dimension. This in turn has enabled him to occupy the moral high ground and has helped him survive the collapse of Communism with no damage to his prestige. The study also indicates that the moral and ethical dimension stems from a unique synthesis of Marxism and Christianity. This study attempts to show that the Castro doctrine of armed struggle is based upon the conscious cultivation of a moral asymmetry between the enemy and the liberation fighter, a moral superiority that is cultivated not by abstinence from violence as in the case of Gandhi, nor by the low intensity and tactical use of violence as in the case of Mandela’s ANC, but by conscious restraint in the conduct, methods and targeting. While it is on the one hand a doctrine of Absolute or Total War, in that it seeks, as did the Jacobins and Napoleon, to mobilize the whole people, it is also a doctrine of Limited War in terms of targeting. It is simultaneously governed by and seeks to achieve a moral superiority that does not rest on culturally specific and circumscribed notions (such as those that govern Islamic militants) but on universal values of humanitarian conduct in warfare.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Griffith Business School
Griffith Business School
Full Text

Submitted by Viviane Lima da Cunha (viviane@biblioteca.ufpb.br) on 2016-04-07T13:42:24Z No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1049801 bytes, checksum: 6ed9ebb17f4ea9e39be7c6da6791b42b (MD5)
Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-07T13:42:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1049801 bytes, checksum: 6ed9ebb17f4ea9e39be7c6da6791b42b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-03-23
The aim of this thesis is to analyze the question of moral choice from a critical view of Marxism. The originality of Marx’s thinking is to criticize the idealist philosophies. This current considers it is impossible to understand the established moral values in society or the process of its establishment, without first understanding the environment and the conflicts of that society. Thus, it isn't the thesisproblem of discussing the moral argument as an ontological given, prefixed and closed, but placing the moral and human interests as facts entered in the history and not outside it. According to founders of Marxism, if the human being is the result of conditions, it is, therefore, to make them [these conditions] human.
Esta tese de doutorado tem como objeto discutir o problema da escolha moral a partir de um exame crítico do marxismo. A originalidade desse sistema de pensamento consistiu em criticar as filosofias meramente especulativas. Esta corrente entende que é impossível compreender os valores morais estabelecidos na sociedade ou o processo de seu estabelecimento, sem, primeiramente, se compreender o ambiente e os conflitos desta mesma sociedade. Assim, não é intenção da tese discutir a moral como um dado ontológico, prefixado e rígido, mas sim situando a moral e aos interesses humanos como dados inseridos na história e não fora dela. Como os fundadores do marxismo assinalaram, se o ser humano é fruto das condições, trata-se, pois de tornar humana essas condições.

This thesis explores the intellectual history of editor, writer, and philosopher, Paul Piccone and Telos, an independent journal of contemporary critical theory, which he founded in 1968. Born in Italy, Piccone lived most of his life in the United States, earning his Ph.D. in philosophy at SUNY-Buffalo in 1970. Piccone served as Telos’ editor and a major contributor from 1968 to 2004. This thesis follows the trajectory of his thought by contextualizing his writing within the broader world of Marxist, and eventually post-Marxist, political philosophy. Telos also concerned itself with modern interpretations of historical dialectics and early 20th-century Marxist philosophy. Piccone himself predicated much of his philosophy on Husserlian phenomenology, which stresses concrete experiences, and his writing therefore stands at a unique confluence of Husserl and Marx. Piccone ultimately became a leading exponent of anti-Liberal philosophy and the theory of artificial negativity, which examines capitalist hegemony in both material and socio-historical terms.

Vivemos, atualmente, uma grande crise econômico-financeira que afeta alguns países do mundo ocidental. Zygmunt Bauman escreveu A ética pós-moderna há mais de duas décadas, denunciando a crise ética que já existia naquela época. Aliás, a própria noção de crise, segundo Bauman, havia mudado de referência semântica, de algo relativo a critério para algo que não vai bem. Tal mudança data da Revolução Francesa acompanhando o desenvolvimento do capitalismo. A expressão pós-modernidade e, depois, modernidade líquida, de que Bauman se utiliza decorre das transformações sociais resultantes do grande progresso tecnológico mundial e, que, nos últimos anos, faz com que tenhamos de viver sempre nos adaptando a transformações de formas de vida cada vez mais efêmeras. Essa denúncia de Bauman coincide com dois aspectos importantes do marxismo: de um lado, uma irracionalidade excludente do modo de produção capitalista, inclusive com a imagem da cobra devorando seu próprio rabo. De outro, a denúncia da Escola de Frankfurt, quanto à razão instrumental. Contrariamente à Escola de Frankfurt, que admitiu entre seus membros considerações psicanalíticas, como as contribuições de Eric Fromm, Wilhelm Reich e Herbert Marcuse, Bauman não mencionou a psicanálise entre suas considerações. Tal fato é estranho em razão de conceituação da moral, como decorrente de uma pulsão interna do indivíduo, resultante do face a face com outra pessoa. Outro aspecto não contemplado por Bauman foi a não referência à filosofia da práxis, própria do marxismo. Ao criticar os filósofos e os juristas, por tentarem aprisionar a realidade cambiante em fórmulas fixas, Bauman perde a referência. Afinal, para ele os seres humanos são ambivalentes (bons e maus); os fenômenos morais são irracionais; a moralidade é aporética. Tese que defende. Por outro lado, faltaram considerações, como as de que o homem, ao modificar o mundo, modifica a si próprio, assim a práxis cria uma nova realidade e uma nova moral.
This research thesis aimed to: Nowadays, we are passing throught a huge economics and finantial crisis that affects some countries from the called Ocidental World. Zygmunt Bauman has written Postmodern ethics more than twodecades ago denunciating ethical crisis that already existed at that time. More, the concept of crisis itself, according to this author, had changed from a semantic reference of something related to judgment to something the meaning became to something that is wrong, is not right. This inversion came along the French Revolution and followsthe development of capitalism. The expression post-modernity and latter liquid modernity, that the polish writteruses, are decurrent from the social changes caused by the great technical development. It forces us to live in constant changes to new ways of life, each time more ephemeral. Thus denunciation coincides with two important aspects of Marxism: the unreasonable productive way of capitalism shown by the picture of the snake eating its own tail. On the other hand, it denounces the School of Frankfurt regarding to the instrumental reason. School of Frankfurt, that admitted psychanalitic contributions, as the ones from Eric Fromm, Wilhelm Reich and Herbert Marcuse, in opposition to that, Bauman didnt brought up psichanalisys. This is weird because of his concept of morals as resulting from the internal drive from the person when dealing to each other. Another aspect not mencioned by him was the praxis philosophy from Marxism. Bauman got lost when criticizing philosophers and jurists for trying to aprisionate the dynamic reality intosthatic formulas. If the human beings arebad or good. The moral phenomenon are irrational, and morality is contradictory. According to him, on the other hand, thers not enough considerations as that the man when changing the world, at same time changes themselves, this the praxis creates a new reality and a new moral. Bauman criticizes philosophers and jurists for trying to consider reallity in a prestablish model but not give anything back. For him human beings are good and evil; the moral phenomenon are irrational; moral is contradictory. When changing the world men change themselves. The praxis creates a new morality and a new world.

Orientador: Cesar Aparecido Nunes
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação
Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-09T00:29:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Souza_AntonioCarlosde_D.pdf: 1137298 bytes, checksum: 4c4191e823577d107d9b4511ff732884 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007
Resumo: O presente texto, inscrito na Linha de Pesquisa "Ética, Política e Educação", do Grupo de Pesquisa "Paidéia", da Faculdade de Educação da Unicamp, discute os fundamentos éticos do marxismo: a crítica radical da sociedade capitalista e as mediações políticas para a construção da emancipação humana. O eixo norteador da pesquisa é a investigação dos textos de Marx e Engels, especialmente os Manuscritos Econômico-Filosóficos de 1844 que, junto à análise científica da relação homem-natureza-sociedade, estão repletos de considerações filosóficas e éticas. A ética marxista leva em consideração a totalidade do ser e do existir do homem histórico, concreto, social. Ela se constitui na contundente crítica, indignação, denúncia a toda forma de opressão e "exploração do homem pelo homem" e das condições desumanas de vida da classe trabalhadora sob o modo de produção capitalista. Tal crítica tem uma dimensão propositiva, como possibilidade e necessidade histórica de "superar o estado atual de coisas" no processo de construção da "emancipação humana universal". Enfim, a ética crítica marxista, de base histórica, de perspectiva transformadora está ligada à educação omnilateral da classe trabalhadora, como produção de homens conscientes e livres, capazes de conhecer, intervir, se apropriar e dominar o processo de produção material e espiritual ao longo do movimento histórico da humanidade.
Abstract: The present text, enrolled in the Line of Research "Ethics, Politics and Education", of the Group of Research "Paidéia", of the Faculdade de Educação da Universidade Estadual de Campinas, argues "the ethical foundations of the Marxism: the radical critics of the capitalist society and the political mediation for the construction of the emancipation human being". The central point this research is the inquiry of Marx and Engel's texts, especially the Economic-Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 that, joined of its scientific analysis of the relation man, nature and society, they are replete of philosophical and ethical considerations. The Marxist ethics take in consideration the totality of the being and the existence of the historical, concrete and social man. It's an incisive critic, indignation and denunciation to all form of oppression and "exploration of the man for the man" and the inhumane conditions of the life of working-class under the way of capitalist production. Such critical one has a purposive dimension, as historical possibility and necessity "to surpass the situation of things" in the process of construction of the "emancipation universal human being". At last, the Marxist critical ethics of the transforming perspective, of the historical base, is linked on to the omnilateral education of the working-class, as production of the conscientious and free men, that can know, intervene and appropriate of the process of material and spiritual production belong the historical movement of the humanity.
Doutorado
Historia, Filosofia e Educação
Doutor em Educação

Thesis (M.A.)--Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, MA, 2005.
An integrative project submitted to the Faculty of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Religion. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 18).

O presente trabalho tem por finalidade construir uma reflexão crítica a respeito da ética na advocacia. Não da ética dos advogados enquanto indivíduos, mas enquanto investidos da função social que lhes cabe em seu afazer profissional. A partir da premissa metodológica do materialismo histórico, procura-se demonstrar a correspondência necessária entre capitalismo (forma-mercantil) e direito (forma-jurídica), bem como, nesse eixo, da fundamental contribuição dos advogados à práxis capitalista, da qual o direito é imprescindível amarra estrutural. Os reflexos dessa dinâmica na ética advocatícia são examinados, de modo específico, no cenário de aplicação de três preceitos profissionais básicos: os da independência, da probidade e da publicidade moderada , a partir dos quais fica claro seu constrangimento pelas formas sociais capitalistas. No curso do trabalho, o tema da ideologia é abordado para ilustrar o profundo grau em que ela contribui para a reprodução das relações sociais e para a constituição dos indivíduos enquanto sujeitos - e, sob o capitalismo, enquanto sujeitos moldados pelo capital e em prol dos interesses do capital. Debate-se o papel ideológico não só do direito, e de seus agentes, como também da teoria filosófica que se constrói em torno de todo esse afazer. Contudo, se por um lado a filosofia pode servir para reforçar ideologicamente a práxis da exploração, também lhe é reservado o papel de apontar o caminho por meio do qual seja possível romper com ela. Por essa razão, à luz do conceito de utopia concreta, dado por Ernst Bloch, apontamos para a possibilidade histórica de efetivação de uma nova matriz sociológica, de caráter socialista, na qual o direito e seus agentes deixarão de exercer o protagonismo de uma justiça que é meramente formal, para dar lugar à justiça em sentido concreto, materializada no plano social.
The current paper aims at building a critical reflexion on lawyers ethics. Not in the sense of ethics in lawyers as individuals, but as they are invested in the social role they have when they are in the exercise of their professions. Starting with the methodological premise of historical materialism, we have tried to demonstrate the necessary correspondence between capitalism (commodity form) and law (legal form), as well as the fundamental contribution of lawyers to the capitalist praxis, of which law is the essential structural tie. The reflexes of this dynamic in lawyers ethics are examined in a specific way, in the scenery of the application of three professional basic premises: independence, probity and moderate advertising based on which its embarrassment before social capitalist forms is clear. In the course of the paper, the ideological theme is approached to illustrate the profound degree in which it contributes to the reproduction of social relations and to the constitution of individuals as subjects and, under capitalism, as subjects moulded by capital and for the interests of capital. The ideological role is debated not only as the law and its agents, but also the philosophical theory that is built around this entire task. Nevertheless, if on the one hand philosophy can be used to ideologically reinforce the exploitation praxis, it also has the role of pointing the way in which it may be feasible to break with it. For this reason, under the light of concrete utopia, as given by Ernst Bloch, we point at the historical possibility of effectiveness of a new sociological matrix, of socialist characteristic, in which law and its agents will cease to exert the leading role of justice that is merely formal to make way to justice in its concrete sense, materialized in the social plan.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T18:17:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Mabile C Cazela.pdf: 2615891 bytes, checksum: aaa34152747f9df0fc1b4471e5fc659e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-08-04
Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
The central theme of this research is social work as a profession, should involve a discussion of the theoretical and methodological foundations that gave rise to the ethical principles of the Code of Ethics and Professional Ethical-Political Project. Therefore, delimited form, the research problem is expressed by the following question: what is the influence of the Marxist tradition through intellectual production of Carlos Nelson Coutinho in the construction of the ethical principles set out in the Code of Professional Ethics (a) Social Worker 1993? The objectives of this research from the problem posed were: historically contextualize the objective conditions for the emergence of the concept of ethical-political project in the Brazilian Social Service and the reformulation process of the Professional Code of Ethics (a) Social Worker 1993; recover the work of Carlos Nelson Coutinho and its relationship with the Brazilian Social Service; grasp the theoretical and methodological foundations of the ethical principles set out in the Code of Professional Ethics (a) Social Worker 1993, identifying the elements (concepts or categories) that show the influences of his thinking. Based on exploratory research through literature and field research were interviewed five social workers who formed the 'National Technical Commission for Revision of the Code of Professional Ethics', the interviews were based on a common roadmap. These were recorded, transcribed and analyzed. This paper presents the explanatory links developed from this study object. Linked to the line of research Fundamentals of Social Services, the Graduate Program in Social UNIOESTE Service, counted on the support of CAPES, through scholarships, favoring the objective conditions of realization of this present study. Finally, this paper qualitatively contributes to consolidation of knowledge in the field of Historical Foundations and Theoretical and Methodological of Social Work in Brazil.
O tema central da presente pesquisa é o Serviço Social como profissão, devendo envolver um debate sobre os fundamentos teórico-metodológicos que dão origem aos princípios éticos do Código de Ética e ao Projeto Ético-Político Profissional. Para tanto, de forma delimitada, o problema da pesquisa expressa-se pela seguinte questão: qual a influência da tradição marxista através da produção intelectual de Carlos Nelson Coutinho na construção dos princípios éticos definidos no Código de Ética Profissional do(a) Assistente Social de 1993? Os objetivos da presente investigação a partir do problema colocado foram: contextualizar historicamente as condições objetivas para a emergência da concepção de projeto ético-político no Serviço Social brasileiro e do processo de reformulação do Código de Ética Profissional do(a) Assistente Social de 1993; recuperar a obra de Carlos Nelson Coutinho e sua relação com o Serviço Social brasileiro; apreender os fundamentos teórico-metodológicos dos princípios éticos definidos no Código de Ética Profissional do(a) Assistente Social de 1993, identificando os elementos (conceitos ou categorias) que evidenciam a influências de seu pensamento. Baseada na pesquisa exploratória, através da pesquisa bibliográfica e de campo, foram entrevistados cinco Assistentes Sociais que compuseram a Comissão Técnica Nacional de Reformulação do Código de Ética Profissional , as entrevistas basearam-se em um roteiro comum. Essas foram gravadas, posteriormente transcritas e analisadas. O presente trabalho apresenta os nexos explicativos desenvolvidos a partir do presente objeto de estudo. Vinculada à linha de pesquisa Fundamentos do Serviço Social, do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Serviço Social da UNIOESTE, contou-se com o apoio da CAPES, através de bolsa de estudo, favorecendo as condições objetivas de realização desta presente pesquisa. Finalmente, o presente trabalho contribui qualitativamente no adensamento do conhecimento no campo dos Fundamentos Históricos e Teórico-Metodológicos do Serviço Social no Brasil.

République du Congo, l’armée, en tant qu’ensemble de structures et de moyens militaires institutionnellement affectés à la mise en œuvre de la politique décidée par les autorités politiques pour assurer et garantir la défense nationale, est loin d’être l’auteur exclusif des coups d’Etat, même si, systématiquement, elle profite des conséquences politiques attachées à ceux-ci. En réalité, les coups d’Etat y sont la résultante d’une lutte entre plusieurs champs. Dans cette lutte, les acteurs des coups d’Etat, en fonction de leurs corpus idéologiques respectifs, mettent en place des stratégies dont la particularité n’est pas de se limiter au champ bureaucratique mais d’engager également la société appréhendée au regard de leurs groupes ethniques ou régionaux d’appartenance. Ainsi, mobilisent-ils, non seulement leurs propres capitaux (diplômes, profession), mais aussi les ressources de leurs groupes ethniques ou régionaux en vue de réaliser la conquête ou la conservation du pouvoir. Par le jeu complexe des solidarités idéologiques, ethniques ou corporatistes, les acteurs politiques tissent des alliances et, selon le cas, participent ou s’opposent à l’exécution des coups d’Etat. Sous ce rapport, les coups d’Etat, qui supposent une importante mobilisation stratégique, politique et matérielle de la part de ceux qui en forment le projet, se confondent à un mode de conquête du pouvoir assimilable formellement à l’élection, et s’inscrivent dans ce que Marcel Mauss nomme les faits sociaux totaux. Les leaders politiques appartenant aux ethnies minoritaires, ne pouvant accéder au pouvoir par voie démocratique, élaborent une stratégie de conquête de pouvoir prenant appui sur l’armée. Ainsi, détournée de sa mission traditionnelle de protection du territoire national face aux agressions extérieures, l’armée voit sa valeur opérationnelle diminuée
In Republic of Congo, the army, as a whole of structures and average soldiers institutionally assigned to the implementation of the policy decided by the political authorities to ensure and guarantee national defense, is far from being the exclusive author of the coups d'etat, even if, systematically, it benefits from the political consequences attached to those. Actually, the coups d'etat are there the resultant of a fight between several fields. In this fight, the actors of the coups d'etat, according to their respective ideological corpora, set up strategies whose characteristic is not to limit themselves to the bureaucratic field but to also engage the company apprehended taking into consideration their ethnic or regional group of membership. Thus, they mobilize, not only their own capital (diplomas, profession), but also resources of their ethnic or regional groups in order to carry out the conquest or the conservation of the power. By the complex play of ideological solidarity, ethnic or corporatists, the political actors weave alliances and, according to the case, take part or are opposed to the execution of the coups d'etat. Under this report, the coups d'etat, which suppose an important strategic mobilization, political and material on behalf of those which form the project of it, merge with a mode of conquest of the power comparable formally to the election, and fit in what Marcel Mauss names the total social facts. The political leaders belonging to the minority ethnic groups, not being able to reach the power by democratic way, work out a strategy of conquest of fascinating power support on the army. Thus, diverted its traditional mission of protection of the national territory vis-a-vis the external aggressions, the army sees its decreased operational value

The aim of this research is to delineate, within the Sartrian thought of the Sixties, the mobile perimeter inside which to define ethics as the overcoming possibility for a critical thought. In other words: as the subjective assumption of its political dimension. The shift of Sartre’s historical-political thought follows a development not yet studied enough by scholars. The manuscripts of the Sixties about dialectical ethics appear as the fundamental completion of the dialectical experience of the Critique de la Raison dialectique (1960). Sartre was not able to publish the second part of the book during his life: indeed, the bloquage of that work is the result of the structural limit of every attempt to conceptualize historical experience. In the Critique, the possibility to make a single history intelligible depends on a refoundation of dialectics as research method for concrete historical reality. Starting by such refoundation, it becomes possible to define the epistemological basis of a historical structural anthropology, and the conditions for the insurgence of human collective action at the same time. In our interpretation, this approach is out of a future perfect’s logic that means out of the core of the modern sovereignty’s system. Once fixed those points, the research moves around two principal problematic axis. The first evaluates the methodological and epistemological accuracy of Sartre’s attempt to formulate a theory of knowledge for Marxism, considering this one as a theoretical-practical experiment yet to be done. At this point, Sartre’s regressive-progressive method is compared to Marx’s method of critique of political economy, evaluating affinity aspects and overcoming lines. Around the second axis, transverse to the first, the more properly historical-political plexus finds its profile: the dialectical comprehension of events connoting subjectively (that means politically) historical time’s flow isn’t detachable from questioning about the historicity of subjects involved in this flowing. For this reason, in the Sartrian thought of the Sixties the subjectivity’s status is analyzed questioning the normative disposition of social sphere: focusing on normativity allows to understand the mutual implication of subjectification and objectification, in addition to locating basis for a Marxist axiology. Moreover, this perspective allows to improve historical effectiveness of praxis’s ethical dimension. This one is the lens by which Sartre analyzes both Stalinism and colonial liberation struggles, but also the point of clarification of the torsion he imposes to the notion of longing. Materialistically, with the longing Sartre discovers the root of an ethics as the necessary step for every politics.
Il lavoro di ricerca si propone di circoscrivere, all’interno del pensiero sartriano degli anni ’60, il perimetro mobile entro cui si definice l’etica come possibilità ulteriore del pensiero critico, come assunzione soggettiva della sua politicità. Lo spostamento operato nella riflessione storico-politica di Sartre si compie in una direzione – seguita finora solo parzialmente dagli interpreti ‒ volta ad assumere i manoscritti degli anni ’60 sull’etica dialettica come complemento fondamentale dell’esperienza critica condotta nella Critique de la Raison dialectique (1960) ‒ il cui bloquage, esito di un limite strutturale ed interno ad ogni concettualizzazione dell’esperienza storica, impedirà la pubblicazione del secondo tomo dell’opera. Nella Critique, la possibilità di rendere una storia intelligibile è sospesa alla rifondazione della dialettica come metodo d’indagine del concreto storico. A partire da tale rifondazione è possibile determinare tanto le basi epistemologiche di un’antropologia storica e strutturale, quanto le condizioni d’insorgenza dell’agire in comune degli uomini. Nella nostra lettura, tale prospettiva si sottrae alla logica del futuro anteriore, caratterizzante il moderno dispositivo sovranista. Fissati questi punti, la ricerca ruota attorno a due assi problematici principali. Il primo valuta, su un piano al contempo metodologico ed epistemologico, la tenuta del tentativo sartriano di fornire una teoria della conoscenza al marxismo, reso possibile dalla convinzione che quest’ultimo sia un esperimento teorico-pratico ancora da compiere. A questa altezza, il metodo regressivo-progressivo di Sartre viene confrontato con quello adottato dal Marx critico dell’economia politica, per valutarne i punti di vicinanza e di superamento. Attorno al secondo asse, trasversale al primo, si profila il plesso più propriamente storico-politico: la comprensione dialettica degli eventi che connotano in senso soggettivo (e quindi politico) il corso del tempo storico, non è separabile da un’interrogazione sulla storicità dei soggetti che, in tale movimento, sono implicati. Per questo motivo, lo statuto della soggettività nel pensiero sartriano degli anni ‘60 viene analizzato mediante un’interrogazione sul carattere normativo del sociale: il focus sulla nozione di normatività permette infatti da un lato, di comprendere l’interiorità reciproca di soggettivazione ed oggettivazione e, dall’altro, d’individuare le basi per un’assiologia marxista. Tale prospettiva consente di valorizzare l’efficacia storica della dimensione etica della praxis, attraverso cui Sartre analizza i problemi posti dallo stalinismo e dalle lotte di liberazione coloniale, ma anche d’illuminare la torsione cui egli sottopone la nozione di bisogno per farne, materialisticamente, la radice di un’etica che diviene passaggio obbligato per ogni politica.

This dissertation argues that the major theories of global justice (specifically within the cosmopolitan tradition) have missed an important aspect of capitalism in their attempts to deal with the most pernicious effects of the global economic system. This is not merely a left critique of cosmopolitanism (though it is certainly that as well), but its fundamental contribution is that it applies the insights of Frankfurt School Critical Theorist Theodor Adorno’s negative dialectics to offer an internal critique of cosmopolitanism. As it stands, much of the global justice and cosmopolitanism literature takes global capitalism as an unsurpassable and a foundationally unproblematic system, often ignoring completely the relationship between the psycho-socially conditioned ideological aspects of capitalism and the horizon of achievable politics and social development. Using the philosophies and social theories of Adorno and Erich Fromm, I argue that there is a crucial psycho-social dimension to capitalism, or capitalistic mentality—represented in and functionally reproduced by transnational capitalism—that undermines the political aspirations of normative theories of cosmopolitanism, on their own terms. The project concludes with an exploration of Marxist, neo-Marxist, and post-Marxist theories as a potential source of alternatives to address the flaws within cosmopolitanism with respect to its general acceptance and under-theorizing of capitalism. The conclusion reached here is that even these radical approaches fail to take into account the near-pervasive influence of capitalism on the minds of radicals and activists working for progressive change or simply reject the potentials contained in existing avenues for global political and economic change (something which the cosmopolitan theories explored in earlier chapters do not do). Based again on the work of Adorno and Fromm, this dissertation argues that the best path forward, practically and theoretically, is by engaging cosmopolitanism and neo-/post-Marxism productively around this concept of the capitalistic mentality, building towards a praxeological theory of postcapitalist cosmopolitanism framed by a negative dialectical resuscitation of the concepts of class struggle and unlimited democracy. This postcapitalist cosmopolitanism emphasizes non-exploitative economic and political relations, cooperation, compassion, sustainability, and a participatory-democratic civic culture.

The aim of this dissertation is to provide a critical assessment of orthodox Marxist accounts of the ways in which sociological factors influence or determine literary texts, with particular attention to a) the origin of these problems in the work of Marx, Engels, and Lenin; b) the way in which they are manifested in the later works of Georg Lukacs, crystallizing in his conception of literary realism; c) Lucien Goldmann's unsuccessful attempt to remedy them through an integration of an adulterated version of Marxism with an unsatisfactory kind of structuralism; and d) the need for some such synthesis of the Marxist and structuralist perspectives in order to supplement Marxism's insufficiently sociological approach to the aesthetic dimension of literature with the sophisticated sociological insights of some of the more recent semio-structuralist theorists. ii

Restoration seeks to heal the environment and make amends for damages done by human interference. Preservationists, however, claim that restoration is anthropocentric, hubristic, and ultimately misguided. I defend restoration against these criticisms, and examine narratives from Karl Marx and Lynn White, Jr. to explain human alienation from nature. I use a synthesis of lessons from Marx and White to favor a restoration paradigm over a preservationist model.

Nicole Okonkwo Gattuso Diploma Thesis Abstract Abstract Keywords: Value of Territory, Natural Resources, Niger Delta Region, Ethnic Conflict, Separatist movements, Biafra. This study deals with the ethnic conflict in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The main objective of this study is to analyse whether the valued territory of the Niger Delta region is the cause of the ethnic conflict in the country. Moreover, the geographical south-east region of Nigeria is trying to separate itself from the rest of the federation because the Igbo population inhabiting this region claims they are being marginalised in the country. However, if the south-east region, called also Biafra, becomes the Biafran Republic it is highly probable that the south-south is going to separate along. The federal government is not satisfied with the fact, as 80% of the federal revenue comes from the Niger Delta region and they do not want to loose it. Therefore, my findings show that if the movement for the secession of Biafra is going to be crushed down by force, the movement will radicalise and get stronger with the intensified dissatisfaction of the local population. The local population of these two geographical regions created many movements which are fighting not only the federal government but also the multination corporation...

If there is a general precondition for "good" journalism in contemporary journalistic studies, it would be for the political environment to be a pluralist democracy. However, media and journalists were operating in non-democratic Czechoslovakia before the Velvet Revolution as well. This thesis explores the presence of "journalism ethics" in journalistic circles in 1967-1977. The most important one of such circles was the Czechoslovakian Union of Journalists, a voluntary- based social organization which united thousands of press, TV, radio and agency journalists. Based on heuristic research in the Union's archives, this thesis primarily describes two separate stages of formulation of the journalism ethics' principles that were done by the Union's committees. Their way of thinking about these principles is put into context of Marxism-Leninism with emphasis on the Czechoslovakian interpretation of Marxist-Leninist media theories. The Czechoslovakian regime's systemic control of media proved to be an affiliated topic to the one of journalism ethics, and from the described process we are also able to draw some conclusions considering the seeming autonomy and the degree of professionalism of the communist era journalists.

Nesta dissertação de doutoramento, pretende-se dar a conhecer a obra de um grande teólogo peruano contemporâneo, Gustavo Gutiérrez, sacerdote dominicano, profundamente ligado à Teologia da Libertação. Trata-se de um teólogo de grande fama internacional, mas, em geral, muito pouco conhecido em Portugal. Pelo presente trabalho, procura-se demonstrar que a Teologia da Libertação, de Gustavo Gutiérrez - apesar de ser uma teologia, na sua origem, muito contextualizada, quer no tempo quer no espaço -, continua a ser bastante actual no mundo global de hoje, sob vários aspectos. Um mundo onde, infelizmente, permanecem muitos exemplos de pessoas a quem não é reconhecida totalmente a sua categoria e dignidade humana. Está em causa o universo dos ‘não-homens’, as ‘não-pessoas’, os ‘invisíveis’ e ‘insignificantes’ da sociedade capitalista, para usar as expressões do autor. De facto, muitas das intuições e conceitos teológicos pioneiros de Gutiérrez continuam a ser de manifesto interesse para os nossos dias. Entre essas intuições e conceitos, destacam-se a concepção do ‘pecado social’, ou ‘pecado estrutural’, e o princípio teológico e pastoral da opção preferencial pelos pobres. Há também que referir a novidade de uma metodologia verdadeiramente inovadora, que contempla dois ‘momentos’ – num primeiro momento, a práxis (acção) histórica, concretizada no compromisso político e pastoral com os pobres; e, num segundo momento, a reflexão teológica propriamente dita, o momento de falar de Deus. Por fim, em Gutiérrez brota uma nova perspectiva teológica: a perspectiva do pobre. Relativamente a este último aspecto, de facto, verifica-se que a teologia de Gutiérrez pretende partir das preocupações e dos anseios das populações mais pobres e marginalizadas da América Latina do seu tempo, os grandes ‘ausentes da história’, como lhes chama, e dar-lhes voz, voz política, mas também voz no interior da Igreja e no universo da própria teologia. Procura-se aqui fazer um trabalho crítico acerca da obra de Gutiérrez e do seu legado para os nossos dias, evitando-se cair na simples apologia e no elogio fácil. As principais críticas dirigidas à Teologia da Libertação, quer por parte de Roma quer por parte de muitos outros quadrantes, estão todas reflectidas neste trabalho. Mas, sem prejuízo dos equívocos e abusos apontados a esta corrente teológica, o que é facto é que ela também deu muitos frutos e abriu novos horizontes à Igreja pós-conciliar. Além dos contributos para uma nova ética política e social, a teologia de Gutiérrez continua muito viva e interpeladora no campo dos temas da ‘Justiça e Paz’ e no desígnio de uma ‘Igreja pobre ao serviço dos pobres’, conforme ao desejo do Papa Francisco.
In this doctoral dissertation, it is intended to make known the work of a great contemporary Peruvian theologian, Gustavo Gutiérrez, a Dominican priest, closely linked to Liberation Theology. He is a theologian of great international fame, but, in general, little known in Portugal. The present work seeks to demonstrate that Gustavo Gutiérrez's Theology of Liberation - despite being a theology, in its origin, very contextualized in time and space -, continues to be quite current in our global world, under several aspects. A world where, unfortunately, many examples persist of people whom are not considered in the full capacity of their human dignity. We refer to the category of the ‘nonhumans’, the ‘non-persons’, the ‘invisible’ and ‘insignificant’ of the capitalist society, to use the expressions of the author. In fact, many of Gutiérrez’s pioneering theological insights and concepts continue to be of manifest interest for our day. Among these intuitions and concepts are the conception of 'social sin', or 'structural sin', and the theological and pastoral principle of the preferential option for the poor. We must also mention the novelty of a truly innovative methodology, which contemplates two 'moments' - first, historical praxis (action), concretized in the political and pastoral engagement with the poor; and, in a second moment, theological reflection proper, the moment of speaking of God, and a new theological perspective: the perspective of the poor. Regarding this last aspect, in fact, Gutiérrez's theology intends to start from the concerns and aspirations of the poorest and marginalized populations of Latin America of the time, the great 'absent of history', as he calls them, and give them a voice, political voice, but also voice within the Church and in the universe of theology. It is tried here to do a critical work on the writings of Gutiérrez and its legacy for our days, without falling in the apologia and the easy eulogy. The main criticisms directed at Liberation Theology, whether by Rome or by many other quarters, are all reflected in this work. But, without prejudice to the misunderstandings and abuses of this theological current, the fact is that it also bore fruit and opened new horizons to the post-conciliar Church. In addition to the contributions to a new political and social ethic, Gutiérrez's theology remains very much alive and challenging in the field of ‘Justice and Peace’ and in the design of a 'poor Church at the service of the poor', according to the wishes of Pope Francis.

The present work examines the crossroads of social transformation from the contextual standpoint of the "Second World" - a political and socioeconomic term descriptively pointing to the unique location of the Former Eastern-European Block countries - in between worlds. The work involves in a dialogue some of the major trends within the contemporary Eastern-European philosophical environment: dichotomized between Neo-Marxism and Neo-Freudianism on the one hand, and Postmodernism on the other. While examining the most significant elements between the dialectical paradigms for social change of the above theories (and their ethical foundations), the text strives towards a theological paradigmatic formulation for an authentic social transformation that draws its dialectical content and passion from the hopeful eschatological vision of Christ and the Kingdom as an embodiment of the Christian alternative for human emancipation and liberation. In light of this, the work attempts to establish the following thesis: the radical Christian praxis of the eschatological reality of the Kingdom in light of the Cross is the Church’s alternative to contemporary philosophies and initiatives for social transformation. This praxis affirms the revolutionary, history-shaping force which makes Christianity relevant to the problems of Modernity and Postmodernity through its self-identification with the Crucified God. It marks the moment of conception of an authentic, liberating, life giving, transforming hope as a source of humanization and redemption of social order. Christianity is concerned with the birth and formation of a new socio-political reality - the Kingdom of God, and its embodiment on earth (through the Holy Spirit) in a new ethnos: the Church, the Body of Christ, the communion of the saints. Therefore, it is the Church's calling and obligation to exemplify the reality of the Kingdom, being a living extension of the living Christ and thus, the incarnation of the eschatological future of the world and its hopeful horizon in the midst of the present. Recognizing the vital need for a relevant Christian response to the spiritual demands of the Post-modern human being and his/her desacralized, pluralistic socio­ political context, the work concludes with a conceptual outline offering a strategy for the Church in the Postmodern setting.
Philosophy, Practical & Systematic Theology
D.Th. (Theological Ethics)

The dream about an earthly paradise, rediscovery of an original, absolutely harmonic paradisal life is, in Dostoevskij's opinion, one of the deepest and the most valuable dreams of the human heart. The spiritual course of any human being has its own history, it is born from thesis (babtism), goes through antithesis (crises) and finishes in synthesis (beauty). A man comes from the Eden Paradise and aims at heaven. So, a man in course of his spiritual life is in a real split into two paradises: the Eden Paradise from which he is coming from and the Kingdom of God where he is aiming at. The midpoint of the life course is accompanied by a crisis, that can also be described as separation from the the paradise. The characters of novels by Dostoevskij failed due to the fact, that they were not able to admit their presence between two "paradise states" and so their ideas about earthly paradise establishment were being corrupted. In our piece of work we are going to follow four trends: 1. Time corruption, incorrectly understood sense of history. The tendency to return back where a man came from, in an origenestic, cyclic interpretation of a comeback is apparent in a story The Dream of a Ridiculous Man. Another extreme shows marxism ideas going around Europe which deny both the importance and the sense of...