Doctoral Degrees (Classics)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10413/12705

Browse

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8

Philosophical counselling beyond the socratic: a preliminary investigation into expanding and developing philosophical practice.
Sivil, Richard.; Clare, Julia.
A review of philosophical practice, commonly referred to as philosophical counselling, reveals an array of approaches with a variety of aims. These aims include problem solving, therapy, scepticism, self-knowledge, wisdom and virtue. I argue that the various approaches to philosophical practice can be understood as aspects of a singular vision of philosophy as phronetic: practical wisdom directed at bringing about / increasing well-being. Contrary to the view that philosophical practitioners use a wide variety of methods, I give evidence that most practitioners endorse a Socratic vision of philosophizing. In accordance with this, the philosophical practitioner applies the Socratic Method and adopts the position of the Socratic gadfly – a critical dialogical partner intent on getting the participant to access and assess her worldview. I argue that such a vision of philosophizing is insufficient to meet the phronetic ends of wisdom and well-being. As such, I maintain that additional visions of philosophizing are required. The central focus of this dissertation is dedicated to exploring alternative visions of philosophizing, with the view to developing and enriching philosophical practice. I associate philosophical practice with the conception of philosophy as a way of life. I identify five essential elements of a philosophical way of life: it promotes a transformative aspiration; the aspiration informs a transformative project; it provides a vision of philosophizing that is holistic and personally invested; it provides transformative tools; and it constitutes a self-contained and coherent philosophical system. I offer these five elements as criteria to identify additional philosophies that could enrich and develop philosophical practice. I explore a selection of Western philosophies that, I argue, offer philosophical ways of life. These include: the Stoics, the Epicureans, Kant, Dewey, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche. I pair these on the basis of two criteria: shared philosophical aspiration; and divergent metaphysical and ethical tendencies. Firstly, each chapter is orientated around a single aspiration: to ‘be happy’; ‘be good’; and ‘become authentic’. Secondly, in each chapter the philosophies have either ‘transcendent’ or ‘immanent’ metaphysical and ethical tendencies. This serves to highlight the richness and diversity of philosophies that share a philosophical aspiration. By investigating these six I make the following contributions: illuminate a divergent array of ethical, metaphysical and epistemological views; increase the scope of phronetic ends; significantly augment the pool of philosophically prescribed practices; expand the range of roles that the philosophical practitioner can assume; and sketch a tentative view of what philosophical practice could look like.
The actually possible: an essay in modal psychology.
Omoge, Michael Oladapo.; Spurrett, David.; Whitaker, Monique.
Our beliefs about possibilities and necessities face a problem of justification. This is the problem of modal justification and resolving it has become the holy grail for modal epistemology. For a considerable period, the problem has been approached without consulting our experiences of possibilities and necessities. The thought was that it is part of the nature of possibility and necessity that they transcend experience. In this dissertation, I turn this around. I argue that even though it is part of the nature of possibility and necessity that they transcend experience, we should consult our experiences of possibilities and necessities when trying to resolve the problem of modal justification. More importantly, I argue that when we consult such experiences, especially what is going in our minds when we are having the experiences, we can make significant progress with the problem of modal justification. Consequently, I argue that we can perceive and imagine possibilities and necessities, and that when we investigate the perceptual and imaginative processes involved in experiences of possibilities and necessities, the operations of those processes suffice as the evidence we need to show that we are indeed perceiving and imagining possibilities and necessities. By consulting the tribunal of experience, our beliefs about possibilities and necessities no longer have a justificatory problem. Izinkolelo zethu ngokungenzeka nezimfanelo zibhekene nenkinga yencazelo. Ukuxazulula lenkinga sekwaba isinkwa semihla ngemihla kwaba hlaziyi bolwazi (epistemology). Esikhathini eside, lenkinga yayibukwa ngaphandle kwesipiliyoni sokungenzeka nezimfanelo. Lomcabango wawuthi ingxenye yendlela yokungenzeka nezimfanelo kuguquka kweqele isipiliyoni. Kulolucwaningo, ngizukuguqula konke lokhu. Ngizoveza iphuzu lokuthi noma ngabe kuyingxenye yemvelo yokungenzeka nezimfanelo ukuthi kuguqukele kusipiliyoni, kufanele sibuze izipiliyoni zethu kanye nezimfanelo uma sizama ukuxazulula le nkinga yencazelo. Okubaluleke kakhulu, ngizoqhakambisa iphuzu lokuthi sibuza isipiliyoni, ikakhulukazi kulokhu okwenzeka ezingqondweni zethu uma kukhona esikwenzayo, singakwazi ukuyixazulula ngempumelelo inkinga yencazelo. Ngiphinde futhi ngiqhakambise iphuzu lokuthi singabuka siphinde sicabange okungenzeka nezimfanelo, futhi uma sicwaninga indlela yokubuka neyokucabanga efaka isipiliyoni sokungenzeka nezimfanelo, indlela okwenzeka ngayo ivela njengobufakazi esibudingayo ukuveza ukuthi impela siyakucabanga okungenzeka kanye nezimfanelo. Ngokubheka isipiliyoni, ziyashabalala izinkinga ezibhekene nokuchaza izinkolelo zethu.
Atticism in Achilles Tatius : an examination of linguistic perism in Achilles Tatius' Leucippe and Clitophon.
(2018) Gammage, Sonja Mary.; Hilton, John Laurence.
Abstract available in PDF file.
Galen's pathology : concepts and contradictions.
(1982) Bain, Peter G.; De Wet, B. X.
Abstract not available.
A critical analysis of Plato's theory of justice in the light of his Thumoeides concept, with special reference to the Republic.
(1985) Simpson, Graeme James Francis.; Rauche, Gerhard A.; Singh, R.
No abstract available.
Theory and practice in Kant's moral and political philosophy.
(1979) Singh, Ratnamala.; Rauche, Gerhard A.
No abstract available.
The emergence of mind, a theory in evolution.
(1986) Beater, Bernard Edwin.; Rauche, Gerhard A.
No abstract available.
The rhetoric of gender in Cicero : oratorical hegemony and the manipulation of gender identity.
(2001) Ige, Johnson Olusegun.; Dominik, William.
My contention in this thesis is that gender identity in Ciceronian oratorical performance is a rhetorical tool that has two aspects: first, it enables Cicero as an orator to gain access to forensic space, and second, it facilitates the persuasion of his audience. The aim of this work is to discuss the concept of oratorical hegemony within a Ciceronian context; it is based on the idea that rhetoric functions in a political space essentially as a tool for governance regardless of the ideological leaning of the speaker or of the political or social body that he represents. The position taken in this thesis is that the rhetoric of a political orator such as Cicero is connected with a range of other factors that empower and lend versatility to his rhetorical position. Invariably, an orator such as Cicero has to manoeuvre within a wider context than what any particular speech situation might suggest on the surface. As a basis for examination, I have developed three models to create an appropriate framework for the discussions on oratorical hegemony. The first model, which I have termed the Anatomy of a Speech, shows only the stages of preparation and of the delivery of a speech. The second model, the Ciceronian Improvisatory Model, depicts the development of Cicero in his speeches during different periods of his public career. The third model, which I call the Phallic Model of Hegemonic Masculinity, is a sociological model constructed to accommodate the different structures of Roman Society. My deconstruction of the different sectors of the model form the core chapters in this thesis. Although this model has been informed by the close reading of social history that features in most discourses on gender, my discussion of the model implicitly challenges the view that women were universally and equally oppressed across races and cultures. My more important argument is that gender identity becomes not only a rhetorical tool in the hands of the orator but also a manipulative 'sign' within a social discourse. Although basic class and gender distinctions may be implicit in the orator's delivery. what matters more is his ability to deploy strategically the rhetorical means at his disposal. Issues relating to power, nationalism and the representation of men, women and slaves are discussed in connection with the orator's performance strategies in a political context. Because the Roman public forum is associated with competition and the young Roman male aspired to high honours and political attainments (laus et gloria) , power becomes a major issue in my discussion. The orator's quest for political and rhetorical glory entails challenging the best orators in the state and questioning the rationale behind the tendencies of some government administrators to abuse the rights of other members of civil society who are not as highly placed as they are in government. The orator progressively wields power through his performance of rhetoric, although when he is in the process of gaining national recognition for excellent speaking, he is apt to argue that his paramount concern is what is best for the state. Hard work in the oratorical arena often resulted in a high political profile for the orator, which occasionally led to the attainment of a powerful political position such as a consulship, a position achieved by Gieero himself in 63 BC. Cieero's ability to represent himself, contemporary events and his subjects imaginatively while delivering his speeches enabled him to persuade his audience on many occasions. Cicero's alternation between the spaces of senate and general assembly as consul and the kind of discourses that he develops in each space are important subjects of discussion in this thesis. Furthermore, Cicero's private persona is considered by examining his fears and anxieties to establish how much distance there is between his public self and private self. Within a cluster of personae, the stress to which Cicero is subjected opens him up to express in the oratorical arena certain fears that normally are meant for the private space in a Roman context. To complete my deconstruction of the Phallic Model of Hegemonic Masculinity, I have chosen to discuss Cicero's representation of slaves as a social manifestation of the bottom rung of the Roman world. Because discussions of oratorical hegemony in the Roman republic not only undertake to consider how it is used as a tool for governance but also its effect upon slaves, who represent the lowest stratum of the social order, this thesis examines Cicero's representation of the role, function and employment of slaves in respect to the power relations that existed between the dominant group and that particular subordinated group. In the final analysis, oratorical hegemony is not a paradigm for a specific orator. Oratorical hegemony functions among a group of orators who have gained political ascendancy through their performance of rhetoric. Cicero is not just a historical figure but he also represents a concept or form of oratorical hegemony. This thesis ultimately explains how Cicero selVes as a model for the exercise of this kind of oratorical practice.

Browse

Recent Submissions