1,236 research outputs found
Being political and the reconstruction of public discourse: Hannah Arendt on experience, history and the spectator
No full textThis study analyses a number of Hannah Arendt’s books and essays written over fourdecades and suggests that a common thread can be detected that links together thedifferent stages of her thought. The need to do this follows from having to treat withcaution Arendt’s own judgement that in the mid-1930s her thinking changed when shebecame political. In relation to writings she produced throughout her life, what can beseen is that she was actually preoccupied by one and the same question, namely, whatit means to be with other people, she just looked for answers in different places andused different methods. The study shows how in her dissertation on Saint Augustine’streatment of love and such early published pieces as ‘The Enlightenment and theJewish Question’ and her commentary on Rilke’s Duino Elegies, Arendt was alreadychallenging Heidegger’s ontology, in Being and Time, of ‘being-with-one-another’.Her thinking at this time was purely empirical though, dependent upon interpretationsof history alone. Her later work, The Origins of Totalitarianism and The HumanCondition, for instance, reveal that Arendt’s political conversion amounted to therealisation that ontology and history are as necessary to each other as Kant’s conceptsand intuitions. Her defence of plurality therefore, represented both a reaction to theevils of totalitarianism on the grounds that it is an anti-political form of government,and a revised challenge to Heidegger’s assessment of das Man on his own terms. Inaddition though, Arendt’s depiction of public space and public discourse, suggestedthat choosing to be with others politically, is an antidote to the solitude of theindividual engendered by mass society
The light of the eye : doctrine, piety and reform in the works of Thomas Sherlock, Hannah More and Jane Austen
No full textBibliography: leaves 376-401.This thesis investigates the ways in which three eighteenth-century writers, Bishop Thomas Sherlock, Hannah More and Jane Austen embody orthodox Anglican doctrine according to their individual perceptions of the enlightening properties of Protestant Christianity. After situating them in their respective gender, literary and ecclesiastical contexts, I examine some of their key doctrines and analyse excerpts from their works. My selection of passages from Sherlock's works is fairly comprehensive, but in the case of More and Austen, where there is already a formidable body of literary criticism, it is more selective. Thus, I focus on doctrine in More's tracts, Strictures on the System of Female Education, An Essay on St Paul and most especially Coelebs in Search of a Wife and in the case of Austen, on her prayers and select passages from Sense and Sensibility and Mansfield Park. I conclude that, although diverse in their particular kind of Anglicanism (High, Evangelical and Median) and in their choice of genre, transparency or obscurity (anonymity and pseudonymity) and the various narratological strategies some of them invoke to circumvent certain taboos, Sherlock, More and Austen champion the same central orthodox doctrines, defend them against current alternatives to orthodoxy such as Latitudinarianism, Deism and various forms of Freethinking, and promote similar moral and ecclesiastical reforms. However, indirectly (through female characters who resist male representation or control) the women writers subject their ostensibly authorially-endorsed male narrators/characters to scrutiny and sometimes (when the males objectify the women) subversion
"In this moment of alarm and peril": Female Education, Religion and Politics In the Late Eighteenth Century, With special reference to Catharine Macaulay and Hannah More
No full textPhDCatharine Macaulay and Hannah More are conventionally represented as
ideological opposites. Through an analysis which centres on their writings, this
thesis critically examines that representation, and more broadly explores
contemporary perceptions of the roles of women of the middling sort in the late
eighteenth century. It argues that revolution, particularly the French Revolution,
created a climate wherein the duties of women became the subject of increasing
debate. The discussion challenges and builds upon recent work on women's
writing and history, by examining how and why the role of women changed at this
time. This work is concerned with contemporary representations of women, and
concentrates on analysis of primary texts and archival material over a wide range
of genres, including educational treatises, plays, popular tracts, political pamphlets,
historical writing and newspapers - the latter proving a major resource.
Following a critical introduction, the thesis falls into four chapters. Chapter one
discusses the reputation, critical reception and public fame of Macaulay and More,
thereby providing insights into contemporary sexual and social politics. Women
were considered arbiters of morals and manners - believed to play a vital role in
ensuring social stability - and the second chapter examines how the threat of
revolution led to increasing anxiety and debate about the nature of female
education. The third and fourth chapters discuss religion and politics respectively,
and argue that beliefs about the interdependency of Church and State, together with
the feminization of religion, legitimized women's involvement in politics and
enlarged their sphere of influence.
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The conclusion argues that the political and religious climate provided
opportunities for women to reassess and redefine their roles; while often remaining
within parameters defined by commonly held perceptions of femininity, they
politicized the domestic, extended female agency, and elevated the status of
women
The critical use of narrative and literature in gerontology
No full textIt is now widely accepted that "age" and "ageing" are cultural concepts that are open to question. The thinking encouraged by critical gerontology has been crucially important in provoking questions about the complexities of later life, age and ageing. Similarly, the interrogation of stories of age and ageing via narrative approaches and as found in literature are increasingly recognised as an important source of knowledge for mining the intricacies of later life. There are close links between the interests of critical gerontologists and those who engage in narrative and literary gerontology. However, the potential that critical gerontology has for illuminating and probing these stories of age has often been neglected. The central argument of this article is that narrative and literary approaches to age and ageing when allied to perspectives from critical gerontology can furnish scholars with important perspectives for interpreting and re-configuring "age". The focus is upon how a genuinely dialogic relationship between critical gerontology and narrative and literary gerontology can be forged. In this way, the full potential of these stories of ageing; their epistemological status for enriching theoretical work on ageing, might be better exploited
The forgotten symptom: Smallpox's affective impressions and the climate of fear during the Smallpox Inoculation Debate, Boston 1721-22
No full textThis thesis revisits the question of why a heated debate broke out in Boston in 1721-22 over smallpox inoculation, by exploring how emotions were integral to this eruption and decisions to be either for or against inoculation. Employing recent work on affect by Sara Ahmed and others, I examine how smallpox affected fear in the general public. I assert that as smallpox became epidemic, a climate of fear consumed Boston, and that these fears were a significant factor causing a debate to form over the new procedure of inoculation. Further, as smallpox impressed fears through circulation, these fears were predicated on individual histories, knowledge, and accepted truths. Decisions regarding whether or not to inoculate were dependent on these factors, on how smallpox impressed fear individually. Inoculators, those who would choose to inoculate themselves and their loved ones during the 1721-22 epidemic, did so for fear of smallpox’s deadliness and to avoid its ravages. However, since inoculation transmitted smallpox and was yet unproven infallible, anti-inoculators feared inoculation because smallpox’s affective economy easily slid onto inoculation. Inoculation, therefore, could not be fully accepted until it impressed widespread confidence instead of fear.M.A.Includes bibliographical referencesIncludes vitaby Hannah C. DeGenov
Hannah Arendt: Plural Agency, Political Power and Spontaneity
No full textEngaging with the work of the philosopher who is best known for her work on the “active life” (vita activa), Hannah Arendt, this entry deals with a particular type of agency that is rarely accounted for in phenomenology: political agency. For Arendt human beings are actors only in particular instances, that is: if one follows the standard account of agency as entailing the capacity for intentional and goal-directed action, which the author calls the model of agency as sovereignty. In this model, someone is considered an actor if she knows what she is doing and is more or less in control of the outcomes of her deeds, so that those outcomes can indeed be attributed to the enactment of her intentions. Whereas the non-sovereignty of animal laborans precludes political agency, this is entirely different when people act as citizens. Even if they are not sovereign, Arendt does not deny their agency
Patronage and Professionalism in the writings of Hannah More, Charlotte Smith and Ann Yearsley, 1770-1806.
No full textThis thesis examines the changes which were occurring in the literary marketplace at the end of the eighteenth century. The place of the traditional aristocratic patrons was gradually being taken by publishers and book sellers, who were increasingly dealing with writers direct. This move away from patronage towards a new form of professionalism took place during two decades of intense political upheaval and questioning of national identity, and at a point where women writers were being
seen increasingly as a natural part of literary culture.
The argument is focused on three case studies of women who came to prominence in the 1780s, and explores their different experiences of life as professional
writers, patrons and protegees. Their work is placed within the context of two significant political and social events; the beginnings of the movement to abolish the
slave trade in 1788, and the French Revolution. In particular, the thesis enagages with the Revolution's descent into the Terror in the 1790s, and the response of British writers to this most brutal phase.
Also considered are the various ways in which a literary work could be brought into print at the end of the eighteenth century, and how the three central women were
able to move from one mode of publishing to another. This thesis also sets out to offer a fresh perspective on the careers of these women, and in particular to recover the
reputation of Ann Yearsley as a writer of note in the 1790s.
It is proposed that a broader view needs to be taken of the factors influencing literary production in the 1780s and 90s than is currently the case, and the argument is
concluded with a consideration of the relationship between patronage and professionalism at the end of the eighteenth century, and an assessment of the significance of patronage in an increasingly professional literary marketplace
Isolation, characterisation and differentiation of canine adult stem cells
No full textCardiac and orthopaedic diseases are significant causes of morbidity and mortality in
dogs and are therefore critical areas for veterinary research. More information regarding
the pathophysiology of these diseases, and the development of novel therapeutics are
sorely required and adult stem cells (ASCs) are a promising source of cells for both
investigation of these diseases in vitro and also potentially therapeutics in the longer
term.
ASCs are a readily available source of multipotent cells which bypass the ethical issues
surrounding embryonic stem (ES) cells. ASCs have been described in several tissues of
the body, and typically differentiate along specific cellular routes related to original
source location. This thesis investigates whether ASCs can be isolated and cultured from
the dog from two specific locations; cardiac, producing cardiac stem cells (CSCs); and
the bone marrow, producing mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). These cell sources will be
extensively characterised at their baseline for morphology, culture behaviour and gene
marker expression. Following characterisation each cell source will be subjected to
differentiation techniques to examine canine ASC multipotent differentiation potential.
CSCs were isolated from cultured atrial cardiac explant tissue taken from dogs
post-mortem, with owners’ consent. These cells were able to survive successive passages
in serum free media and formed large spherical cell clusters, termed ‘cardiospheres’.
CSCs were capable of clonal expansion under controlled culture conditions,
demonstrating their ability for self-renewal. Characterisation of these cells demonstrated
the expression of CSC markers; c-Kit, GATA 4 and Flk-1 and no expression of cardiac
lineage markers including cardiac troponin T and I, Nkx2.5, the cardiac ryanodine
receptor and the β1-adrenergic receptor.
Primary canine MSCs were isolated from bone marrow aspirates using ficoll separation
and cultured on tissue culture plastic. Canine MSCs closely resembled MSCs described
from other species, such as the human and mouse, and were found to express CD44 and
STRO-1 and were negative for CD34 and CD45.
CSCs and MSCs were exposed to published cardiac directed differentiation protocols
and differentiation then analysed using cellular morphology and gene expression. Canine CSCs appeared to differentiate partially along cardiac lineages with upregulation of
cardiac troponin T and Nkx2.5, and down regulation of c-Kit and endothelial lineage
markers. Canine MSCs demonstrated some morphological changes during cardiac
differentiation, and demonstrated up-regulation of Nkx2.5 and Flk-1 but no significant
alteration in other markers examined. This suggested that cardiac directed differentiation
was not as successful with canine MSCs compared to CSCs and conflicting with
published data using rodent MSC models.
Murine MSCs were used as a positive control cell line for cardiac directed
differentiation, based upon published literature. Critically there were key marker
expression differences between baseline murine and canine MSCs, including the
expression of cardiac markers such as cardiac troponin T and I, and the Ryanodine
receptor. Furthermore, expression analysis of cardiac genes changed with time in
culture and passage number and no significant alteration was seen when cells were
subjected to the cardiac differentiation protocol; thereby bringing into question the data
regarding successful cardiac differentiation using murine MSCs.
Canine MSCs were further differentiated toward a chondrocyte lineage to investigate the
use of MSCs for orthopaedic research. Canine MSCs were successfully differentiated
toward articular type cartilage, with demonstration of extracellular matrix secretions, an
upregulation of collagen type II with downregulation of collagen type I and the
development of SOX9 expression in differentiated cells.
This thesis builds the groundwork for future ASC research in the dog. Successful
isolation and culture of two ASC sources from the dog is demonstrated. Cardiac and
cartilage directed differentiation was successful using primary sourced cells, but
differentiation was found to be limited to highly specific routes for each stem cell
source. The results presented here highlight the importance of analysing baseline stem
cells extensively prior to differentiation and in particular, before making comparisons
between cell populations isolated from different locations and species
Being Private in Public : Claudia Rankine and John Lucas’s “Situation” Videos
No full textThe talk was part of the faculty words Words & Process Workshop, organized by Minou Arjomand, David Kornhaber, Gretchen Murphy and Hannah C. Wojciehowski. Chad Bennett, an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin, gave a fascinating presentation on John Lucas and Claudia Rankine’s “Situation” videos as part of a series of workshops organized by the English department faculty. Bennett has published numerous articles on the intersections of poetry and queer theory, an..
Measuring the impact of cataract services in the community.
No full textIn many low-income countries, a substantial number of people remain needlessly visually impaired or blind from cataract as a result of not accessing surgical services.1 In this article, we will discuss how Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness (RAAB) surveys can play a role in improving cataract services, and the impact that sight-restoring cataract surgery can have on people’s lives
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