1,463 research outputs found
Writing and the rights of reality: usurpation and potentiality in Derrida, Plato, Nietzsche, and Beckett
No full textThe thesis critically evaluates Jacques Derrida's conferral of the rights of reality on writing, focussing on his theory of an arche-text in light of the speculative nature of this theory. The theory is initially considered in the context of Derrida's elucidation of the usurpatory status of writing within the Platonic and Nietzschean texts. This consideration reveals an admission of writing's usurpatory status by both writers while at the same time demonstrating their awareness of the intrinsically speculative nature of this view, the significance of writing lying in its ability to exteriorise the radically indeterminate status of consciousness m relation to reality rather than its ability to displace consciousness or reality The analyses, therefore, not only bring the Derridean hypothesis of a repressive or phonocentric metaphysical episteme into question but also exhibit the historical and philosophical role of potentiality in relation to writing, writing's ultimate significance lying in its capacity to exteriorise our existence as a mode of potentiality. Accordingly, in the second half of the thesis the Derridean theory of writing is countered with a specifically Aristotelian theory of the text as it is exhibited in the prose of Samuel Beckett, an author whose significance lies in his close alignment with Derridean theory within contemporary criticism. It is demonstrated that this identification has obviated an awareness of the significance of potentiality within the Beckettian text, his work consequently being appraised in the previously neglected context of Aristotelian metaphysics
Samuel Beckett and the Writers of Port-Royal
No full textIt has been observed that ‘the literary influences on Beckett have been far more important than has been acknowledged, and more important indeed, than the philosophical influences’ (Smith 2002: 3). The truth of this statement is evidenced by the description that scholars have given of Samuel Beckett’s relationship to seventeenth century French classicism. To date, critical interest has been limited for the most part to the figure of the philosopher René Descartes on the (fragile) grounds that Beckett was exclusively concerned with the Cartesian imperative of clarity and order, the fundamental dualism between body and mind, and Nominalism.
Together with the assumption that Beckett’s vision was essentially Cartesian, his literary filiation with Pascal was suggested by critics, but only in terms of Beckett’s formal approach to the theatre. In his short article on En attendant Godot in 1953, the playwright Jean Anouilh was among the first reviewers to suggest that Beckett’s drama synthesizes the encounter between ‘classicism’ and a ‘modern’ form of art. It is well known that Beckett retained a lifelong admiration for Pascal – indeed, Pascal was one of his ‘old chestnuts’ (Knowlson 1997: 653). Little attention has been paid, however, to the originality of Pascal’s thought, the specific nature of his prose, and the impact these might have had upon Beckett’s mature work, especially the trilogy and the subsequent short prose. Yet, in the literary and philosophical context of post-war France, Beckett’s filiation with Pascal, their corresponding preoccupations, were evident to his contemporaries, who identified Pascal as an underlying presence in his works
Usability and acceptability of a website that provides tailored advice on falls prevention activities for older people
No full textThis article presents the usability and acceptability of a website that provides older people with tailored advice to help motivate them to undertake physical activities that prevent falls. Views on the website from interviews with 16 older people and 26 sheltered housing wardens were analysed thematically. The website was well received with only one usability difficulty with the action plan calendar. The older people selected balance training activities out of interest or enjoyment, and appeared to carefully add them into their current routine. The wardens were motivated to promote the website to their residents, particularly those who owned a computer, had balance problems, or were physically active. However, the participants noted that currently a minority of older people use the Internet. Also, some older people underestimated how much activity was enough to improve balance, and others perceived themselves as too old for the activities
The idler [electronic resource] : By the author of The rambler. With additional essays. In two volumes. The sixth edition.
No full textThe author of the Rambler = Samuel Johnson and others.O & L report frontispieceElectronic reproduction.English Short Title Catalog,Reproduction of original from Bodleian Library (Oxford)
Richardson, Barbauld, and the construction of an early modern fan club
No full textMPhilMuch has been written about the life and long works of the eighteenth century epistolary novelist, Samuel Richardson, but the prospect of his position as the first celebrity novelist – responsible for courting his own fame as well as initiating his own fan club – has largely been ignored. The body of manuscripts housed at the National Art Library in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London provides the modern scholar with evidence of the skeletal beginnings of an early fan club. This thesis aims to show how these manuscripts were turned into a saleable commodity by the publisher and entrepreneur Richard Phillips, while under the guiding hand of another, slightly later, literary celebrity, Anna Laetitia Barbauld. In order to restore Richardson’s reputation amongst a new nineteenth century audience, Barbauld was required to construct her own idea of him as an eighteenth century celebrity author, and in doing so the insecurities of a self-professed, apparently diffident man, are revealed. Barbauld’s capacious, but heavily edited selection of letters is analyzed in this thesis, providing ample evidence that Richardson’s correspondents were more than just eager letter writers. By using Barbauld’s biography of Richardson this thesis aims to show how she manipulates the genre of life writing in her construction of him.
This thesis offers an alternative reading of how the Richardson manuscripts are viewed, redefining them as not simply a collection of letters, but as a collective entity, deliberately selected and archived as evidence of an early modern fan club, and its celebrity managing director
Organic revolution: cotton and its impact on poverty, inequality and sustainability in Tanzania
No full textWith organic consumption booming, proponents of organic agriculture argue that it presents a viable development alternative for African farmers that were sidestepped by the Green and Biotechnology revolutions. While ecological and human benefits of organic agriculture are better known, scholarship is lacking on the socio-economic impacts of organic export production on certified and non-certified farmers in Africa. Positioning organic agriculture as an innovation, this dissertation addresses critical omissions by asking: What impact does the Organic revolution have on poverty, inequality and sustainability? It draws on and contributes to bodies of literature on Agricultural Development and Inequalities in Africa, Agricultural Sustainability, and Multidimensional Poverty. Based on a survey of 122 organic and conventional cotton farmers in Meatu District, Tanzania, organic agriculture’s potential as a pro-poor development intervention is evaluated. Quantitative analyses were coupled with participatory econometrics, which included focus groups and semi-structured interviews during follow-up visits. Main findings include organic farmers owning on average larger farms and being wealthier compared to their conventional counterparts. Lower levels of human capital were not identified as a barrier towards the diffusion of organic methods, which are traditionally more labor- and knowledge-intensive compared to the capital-intensive nature of previous agricultural revolutions. Lack of access to land was a key reason the poorest conventional farmers were unable to join. Organic farmers on average had lower prevalences, breadths and depths of poverty. Unidimensional and multidimensional poverty analyses showed that the intercropping of mungbeans - introduced into organic farming for its nitrogen-fixing properties - had a positive impact on lowering inequalities between organic and conventional farmers due to widespread adoption by both groups. The dissertation makes significant empirical contributions by providing a comparative study of organic and conventional farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, evaluating who becomes an organic farmer, and measuring the impact of organic agriculture on poverty, inequality and sustainability. These findings have important implications of the potential for the Organic revolution to act as a viable pro-poor development alternative.Ph. D.Includes bibliographical referencesIncludes vitaby Samuel T Lederman
Discourses and Dialogues of the Late Rev. Samuel Porter / With a Biographical Sketch of the Author by the Rev. David Elliott, D.D.
No full textIn the Publisher’s Preface, John T. Shryock writes that this book contains “all that can be recovered of the writings of the late Rev. Samuel Porter” (p. 5). There are 3 discourses, delivered between 1793 and 1811, along with “Dialogues between Death and the Believer; and Death and the Hypocrite” (p. 205). The discourses had previously appeared in pamphlet form; their republication here was intended to provide “specimens of the doctrinal opinions and practical teachings of one, who in the forming state of the Presbyterian Church in Western Pennsylvania, was ‘set for the defence and confirmation of [the] gospel” (p. 5).https://mds.marshall.edu/porter_samuel/1000/thumbnail.jp
2 Samuel 12 as retold by Josephus
No full textIn this essay the author intends to focus on Josephus' retelling of the events of 2 Samuel 12. At the opening of his Antiquities, Josephus assures readers that in what follows he will not �add to� or �omit anything from� the Scripture records on which he is basing himself. Ant. 7.147-161, where on the one hand the basic content of 2 Samuel 12 is reproduced even in its details, while on the other additions, deletions, re-arrangements and other modifications of biblical data abound, offers an instructive example of how seriously, but also how flexibly, the historian carried through on that opening promise
An inaugural dissertation on the use of the Digitalis purpurea in the cure of certain diseases. Submitted to the public examination of Samuel Bard, M.D. President; the Vice-President and Professors of the College of Physicians...for the degree of Doctor of Medicine on the fourteenth day of May, 1811 /
No full textSignature of Samuel Latham Mitchill on title page.With an inscription by the author to Samuel Latham Mitchill on first blank page.Thesis (M.D.) - College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, 1811.Austin, R.B. Early Amer. medical imprints,Mode of access: Internet
Miscellaneous and fugitive pieces. ... [electronic resource].
No full textEdited by Thomas Davies, and including works by Samuel Johnson."In 1773 he [Thomas Davies] audaciously published 'Miscellaneous and fugitive pieces' in two volumes, and advertised them as 'by the author of the Rambler.' Johnson's writings, which he had appropriated without authority, formed the bulk of this collection." - DNB.Vol.1, 2 are undated; vol.3 is dated 1774, and bears the imprint: "Printed for T. Davies; and Carnan and Newbery".Electronic reproduction.English Short Title Catalog,Reproduction of original from British Library
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