Ambivalent longings: Heim and its prefix : anxiety and the discourse of home

Please consult the paper edition of this thesis to read. It is available on the 5th Floor of the Library at Call Number: Z 9999 P55 N37 2005

Singing Nature, Dancing Buddha: Zen, Language, and the Groundlessness of Silence

This thesis presents Zen experience as aesthetic in nature. This is done through an analysis of language, a central concern for Zen Buddhism. The thesis develops two modes of language at work in Zen: representational and indexical. What these modes of language entail, the kind of relations that are developed through their use, are explored with recourse to a variety of Zen platforms: poetry, the koan, zazen, music, and suizen. In doing so, a primacy of listening is found in Zen - a listening without a listener. Given this primacy of listening, silence comes to the forefront of the investigation. An analysis of John Cage's 4'33" provides this thesis with justification of the groundlessness of silence, and the groundlessness of subjectivity. Listening allows for the abyssal subject to emerges, which in tum allows for reality to present itself outside of the constitutive function of language.

Methodology in Economics: the Logic of Appraisal

This Paper Intends to Develop a Coherent Methodological Framework Concerned with the Appraisal of Scientific Theories in Economics, and Which Is Based on a Postulated Aim of Science. We First Define the Scope of a Methodological Inquiry (Precise Definition of What Is Meant by the Logic of Appraisal of Scientific Theories) and Review the Work of Popper and Lakatos in the Philosophy of Science. We Then Use Their Results to Develop a Rational Structure of Scientific Activity. We Identify and Analyse Both a Micro and Macro Framework for the Process of Appraisal and Single Out the Importance of So-Called 'Fundamental Assumptions' in Creating Externalities in the Appraisal Process Which Forces Us to Adop a Multi-Level Analysis. Special Attention Is Given to the Role and Significance of the Abstraction Process and the Use of Assumptions in General. the Proposed Structure of Scientific Activity Is Illustrated with Examples From Economics.

A Categorical Framework for the Specification and the Verification of Aspect Oriented Systems

Un objectif principal du génie logiciel est de pouvoir produire des logiciels complexes, de grande taille et fiables en un temps raisonnable. La technologie orientée objet (OO) a fourni de bons concepts et des techniques de modélisation et de programmation qui ont permis de développer des applications complexes tant dans le monde académique que dans le monde industriel. Cette expérience a cependant permis de découvrir les faiblesses du paradigme objet (par exemples, la dispersion de code et le problème de traçabilité). La programmation orientée aspect (OA) apporte une solution simple aux limitations de la programmation OO, telle que le problème des préoccupations transversales. Ces préoccupations transversales se traduisent par la dispersion du même code dans plusieurs modules du système ou l’emmêlement de plusieurs morceaux de code dans un même module. Cette nouvelle méthode de programmer permet d’implémenter chaque problématique indépendamment des autres, puis de les assembler selon des règles bien définies. La programmation OA promet donc une meilleure productivité, une meilleure réutilisation du code et une meilleure adaptation du code aux changements. Très vite, cette nouvelle façon de faire s’est vue s’étendre sur tout le processus de développement de logiciel en ayant pour but de préserver la modularité et la traçabilité, qui sont deux propriétés importantes des logiciels de bonne qualité. Cependant, la technologie OA présente de nombreux défis. Le raisonnement, la spécification, et la vérification des programmes OA présentent des difficultés d’autant plus que ces programmes évoluent dans le temps. Par conséquent, le raisonnement modulaire de ces programmes est requis sinon ils nécessiteraient d’être réexaminés au complet chaque fois qu’un composant est changé ou ajouté. Il est cependant bien connu dans la littérature que le raisonnement modulaire sur les programmes OA est difficile vu que les aspects appliqués changent souvent le comportement de leurs composantes de base [47]. Ces mêmes difficultés sont présentes au niveau des phases de spécification et de vérification du processus de développement des logiciels. Au meilleur de nos connaissances, la spécification modulaire et la vérification modulaire sont faiblement couvertes et constituent un champ de recherche très intéressant. De même, les interactions entre aspects est un sérieux problème dans la communauté des aspects. Pour faire face à ces problèmes, nous avons choisi d’utiliser la théorie des catégories et les techniques des spécifications algébriques. Pour apporter une solution aux problèmes ci-dessus cités, nous avons utilisé les travaux de Wiels [110] et d’autres contributions telles que celles décrites dans le livre [25]. Nous supposons que le système en développement est déjà décomposé en aspects et classes. La première contribution de notre thèse est l’extension des techniques des spécifications algébriques à la notion d’aspect. Deuxièmement, nous avons défini une logique, LA , qui est utilisée dans le corps des spécifications pour décrire le comportement de ces composantes. La troisième contribution consiste en la définition de l’opérateur de tissage qui correspond à la relation d’interconnexion entre les modules d’aspect et les modules de classe. La quatrième contribution concerne le développement d’un mécanisme de prévention qui permet de prévenir les interactions indésirables dans les systèmes orientés aspect.

Arab Women in Translation : the Dynamics of Representation and the Construction of Alterity

Cette recherche examine la traduction et la réception en France, en Grande Bretagne et aux États-Unis de la littérature contemporaine d’expression arabe écrite par des femmes, afin de répondre à deux questions principales: comment les écrivaines provenant de pays arabes perdent-elles leur agentivité dans les processus de traduction et de réception? Et comment la traduction et la réception de leurs textes contribuent-elles à la construction d’une altérité arabe? Pour y répondre, l’auteure examine trois romans présentant des traits thématiques et formels très différents, à savoir Fawḍā al-Ḥawāss (1997) par Ahlem Mosteghanemi, Innahā Lundun Yā ‘Azīzī (2001) par Hanan al-Shaykh et Banāt al-Riyāḍ (2005) par Rajaa Alsanea. L’analyse, basée sur le modèle à trois dimensions de Norman Fairclough, vise à découvrir comment les écrivaines expriment leur agentivité à travers l’écriture, et quelles images elles projettent d’elles-mêmes et plus généralement des femmes dans leurs sociétés respectives. L’auteure se penche ensuite sur les traductions anglaise et française de chaque roman. Elle examine les déplacements qui s’opèrent principalement sur le plan de la texture et le plan pragma-sémiotique, et interroge en quoi ces déplacements ébranlent l’autorité des écrivaines. Enfin, une étude de la réception de ces traductions en France, en Grande Bretagne et aux États-Unis vient enrichir l’analyse textuelle. À cette étape, les critiques éditoriales et universitaires ainsi que les choix éditoriaux relatifs au paratexte sont scrutés de façon à mettre en lumière les processus décisionnels, les discours et les tropes sous-tendant la mise en marché et la consommation de ces traductions. L’analyse des originaux révèle tout d’abord qu’à travers leurs textes, les auteures sont des agentes actives de changement social. Elles s’insurgent, chacune à sa manière, contre les discours hégémoniques tant locaux qu’occidentaux, et (ré-)imaginent leurs sociétés et leurs nations. Ce faisant, elles se créent leur propre espace discursif dans la sphère publique. Toutefois, la thèse montre que dans la plupart des traductions, les discours dissidents sont neutralisés, l’agentivité et la subjectivité des écrivaines minées au profit d’un discours dominant orientaliste. Ce même discours semble sous-tendre la réception des romans en traduction. Dans ce discours réifiant, l’expression de la différence culturelle est inextricablement imbriquée dans l’expression de la différence sexuelle: la « femme arabe » est la victime d’une religion islamique et d’une culture arabe essentiellement misogynes et arriérées. L’étude suggère, cependant, que ce sont moins les interventions des traductrices que les décisions des éditeurs, le travail de médiation opéré par les critiques, et l’intérêt (ou le désintérêt) des universitaires qui influencent le plus la manière dont ces romans sont mis en marché et reçus dans les nouveaux contextes. L’auteure conclut par rappeler l’importance d’une éthique de la traduction qui transcende toute approche binaire et se fonde sur une lecture éthique des textes qui fait ressortir le lien entre la poétique et la politique. Enfin, elle propose une lecture basée sur la reconnaissance du caractère situé du texte traduit comme du sujet lisant/traduisant.

The Construction of a State Peace Policy and the Process of Conflict Resolution

The academic literature specialized on processes of conflict resolution has focused on how third party intervention and mediation can contribute to end violent conflict, however it has also ignored the potential role of the state in countries affected by internal war. This article calls for a better understanding of the state, not only as a source of contemporary conflict but as a potential advocate of conflict resolution processes. It suggests that it is necessary and possible to involve the state in more effective processes of conflict resolution through the implementation of a State Peace Policy. The central argument is that some of the critical elements that should guide the state action when confronting the destructive logic of war and violence can be effectively undertaken through a public policy focused on building peace. After suggesting a general definition of State Peace Policy and highlighting some of its main attributes, the article recognizes that this sort of policy can also orientate the unfinished process of state consolidation in Colombia and other countries affected by internal conflict. The role of the state in the process of conflict resolution is crucial; however there are some issues normally ignored within the policy-making process, they must be seriously taken into account in order to eliminate the underlying structures that perpetuate conflict and delay the consolidation of sustainable peace.-----La literatura académica especializada en procesos de resolución de conflictos se ha centrado en el estudio de cómo la intervención de terceras partes y la labor de mediación pueden contribuir a poner fin a los conflictos violentos, sin embargo, también ha ignorado el rol potencial del estado en aquellos países afectados por la guerra interna. Este artículo llama la atención sobre la necesidad de estudiar al estado no sólo como la fuente de los conflictos contemporáneos, sino como un colaborador potencial en procesos de resolución de conflictos. Se sugiere que es necesario y también posible involucrar al estado en este tipo de procesos de una manera más efectiva a través de la implementación de una Política de Estado centrada en la Paz. El argumento central es que algunos de los elementos claves que deben guiar la acción del estado cuando éste se enfrenta a la lógica destructiva de la guerra y la violencia, pueden ser efectivamente tratados a través de una política pública que de prioridad a la construcción de la paz. Luego de sugerir una definición general y destacar algunos de los principales atributos de ésta clase de Política de Estado, el artículo reconoce que ésta podría también orientar el proceso inacabado de consolidación del estado en Colombia y en otros países afectados por conflictos internos. El rol del estado en el proceso para resolver los conflictos es crucial, sin embargo hay algunos aspectos normalmente ignorados durante el proceso de formulación de políticas que deben ser tomados en cuenta seriamente para eliminar las estructuras que perpetúan el conflicto y que retrasan la consolidación de la paz sostenible.

Fluxing the logic of definitive differences

Focusing on Fluxus, a loosely knit association of artists from America, Europe and Asia whose work centers around intermediality, this article explores the notion of relationality without relata. Intermediality refers to works that fall conceptually between media – such as visual poetry or action music – as well as between the general area of art media and those of life media(Higgins). Departing from two Fluxus intermedia – the event score, a performative score in the form of words, and the Fluxkit, a performative score in the form of objects – I investigate the logic of co-constitutivity within which every element is both subject and object, both constitutive and constituted. To be more precise, I trace the cross-categorial interplay of differences that explodes the logico-linguistic structure of binary oppositions, such as those between foreground and background, word and action, sound and silence, identity and alterity. Aided by Jacques Derrida’s concept of ‘de-centered play’ and Shigenori Nagatomo’s concept of ‘interfusion’ this article seeks to articulate the ways in which the Fluxus works mobilise the ‘silent background’ to dismantle the dualistic logic of definite differences.

Queer sex in the metropolis? Place, subjectivity and the Second World War

The strong links between cities and queer culture and its expression have occupied numerous scholars, including Henning Bech and Matt Houlbrook. Indeed, London has been viewed as a focal point of British queer urban culture for over 200 years and, as this article demonstrates, the advent of the Second World War did not preclude this centrality but ensured that the city became a focal point for service personnel on leave. Yet, the emphasis placed on the metropolises in analysing space and queer expression has rendered invisible the use of more transient spaces outside of the city. This article seeks to examine these ‘alternative’ or opportunistic sites of expression, using oral testimony from queer men who served with the British Armed Forces during the Second World War. The memories of these servicemen and the significance they place on space/locations demonstrate the need to engage with subjective sites or ‘geographies’ of queerness both inside and outside of the city between 1939 and 1945.

Missing the logic of the text: Lord Butler’s report on intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction

This article focuses on the final report of Lord Butler’s review of British intelligence on weapons of mass destruction (WMD), specifically on its treatment of the accuracy of the use of intelligence on Iraqi WMD in a government dossier published in September 2002 ahead of the 2003 Iraq war. In the report, the demonstration of the accuracy of the “September Dossier” hinges on the insertion of tables that compare side-by-side quotations from this document and from intelligence assessments. The analysis of the textual and visual methods by which the report is written reveals how the logic of the comparative tables is missed in the Butler report: the logic of these tables requires that the comparison between quotations from the two documents should be performed at the level of their details but the Butler report performs its comparison only at a broad and general level.

The logic of ideas in Christopher Hill's English revolution

This article examines the role played by ideas and their thinkers in Christopher Hill's histories of the English Revolution. Hill protested against a reductionist economic determinism with no place for the intrinsic power of ideas, but his account of ideas gave them a progressive logic parallel to, if not always easy to link with, that of economic development, and threatened to divorce them from their muddled and imperfect thinkers. This account of the logic of ideas had a striking impact on the way in which the more mainstream radicals of the English Revolution appeared in Hill's work, with both the Levellers and James Harrington being half assimilated to, and half pushed aside in favor of, the more thoroughgoing economic radicals who expressed, in however ragged a way, the intrinsic potential of their ideas. However, Hill's writings also betray a surprising attraction to religious over secular forms of radicalism.

Predicating from an early age: edusemiotics and the potential of children’s preconceptions

This paper aims to explain how semiotics and constructivism can collaborate in an educational epistemology by developing a joint approach to prescientific conceptions. Empirical data and findings of constructivist research are interpreted in the light of Peirce’s semiotics. Peirce’s semiotics is an anti-psychologistic logic (CP 2.252; CP 4.551; W 8:15; Pietarinen in Signs of logic, Springer, Dordrecht, 2006; Stjernfelt in Diagrammatology. An investigation on the borderlines of phenomenology, ontology and semiotics, Springer, Dordrecht, 2007) and relational logic. Constructivism was traditionally developed within psychology and sociology and, therefore, some incompatibilities can be expected between these two schools. While acknowledging the differences, we explain that constructivism and semiotics share the assumption of realism that knowledge can only be developed upon knowledge and, therefore, an epistemological collaboration is possible. The semiotic analysis performed confirms the constructivist results and provides a further insight into the teacher-student relation. Like the constructivist approach, Peirce’s doctrine of agapism infers that the personal dimension of teaching must not be ignored. Thus, we argue for the importance of genuine sympathy in teaching attitudes. More broadly, the article also contributes to the development of postmodern humanities. At the end of the modern age, the humanities are passing through a critical period of transformation. There is a growing interest in semiotics and semiotic philosophy in many areas of the humanities. Such a case, on which we draw, is the development of a theoretical semiotic approach to education, namely edusemiotics (Stables and Semetsky, Pedagogy and edusemiotics: theoretical challenge/practical opportunities, Sense Publishers, Rotterdam, 2015).

Analytic Methods for the Logic of Proofs

The logic of proofs (lp) was proposed as Gdels missed link between Intuitionistic and S4-proofs, but so far the tableau-based methods proposed for lp have not explored this closeness with S4 and contain rules whose analycity is not immediately evident. We study possible formulations of analytic tableau proof methods for lp that preserve the subformula property. Two sound and complete tableau decision methods of increasing degree of analycity are proposed, KELP and preKELP. The latter is particularly inspired on S4-proofs. The crucial role of proof constants in the structure of lp-proofs methods is analysed. In particular, a method for the abduction of proof constant specifications in strongly analytic preKELP proofs is presented; abduction heuristics and the complexity of the method are discussed.

The Ricardian vice and the indetermination of senior

The general commitments and working requirements of abstract, applied, and art of science, including economics, are assessed. Pure economics deals with the logic of the phenomenon. Positive socio-economics presupposes pure economics and many distinct sciences. Art presupposes socio-economics and direct knowledge of the specificities which characterize the time-space individuality of the phenomenon. This indetermination was partially formulated by Senior and Mill; graduate education in economics is considered in its light. The habit of ignoring it is the Ricardian Vice, as named by Schumpeter; the prevalence of the vice is exemplified, and its causes analyzed.

Models of complexity in Robert Coover's John's wife and the adventures of Lucky Pierre

This doctoral dissertation analyzes two novels by the American novelist Robert Coover as examples of hypertextual writing on the book bound page, as tokens of hyperfiction. The complexity displayed in the novels, John's Wife and The Adventures of Lucky Pierre, integrates the cultural elements that characterize the contemporary condition of capitalism and technologized practices that have fostered a different subjectivity evidenced in hypertextual writing and reading, the posthuman subjectivity. The models that account for the complexity of each novel are drawn from the concept of strange attractors in Chaos Theory and from the concept of rhizome in Nomadology. The transformations the characters undergo in the degree of their corporeality sets the plane on which to discuss turbulence and posthumanity. The notions of dynamic patterns and strange attractors, along with the concept of the Body without Organs and Rhizome are interpreted, leading to the revision of narratology and to analytical categories appropriate to the study of the novels. The reading exercised throughout this dissertation enacts Daniel Punday's corporeal reading. The changes in the characters' degree of materiality are associated with the stages of order, turbulence and chaos in the story, bearing on the constitution of subjectivity within and along the reading process. Coover's inscription of planes of consistency to counter linearity and accommodate hypertextual features to the paper supported narratives describes the characters' trajectory as rhizomatic. The study led to the conclusion that narrative today stands more as a regime in a rhizomatic relation with other regimes in cultural practice than as an exclusively literary form and genre. Besides this, posthuman subjectivity emerges as class identity, holding hypertextual novels as their literary form of choice.

The restructuring of labour in Brazil in the 2000s: flexible work and the precarisation of working life

This article argues that the precarisation of employment that has taken place in Brazil since the 1990s has been fundamentally different in kind from earlier forms of precariousness, which took place outside the formal economy. The new forms of precariousness are taking place within the sphere of the economy controlled by transnational corporations. Although they have only reached critical mass during the 2000s, the ground was prepared by ‘post neoliberal’ restructuring, including labour law reforms, that took place in Brazil during the 1990s and introduced new forms of flexible working. The article argues that the new condition of labour now emerging in Brazil, which is a structural feature of labour under global capitalism, is characterised by psychosocial dynamics that cause: first, class desubjectivation; second, a ‘seizure’ of the waged worker's subjectivity; and third, the reduction of living labour to the status of a workforce treated as goods. Comprehending these changes necessitates a related change in the theoretical and methodological framework in which the precariousness of work is studied, one that incorporates within its scope the issues of workers' health and the quality of working life.