From absolutes to aesthetics : John Dewey and the art of experience /

In this thesis I sought to capture something of the integrity of John Dewey's larger vision. While recognizing this to be a difficult challenge, I needed to clear some of the debris of an overly narrow reading of Dewey's works by students of education. The tendency of reducing Dewey's larger philosophical vision down to neat theoretical snap shots in order to prop up their particular social scientific research, was in my estimation slowly damaging the larger integrity of Dewey's vast body of work. It was, in short, killing off the desire to read big works, because doing so was not necessary to satisfying the specialized interests of social scientific research. In this thesis then I made a plea for returning the Humanities to the center of higher education. It is there that students learn how to read and to think—skills required to take on someone of Dewey's stature. I set out in this thesis to do just that. I took Dewey's notion of experience as the main thread connecting all of his philosophy, and focused on two large areas of inquiry, science and its relation to philosophy, and aesthetic experience. By exploring in depth Dewey's understanding of human experience as it pertains to day-to-day living, my call was for a heightened mode of artful conduct within our living contexts. By calling on the necessity of appreciating the more qualitative dimensions of lived experience, I was hoping that students engaged in the Social Sciences might begin to bolster their research interests with more breadth and depth of reading and critical insight. I expressed this as being important to the survival and intelligent flourishing of democratic conduct.

Dispositional Forgiveness and Health in Romantic Relationships: An Exploration of Sex Differences, Actor Effects, and Partner Effects

The individual and dyadic associations between dispositional forgiveness of self, others, and situations and mental and physical health in individuals involved in romantic relationships were examined. Sex differences in the relationship between dispositional forgiveness and health were examined. Sex differences in the dyadic relationship between forgiveness and health were also examined. The dispositional forgiveness scores of 297 partners involved in a romantic relationship were used to predict their own as well as their partners' physical and mental health. Both members of the relationship separately completed an Internet-based questionnaire assessing personality traits, relationship variables, and physical and mental health. The couple was provided with monetary compensation. Analyses revealed that women's dispositional forgiveness of self, others, and situations were positively associated with their own physical and mental health. Similarly, men's dispositional forgiveness of self, others, and situations were positively associated with their own mental and physical health. At the individual level, there were no sex differences in the relationship between dispositional forgiveness and health, nor were there sex differences in men and women's reports of dispositional forgiveness. Analyses revealed that men's forgiveness of others and situations were positively associated with their female partners' mental health. There were no partner effects for women or for physical health. The implications of these results for research in the forgiveness-health literature and research on forgiveness in romantic relationships were discussed as were directions for future research.

The Aesthetics of Madame de Staël and Mary Shelley

L’esthétique de Madame de Staël and Mary Shelley discute l’art de l’improvisation et le concept de l’enthousiasme dans les écrits de ces deux auteurs. Dans ce projet, j’explore l’esthétique d’improvisation et d’enthousiasme de Madame de Staël dans Corinne, en me référant à son autre roman Delphine, à sa pièce de théâtre Sapho, et à ses nouvelles ainsi qu’à ses textes philosophiques comme De l’Allemagne, De l’influence des passions, et De la littérature. J’argumente que Madame de Staël représente à travers le caractère de Corinne une esthétique anti-utilitaire. J’explique qu’elle évoque des valeurs cosmopolites qui valorisent une culture indigène qui est en opposition avec l’impérialisme de Napoléon. De plus, j’examine comment les improvisations de Corinne dérivent d’un enthousiasme qui est associé à la définition que Platon offre du terme. Ceci est évident par la signification que Madame de Staël présente du terme dans De L’Allemagne. J’interprète la maladie de Corinne comme étant d’origine psychosomatique qui est manifesté par la perte de son génie et par un suicide lent qui est une expression de colère contre la patriarchie. Le caractère de Corinne permet à Madame de Staël d’explorer le conflit que les femmes artistes éprouvaient entre ayant une carrière artistique et adhérant à l’idéologie domestique. Chapitre deux se concentre sur l’intérêt que Shelley démontre sur l’art de l’improvisation comme elle l’exprime dans ses lettres à propos de l’improvisateur Tommaso Sgricci. Malgré sa fascination avec la poésie extemporanée, Shelley regrette que cette forme d’art soit évanescente. Aussi, j’examine son enthousiasme pour un autre artiste, Nicolò Paganini. Son enchantement avec se violoniste virtuose est lié à des discours concernant le talent surnaturel des improvisateurs. J’argumente qu’il y a un continuum d’improvisation entre les balades orales du peuple et les improvisations de culture sophistiqué des improvisateurs de haute société. J’estime que les Shelleys collaboraient à définir une théorie d’inspiration à travers leurs intérêts pour l’art de l’improvisation. Chapitre trois considère le lien entre cosmologie et esthétique d’inspiration à travers la fonction de la musique, spécialement La Création de Joseph Haydn, dans The Last Man de Shelley. J’examine la représentation du sublime des Alpes dans le roman à travers de discours qui associent les Alpes avec les forces primordiales de la création. Les rôles de la Nécessité, Prophétie, et du Temps peuvent être compris en considérant la musique des sphères. Chapitre quatre explore les différentes définitions de terme enthousiasme dans les écrits de Shelley, particulièrement Valperga et The Last Man. Je discute l’opinion de Shelley sur Madame de Staël comme suggéré dans Lives. J’analyse les caractères qui ressemblent à Corinne dans les écrits de Shelley. De plus, je considère les sens multiples du mot enthousiasme en relation avec la Guerre civil d’Angleterre et la Révolution française. Je présente comment le terme enthousiasme était lié au cours du dix-septième siècle avec des discours médicales concernant la mélancolie et comment ceci est reflété dans les caractères de Shelley.

The monstrous archive. Aesthetics of decay and horror in found footage films

Ce texte a été présenté à la table ronde « Contested Footage: Snuff, Disease, the Avant-Garde, and the Archive » lors du congrès annuel de la PCA/ACA (Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association) qui se tenait à la Nouvelle-Orléans, du 1er au 4 avril 2015. La participation à ce congrès s’inscrivait dans le cadre du projet de recherche « Archives et création : nouvelles perspectives sur l’archivistique » sous la direction d’Yvon Lemay. Ce projet est financée par le Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada (CRSH) dans le cadre du programme Savoir (2013-2016).

Romantic attachment and perception of partner support to explain psychological aggression perpetrated in couples seeking couples therapy

Essai doctoral présenté à la Faculté des études supérieures en vue de l’obtention du grade de Docteur en psychologie (D.Psy.), option clinique

Do romantic partners' responses to entry dyspareunia affect women's experience of pain? : the roles of catastrophizing and self-efficacy.

Introduction Entry dyspareunia is a sexual health concern which affects about 21% of women in the general population. Characterized by pain provoked during vaginal penetration, introital dyspareunia has been shown by controlled studies to have a negative impact on the psychological well-being, sexual function, sexual satisfaction, and quality of life of afflicted women. Many cognitive and affective variables may influence the experience of pain and associated psychosexual problems. However, the role of the partner's cognitive responses has been studied very little. Aim The aim of the present study was to examine the associations between partners' catastrophizing and their perceptions of women's self-efficacy at managing pain on one side and women's pain intensity, sexual function, and sexual satisfaction on the other. Methods One hundred seventy-nine heterosexual couples (mean age for women = 31, SD = 10.0; mean age for men = 33, SD = 10.6) in which the woman suffered from entry dyspareunia participated in the study. Both partners completed quantitative measures. Women completed the Pain Catastrophizing Scale and the Painful Intercourse Self-Efficacy Scale. Men completed the significant-other versions of these measures. Main Outcome Measures Dependent measures were women's responses to (i) the Pain Numeric Visual Analog Scale; (ii) the Female Sexual Function Index; and (iii) the Global Measure of Sexual Satisfaction scale. Results Controlled for women's pain catastrophizing and self-efficacy, results indicate that higher levels of partner-perceived self-efficacy and lower levels of partner catastrophizing are associated with decreased pain intensity in women with entry dyspareunia, although only partner catastrophizing contributed unique variance. Partner-perceived self-efficacy and catastrophizing were not significantly associated with sexual function or satisfaction in women. Conclusions The findings suggest that partners' cognitive responses may influence the experience of entry dyspareunia for women, pointing toward the importance of considering the partner when treating this sexual health problem.

The Aesthetics Of Paul Verlaine And Changampuzha Krishnapillai - A Comparative Perspective

The present study is entitled The Aesthetics of Paul Verlaine and Changampuzha Krishnapillai - a comparative perspective. The purpose of the study is to compare the poetic genius of the French poet Paul Verlaine (1844-1896) and that of the Malayalam poet Changampuzha Krishnapillai (1911-1948), within a descriptive framework. The investigation will hopefully answer the questions- Has Changampuzha been indeed influenced by Verlaine, if so, to what extent? Can the aesthetic appreciation be justified in both poets as illustrated in their works? The comparative methodology of juxtaposing the selected oeuvres of the poets is largely adopted in the study. Since the span of analysis is across national and linguistic borders, the distinguishing as well as exclusive traits of the individual poets will be of much importance in formulating the comparative assumption in this work. The vastly differing geographical, linguistic and cultural milieus of these two poets,-one a national French poet and the other, a regional Indian poet writing in Malayalam prima facie,endow the theme of the dissertation with an innate hue of diversity. Such an ambitious task would naturally entail a renewed research into the dedication of the poets to their muses and their ultimate contributions to poetics. The analysis, while attempting to illuminate from a fresh angle, the amply researched oeuvre of Verlaine and the lesser studied one of Changampuzha, cannot but be aware of the limitations of the task at hand. The present study is the first of its kind on the specific theme of analysis, and is hoped that it would be of relevance since no work has so far been known to have been undertaken on the topic. At a time when the birth centenary celebrations of Changampuzha have just concluded, this study is hoped to assume significance as it would help in isolating the originality of the poet's works, extricating the garb of the French influence. Ultimately, this study aims at creating a wider appreciation of the impact that the French writers have had on Malayalam writers, thus shedding new light on the benign foreign influences that served to enhance the beauty of our cultural heritage

Love and Beauty in the Romantic Poetry of Hindi and Malayalam

Hindi

Informational Aesthetics Measures

The Birkhoff aesthetic measure of an object is the ratio between order and complexity. Informational aesthetics describes the interpretation of this measure from an information-theoretic perspective. From these ideas, the authors define a set of ratios based on information theory and Kolmogorov complexity that can help to quantify the aesthetic experience