What value can be attached to a concept of mystery and has it a place in contemporary Western culture?

The idea for this thesis arose from a chain of reactions first set in motion by a particular experience. In keeping with the contemporary need to deconstruct every phenomenon it seemed important to analyse this experience in the hope of a satisfactory explanation. The experience referred to is the aesthetic experience provoked by works of art. The plan for the thesis involved trying to establish whether the aesthetic experience is unique and individual, or whether it is one that is experienced universally. Each question that arises in the course of this exploration promotes a dialectical reaction. I rely on the history of aesthetics as a philosophical discipline to supply the answers. This study concentrates on the efforts by philosophers and critical theorists to understand the tensions between the empirical and the emotional, the individual and the universal responses to the sociological, political and material conditions that prevail and are expressed through the medium of art. What I found is that the history of aesthetics is full of contradictory evidence and cannot provide a dogmatic solution to the questions posed. In fact what is indicated is that the mystery that attaches to the aesthetic experience is one that can also apply to the spiritual or transcendent experience. The aim of this thesis is to support the contribution of visual art in the spiritual well being of human development and supports the uniqueness of the evaluation and aesthetic judgement by the individual of a work of art. I suggest that mystery will continue to be of value in the holistic development of human beings and this mystery can be expressed through visual art. Furthermore, this thesis might suggest that what could be looked at is whether a work of art may be redemptive in its affect and offset the current decline in affective religious practice.

Identification concept and the use of probabilities in forensic odontology--an approach by philosophical discussion.

This paper questions the practitioners' deterministic approach(es) in forensic identification and notes the limits of their conclusions in order to encourage a discussion to question current practices. With this end in view, a hypothetical discussion between an expert in dentistry and an enthusiastic member of a jury, eager to understand the scientific principles of evidence interpretation, is presented. This discussion will lead us to regard any argument aiming at identification as probabilistic.

Speed Limit Questions? Here’s Your Answer, July 6, 2005

Iowa’s speed regulations are based on the same basic speed law that is used in all 50 states: “Any person driving a motor vehicle on a highway shall drive the same at a careful and prudent speed not greater than nor less than is reasonable and proper, having due regard to the traffic, surface, and width of the highway and of any other conditions then existing, and no person shall drive any vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than will permit the person to bring it to a stop within the assured clear distance ahead, such driver having the right to assume, however, that all persons using said highway will observe the law.” Statutory limits are based on the concept that uniform categories of highways can be traveled safely at certain preset maximum speeds under ideal conditions. Whether the speed limit is posted or unposted, drivers should reduce their speed below these values in poor weather, heavy traffic, and under other potentially hazardous conditions.

Speed Limit Questions? Here’s Your Answer, February 8, 2010

Iowa’s speed regulations are based on the same basic speed law that is used in all 50 states: “Any person driving a motor vehicle on a highway shall drive the same at a careful and prudent speed not greater than nor less than is reasonable and proper, having due regard to the traffic, surface, and width of the highway and of any other conditions then existing, and no person shall drive any vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than will permit the person to bring it to a stop within the assured clear distance ahead, such driver having the right to assume, however, that all persons using said highway will observe the law.” Statutory limits are based on the concept that uniform categories of highways can be traveled safely at certain preset maximum speeds under ideal conditions. Whether the speed limit is posted or unposted, drivers should reduce their speed below these values in poor weather, heavy traffic, and under other potentially hazardous conditions.

L'intersubjectivité en questions. Introduction

La notion d'intersubjectivité est au coeur des débats contemporains dans le champ de la psychologie. L'intersubjectivité traverse en effet les différentes approches de la psychologie, des neurosciences à la psychologie sociale, des perspectives développementales aux approches psychoaffectives de la personnalité, des contextes de l'apprentissage à ceux du soin. Cet ouvrage collectif, premier volume de la collection Actualités psychologiques, se propose de faire le point sur cette notion et d'apporter des pistes actuelles de compréhension aux enjeux de la place de l'autre et de l'altérité dans la construction du sujet. Des chercheurs de renommée internationale, de Suisse et de différents pays européens, apportent ici leur contribution, dans différents domaines de la psychologie, invitant au dialogue entre les modèles théoriques qui sous-tendent la notion d'intersubjectivité et entre les méthodologies qui permettent d'en appréhender la dynamique. Contribution exceptionnelle, cet ouvrage est à destination de tous, psychologues praticiens et professionnels de la relation, chercheurs et étudiants en psychologie ou dans des disciplines connexes. Il permet d'approcher l'intersubjectivité comme une notion tout à la fois familière et complexe, au service de la rencontre de l'autre.

Can the administration be trusted? An analysis of the concept of trust, applied to the public sector

In the first part of this paper, we present the various academic debates and, where applicable, questions that remain open in the literature, particularly regarding the nature of trust, the distinction between trust and trustworthiness, its role in specific relationships and its relationship to control. We then propose a way of demarcating and operationalizing the concepts of trust and trustworthiness. In the second part, on the basis of the conceptual clarifications we present, we put forward a number of "anchor points" regarding how trust is apprehended in the public sector with regard to the various relations hips that can be studied. Schematically, we distinguish between two types of relations hips in the conceptual approach to trust: on one hand, the trust that citizens, or third parties, place in the State or in various public sector authorities or entities, and on the other hand, trust within the State or the public sector, between its various authorities, entities, and actors. While studies have traditionally focused on citizens' trust in their institutions, the findings, limitations and problems observed in public - sector coordination following the reforms associated with New Public Management have also elicited growing interest in the study of trust in the relationships between the various actors within the public sector. Both the theoretical debates we present and our propositions have been extracted and adapted from an empirical comparative study of coordination between various Swiss public - service organizations and their politico - administrative authority. Using the analysis model developed for this specific relationship, between various actors within the public service, and in the light of theoretical elements on which development of this model was based, we propose some avenues for further study - questions that remain open - regarding the consideration and understanding of citizens' trust in the public sector.

Situational awareness concept in a multinational collaboration environment : challenges in the information sharing framework

Technological capabilities are built to support different types of collaboration, and this gives the justification to widely observe, how activity environments are influenced by technology. Technology as an enabler can be addressed from different perspectives, other than merely technological. Dynamic, evolving environment is at the same time interesting but also challenging. As a multinational collaboration environment, the maritime surveillance is an good example of time critical and evolving environment, where technological solutions enable new ways of collaboration. Justification for the inspiration to use maritime environment as the baseline for understanding the challenges in creating and maintaining adequate level of situational awareness, derives from the complexity of the collaboration and information sharing environment elements, needed to be taken into account, when analyzing criticalities related to decision making. Situational awareness is an important element supporting decision making, and challenges related to it can also be observed in the maritime environment. This dissertation describes the structures and factors involved in this complex setting, found from the case studies that should be taken into account when trying to understand, how these elements affect the activities. This dissertation focuses on the gray area that is between a life threatening situation and normal everyday activities. From the multinational experimentation series case studies, MNE5 and MNE6 it was possible to observe situations that were not life threatening for the participants themselves, but not also basic every day activities. These case studies provided a unique possibility to see situations, where gaining of situational awareness and decision making are challenged with time critical crisis situations. Unfortunately organizations do not normally take the benefit from the everyday work to prepare themselves for possible emerging crisis situations. This dissertation focuses on creating a conceptual model and a concept that supports organizations – also outside the maritime community – to improve their ability to support gaining of situational awareness from the individual training level, all the way to changes in organizational structures in aiming for better support for decision making from the individual level to the highest decision making level. Quick changes and unpredictability are reality in organizations and organizations do not have the possibility to control all the factors that affect their functioning. Since we cannot be prepared for everything, and predict every crisis, individual activities inside teams and as a part of organizations, need to be supported with guidance, tools and training in order to support acting in challenging situations. In fact the ideology of the conceptual model created, lies especially in the aim of not controlling everything in beforehand, but supporting organizations with concrete procedures to help individuals to react in different, unpredictable situations, instead of focusing on traditional risk prevention and management. Technological capabilities are not automatically solutions for functional challenges; this is why it is justified to broaden the problem area observation from the technological perspective. This dissertation demonstrates that it is possible to support collaboration in a multinational environment with technological solutions, but it requires the recognition of technological limitations and accepting the possible restrictions related to technological innovations. Technology should not be considered value per se, the value of technology should be defined according to the support of activities, including strategic and operational environment evaluation, identification of organizational elements, and taking into account also the social factors and their challenges. Then we are one step closer to providing technological solutions that support the actual activities by taking into account the variables of the activity environment in question. The multidisciplinary view to approach the information sharing and collaboration framework, is derived especially from the complexity of decision making and building of situational awareness, since they are not build or created in vacuity, but in the organizational framework by the people doing it with the technological capabilities, enabled by the organizational structures. Introduced case studies were related to maritime environment, but according to the research results, it is valid to argue, that based on the lessons learned it is possible to create and further develop conceptual model and to create a general concept to support a wider range of organizations in their attempt to gain better level of situational awareness (SA) and to support decision making. To proof the versatile usage of the developed concept, I have introduced the case study findings to the health care environment and reflected the identified elements from the trauma center to the created concept. The main contribution to complete this adventure is the presented situational awareness concept created in the respect to NATO concept structure. This has been done to tackle the challenge of collaboration by focusing on situational awareness in the information sharing context by providing a theoretical ground and understanding, of how these issues should be approached, and how these elements can be generalized and used to support activities in other environments as well. This dissertation research has been a several year evolving process reflecting and affecting presented case studies and this learning experience from the case studies has also affected the goals and research questions of this dissertation. This venture has been written from a retro perspective according to ideology of process modeling and design rationale to present to the reader how this entire journey took place and what where the critical milestones that affected the end result, conceptual model. Support in a challenging information sharing framework can be provided with the right type of combination of tools, procedures and individual effort. This dissertation will provide insights to those with a new approach to war technology for the organizations to gain a better level of awareness and to improve the capabilities in decision making. This dissertation will present, from the war technology starting point, a new approach and possibility for the organizations to create a better level of awareness and support for decision making with the right combination of tools, procedures and individual effort.

La réception du concept d'indépendance de la magistrature à Madagascar

Il est connu que ceux qui ne s’informent pas sur leur passé seront toujours condamnés à répéter les mêmes erreurs et pour déterminer où aller il faut d’abord savoir d’où on vient . La thèse se penche sur l’analyse de plus de deux siècles d’histoire de l’appareil judiciaire malgache à la lumière du concept d’indépendance de la magistrature. L’auteur porte une analyse rétrospective sur une assez longue période qui s’étend de la fin du XVIIIème siècle à nos jours au cours de laquelle il essaie de comprendre l’ensemble des situations ayant prévalu dans le pays témoin, avant, pendant et après la colonisation française. Cette thèse tente d’apporter des argumentaires nouveaux et une méthodologie d’approche nouvelle dans l’analyse de l’appareil judiciaire d’un pays anciennement colonisé. Il s’agit de mettre de côté certaines idées reçues sur les situations des systèmes juridiques des pays anciennement colonisés, notamment malgache et africains. L’étude remet en cause quelques préjugés d’antan qui marquent encore les esprits relativement aux situations précoloniales, à l’arrivée des modèles juridiques occidentaux et plus particulièrement au concept d’indépendance de la magistrature et sa consistance actuelle dans les anciennes colonies, à l’instar de la Grande Île. A travers l'étude du cas particulier de Madagascar, la thèse apporte des réponses à plusieurs questions suscitées par l’acculturation du système juridique des anciennes colonies à partir de leur contact avec les modèles juridiques occidentaux. La question spécifique de recherche consiste à déterminer si le concept d’indépendance de la magistrature est déjà entré dans le système juridique des pays anciennement colonisés comme Madagascar. Pour l’auteur, le concept d’indépendance de la magistrature tel que compris en Occident n’a jamais fait son véritable entrée à Madagascar. Le cadre théorique adopté pour la vérification de l’hypothèse combine le positivisme juridique avec les approches anthropologique et sociologique et se distingue des recherches presque exclusivement positivistes antérieures. Dans la première partie, l’auteur propose le cadre théorique de recherche et rapporte les modes de règlements des conflits à l’époque précoloniale. L’analyse anthropologique de la période a démontré que le concept d’indépendance de la magistrature fut inconnu des traditions judiciaires précoloniales même si une certaine influence occidentale imprégnait le processus de métissage spontanée diligenté par les souverains successifs. Dans la seconde partie, l’auteur livre une analyse de la période coloniale et postcoloniale jusqu’à l’époque contemporaine. Pour la période coloniale, l’ouvrage relate, d’une part, les multiples mesures prises durant les années coloniales, qui éloignèrent le modèle juridique colonial implanté à Madagascar du modèle juridique français original de la métropole. D’autre part, il mesure les impacts de l’instauration du modèle colonial sur les traditions juridiques malgaches précoloniales. Contrairement aux idées reçues, le modèle juridique français et tous ses concepts clés, notamment le concept de séparation des pouvoirs et celui d’indépendance de la magistrature ne furent pas transmis à Madagascar par le fait de la conquête. Ensuite, il a survolé la magistrature des trois républiques successives depuis l’indépendance acquise en 1960. En premier lieu, par une analyse résolument positiviste l’auteur analyse les imperfections initiales des choix et des mesures prises lors de la mise en place du nouveau système juridique de la jeune république durant les premières années de l’indépendance et dont la magistrature malgache est encore tributaire aujourd’hui. En second lieu, par une démarche à la fois positiviste et sociologique, il démontre que les valeurs du concept d’indépendance de la magistrature, reconnues par le système politique et timidement repris par le système juridique, n’ont pas réussi jusqu’ici à pénétrer le cœur de ce dernier

Utilisation du concept de connectivité en hydrologie : définitions, approches expérimentales et éléments de modélisation

Alors que certains mécanismes pourtant jugés cruciaux pour la transformation de la pluie en débit restent peu ou mal compris, le concept de connectivité hydrologique a récemment été proposé pour expliquer pourquoi certains processus sont déclenchés de manière épisodique en fonction des caractéristiques des événements de pluie et de la teneur en eau des sols avant l’événement. L’adoption de ce nouveau concept en hydrologie reste cependant difficile puisqu’il n’y a pas de consensus sur la définition de la connectivité, sa mesure, son intégration dans les modèles hydrologiques et son comportement lors des transferts d’échelles spatiales et temporelles. Le but de ce travail doctoral est donc de préciser la définition, la mesure, l’agrégation et la prédiction des processus liés à la connectivité hydrologique en s’attardant aux questions suivantes : 1) Quel cadre méthodologique adopter pour une étude sur la connectivité hydrologique ?, 2) Comment évaluer le degré de connectivité hydrologique des bassins versants à partir de données de terrain ?, et 3) Dans quelle mesure nos connaissances sur la connectivité hydrologique doivent-elles conduire à la modification des postulats de modélisation hydrologique ? Trois approches d’étude sont différenciées, soit i) une approche de type « boite noire », basée uniquement sur l’exploitation des données de pluie et de débits sans examiner le fonctionnement interne du bassin versant ; ii) une approche de type « boite grise » reposant sur l’étude de données géochimiques ponctuelles illustrant la dynamique interne du bassin versant ; et iii) une approche de type « boite blanche » axée sur l’analyse de patrons spatiaux exhaustifs de la topographie de surface, la topographie de subsurface et l’humidité du sol. Ces trois approches sont ensuite validées expérimentalement dans le bassin versant de l’Hermine (Basses Laurentides, Québec). Quatre types de réponses hydrologiques sont distingués en fonction de leur magnitude et de leur synchronisme, sachant que leur présence relative dépend des conditions antécédentes. Les forts débits enregistrés à l’exutoire du bassin versant sont associés à une contribution accrue de certaines sources de ruissellement, ce qui témoigne d’un lien hydraulique accru et donc d’un fort degré de connectivité hydrologique entre les sources concernées et le cours d’eau. Les aires saturées couvrant des superficies supérieures à 0,85 ha sont jugées critiques pour la genèse de forts débits de crue. La preuve est aussi faite que les propriétés statistiques des patrons d’humidité du sol en milieu forestier tempéré humide sont nettement différentes de celles observées en milieu de prairie tempéré sec, d’où la nécessité d’utiliser des méthodes de calcul différentes pour dériver des métriques spatiales de connectivité dans les deux types de milieux. Enfin, la double existence de sources contributives « linéaires » et « non linéaires » est mise en évidence à l’Hermine. Ces résultats suggèrent la révision de concepts qui sous-tendent l’élaboration et l’exécution des modèles hydrologiques. L’originalité de cette thèse est le fait même de son sujet. En effet, les objectifs de recherche poursuivis sont conformes à la théorie hydrologique renouvelée qui prône l’arrêt des études de particularismes de petite échelle au profit de l’examen des propriétés émergentes des bassins versants telles que la connectivité hydrologique. La contribution majeure de cette thèse consiste ainsi en la proposition d’une définition unifiée de la connectivité, d’un cadre méthodologique, d’approches de mesure sur le terrain, d’outils techniques et de pistes de solution pour la modélisation des systèmes hydrologiques.

Academic Integrity Yes or No - Questions Only

A set of questions to be used in class to introduce the concept of academic integrity.

'Does this compromise your design?' Interactionally producing a design concept in talk

How a design concept was interactionally produced in the talk-in-interaction between an architect and client representatives was studied. The empirical analysis was informed by ethnomethodology and conversation analysis to observe structures and patterns of talk that accomplished actions and practices of design. Some differences were observed between the properties of the design concept in comparison with the design ideas that were considered during these conversations. The design concept was observed to be significant for assessing why some moves in a design space were considered better than others. The importance of the design concept to these interactions raised more general questions about what a design concept is and how it can be described as an object type. With reference to studies of science, technology and society these concerns were provisionally engaged with and further study of the object properties of design concepts is suggested.

Processing of wh-questions in a case of posterior cortical atrophy

Posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) is a type of dementia that is characterized by visuo-spatial and memory deficits, dyslexia and dysgraphia, relatively early onset and preserved insight. Language deficits have been reported in some cases of PCA. Using an off-line grammaticality judgement task, processing of wh-questions is investigated in a case of PCA. Other aspects of auditory language are also reported. It is shown that processing of wh-questions is influenced by syntactic structure, a novel finding in this condition. The results are discussed with reference to accounts of wh-questions in aphasia. An uneven profile of other language abilities is reported with deficits in digit span (forward, backward), story retelling ability, comparative questions but intact abilities in following commands, repetition, concept definition, generative naming and discourse comprehension.

Neww challenges in the luxury universe: an exploratory study of the concept of luxury experience in the Brazilian market from the perspective of brands and consumers: a case study of Pati Piva.

Luxury has evolved over the centuries; new challenges have created questions of appropriate strategies for brands. Experience and authenticity became important aspects in the field: consumers are enjoying more material comfort and there is a trend of a cultural shift for personal fulfillment and aspiration through experience. The biggest challenge for today's luxury marketers is to not only talk to the target, but to understand how the target is shifting, while not alienating consumers and damaging the brand´s image. Considering managers and consumers perspectives separately, it would be possible to conclude that their perceptions are congruent, as many studies have presented. However, if perspectives are put together and compared, different realities could emerge. This exploratory research is based on a case study that describes both perspectives of their perception on luxury experience, consumer behavior and consumption motivations, and luxury retailing. It was developed interviews with the brand owner and 10 brand´s consumers, and also indirect observations in the brands distribution formats. In the brand perspective, the case study has shown that luxury experience involves the construction of brand experience strategy based on products, multiple retail channels, consumer engagement, personal activity, exploration of five senses and other forms. In the consumer´s perspective, results revealed that brand consumers interviwed have different luxury experience perceptions and expectations; however, what is common is that service and quality must be maintained and they reflected the overall experience. Additionally, luxury retailing influences directly the consumer´s perception that must integrate multiple channels to fulfill personal demands. The research makes contributions for both actors - brand and consumer, in the sense that translates theoretical concepts of the experience itself and tries to clarify aspects that are still unknown and explored through the exploration of ways to detect the alignment between brand and consumer expectations of the experience.