Browsing University of Galway Theses (PhD Theses) by Subject "Philosophy"
Now showing items 1-20 of 26
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The aesthetics of challenge: Mario Perniola and Dandyism
(NUI Galway, 2021-01-06)This thesis compares the work of the Italian philosopher and writer Mario Perniola and the phenomenon of dandyism. Specifically, it focuses on Perniola’s aesthetic and philosophical thought in order to develop and explore ... -
Anti-Inflammatory Gene Therapy for the Promotion of Implanted Stem Cell Survival in Infarcted Myocardium
(2011-04-13)Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the developed world and is responsible for approximately 36% of Irish mortality. Myocardial infarction (MI), which is literally the death of cardiac tissue due to ... -
Being played
(2015-09)This thesis is an examination of kinaesthetic play from the lived experience of the player. The aim of this work is to show that the value of play runs much deeper than its applications and that play should be understood ... -
Between Logic and Rhetoric
(2012-02)In The Uses of Argument (1958), Stephen E. Toulmin produced a model, analogous to procedures in jurisprudence, for the layout of arguments. He was seeking to provide a method of accommodating arguments in a wide range of ... -
A conceptual history of the idea of self-causation: from Plato's forms to Hegel's concrete universal
(2015-09-29)The dissertation is a historical-cum-conceptual examination of the idea of self-causation (causa sui). In the Western metaphysical tradition, self-causation has been understood in two ways: (i.) as an individual existent’s ... -
Correction of the Aberrations of the Eye Using Adaptive Optics with Pupil Tracking
(2011-09-01)Adaptive optics has long been used in the astronomical telescopes to acquire high resolution images via the real time correction of the rapidly changing wavefront aberrations. Human retinal images also suffer from rapidly ... -
The dark side of humanity: psychopathy, psychiatry and human nature
(2017-10-11)Psychopathy or antisocial personality disorder is generally conceived as a neurophysiological disorder undermining moral reasoning or sentiment, leading to behaviour which contravenes social and moral norms. This psychiatric ... -
Equally existing objects: Tracing the emergence of non-hierarchical being through film and Occupy Wall Street
(NUI Galway, 2017-04-06)This project aims to trace the emergence of a non-hierarchical being, from 1999 to roughly 2013. The type of being under discussion is one that allows for all things to equally exist, outside of a human-world correlation, ... -
Ethics and assisted dying in the Republic of Ireland
(NUI Galway, 2021-09-13)‘Ethics and Assisted Dying in the Republic of Ireland’ argues that active assistance in dying can be morally permissible in limited contexts. Where an individual is suffering from an irremediable chronic or terminal illness ... -
The ethics of narrative form in Gaskell, Dickens, and Eliot
(2016-05-03)This thesis explores Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South, Charles Dickens’s Our Mutual Friend, and George Eliot’s Daniel Deronda through the lens of rhetorical narratology to offer conclusions for realism, metafiction, and ... -
Expression and silence: the language of phenomenology in Wittgenstein and Heidegger
(NUI Galway, 2018-10-31)This thesis is a comparative study of Wittgenstein and Heidegger in relation to their engagement with the problem of phenomenological expression. My central argument is that by reading Wittgenstein in this way, we can begin ... -
Faith, reason, and the limits of linguistic expression: An investigation of Søren Kierkegaard and Immanuel Kant
(NUI Galway, 2020-03-02)There exists an apparent conflict or disjunction between religious faith and reason – one that manifests in a tangible way as a clash between secular and religious ways of looking at the world. When we contextualize this ... -
Hannah Arendt and mass evil: A critical examination of Arendt's concepts of banality and Ideology
(NUI Galway, 2020-02-27)ABSTRACT This thesis explicates Hannah Arendt’s understanding of mass evildoing. Arendt’s approach to mass evil is grounded in her analysis of the historical periods of the Third Reich and the Soviet regime under Stalin ... -
An Infrastructure for Privacy-Enabled Sharing of Context Data
(2011-08-29)The concept of context originated in the ubiquitous computing domain where information regarding the user's situation was gathered using sensing devices, allowing the application to automatically adapt according to the ... -
The Kantian foundation of Aby Warburg’s theory of culture: An interpretation of the concept of orientation
(NUI Galway, 2021-05-05)The aim of this work is to provide an interpretation of Aby Warburg’s scholarship highlighting its connections with Kant’s philosophy in order to offer a more systematic account of its scope and principles. Although it is ... -
Mindfulness and painting: the relevance of Dufrenne
(2016-05-27)This thesis examines the relationship between painting and mindfulness, including the notion of painting as a mindfulness based intervention. This premise is explored with reference to the aesthetics of Mikel Dufrenne. ... -
The ontology of technology: a Heideggerian perspective
(2016-06-30)The question concerning technology lies at the heart of human existence. As such it must take a central place in philosophy today. This importance, however, is veiled by a historical interpretation of technology as ... -
The people’s saviours? Voluntary activism in Dublin and Toronto in the age of the influenza pandemic, 1900-1920
(NUI Galway, 2020-08-31)This study compares the nature of voluntary action in early twentieth century Dublin and Toronto, with particular reference to grassroots activism during the Influenza Pandemic of 1918-20. It focuses on the relief operations ... -
Poetry in the digital age: A Heideggerian account
(NUI Galway, 2021-06-29)For Heidegger, technology is the greatest danger because, it blocks the unconcealment of truth. As Heidegger equates poetry with truth, such a view of technology implies bleak consequences for poetry; in fact, it questions ... -
The precautionary ecosystem health principle: Weak anthropocentrism, environmental ethics, and sustainability
(2015-01-20)This thesis will propose that an innovative synthesis between 'ecosystem health' (EH) and the 'precautionary principle' (PP) can open up new and fruitful avenues for sustainability theory. My precautionary ecosystem health ...