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- Title
- A Thomistic Critique of the Ethics of Alasdair MacIntyre.
- Creator
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Otte, Marcus, Jones, Donald, Marien, Daniel, Strawser, Michael, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Alasdair MacIntyre argues in favor of a historicist Thomism in ethics and political philosophy. In his theory, sociological categories take up much of the space traditionally occupied by metaphysics. This peculiar feature of MacIntyre's Thomism, and its merits and demerits, is already a subject that has been taken up by many critics. In this thesis, these criticisms are supplemented and unified by identifying what is perhaps the most fundamental difficulty with MacIntyre's ethics: his version...
Show moreAlasdair MacIntyre argues in favor of a historicist Thomism in ethics and political philosophy. In his theory, sociological categories take up much of the space traditionally occupied by metaphysics. This peculiar feature of MacIntyre's Thomism, and its merits and demerits, is already a subject that has been taken up by many critics. In this thesis, these criticisms are supplemented and unified by identifying what is perhaps the most fundamental difficulty with MacIntyre's ethics: his version of Thomism is problematic because it treats epistemology as first philosophy. This misstep compromises MacIntyre's ability to provide a defense of moral objectivity, while also undermining his theory's usefulness in deriving moral rules. The result is an ethics of doubtful coherence. If Thomism is to offer a viable alternative to Enlightenment morality and Nietzschean genealogy, it must defend the priority of metaphysics with respect to epistemology.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2014
- Identifier
- CFE0005537, ucf:50322
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005537
- Title
- THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS IN LA VIDA DE LAZARILLO DE TORMES Y DE SUS FORTUNAS Y ADVERSIDADES.
- Creator
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Giblin, John, Garcia, Martha, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
To the modern critic, La vida de Lazarillo de Tormes y de sus aventuras y adversidades poses many problems. One cannot arrive at the book's precise meaning because the author remains unknown. If critics were to know who wrote the book, they would identify similarities between the book and the author's life to approximate the book's moral, or its lack of one. Additionally, some commentators view the book as incomplete or unfinished; although the author developed the first three tratados, the...
Show moreTo the modern critic, La vida de Lazarillo de Tormes y de sus aventuras y adversidades poses many problems. One cannot arrive at the book's precise meaning because the author remains unknown. If critics were to know who wrote the book, they would identify similarities between the book and the author's life to approximate the book's moral, or its lack of one. Additionally, some commentators view the book as incomplete or unfinished; although the author developed the first three tratados, the final four tratados seem short and incomplete. Does this diminish the book's purpose? Can the readers still fruitfully discover the book's meaning in an incomplete story? Modern critics have utilized the book's artistic elements, such as its linguistic structure, themes and temporal structure, to arrive at an interpretation of it. Others have compared the book with classical European folklore and other period literary works. This thesis proposes a synthesis of the latter two approaches. This thesis will analyze, using irony and foreshadowing, how the seven tratados correlate or fail to correlate with the seven deadly sins.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2011
- Identifier
- CFH0003769, ucf:44759
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0003769
- Title
- Bridging Discourse: Connections Between Institutional and Lay Natural Philosophical Texts in Medieval England.
- Creator
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Lorden, Alayne, Larson, Peter, Zhang, Hong, Crepeau, Richard, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Translations of works containing Arabic and ancient Greek knowledge of the philosophical and mechanical underpinnings of the natural world(-)a field of study called natural philosophy(-)were disseminated throughout twelfth-century England. During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, institutional (ecclesiastical/university) scholars received and further developed this natural philosophical knowledge by reconciling it with Christian authoritative sources (the Bible and works by the Church...
Show moreTranslations of works containing Arabic and ancient Greek knowledge of the philosophical and mechanical underpinnings of the natural world(-)a field of study called natural philosophy(-)were disseminated throughout twelfth-century England. During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, institutional (ecclesiastical/university) scholars received and further developed this natural philosophical knowledge by reconciling it with Christian authoritative sources (the Bible and works by the Church Fathers). The subsequent discourse that developed demonstrated ambivalence towards natural philosophical knowledge; institutional scholars expressed both acceptance and anxiety regarding the theory and practice of alchemy, astrology/astronomy, and humoral/astrological medicine. While the institutional development and discourse surrounding natural philosophical thought is well-represented within medieval scholarship, an examination of the transmission and reception of this institutional discourse by broader sectors of English medieval society is needed. Examining fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Middle English public writings, texts, and copies of Latin works provides an important avenue of analysis when exploring the transmission and reception of institutional natural philosophical discourse to the laity. By comparing the similarities of discourse evident between the institutional and lay texts and the textual approaches the Middle English writers employed to incorporate this discourse, these works demonstrate that the spheres of institutional and lay knowledge traditionally separated by medieval historians overlapped as the clerics and laity began sharing a similar understanding of the philosophical underpinnings of the natural world.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2015
- Identifier
- CFE0005830, ucf:50916
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005830
