Philosophy (Theses)

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The new theory of vision and its role in Berkeley’s philosophical system
(2024-10-18) Slattery, Órla
This thesis examines George Berkeley’s New Theory of Vision and considers its role within his overall philosophical system. While the core claims of the New Theory and their relation to the later works has engaged much scholarly attention, we will seek to address persistent exegetical difficulties which mask the complexity of Berkeley’s account of visual spatial perception. While much of our discussion will focus on the relationship between the New Theory and the Principles and Three Dialogues, our analysis will extend to all of the works published between 1709 and 1733; the period commencing with the first publication of the essay on vision and concluding with the publication of Alciphron and the Theory of Vision Vindicated. I will seek to establish that Berkeley never abandons the core claims of his essay on vision and that this work has a central role in enabling him to achieve his larger philosophical ambitions. My overall aim is twofold: to offer a reinterpretation of the New Theory of Vision and to demonstrate that once its central doctrines are correctly understood, this work forms an integral part of Berkeley’s overall philosophical system. One of my central interpretative claims is that Berkeley devotes the New Theory to offering a positive account of spatial perception. I will seek to show that this account of spatial perception offers a significant insight into the role of finite volition in Berkeley’s system and commits him to the constitutive volition thesis. I will seek to establish that his account of spatial perception forms an integral part of his larger metaphysical ambit, and that he seeks to offer a positive account of spatial perception with a view to countermanding the Newtonian account of absolute space. I will also examine the relationship between Divine and finite spirits in Berkeley’s system. I will conclude by suggesting that the account of agent causation which we attribute to Berkeley is one that he would have assented to on theological grounds, as it enables him to establish the providence of an immanent Deity and thereby enshrine the unity of God and Man.
Wittgenstein looking at Wittgenstein: a critical analysis of the self reflexive logical evolution of Wittgenstein's work
(2024-09-25) O'Toole, Martina
This thesis traces the evolution of Wittgenstein‟s work through the set theoretic concept of the infinite and the generated problems of Russell‟s paradox and self reference, which I argue develops through three distinct phases as presented in his early, middle and later work. I contend that considering Wittgenstein‟s work through the lens of these specific concepts is pivotal in identifying and understanding the logical evolution from his early to later work, which I argue represents a logical evolution from a closed to an open logical model wherein the influence of Russell proves critical. I identify these concepts as the key to understanding the crucial self reflexive dynamic operative between Wittgenstein‟s early and later work, which I claim further extends to understanding Wittgenstein‟s diametrically opposed early and later positions on the status of the activity of logical analysis, the referential and non referential use of language and his position on the logical distinction between a primary and secondary language. His position on the latter proves methodologically essential, illustrating how these core concepts are the logical means by which this distinction evolves, ultimately framing the move from a closed to an open logical model. Through the inversion of the primary secondary language distinction, I consider Wittgenstein‟s later work on aspect seeing as structurally and conceptually reflective of Russell‟s open logical model of type theory, arguing that Wittgenstein comes to accept in his later writings aspects of Russell‟s position that he had rejected in his early writings. In Wittgenstein‟s later open logical model of aspect seeing the primary secondary language distinction functions not only as the mechanism by means of which logical analysis operates, but also as a meta-analysis of Wittgenstein earlier work. This allows us to retrospectively engage with Wittgenstein‟s own particular form of linguistic aspect seeing, where we encounter the inherent self reflexive nature of this logical evolution allowing us to linguistically observe Wittgenstein looking at Wittgenstein.
Heidegger on truth and subjectivity: a nihilistic interpretation
(2023-09-29) Lansdaal, Tijmen
This research offers an original interpretation of Heidegger's philosophy, which can be termed 'nihilistic' with reference to Heidegger's notion of nothingness and his reception of nihilism. The interpretation contributes to Heideggerian scholarship by clearing up two controversies surrounding the interpretation of his philosophy, relating to truth and subjectivity. On the proposed reading, these two topics are related. Truth concerns the 'disclosure' of human existence, or in other words, the self-manifestation of human existence. For Heidegger, the experience of angst is insightful for this sense of truth. On his account, angst is a 'fundamental mood' that makes apparent a kind of 'nothingness', which can also be described as the 'uncanniness' of human existence. Ultimately, the interpretation proposes that these notions refer to the ineffable opacity of human existence. It makes for a conception of truth that is dialetheic, and for this reason unconventional. Countering the dogma that truth must be in opposition to falsity and re-interpreting the idea of a contradiction, uncanniness presents a sense of truth that is conflictual and self-effacing. Whereas Heidegger sees this issue as foundational to the history of philosophy, the current paradigm for Heideggerian research explicitly denounces the importance of contemplating nothingness, and in that way misrepresents Heidegger's way of thinking. The correct interpretation must be nihilistic, even if this complicates the normative character of his thinking. It may be bound by an explicit norm, but it nonetheless takes measure in reticence, being compelled to this by guilt over its own ineffability.
A metaphilosophical defense of Wittgenstein's conception of polythetic methods of analysis
(2022-04-06) Cunneen, Martin
This thesis advances a metaphilosophical interpretation of Wittgenstein’s later conception of philosophy and specifically, its emphasis on a plurality of different philosophical methods. The thesis aims to achieve three things. The first task is to clarify the meaning of Wittgenstein’s emphasis on methods. This is attained by defending a metaphilosophical interpretation of methods as polythetic. I argue that Wittgenstein’s later emphasis on methods consists of a polythetic account of numerous different methods. The diversity of the methods is a necessary consequence that results from two distinct sources of conceptual confusions. These relate to grammatical confusions and confusions resulting from captivations that Wittgenstein identifies as numerous aspects of scientism. The second is to develop the potential application that the metaphilosophical analysis and defence of polythetic methods can offer to current exegetical controversies, relating to the meaning of methods (PI 133). The metaphilosophical interpretation of methods rejects both grammatical and therapeutic interpretations as having missed the metaphilosophical context of Wittgenstein’s emphasis on methods. It is argued that the complexity of the sources of confusions determine the form of methods to be polythetic and far more complex and diverse than either grammatical or therapeutic interpretations would permit. Thirdly, in concluding, the thesis claims that the metaphilosophical interpretation of methods and its defence of the polythetic conception of methods has several potential applications. This is evident in the need for new diverse methods of analysis that require dynamic forms of conceptual analysis, as well as diverse multiple conceptions of methods.
‘Standing in the Gap’: A Theological Reflection on The Meaning, Value and Significance of Faith in The Life and Ministry of Healthcare Chaplains
(2022-03-30) Naughton, Margaret T.
To date, there has been a dearth of research in the area of Healthcare Chaplaincy, particularly in the Irish context. The literature recognises this and indeed, calls for a rebalance, especially by chaplains themselves. Framed around the trigger question, ‘Do chaplains need to be people of faith?’ this thesis seeks to redress the gap in research and begin a process of reflection and growth in this area. This study is supported and framed by the action-reflection-action methodology which is at the heart of the Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) model of teaching and learning. At the centre of CPE, is what Anton Boisen has called, ‘living human documents’, or in other words, the human person. At the heart of this thesis, is the narrative of twenty-six chaplains. It is their narrative, their experience and their story which help to provide significant insight into the ministry of the contemporary chaplain. This study is further supported by theological reflection, an integral part of the CPE process. Using the Whiteheads’ model of theological reflection, which encompasses experience, culture and tradition, it has been possible to undertake a process of theological reflection on the meaning, value and significance of faith in the life and ministry of Healthcare Chaplains. Having explored each of these dialogue partners, the thesis then moves to an exploration of the fruits of the dialogue. This is done by using a bespoke method of theological reflection – a new and fresh approach to the discipline. In other words, in crafting a new method of theological reflection, this thesis, is able to attend to the experience of the chaplains, explore what the experience has to say, before then moving to name new insights and areas for transformation and growth.
An enquiry into contemporary relativism: arguing in favour of irrealist metaethics
(2021-11-08) Breen, Paul
This project will firstly set out to argue that relativism is a viable and defensible stance which can be taken up in many contemporary philosophical debates. This will be achieved firstly by drafting an overview of the lineage of relativist theories; a pivotal task, due to the fact that there is no clear “school” of relativism – as there is in other areas of philosophy. Of course, the history of this theory is perhaps more a history of attempts to refute it than anything else. For this reason, it will be crucial to address some of the many concerns that have been voiced about the implications of a relativist approach over the years. Once these matters have been sufficiently addressed, there will be solid ground on which this project may build a unique moral perspective. Ultimately, it will be argued that relativism is an available stance within moral irrealism and that a moral irrealist relativism would be an attractive position to take up in contemporary metaethical debate.
The creativity of life: Husserl, Henry and beyond
(2021-04-06) Schaefer, Max
This work investigates the nature of transcendental subjectivity, and whether and how the subject can endeavour to know and attest to its absolute foundation with its essential structures. Towards this end, I take up the respective transcendental projects of Edmund Husserl and Michel Henry. I argue that while Henry’s identification of transcendental subjectivity with the bodily life of the subject helps further our understanding of these matters as initially laid out in Husserl, his position requires revision, as it points toward, but fails to sufficiently develop, the finite (intentional) and destructive character of the phenomenological life of the living individual. Accordingly, I contend that transcendental subjectivity can be understood neither as an absolute consciousness (Husserl), nor as a divine, a-cosmic flesh (Henry), but must be acknowledged as nothing other than the finite, embodied person in her ineluctable bond with the world, one which harbours both life and death drives. In light of this finding, I suggest that the living subject can most fully come to know and attest to the foundation of her being not only through the practice of phenomenology, but through other forms of culture such as art, ethics and science as well.
Crisis and problematicity : Europe from the perspectives of Edmund Husserl and Jan Patocka
(2020-01-22) Girardi, Lorenzo
Abstract English During the past century a discourse of crisis has accompanied the discourse on Europe. While there has been talk of various crises in relation to Europe, up until a certain point in the 20th century the dominant crisis was a crisis of the European spirit. Since modernity, Europe had based itself on a rationalism that held that reason was the key to a meaningful existence. The catastrophes of the First and Second World War as well as the impoverished experience of the world that this rationalism led to caused Europe to abandon reason as its fundamental principle. Nothing, however, has been put in its place as the spiritual principle of European existence. This thesis analyses this crisis on the basis of the hypothesis that the crisis itself might contain valuable insights that can be used to address Europe’s situation. It does so by looking at two key authors regarding this theme: the founder of phenomenology Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) and one of his last students Jan Patočka (1907-1977). Both approach Europe’s crisis on the basis of phenomenology – the philosophical inquiry into meaningful experience. But whereas Husserl feared the end of Europe and sought a restoration of the faith in reason, Patočka felt he had already witnessed its end and could no longer have recourse to any optimistic faith. The phenomenological work of these authors is compared on this basis, showing their respective solutions to the crisis, and the limits to these solutions. Their phenomenological analyses of the experience of the world are used to address the sense of a world that has become deeply problematical and to see whether this experience itself can serve as the foundation for a new idea of Europe with a focus on the political consequences of this in particular. Abstract Dutch De afgelopen eeuw is het discours omtrent Europe vergezeld door een discours van crisis. Hoewel er er sprake was van verscheidene crises met betrekking tot Europa, was tot een bepaald punt in de 20ste eeuw de dominante crisis er een van de Europese geest. Sinds de moderniteit had Europe zich gebaseerd op een rationalisme dat de rede als de sleutel tot een betekenisvol bestaan zag. De catastrophes van de Eerste en Tweede Wereldoorlog alsook de verarmde ervaring van de wereld waartoe dit rationalisme leidde, zorgde ervoor dat Europa de rede als fundamenteel principe los liet. Er kwam echter niets in de plaats van dit spirituele principle van het Europese bestaan. Deze dissertatie analyseert de crisis op basis van de hypothese dat de crisis zelf waardevolle inzichten kan verchaffen welke gebruikt kunnen worden om Europa’s situatie het hoofd te bieden. Het doet dit aan de hand van twee sleutelfiguren betreffende dit thema: de grondlegger van de fenomenologie Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) en een van zijn laatste studenten Jan Patočka (1907-1977). Beiden benaderen Europa’s crisis op basis van de fenomenologie – het filosofische onderzoek omtrent betekenisvolle ervaring. Maar waar Husserl het einde van Europa vreesde en een herstel van het geloof in de rede zocht, voelde Patočka dat hij dit einde al meegemaakt had en kon hij zich niet meer tot een optimistisch geloof in de rede richten. Aan de hand hiervan wordt het fenomenologische werk van deze auteurs vergeleken, waarbij hun respectievelijke oplosingen voor de crisis alsook de grenzen hiervan aangetoond worden. Hun fenomenologische analyses van de ervaring van de wereld worden gebruikt om de ervaring van een wereld die diep problematisch is geworden te verhelderen en om te zien of deze ervaring zelf als fundering voor een nieuwe idee van Europa kan dienen met hierbij een focus op de politieke gevolgen hiervan.
The realm of mimesis : a contemporary interpretation of the orality/writing issue in relation to the ontology of the image in Plato
(2020-01-22) Esposito, Mariangela
This thesis enquires into the vexed issue of the relation between the criticism of orality and the criticism of writing in Plato’s works. The main aim is to argue that this relation, often read as an opposition, is grounded on a more ontological level of analysis which is exemplified by the ontology of the image as it is expressed throughout the entire platonic production. Analysing the structure of the ontology of the image it emerges that both the criticism of orality and the criticism of writing are inessential and have more points of convergence than divergences. The theme of mimesis is the leading thread of this work and it is addressed as a “mechanism” which progressively reveals the continuity and co-dependency between the opposition orality/writing and the ontology of the image (itself based on the relation and co-dependency between eidos and eidolon). The work engages with an open-ended conclusion which suggests the possibility of further enquiring. The conclusive theme dealt with is the platonic conception of beauty. The occurrences of beauty in Plato’s works exhibit a singular relation between eidos and eidolon, a relation that overcome the mimetic mechanism and points to an erotic conception of life and philosophy. The afterword which closes the dissertation aims to show the relevance of this study for a more aware understanding of some of the contemporary phenomena which challenge our way to analyse, communicate and elaborate the visual world in which we have anthropologically shifted.
The canon of pedagogical grammar for ELT: a mixed methods study of its evolution, development and comparison with evidence on learner output
(2020-01-22) Burton, Graham Francis
The teaching of grammar plays a key role in English Language Teaching (ELT). Pedagogical grammars such as English Grammar in Use and the Azar-Hagen Grammar Series are mainstays within the profession, their enduring appeal confirmed by the recent publication of fifth editions of both. Furthermore, most ELT coursebooks use structural syllabuses – essentially, lists of grammatical items to be taught – as a ‘primary organizing principle’ (McDonough, Shaw and Masuhara, 2013, p. 34). Yet how is the grammatical content of such ELT materials decided? And in the case of coursebooks, how is it decided in which order, and at which level, the grammar points should be taught? O’Keeffe and Mark (2017, p. 466) argue that over time a ‘canon’ of pedagogical grammar has evolved, which is ‘perpetuated and sustained through materials and examinations.’ However, what exactly is the nature of the system that perpetuates and sustains this canon? How, when and where did the canon develop? And does the canon reflect empirical evidence on the development of grammatical competence of learners of EFL? This thesis addresses these questions in three ways. Firstly, a thematic analysis of interviews with ten key figures in ELT publishing on the question of grammatical content in teaching materials is presented. Secondly, an analysis of the treatment of three areas of grammar – conditionals, relative clauses and future forms – in grammars and coursebooks from the 17th century to the present is carried out. Finally, the current coursebook consensus on how and when to teach different aspects of these three areas of grammar is compared with empirical evidence on the use of grammar by learners, in the form of the English Grammar Profile. The analysis shows that the process of evolution of pedagogical descriptions of these areas of grammar was slow, and largely undocumented. The ELT professionals interviewed frequently referred to the existence of a strong consensus on grammatical content and ordering that must be respected, the need to follow successful competition titles, the importance of market research and user expectations, the influence of school and state institutions, and the need to avoid commercial risk by diverging too much from the consensus and expectations. The comparison between the coursebook consensus and data from the EGP reveals some areas of agreement between the two, but also that learners are often able to produce grammatical structures before they are typically taught in coursebooks, and can often produce a wider range of grammar than is typically covered in coursebooks.
Physical activity promotion strategies for adolescent girls: exploring experiences, co-design and intervention development
(2020-01-22) Corr, Méabh Rose
Globally, over 80% of adolescent girls aged 11-17 fail to reach the recommended physical activity (PA) guidelines (Sallis et al. 2016). Interventions aiming to increase girls’ PA levels have only demonstrated modest effects (Pearson et al. 2015). This thesis aimed to: (i) conduct a qualitative synthesis of adolescent girls’ perceptions of PA, (ii) assess the feasibility of involving girls in the design of a PA programme, (iii) explore maternal correlates of adolescent girls’ PA and (iv) assess the feasibility of a 6-week mother-daughter multi-component PA programme. Four papers are contained within this thesis. Paper one involved a literature review (n=24 included studies) examining adolescent girls’ perceptions of PA. Findings indicated that girls from the included studies disliked the gendered nature of PA, had issues with low perceived competence levels and experienced competing priorities and expectations during adolescence. This paper informed the development of two behaviour change interventions and a cross-sectional study. Paper two was a feasibility study in a co-educational post-primary school with adolescent girls aged 15-17 years (n=31). The study assessed the feasibility of involving girls in the design of a PA programme, guided by the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW) (Michie et al. 2011). Successful recruitment, retention, adherence and acceptability rates demonstrated the feasibility of the school-based PA programme. Qualitative data indicated participants enjoyed experiencing “novel” activities (e.g. aerobics) during PE, and providing autonomy led to increased levels of accountability for participation. While schools are frequently used locations for PA promotion, recent evidence has recognised the potential of family-based approaches, but there is a paucity of research investigating this approach with adolescents (Barnes et al. 2018). Therefore, paper three investigated maternal correlates of PA in mothers and adolescent daughters (n=84). Significant correlations were found for daughters’ PA including mothers’ PA, PA parenting practices and mothers’ reports of daughters’ physical well-being (p <0.05). These findings support the involvement of mothers in PA promotion for adolescent girls. Finally, paper four assessed the feasibility of a PA programme for mothers and daughters (n=58). This study followed Orsmond and Cohn’s (2015) objectives for feasibility studies, examining recruitment, data collection, acceptability, resources and participant responses. Positive feasibility metrics and a change in the primary outcome of daily steps indicate the likelihood of intervention success with the intended population. This thesis demonstrates that PA promotion strategies, guided by the BCW, are feasible for adolescent girls. Papers one and two highlight the importance of providing alternative PA opportunities to girls aside from competitive sports. Papers three and four illustrate the potential of family-based PA promotion strategies. The effectiveness of an inter-generational PA programme should be evaluated in a randomised controlled trial (RCT).
Truth, being and the work of art: reflections on Heidegger's and Gadamer's interpretations of the tradition
(Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, 2016) McCord, Barbara Ann
This thesis addresses the fundamental and interrelated questions of truth and being, which have occupied Western philosophical thought since the time of the Ancient Greeks, giving particular attention to how they relate to works of art. More specifically, it examines the unique way in which works of arts enable an unfolding of truth to occur, which exceeds the notion of truth as correspondence or correctness. Martin Heidegger’s phenomenological enquiry into the meaning of being, which leads him to an analysis of the question of truth, shows that there is an inseparable connection between being and truth. Furthermore, with his 1930s essay on the work of art, which represents a challenge to the aesthetic tradition and establishes the role of art in facilitating the enactment of truth, Heidegger re-introduces the operations of art to the centre of philosophical thought. Following Heidegger, and hugely influenced by his thinking, Hans-Georg Gadamer, by means of his own philosophical hermeneutics, develops a theory of art’s unique role in opening up an experience of truth which cannot be attained in any other way. And, in their separate ways, both Heidegger and Gadamer find an intrinsic link between the questions of truth, being, and the work of art. This dissertation will explore the tensions in the continuity and discontinuity of their respective reflections on the above concerns.
Traversing the abyss: saintliness and the quest for meaning in Tolstoy and Nietzsche
(Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, 2015) Darcy, Gerard Mary
The positions of Nietzsche and Tolstoy as 'prophets of dissent' in relation to modern culture and modern civilization is now widely recognised (Riser, 2006: passim), and in that broad sense their status as two of the most seminal and influential thinkers of the nineteenth century is beyond dispute. It is accordingly commonplace to see them characterised as the two figures who, with Dostoyevsky and Kierkegaard, ultimately laid the foundations for the emergence of the philosophical movement known as existentialism. However, because the orientations of their respective ideologies are seen to be fundamentally divergent, they are usually represented as oppositional thinkers, with the idiosyncratic Christianity of Tolstoy being contrasted with the fiercely radical atheism of Nietzsche (Lavrin, 1925: 69) While explicitly recognising and giving testament to a sharp divergence between Nietzsche and Tolstoy on the role which religious belief can and should play in the treatment of the question of the human existential condition, this dissertation seeks to demonstrate deep affinities between them in their treatment of the concept of meaning and the connection between thought and action. The tradition of the 'holy fools' in religion, literature and folklore is detailed as an entry point into Tolstoy's and Nietzsche's critiques of post-Enlightenment scientism, and their philosophies are then evaluated as expressions of those critiques. The dissertation concludes with an examination of an important convergence between the two thinkers in their interpretations of the nature of existential meaning.
The dance of joy: Nietzsche’s metaphysics of becoming & tragic wisdom.
(Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, 2014) McCutcheon, Karen
This thesis seeks to establish Nietzsche as a Metaphysician of Becoming, as a foreseer of the immanence of eternity and in turn to establish a deep correlation between his writing style and his account of an eternity that is within Becoming and the unconscious self. It shows that there is a connection between the content of Nietzsche‘s works and his writing style as a manifestation of pathos, the unsaid and of dancing-musical rhythms. This content includes the idea that tragic pathos and the dance better express reality than the conceptual or propositional uses of language. In outlining that Nietzsche is a metaphysician of Becoming, this thesis explores Nietzsche‘s notion of truth and the possibility of accessing reality through tragic insight into reality. It firstly ascertains what reality is for Nietzsche as Becoming and that it is through the unconscious or more specifically the great reason of the body‖ that reality reveals itself. There follows an analysis of Nietzsche‘s spiritual hierarchy, that is the hierarchical nature of relating to Becoming. It then explores Nietzsche‘s art of philology as a way of relating to Becoming through pathos, blood and unconscious. Finally, the thesis further illustrates that it is through pathos, the unconscious that one experiences the untimely or the non-spatiotemporal, an eternity within Becoming, which is best exemplified by the dance.
A foucauldian discourse analysis of intellectual disability in Irish education
(Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, 2013) McSherry, Eleanor
Since the birth of the Irish State there has been three official terms for children with mental disabilities, ‘mental deficiency’, ‘mental handicap’ and ‘intellectual disability’. Each new term replaced the previous one; ‘mental deficiency’ became ‘mental handicap’, subsequently ‘mental handicap’ became ‘intellectual disability’. This thesis applied a Foucauldian Discourse analysis to the history of Irish Education to expose the hidden conditions that underpinned the aforementioned concepts, in order to answer the following questions: What factors brought a particular conceptual configuration in the classification of intellectual disability into play in the first instance? What made that configuration seem plausible and socially desirable? What changes or events happened that caused the conceptual configuration to be replaced? And did these changes cultivate marginalisation or demarginalisation? The first part of the analysis divided the history of Irish education into three different epistémè and labelled them, the Institution, the Birth of Special Education and the Birth of Social Inclusion. Foucauldian tools of analysis were applied to allow for the surfaces of emergence to be exposed and indentified, thus in turn revealing the frameworks of knowledge that were hidden underneath. These frameworks were created from paradigms of information, practices and processes that surrounded the terms ‘mental deficiency’, ‘mental handicap’ and ‘intellectual disability’ in each of the overlapping discourses within the epistémè. What was revealed was that each epistémè produced variable paradigms that resulted in frameworks of knowledge that were deemed legitimate depending on who were the main authors of delimitation on mental disabilities in that time. These authors had the power to decide the truths of the condition and how the concept was to be constructed. Each epistémè was different as the power relations shifted between the authors. It also became apparent that marginalisation was not an intentional result of the conditions discussed but instead was an unfortunate consequence.
John Henry Newman and Ludwig Wittgenstein: on certainty and faith
(Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, 2013) Guinee, Ann
The roles of certainty and faith have been very much divided in modern times by the positions allocated them under an all-consuming positivistic account of human processes. It is ironic that this view, which stems from the Enlightenment period, a time of appreciation of the wonderful capacities and potential of the human being, has come to neglect so much of the reality of life as it is daily lived out by the person. John Henry Newman and Ludwig Wittgenstein, working from a humanist core, give a view of certainty and faith which goes a long way toward restoring the harmony of these processes by drawing our attention back to the unified starting point of all our enquiries, to what is always already there and functioning in our lived lives. What emerges from this side by side reading of Newman’s An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent and Wittgenstein’s On Certainty is firstly an organic and holistic account of how what we come to reflect on as our beliefs are formed. Secondly, similarities in their ways of seeing support Newman as a philosopher with a significant contribution to make to contemporary philosophy. Lastly, the parallel reading foregrounds the wide and often humanist scope of the religious mind-set which has the capacity to bring philosophical analysis back to a grounding in the ontological, ethical and existential concerns which give it dimension and purpose.
A philosophical investigation into coercive psychiatric practices(Volume 1 & 2)
(Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, 2012) Roche, Gerald
This dissertation seeks to examine the validity of the justification commonly offered for a coercive1 psychiatric intervention, namely that the intervention was in the ‘best interests’ of the subject and/or that the subject posed a danger to others. As a first step, it was decided to analyse justifications based on ‘best interests’ [the ‘Stage 1’ argument] separately from those based on dangerousness [the ‘Stage 2’ argument]. Justifications based on both were the focus of the ‘Stage 3’ argument. Legal and philosophical analyses of coercive psychiatric interventions generally regard such interventions as embodying a benign paternalism occasioning slight, if any, ethical concern. Whilst there are some dissenting voices even at the very heart of academic and professional psychiatry, the majority of psychiatrists also appear to share such views. The aim of this dissertation is to show that such a perspective is mistaken and that such interventions raise philosophical and ethical questions of the profoundest importance.2 The philosophical well-spring of the Stage 1 dissertation argument lay in an observation made by Philippa Foot3 that the “… right to be let free from unwanted interference” is one of the most fundamental and distinctive rights of persons, a right which takes precedence over any “… action we would dearly like to take for his sake.” This – in conjunction with the recognition that some coercive psychiatric interventions are of a gravity as to result in the personhood of the subject being severely damaged if not destroyed – suggested that the concept of personhood play a central role in the formulation of the dissertation argument. For ease of analysis it was presumed that the term ‘person’ could be defined by a set of necessary and sufficient conditions of which ‘minimum levels of rationality’ and ‘ability to communicate’ were the only conditions relevant to the formulation of justifications for coercive psychiatric interventions. This presumption was explicated into a number of postulates which enabled the construction of a rigorous foundation on which to develop the dissertation argument. This argument then sought to determine whether psychiatric assessments of irrationality were accurate and reliable. In furtherance of this analysis it was necessary to examine the reliability of psychiatric determinations in other areas of claimed expertise namely diagnosis, treatment and assessment of dangerousness. This ‘crossing of the disciplinary threshold’ brought to light the dearth of studies on psychiatric misdiagnosis and iatrogenic harm. A variant of the Precautionary Principle was developed to enable the extent of such harms to be estimated. The not insignificant levels of psychiatric misdiagnosis and iatrogenic harm and erroneous assessments of dangerousness which were thus found are of considerable relevance to any ethical analysis of the justification for coercive psychiatric intervention and serve to undermine simple paternalistic justifications.

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