This thesis investigates the application of computational methods in landscape archaeology, focusing on the Early Iron Age path network of Central Crete, particularly in the key sites of Lyktos,...Show moreThis thesis investigates the application of computational methods in landscape archaeology, focusing on the Early Iron Age path network of Central Crete, particularly in the key sites of Lyktos, Hersonissos, and other secondary ones in the same area. It addresses key methodological and theoretical issues by employing the Python programming language for geospatial analysis and incorporating phenomenological perspectives to enhance understanding of ancient human-environment interactions. Recent advancements in Landscape Archaeology have been significantly influenced by phenomenological approaches introduced by scholars like Tilley and Ingold, who influenced by the philosophers of phenomenology redefined the term “landscape” by emphasizing the embodied and experiential aspects of it. Based on their work, archaeologists like Llobera and Wheatley challenged the quantitative treatment of landscapes and further explored the dynamic relationship between humans and their environments, highlighting the importance of movement and perception in landscape archaeology. Geographic Information Systems have been instrumental in landscape studies, but often reduce landscapes to static and quantitative data. This thesis critiques these limitations and proposes a novel methodological framework using Python for Least Cost Path analysis. This approach offers greater flexibility and insight into the computational processes behind geospatial analysis, addressing issues of conventional GIS tools by providing a detailed and customizable examination of movement patterns. The main research questions are if Python-based LCP analysis can produce results comparable to those from traditional tools like QGIS and if this computational approach, enhanced by phenomenological perspectives can offer deeper insights into the social and path network of Early Iron Age Crete. The findings reveal that Python is a robust tool for geospatial analysis, producing results similar to QGIS while offering enhanced flexibility and detailed examination of computational processes. This methodology highlights the importance of understanding the underlying processes behind geospatial tools and demonstrates Python’s potential for archaeological research. By integrating phenomenological ideas, this thesis interprets the computational results within a broader archaeological context. This approach considers different parameters of how ancient people might have perceived and navigated their surrounding landscape. The analysis uncovers a potential socio-cultural network in Central Crete, with modeled paths suggesting continuity with the earlier Minoan path network of the area and offering insights into connectivity and movement patterns of the Early Iron Age. Overall, this research shows that Python-based methods provide a valuable alternative methodology to traditional GIS and a nuanced understanding of ancient human-landscape interactions.Show less
Since Martin Heidegger developed the notion of dwelling as a fundamental ontological concept that is based on the basic character of human being, this idea of dwelling has inspired a number of...Show moreSince Martin Heidegger developed the notion of dwelling as a fundamental ontological concept that is based on the basic character of human being, this idea of dwelling has inspired a number of architectural theorists in relation to the question of how we should build. However, it has been argued that such interpretations have often been flawed, and I think that in reality Heidegger’s conception of dwelling is too intangible to really comment on the act of building. This thesis will therefore explore inhabitation from a different angle – from an angle that investigates how we experience architecture, how architecture means something us and how architecture also changes us – in order to ask how we can come to an understanding of the experience of inhabitation from which it is possible to comment on the act of building. I will therefore not investigate inhabitation from a Heideggerian perspective – asking what it means to dwell – but rather approach inhabitation from a more phenomenological and hermeneutic perspective. I will argue that the experience of inhabitation depends upon the interaction between people and architecture; it is a melodic experience in which the possibilities for meaningful action that the architecture offers correspond with people’s intention of action, while at the same time the architecture amplifies experience through functioning as a medium. From this conception, I will argue that inhabitation must become an answer to building – not in the sense that existing models of inhabitation are reproduced, but rather that an understanding of the experience of inhabitation becomes guiding in the design process.Show less
In this thesis, I will discuss what the self-image is and what it can tell us about the position of the self in intersubjective relations. I will do this by answering the question: What is the self...Show moreIn this thesis, I will discuss what the self-image is and what it can tell us about the position of the self in intersubjective relations. I will do this by answering the question: What is the self-image? It is by its very definition, not an individualising image, which means it is a process that puts the self as being opposed to its surroundings but is a connecting and inherently harmonising mental process. It is inherently an image both of, and formed by, the horizon of the self. To explain this, I will use the understanding of a horizon given to us by Edmund Husserl. Even though this concept is found in a theory that gives us an individualising understanding of the self-image, it will show us that it is indeed not individualising but harmonising. By individualising I mean the affirmation of the identity of the self as a being moving through a space full of Others and objects alien to him. As such the self-experiences themselves as being opposed to them and in some cases clearly in a power struggle with the Other. Harmonising means that the world within the horizon appears as being inherently part of the identity of the self. As such it shows the self as not being surrounded by foreign things but by things that are already a part of it.Show less
This thesis explores a hermeneutical method of Indo-Tibetan Madhyamaka of using the negative Catuṣkoṭi as the key conceptual pivot. Developed by the Sakya school of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and...Show moreThis thesis explores a hermeneutical method of Indo-Tibetan Madhyamaka of using the negative Catuṣkoṭi as the key conceptual pivot. Developed by the Sakya school of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and systematized by Gorampa Senge, this method, "freedom from extremes," clarifies emptiness and ultimate truth. The study investigates how the negative phenomenology of Madhyamaka is implicitly enunciated through its logic, emphasizing the collapse of intentionality, the mind, and phenomena before the mind. A middle way between transcendent and semantical interpretations is proposed, with the Prajñāpāramitāsūtras playing a crucial role. The thesis establishes a framework based on the negative Catuṣkoṭi's logic, examines its structure, and explores its final negation following Gorampa's resolute reading. The phenomenological exploration delves into the intentional dimension of the negative Catuṣkoṭi's grammar, drawing upon principles of Buddhist phenomenology.Show less
In this thesis I argue that the book On Touching-Jean-Luc Nancy by Jacques Derrida, whilst having touching as its main theme, is informed by Derrida's ethics. In On Touching Derrida argues that the...Show moreIn this thesis I argue that the book On Touching-Jean-Luc Nancy by Jacques Derrida, whilst having touching as its main theme, is informed by Derrida's ethics. In On Touching Derrida argues that the history of philosophy is haptocentric, meaning that touch is privileged over the other senses. This privilege consists in a lack of liminality and alterity in the philosophy of touching. I argue that this is problematic for Derrida because alterity is an important factor in his thinking of ethics, where the alterity of the other informs the double bind between the responsibility for the general and the singular alterior other. The double bind is important because of its implications in the impossible yet necessary jump from ethics to politics and justice for Derrida. A reading of On Touching and a contextualizing of the book within Derrida's broader oeuvre have led to these conclusions.Show less
Archaeological material dating to the Bronze Age (BA) suggest that violence was a reoccurring phenomenon in the period. This evidence includes the amass deposition in hoards of the newly emerged...Show moreArchaeological material dating to the Bronze Age (BA) suggest that violence was a reoccurring phenomenon in the period. This evidence includes the amass deposition in hoards of the newly emerged bronze weapons. Brück and Fontijn (2013) have explained this deposition as reflecting the end of the life-path of bronze objects. They assume that object during the BA were imbued with power and meaning through the actions done with the object, i.e. its life-history. Through the interaction between objects and individuals, the social fabric of the BA was formed. This model explains the selective depositions of bronze objects, but it does not delineate why precisely weapons were deposited. While weapons have a clear social context where they could have derived meaning and power from, in the form of combat. Therefore, within this thesis the intended combative use of bronze weapons is explored, in particular bronze spears, in order to examine if a specif type of combat could have imbued bronze weapons with meaning. One of the martial contexts were bronze spears could have been used in is formalised combats. These are combats fought with highly specific norms, called combat capital, for a large array of socio-political and -cultural reasons, named societal capital. Formalised fights act as a safe and controlled manner of violence expression in society. The highly specific combat capital with which the fights are fought, manifest itself in various combat styles that can be linked to a weapon design. The two primary combat styles are binding, whereby contact between the weapons of two fighters is continuously maintained to feel the actions of an opponent, and striking, whereby hitting an opponents weapon is used as the manner for gaining control. Binding is more associated with formalised combat, due to necessity of only combating one opponent, while striking combat can be used in all types of combat. In order to examine for which combat style bronze spears were intended for, a weapons design analysis (WDA) method was used. This method analysis weapons according to five elements, to form a framework of limitations wherein the weapon could have been used. This WDA relies on a different epistemic dimension than conscious deliberation. A knowledge dimensions that is largely unconscious and comes to individuals as feelings and sensations. The WDA thus must be performed by expert-users, that pose a minimum level of skill, i.e. knowledge, in this unconscious dimensions. A WDA, composing of four phenomenological archaeological experiments, was performed by two expert users on two replica bronze spears to gain insight into the combative use of BA spears in general. This WDA concluded, especially based on damage sustained by the spears during the experiments, that bronze spears were probably primarily intended for formalised fights, but with the potential to be used for other martial contexts. Other weapons, however, were probably more optimised 122 for these other types of fights. These formalised fights could have been one of the events wherein the social fabric of Bronze Age society was negotiated, and weapon could procure their power and meaning from.Show less
This thesis compares the ethics and phenomenology of Nietzsche and Levinas. It begins from a Levinasian critique of Nietzsche, made up of remarks Levinas made on Nietzsche's thought throughout his...Show moreThis thesis compares the ethics and phenomenology of Nietzsche and Levinas. It begins from a Levinasian critique of Nietzsche, made up of remarks Levinas made on Nietzsche's thought throughout his career. This critique is then systematized, before being rebutted by a Nietzschean response, focusing on the question of responsibility. The thesis argues that insofar as there is a disagreement between Nietzsche and Levinas, it is fundamentally a phenomenological disagreement.Show less
In this thesis I asked the question: how can Merleau-Ponty’s political work reveal essentialism in feminist thought and thereby contribute to feminist philosophy?
This paper addresses the question whether it is possible to make an argument in defense of the existence of free will on the basis of the indeterminism of the theory of quantum mechanics. To do so,...Show moreThis paper addresses the question whether it is possible to make an argument in defense of the existence of free will on the basis of the indeterminism of the theory of quantum mechanics. To do so, first the most basic approach is examined, attempting to formulate an argument for the possibility of free will on the basis of quantum mechanics and biology. After demonstrating the problems with this and showing that there is some unclarity regarding the relationship between determinism and free will, the paper turns to analyzing the concepts of determinism and free will and proposes that free will could best be understood as self-determination. This allows for the possibility of free will to be argued on the basis of Humean Supervenience. It is then argued that by way of the Copenhagen Interpretation, which is likened to phenomenology, quantum mechanics can make a case for this which is similar to the Best Systems Approach. After constructing an analysis of what the universe is on the basis of this way of thinking, and using the relation between a video game and a player as an analogy to explain how this affects the relationship between determinism and free will, the paper argues that free will can be completely compatible with being fully determined by the universe, but not with being determined by the rest of the universe. Finally, the paper proposes self-consciousness as an additional requirement for free will if it is to be understood as self-determination and thus concludes that free will is possible on the basis of quantum-mechanical thinking, but not quantum indeterminacy itself.Show less
In this study the relation between virtualization and shamelessness is examined by investigating the banking crisis of 2008. Shame, it is held, is crucial to our self-development and our relation...Show moreIn this study the relation between virtualization and shamelessness is examined by investigating the banking crisis of 2008. Shame, it is held, is crucial to our self-development and our relation with others because, besides the negative self-evaluation it is commonly known for, shame also encompasses a strong personal involvement. After investigating the financial crisis of 2008 it is found that the financial sector is characterized by the convergence of a high reliance on virtual systems as well as an inability to feel shame. To further study the effect of virtualization on shame, three necessary conditions for shame are proposed based on the work of Kierkegaard, Merleau-Ponty, and Sartre: integrity, embodiment, and responsibility. By examining the effect of virtualization on these three necessary conditions I arrive at a general conclusion about the effect of virtualization on our ability to feel shame. The final section expands the scope of these findings to see whether the found effect of virtualization on shame can be noticed in other social spheres that are gradually becoming more virtual.Show less
In the last decade or so, more and more evidence has accumulated to support an enactivist theory of mind. Such a theory has great consequences for how we view the mind and thus also how we view the...Show moreIn the last decade or so, more and more evidence has accumulated to support an enactivist theory of mind. Such a theory has great consequences for how we view the mind and thus also how we view the mind’s malfunctions; mental disorders. A new way of looking at mental disorders within the framework of enactivism means to see a mental disorder not just as a brain malfunction, but as a disorder in the subjects being-in-the-world; meaning the interaction between brain, body and world. The author explores what such a view would be and what consequences this would have for understanding, diagnosing and treating mental illness.Show less
