Mind, body, and the philosophical theology of Donald M. MacKay

In this thesis, we are seeking to examine a relatively narrow aspect of the work of Donald M. MacKay. In particular, we are seeking to examine his work in relation to a very specific problem as it presents itself to a relatively specific group of people. The problem we will seek MacKay's help in working through is what has come to be known by contemporary Anglo/American philosophers as 'the mind/body problem'. The group of people we will be attempting to help deal with this problem is the contemporary evangelical Christian Church.What we are dealing with is essentially a contemporary problem as it relates to a contemporary system of belief. Though in this sense, this thesis is decidedly not historical, it must be acknowledged that the historical roots of both the system of belief it sets out to preserve and the problem it sets out to work through run very deeply. In fact, even before God's people were called 'the Christian Church', there was a mind/body problem—and ever since the Church took up the task of explaining her beliefs, something like the mind/body problem has been an issue.After introducing the mind/body problem as it relates to the contemporary evangelical Christian Church in chapter 1 and the career of Donald MacKay as it relates to the mind/body problem in chapter 2, we proceeded to explain MacKay's metaphysical anthropology.The key to understanding MacKay's metaphysical anthropology is his understanding of logical complementarity. Accordingly, we devoted chapter 3 to the task of expositing his work in that area before proceeding, in chapter 4, to explain in more detail how this understanding related to the mind/body problem. We saw in chapter 4 that MacKay's understanding of logical complementarity allowed him to say that human beings are multi-faceted creatures—creatures that may be meaningfully described in many different kinds of ways. Most significantly, MacKay argued that although mental descriptions and physical descriptions necessitate radically different standpoints, they do not necessitate substantially different subjects.In saying that mental descriptions and physical descriptions can apply to human beings with equal validity, however, he raised the following objections from other evangelicals: 1) If physical descriptions really apply to me in the same way that mental descriptions do, and the subjects ofphysical descriptions must always obey the mechanical laws of cause and effect, how can /be said to befree? And 2) If mental descriptions and physical descriptions really apply to the same 'me', how can I reasonably hope for mental life after my body dies?Since MacKay dealt with this first objection rather extensively and consistently throughout his academic life, Chapter 5 was devoted to explaining and evaluating his response.With regard to the second objection, however, MacKay seems to have altered his position somewhat in the final years of his career. Since this alteration in his position may have been at least partly due to the complexity ofrelated theological issues, we spent the first half of chapter 6 explaining these complex issues by investigating the related controversies in biblical, philosophical, and systematic Mind, Body, and the Philosophical Theology of Donald M. MacKay theology during MacKay's lifetime. In the second half of chapter 6, we explained the shift in MacKay's position relative to this second objection as it relates to these theological controversies

From analogy-making to modelling : the history of analog computing as a modelling technology

Today, modern computers are based on digital technology. However, during the decades after 1940, digital computers were complemented by the separate technology of analog computing. But what was analog computing, what were its merits, and who were its users? This thesis investigates the conceptual and technological history of analog computing. As a concept, analog computing represents the entwinement of a complex pre-history of meanings, including calculation, modelling, continuity and analogy. These themes are not only landmarks of analog's etymology, but also represent the blend of practices, ways of thinking, and social ties that together comprise an 'analog culture'. The first half of this thesis identifies how the history of this technology can be understood in terms of the two parallel themes of calculation and modelling. Structuring the history around these themes demonstrates that technologies associated with modelling have less representation in the historiography. Basing the investigation around modelling applications, the thesis investigates the formation of analog culture. The second half of this thesis applies the themes of modelling and information generation to understand analog use in context. Through looking at examples of analog use in academic research, oil reservoir modelling, aeronautical design, and meteorology, the thesis explores why certain communities used analog and considers the relationship between analog and digital in these contexts. This study demonstrates that analog modelling is an example of information generation rather than information processing. Rather than focusing on the categories of analog and digital, it is argued that future historical scholarship in this field should give greater prominence to the more general theme of modelling

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http://www.archive.org/details/informationtheor00hathU.S. Navy (USN) authorU.S. Army (USA) autho

Information in formation: Power and agency in contemporary informatic assemblages

This dissertation critically examines the concept of "information" in an effort to understand the ways it participates in contemporary relations of power. Chapter 1 surveys the contemporary social, political, and economic conditions under which information operates today, and elaborates four "grammars" of information prominent in popular discourse. It also unpacks various assumptions implicit in these discourses, and explains the limitations of such popular accounts for theorizing information's role in various social formations. Chapter 2 performs an historical genealogy of information, tracing the concept's articulation in the American context, especially during the postwar period. This chapter discusses the work of Claude Shannon and Norbert Wiener, who formalized and mathematized the notion of information during this time, their reasons for and aims in doing so, and these theories' implications for conceptualizing information today. Chapter 3 builds on this analysis in order to pinpoint the particular problematic an historical account of information discloses: namely, that of "agency." This chapter traces this problematic's motivating influence through writing in first- and second-wave cybernetics. It demonstrates that critical social theory's current preoccupation with nonhumanistic theories of agency has conceptual roots in this writing, and offers a schematic for assessing accounts of agency that problematize accounts of the phenomenon inherited from the Enlightenment. Chapter 4 offers a "cartography" of contemporary theories of nonhumanistic agency in order to concretely connect these accounts with their forebearers in cybernetics and information theory; it then re-situates Shannonian and Wienerian theories of information in relation to this cartography. Chapter 5 concludes the dissertation by returning to information's popular articulations. It explains how a "mixed semiotic" approach to information and information technologies might enhance critical discussions of information politics, and attends specifically to the ways in which various figures of agency shape accounts of these politics.Doctor of Philosoph

Conversion converted : a new model of Christian conversion in light of Wesleyan theology and nonreductive physicalism

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

From analogy-making to modelling : the history of analog computing as a modelling technology

Today, modern computers are based on digital technology. However, during the decades after 1940, digital computers were complemented by the separate technology of analog computing. But what was analog computing, what were its merits, and who were its users? This thesis investigates the conceptual and technological history of analog computing. As a concept, analog computing represents the entwinement of a complex pre-history of meanings, including calculation, modelling, continuity and analogy. These themes are not only landmarks of analog's etymology, but also represent the blend of practices, ways of thinking, and social ties that together comprise an `analog culture'. The first half of this thesis identifies how the history of this technology can be understood in terms of the two parallel themes of calculation and modelling. Structuring the history around these themes demonstrates that technologies associated with modelling have less representation in the historiography. Basing the investigation around modelling applications, the thesis investigates the formation of analog culture. The second half of this thesis applies the themes of modelling and information generation to understand analog use in context. Through looking at examples of analog use in academic research, oil reservoir modelling, aeronautical design, and meteorology, the thesis explores why certain communities used analog and considers the relationship between analog and digital in these contexts. This study demonstrates that analog modelling is an example of information generation rather than information processing. Rather than focusing on the categories of analog and digital, it is argued that future historical scholarship in this field should give greater prominence to the more general theme of modelling.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceUniversity of Warwick. Dept. of Computer Science (DCS)GBUnited Kingdo