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Shelley's Negotiation of Metaphysics
Balvín, Tomáš ; Procházka, Martin (advisor) ; Horová, Miroslava (referee)
This thesis aims to understand Percy Bysshe Shelley's attitude towards the role of the poet in society as an usher of progressive change. To do this, it examines his metaphysics, chiefly his contact with the doctrines of idealism, which crystallised at the dawn of his life through his intimate relationship with the works of Plato, the early engagement with French materialists, English philosophers like Priestley and Hume & a later one with Lucretian materialism, and his deep entanglement with the first modern proponent of anarchism, William Godwin - who could be described as a perfectionist by some or as utilitarianist by others. By doing that the thesis seeks to shed light on how these doctrines influenced Shelley and how he conversed with and critiqued them, revealing the intricacies of his work because, in Shelley's philosophy, the nature of differentiation between the two, that is between materialism and idealism, is notoriously problematic. The beginning of the thesis serves to engage with Shelley's early contact with materialist doctrines, their fast repudiation in their pure form and his later critique in "Cloud" and response to them. The materialist influences of Shelley are pondered, as well as some of the possibilities of interpreting Shelley in a materialist way. Next, Shelley's...
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Anarchy and Anarchism in the works of James Kelman
Balvín, Tomáš ; Clark, Colin Steele (advisor) ; Beran, Zdeněk (referee)
This BA thesis handles the ways in which anarchism manifests in the works of James Kelman, and the merit of Kelman"s claim to the title "anarchist" is investigated. One of the main concerns of anarchism as a political ideology has been individual liberty free of oppression from authorities and hierarchical relationships; for this reason the starting point of the thesis is to discover the basis of the concept of freedom Kelman operates with: what are its sources, why the concept is so crucial to him and what role plays authority (and authorities) in it. The topics of freedom, political representation and direct action in Kelman are investigated and their relevance is sought after in author"s fiction. Representation in literature and his stance on hierarchies is investigated. Strictly politically dogmatic point of view is not always taken to reproduce the anarchist position concerning author"s fiction. To make this possible, first, the political essays and other texts from Kelman are investigated from which a base of his standpoint on the anarchist concepts mentioned is constructed; similarity to various anarchist ideas is considered. These are later translated into his approach to fiction and artistic vision in general, and the way the notion of freedom and fight against hierarchy express in its content and...
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